Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Im afraid of what she might do to @scottalot with that

 

How did that turn out. I'm skeptical of "sirloin tip" marketing. If I understand right it is really round knuckle meat. It can be seamed out into 3 different muscles but that piece you have looks like they just sliced steaks out of a whole knuckle. That leaves multiple different grain directions and no easy way to slice across the grain.

I've never bought one but I think buying a whole knuckle and seaming the muscles out could be worth trying, one of those muscles is part of the same muscle as tri-tip.

 

Found some Louis ribs in the back of the freezer. Why not pit face them for lunch?

 

Meh

It turned out like tough brisket. Some parts were excellent, but some had really hard and chewy parts. Next time I'd just do salt and pepper and start the reverse sear at 110 or so.

 

So more work on the curing chamber today as my dehumidifier arrived. Now it has cooling, humidification and dehumidification.

Still some final tweaking and layout a couple interior 120v outlets but all day yesterday temps and humidity were stable. Testing will continue and it is yet TBD if a heating element will be needed.

So my grain bill is as follows:

True cooler - $131.00
Condenser - $72.00
Ink Bird Humidity controller - $35.99 (Amazon)
Ink Bird Temperature controller - $35.00 (Amazon)
Dehumidifier - $26.99 (Amazon)
Humidifier - $26.95 (Walmart)
Power strip - free (has laying around)
Misc male/female 120v plugs, fasteners and cable hold down $20 (Lowes)
Spray bottle for 50/50 white vinegar/water for disinfecting ($2.00)

Total all in $349.93

Note the humidifier had a momentary switch so when it powered off it would not have the ability to power back on unless the power button was depressed again. I took it apart and soldered a jumper across two terminals so it is always powered on. If I had to do it again I might have bought a humidifier with a toggle/rocker switch. The good news is the humidifier I got was very low profile so it doesn't stick up very far. The tradeoff of reworking the switch for low profile was worth it to some extent.

Its been a fun project and I have enjoyed it working on it. Can't wait to try it out and see how it works a real world situation.

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No smoking this weekend, but the wife is making her meatloaf for dinner. Yummy.

 

Meatloaf sounds good!

 

This is a sweet setup! I remember looking at plans for one of these awhile back to age meat but never got around to it. Very nice setup.

 

Was good. I went running into the kitchen when she was making it, screaming that. She looked at me like I needed help, and totally missed the reference.

 

Good man for doing it though

 

Tell Her you won it in a raffle.

 

This, but I had a death in the family. However I was able to redeem myself, somewhat. The city I had to travel to just happened to be the home of Big Bob Gipson’s. OMG.

 

Sorry for your loss!

How was the q?

 

Sorry for your loss.

Been to Myren Mixons restaurant in Virginia. Same kinda trophies and set up. Good food.

 

It honestly was awesome!!! They claim 10 world championships and at least that many Memphis in May titles. Countless ribbons and smaller trophies. I was trying to take more pics but we were being seated. I’ve met Chris Lilly (current pittmaster) at Decatur Harbor. They filmed an episode of BBQ Pittmasters there a few years back. Very nice, helpful guy. He had all the nationally known guys come to his house and he cooked for them, non traditional smoked foods. It was neat seeing Johnny Treage (sp?), Myron Mixon, Big Mo and the rest of those guys sitting down and actually eating a meal together.

 

Coming together nicely. I guess the pack of ribs I found in the freezer were the trimmings from a competition I entered. I tried to square up a couple racks for presentation purposes and put the trimmings in a bag then into the freezer. Oh well, should taste the same.

 

cook like a prime rib

 

Thanks. You both have basically the same idea and that’s what I’ll do.

 

Nothing wrong with meatloaf! Cold enough this weekend I didn't feel like smoking or even grilling. I wanted meat, potatoes and gravy. Meatloaf would had worked! I ended up dong a Gun Club chuck roast in the Instant Pot with gravy, carrots and potatoes last night. It turned out well. This little chuckie never did make it to the smoker

Spoiler

Sorry for your loss.

Friday night I watched a recorded Man Meat and Fire episode Alabama BBQ on the DVR. With Chris Lilly at Big Bob Gibson's. Big Bob was the original founder and a really tall man, which is why he was named Big Bob. They showed how they make the chicken and the white sauce they are known for. Something I now want to try. They cook the chicken with the fire off to the side and enclose the chicken then draft the wood smoke and heat across it. After a couple of hours they dip the chicken in white sauce, salt and pepper and back on the smoke for hours again. Really has me wanting to try some of it if I ever get there. The white sauce started with a lot of mayo and finished with a lot of vinegar. And a few things in between. Just watching them do it made my mouth water.