Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

very true! But that one up there needed to be super photogenic... cause cook off photo! But I did fry up the trimmings and eat em

 

I will grant you that. Mine came out looking good, but not supermodel good like your food usually does .

 

Or cut them off, take some whole taters, use an apple corer and pull out a plug. Take said bacon ends, some cheese, some seasoning, maybe some jalapeno and stuff it on the whole in the tater, cut the plug down a little and push it back in the whole. rub the tater with some olive oil and salt. Wrap in foil and toss them on with the fatties. Now you have fatties and Potato bombs. Full meal (unless you need some of those pesky veggies).

 

OK... Menu growing for next cook

 

You and @Misplaced Nebraskan aren't letting me have my excuse to be lazy with not cutting off the excess.

 

Well you can just buy some extra bacon and use that instead. Heck if you want to get REALLY fancy you can weave the tater bombs.

 

Damn it haven't eaten today yet and now craving a fatty. Or 2. I also use thin bacon when wrapping anything to smoke. And always get 2 pounds. Yes a pound is enough but am a firm believer that there is no such thing as too much bacon. Done with this meeting going to cook some bacon and eggs.

Wings last night did close to 6 lbs. for my sons and I. Didn't get any pictures sauced and tossed or plated, it was almost 11 by the time we ate and it was every man for himself. They disappeared pretty fast.



Damn they were good.

 

Heck ya can't have too much bacon. I just did fatties now I want another and some darn potato bombs. Next weekend I'm planning to do a brisket and I might have to do some bombs and maybe some poppers with it.

This stupid thread ALWAYS makes me hungry, those wings look so good and now I want some.

 

as good as those look, that photo with the fire trail is beautimous! That's a weber magazine cover photo right there!

 

No pics of the brisket. It was gone in literally 3 minutes. Once some people saw me walking to the conference room with my cutting board and slicer, word traveled quickly, and there was a line after about the 3rd slice. I saved about 15% of it for a little cook-off judging in about an hour, but the rest - done.

It turned out good, but I've had two cooks in a row where I couldn't quite hold a slice. I think the problem is that both of them had really long rests in temps that were a little too high. Last weekend, there were three briskets and two pork shoulders in the cooler for about 4 hours. They were all still too hot to handle comfortably. I think they cooked too much in there.

This time was about a 5 hour rest and in a container that has a warming element. Same thing. The brisket was still HOT. Probably cooked a little more than I wanted as well.

Flavor was killer, though, and some of the real choice slices were damn near perfect.

 

My mouth is watering

Ya it sounds like you need lower temps. Maybe a smaller commercial warming box would do you. Then you would look all pro and proper. I know the ones we used to have when I worked catering did a good job for us and the food didn't seem to continue to cook.

 

I usually use a Cambro. Solid, doesn't leak, and extremely predictable. The door, however, recently got a little messed up. The lip where the latch is supposed to grab got squished and cracked. I'm not confident in the seal anymore and, thus, am not confident in predicting what happens to the meat.

I think a cooler is fine, but not when it is loaded with that much meat. Too much thermal mass stuffed in one tight location, so the meat doesn't rest and lower temps gracefully. Maybe a little venting of the box from time to time would work.

 

Duct Tape.

 

Ratcheting tie down straps!

 

You probably now this, but some might not. I use the military transport cambro's, they are tough as hell and easily bought cheap used. Really like the ones for sides and such. There is all kinds of arrangements for food carrying.

 

Not sure if it read it here, or somewhere else. It was mentioned to vent and let some heat out, if wrapped, before putting in the cooler. If you have that much meat, maybe just let the lid open for a while before sealing it up.

 

I think that's exactly right. I usually vent a little heat from the meat before putting it in, but, just as you said, I should have vented the cooler itself a little if that much meat is going in.

Good call.

We're not cooking multiples of anything at competition, this year - focusing on trying to nail one - so I hope not to have that problem next week .

 

You can see where on the brisket that it gave way a bit. This, mind you, is another two hours after first slice (I had set this chunk aside, though).

Coworker made the bomb ass Mac 'n Cheese.



Fatty stuffing could use some work

 

OMG Stuff some brisket and mac n' cheese in a fatty.