Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Hi guys, it’s been a while. But I finally got back to doing some smoking. Check out the price on this bad boy.



Now, only 11 more hours to go!!!!

 

Daaaaammmmmnnnnn!

Well.Done.Sir.

 

Exactly.

I almost never pay over $1.50/lb for shoulders/butts/picnics.

Don't really have to shop around all that much, either.

 

Thanks......Malcom Reed's webpage is full of great recipes. Super resource for meal ideas.

He's a bigtime BBQ success story, yet seems very humble. I like how his recipes generally use his own Killer Hogs rubs, yet he usually mentions that you can use any similar rub for the type of cut/dish.

He even has some direct competitors over to due various cooks.....using their rubs & sauces, too.

 

Thanks.....It was great......and easy. The red onion and bell pepper add a super tasting crunch and the corn has a wonderful sweetness.


Followed his recipe verbatim.....except for the bacon omission (will do another batch with it....this I vow to do, lol) and forgetting to add the cheddar (I was a dumbass and things were coming together quickly once the salmon hit the grill).

 

Was thinking the same, I’d never pay that for a butt.

 

Doing some pork burnt ends here, too.

 

I’m hoping to try out the new smoking stone for the Akorn today with a corned beef brisket. Everything is ready, even the rain.

 

When smoking with say a CharGriller Akorn with a smoking stone, do I just load it with charcoal and light the top and let it burn down? I’ve got a pretty good idea where to set the vents. This will be the first time I’ve smoked using charcoal.

 

In my WSM, I load it up, then dump 12-15 lit coals on top. I burry a few chunks of wood throughout the unlit coal.

 

I have been through a LOT of Malcom's videos

Only reason I'm not right now is I actually gotta go work for a bit More OT....

 

I used an Akorn for three+ years and it was an amazing Grill/smoker.

Lump charcoal piled up like a mountain shape...only light the very top couple of pieces.

Let the temperature come up while you monitor it carefully.

You never want to overshoot your target temps with an Akorn because you will fight like hell to get it back under control. This is best advice I can offer.

You’ll be able to cook anything you can imagine with it.

Also....handle that stone carefully. I broke two of them simply by looking at them.

 

Here we go!

 

Picked up a 17lb brisket from Costco yesterday. Will be next weekends smoke. Tonight I’m thinking about reverse searing some steaks. Maybe do some corn on the smoker and some sort of tater.

 

Disregard the recommended cooking methods... Smoke all this shit.

 

New addition to the weber family. 1990.
Went ahead and called Weber and ordered a full ash sweeper/ ash catcher assembly

 

@Synergy001 and I are wondering what foil you like to use

 

Had to go all Clint Eastwood on my smoking plans today.


I'd fired up the 22" Weber kettle with the Slow'n'Sear insert in it. While the grill was warming up I went inside to cube up the country style ribs I'd bought on Friday and hit 'em with rub.

Damn things had a funny smell.....a bleach-like smell. I guess the meat department in the grocery store I shopped at had been heavy on the cleaning and didn't rinse & wiped down afterwards. Didn't feel comfortable cooking these things....so my pork burnt ends plans crashed and burned.

Improvised.

Adapted.

Overcame.


Clint would have approved.


Hit up the Neighborhood Market store and grabbed a slab of back ribs and two mini-slabs of beef ribs. Got 'em home and rubbed down.....been in the Weber an hour now.

Dinnertime ETA is 6:00pm this evening.


Moo + Oink ribs, homemade slaw, Badass Beans, leftover corn salad and a chilled watermelon will be had.

I see you are prepared for some rain, too. Same thing here lately....super nice and sunny one minute and thunderstorms the next. Cool thing about kamado grills is that they run solid with very little tending and the vent design performs fairly well even in the rain. I'd submit that they are the perfect style of grill for family cooking. The only thing better than a kamado....is a second kamado. Seriously....a second is nice to use when you want to smoke-grill-sear-bake-whatever at another temp than you are running on the primary.

I think you'll find the food off that Akorn is really juicy as it seems to retain the moisture from meats and the fat that runs of hits the stone or coals and is sizzled nicely.

In short....you are gonna love that Akorn.

One resource that I highly recommend is kamadoguru.com John Setzler did a great thing for us when he started up that website. Tremendous resource.....tips.....techniques......recipes.....great cooking ideas.....monthly competitions and etc.

Sounds like a plan.



That's a great sized brisket, too. Reminds me that I need to renew my Costco membership next weekend when I"m out and about running errands.

Cool chart.


Thanks for posting it.

Damn good find.

Gotta love bringing home a classic that'll be a solid performer for you.

 

That's the price on special? Jeez. Regular price here is 1.99 for Boston butt and 1.79 for a picnic. When they go on special, drop another dollar off that price.

 

A while back I opened a cryovac slab of ribs and the smell nearly knocked me down. Didn't cook em.