Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

There were Tri-Tips on sale at Costco for $4.49/lb. I try to never pay more than $5 for tri-tip. Stocked up.

 

Result is resting in the Yeti. 5.5 hours for two ~5 lb shoulders at about 285 degrees average, cooked over Stubb’s and quarter-split pecan. Bottom of the shoulders definitely cooked faster than the tops, so I flipped them for the last hour. The bottoms ended up facing up in the cooler, so the darker bark isn’t visible. I can say that the high-flow offset smokers seem to be better at bark than eggs, just because they allow more air flow and dry out the surface of the meat more, which I think is important for a thick bark. But an egg is very efficient and I don’t have to mess with a water pan or even spritzing.

 

2 weeks cure, 3 days nekkid in the frig, and here we go!

 

Oh, fat cap up or down??

 

For bacon? Doesn’t matter. If you’re rendering much fat out you’re doing it too hot or too long.

 

175 til internal hits 150. Sound right?

 

Ribs and smoked beans base. Pitface of course.

 

For hot smoking ramp up slowly 10 degrees an hour starting at 120 (smoke starting at 130*) and ending at 170. Then leave at 170 until the bacon reach's and internal temp of 152 to 155. At 170 or above fat will start to render. If you have access to a sous vide cooker you could hot smoke for 3 to 5 hours using the ramp method then vac pack and sous vide at 155 degrees for 2 to 3 hours. This will allow the bacon to cook and reach the target temp w/o fear of fat rendering.

Must be a good day for smoking bacons. I too put about 12lbs on the BGE this morning to start cold smoking.

 

Daaaaaaaaaaamn

 

I'd recognize ribs of that color anywhere!

 

You sure are picky! I like that. I'm currently at 128 int. 178 GMG temp. I can back down the heat and make it smoke longer, is that what you recommend? I sure do appreciate all the advice you, and @coldiron have given me. I hope I don't Fup 8+ #s of meat.

 

Yep! I want him to move closer to me here in KS.

 

Lit half a chimney of Stubb’s briquettes at 8 am, I’d call it half a gallon by volume, and added a 16” piece of 5” pecan log split into 4 pieces. Cooked at 270-300 the entire time. I didn’t touch it after I removed the meat. It is now 3:48 pm and the thermometer reads 272 degrees. They’re very efficient. I think this is my 5th or 6th season using mine.

Just killed a plate of pork tacos with hot slaw. Some of the bone-in shoulder didn’t cook enough to pull very well, so I chopped it up. Still great. The boneless shoulder was butter-soft all the way through.

 

No cooking today, but this is BBQ relevant. I took the Tacoma up to Lowe's to return a carpet cleaner and took a gander through the rest of the store. I found this upright freezer in the scratch/dent section. Normally $829.99, this one had a ding on the right side and was "missing some paint" on the top of the door. Turns out the "missing paint" was a smudge and was easily wiped away. With all of that terrible, terrible damage, they had it marked at $580. I told the guy I'd get it off of their floor right away if I could get it for $500. He came back at $475! 20.2 cubic feet of storage. I finally got myself a mega meat locker.







The thing is like new and even has the manufacturer's 1 year warranty!

Time to fill it up, now.

 

We picked up a prime chuck roast yesterday, was going to smoke it a few, then finish in the crock until falling apart.

That went to shit last evening when the hot water heater decided to not give us hot water. Long story short, wife prepped and did it in the crock pot.

It was damn good. I shredded a bunch, threw it in a tortilla with cheese and salsa.

 

Yes backing down the smoker temp and letting the bacon go longer is a good idea. The good news is you are going to screw up anything. Some of the fat may render at higher temps and the texture may change a little but that's it. In the end the taste will and quality will still be light years ahead of any mass produced store bought stuff.

 

Sorry this feller needs to live within eyeshot of the Appalachian mountains.

 

Niceness! Is your garage insulated? Garages can be tough on a freezer.

 

Oh man I see a great base for a new curing chamber.

A couple of Ink Bird controllers, heater, dehumidifier, humidifier and an after noon and you'd be all set up to fill that up with cured meats