Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Damn look at that bark!!!!

 

The deer shoulders turned out nice!

 

Had a hankerin’ for ribs.....did a “quick” smoke on the Po’man....hominy casserole and sweet peas.

 

Note to self: try hominy casserole

 

From my Ma’s recipe vault. Haha

 

Saved this, looks like my moms recipe, but she would fry/brown before mixing and putting it in the oven

 

Sounds like another layer of flavor!

Also, tonight I used habanero jack I found at HEB.

 

That’s even better

 

Thanks! Give your Ma a hug for me.

 

Dude...that looks delicious! Hell of a job, my man.

And looks like a refill might be in order .

11 oz pouches ought to be back in stock, soon!

 

So I decided to go ahead and jump into the turkey thing. I've never cooked one..

I have done full chickens and cornish hens, but in the slow cooker, and of course it's just not the same in any respect.

Have a 14.5 lb bird defrosting in a large cooler now. I was concerned the cooler was really too large, as my probe never showed lower temps than 44 degrees last night, and that was with a bag of ice and 6 ice trays thrown in. Bought a 5 gallon drink cooler at lowes this morning, will transfer it over this evening.

Plan is to allow about 3 days for thaw, and then a day in brine, in this cooler. Clearly I will change the water when I go from thaw to brine, and sanitize. The brine kit I got has a bag in which the bird and brine go, then I will put in the cooler and I will toss enough ice in there to keep it between 35 and 40 degrees, I figure.

Instructions then say to drizzle olive oil on, and a spice packet they included. For $8 for "my first brine kit" with everything I need, it was just too hard to pass up.

After that, it's something like 325 in the oven, tented with foil, for 15-20 min/lb. Take the foil off the last 30 minutes to crisp the skin (that's the only complaint I've had about my wife's bird - she doesn't bother to crisp the skin).

Actually, now I think, this isn't the first turkey I've cooked. I fried one in oil a few years back, turned out really well.

I'm looking for some good side recipes, as well. Figure if I'm going to do this, I'm going to DO this. I have a great recipe from Mom for cornbread stuffing (thinking about throwing some oysters in there as well) so I'm going to make a small pan of that, and maybe a jazzed up mac-n-cheese.

 

That DOES it!

I have an old electric trashcan smoker I built a year or so ago. It worked well enough, but was kind of a pain, being the hotplate didn't have enough oomph to it...

I need to build or confabble up a firebox for it, and a rack system like theirs. Wish they'd just sell the parts individually.

 

Finally got a chance to try and smoke the Redfish I caught a little bit ago. Melted some herb butter and some other spices and smoked it for around 45-60 mins using a little apple smoke. Turned out good but think I prefer these on the grill.

 

Seems like I do it overnight in a cooler but this page shows 8+ hours in a fridge:
https://amazingribs.com/tested-reci...s/home-made-pastrami-thats-close-katzs-recipe

More specifically for those who don't want to wade through that page:

2) Desalinate. Put the corned beef in a pot slightly larger than the meat and cover it with cold water in the fridge for at least 8 hours. This removes excess salt. Trust me, you need to do this or you will be gulping water all night after your meal.

 

I see salamida's spiedie marinade down below in the recent products. I prefer Lupo's when I have a choice. Seems like it has more substance. Salamida seems a tad waterry. Both are good though. I grew up in spiedie country, and I want to smoke some spiedies once my new smoker gets here. (ordered a Z grill 7002 https://amzn.to/2zEd32O ) I dont see why they would not turn out great I like to do both pork, and chicken.

Lupo https://amzn.to/2Q6ww6q

Salamida https://amzn.to/2DVWFxE

 

Just got a shipment of ZGrills 700c clearance priced $269.98 then 25% off that... hmmm.

 

what is difference between 7002 and 700c? i dont see 700c on their site? mechanically the same? same size. I will cancel my order with Z grill and buy yours if all else is the same. 25% off $270 with free ship is a great deal

 

I “think” the 700c was a last years model that my company bought all the left over ones. Because I can’t find that particular model on line anywhere. The 25% off is just my employee discount it’s usually just 15% but they did give everyone a coupon for a one time Christmas purchase.

 

gotcha......snag it for yourself if you dont have one. great deal

 

I prefer Lupo’s as well, but bother are good.

I’ve also found that smoking them doesn’t turn out quite as well as grilling. The higher temperatures are necessary to get the texture right.