Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Brisket turned out pretty decent, some of the thinner end of the flat was a little dry but I just chopped it and mixed with some of the juice from the cooler rest.

 

I did the same thing but with stainless just because I had some left over from a previous build. Works good.

 

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This is what I used too. I made a somewhat flattened U shape (like what you see in a fireplace grate catch) that runs almost the whole length of the firebox. And then a cube that's missing two sides that sits against the air in vent to stack up the lump. It works pretty well.

 

Wonder how it would be with moonshine?

 

I just started using my Bug-A-Salt the other day. Flies are coming back out. It works and it's a lot of fun lol.

 

Made smoked pork tenderloin bbq nachos last night. LOVE them things. Tonight I'm doing a meatloaf was thinking about putting it on the smoker to get some flavor then cranking up the temp to bake it.

 

Absolutely less ash with lump. I grill enough that I haul a lot of ash and consider that factor. But the Kingsford is so cheap when you grill a lot it adds up quickly. I figure the exercise to walk out back and throw it over the bank does me good. And it is almost time for the multiple runs to Home Depot and Lows to stock up again on the 2 bags for $10! Down to 12 bags that was cutting it close...

Thinner cuts work better IMO. Stole it from Alton Brown he has a couple of videos out there. And seems to do it different every time LOL. What works best for you and how you like it is the right answer I believe. Going to do some inside skirt steak again in the next couple of days.

X2 on good chicken to start. And also pull at 165° Some of the birds are pretty fatty around here especially the Iowa birds don't think they spare the corn much feeding them. So those can take awhile to render the fat out. I like 300-325 that seems to work best for me, but personal opinion of course.

Yes buttermilk is a tenderizer. Haven't used buttermilk on whole birds but have on split breast before, and of course fish. And will soak blood shot meat in buttermilk for birds that I have shot up badly. The enzymes in milk work to tenderize but take awhile.

Ginger Ale, Sprite or 7UP are a perfect match for chicken IMO. The acid breaks them down fairly fast compared to buttermilk but doesn't turn it to mush like pineapple. And they come out juicy as hell. My standard marinade for chicken anymore is 1/3 each Ginger Ale, soy sauce, and Italian dressing.

 

Thin layer of yellow mustard then your rub makes a nice bark and no mustard flavour

 

Trying this next weekend! Memorial Day here I come!

 

How long let it marinate? Boneless skinless as well?

 

At least 2 hours 4-6 hours is better IME. Some let it go overnight but I am afraid that would be too long. Both my sons like white meat, breast meat. I buy the breast at Costco and butterfly them in half or get the tenderloins and keep those whole. Both skinless and boneless. Even I can choke down white meat marinated in this LOL. It isn't dried out.

For me I get the packages of boned chicken thighs at .99 a pound and they turn out like candy. And sometimes just do thighs with skin on although they have a tendency to burn with skin on, still like candy but crispy. Sometimes I will cube the breast, marinade for 4 hours and skewer them as kabobs.

They do have a strong soy flavor but also still a bit of Italian flavor under it all. With the soy you don't want to add any additional salt, and I like my salt!

 

Trying this soon, thanks.

 

What he said is a big part of it -

That is known as twice baked. Every bar in Upstate NY knew what twice baked wings were at one time. Hell even Domino's, although been years since I have ordered wings from a chain.

Been addicted to wings since the 70's and the recipe has changed some over the years in part because Franks changed their formula. Even the Anchor Bar in Buffalo doesn't seem to make them as good as they used to. Back then the sauce was rich in butter most places not so much anymore. The closest I have come to the traditional reciepe and all I eat. Played around with other ones but always go back to the original. Good for 4-5 lb. of wings.

1 stick salted butter
⅔ cup franks original NOT the wing sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste for heat
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder

Rinse the wings and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Throw the wings in a dedicated wing stainless steel bowl and pour a little canola oil on them but not too much. Crack some black pepper and kosher salt and toss until everything is well coated.

Then put the wings on the kettle with the dome lid at 12:00 and every 15 minutes rotate it 45 degrees. I use a good sized chuck of apple or cherry wood over top of the Vortex. At about 50 minutes lift the lid to check on them, you want to catch them before the tips turn black, or at least most of them. It can take up to an hour depending on air temperature.

In the meantime I have washed the dedicated wing bowl out and loaded it with the sauce. When the wings are ready time to melt the sauce stirring constantly only takes a minute or 2.



Take the bowl off and start throwing the wings in and toss them. Then back on.



Let them go 5-8 minutes with the lid back on, the butter will burn quickly if your not careful. They are usually crispy at ~8 and burnt at 10 minutes. Throw back in the bowl with the remaining sauce and toss.



And now I'm hungry as hell...

Time to take out a ribeye cap steak, salt and let it come up to room temperature. Early supper tonight for once.

 

Well there re several types of moonshine.

1. 190 proof neutral spirit devoid of color and flavor and not very drinkable unless cut with something. This works great for what I am doing as I want the flavor of the fruit and not of the grain. This can be made from something as simple as 5 gallons of water, can of tomato paste, 18lbs of sugar and a packet of wine yeast. In a week or so you will have a 12 to 15% "wine" that can be cleaned up in a reflux still to high proof neutral spirit great for then making vodka, Gin or cello's
2. Fresh whiskey that is lower proof made from a fermented mash made with grains and sugars. For this unlike the sugar wash above you want some of the flavors of the mash to carry over to flavor the whiskey. Typically this is run through a pot still.

A lot of times you will see distilled 5 times all this means is they used a pot still and re distilled the previous distillation to get a purer product with less flavor. A reflux still distill the initial batch 100's of time during the distill process as you collect about 5 to 10% of the spirit and send the rest back (reflux) to go through the continuing process. This is why you can get almost pure ethanol right off the bat.

The nice thing is you can run a reflux still like a pot still buy simply closing off the reflux valve and collecting all the distillate.

So in a word yes moonshine can be used it just depends on why type and what the alcohol proof is. 150 proof is as low as you want to go to extract oils and flavors from fruit.

 

Made 2 tri tips, a pork loin and 2 racks of ribs yesterday for a little bbq party. Now I'm smoking some chicken wings and chicken for camping tomorrow

 

Thanks for the info. I will have to check the proof on what we have (we usually get two kinds one if commercial and one let's say isn't).

 

I know you've shared your wing technique and recipe more than once but I've never saved it until now. Thank you! Pictures of your buffalo wings always make me hungry!

 

One recipe is get your wings on the smoker lightly seasoned. I smoke them for about 2 hours then I toss them on a hot grill for about 15 minutes to crispen them up. Then I toss in a copycat recipe of Zebbs in central NY
Rub wings lightly with olive oil and Cajun seasoning
Cook 2 hours on smoker
Cook 15 minutes on hot grill
Finish with 60/40 of Chunky blue dressing, Franks Red Hot and another pinch of Cajun seasoning in large bowl.
Adjust ratio to taste for heat and cooking time.
Serve with sliced celery and carrot strips.