Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

My neighbor made a Costco trip and brought me back a brisket. Looks like I’ll be smoking my first brisket soon! This thing is massive, I’ll have to trim it up to fit it in the smoker. I think I’ll need to re-up on some Unicorn rub to cover it too.

 

They make bigger smokers...

 

Haha, yeah this one has been a nice first smoker to learn on but I’ve been thinking about upgrading for a little while now.

I just watched a video on these briskets about separating the point and the flat so it should fit after that. Gonna do some burnt ends with the point.

 

just got two racks of ribs for this cook off. Frozen so they’ll thaw by the end of the week when it’ll be a good time to smoke. I have a few ideas.

might have to go back and get some fillers. Two racks of ribs leaves the entire top rack open for more. Maybe some drumsticks haven’t done those in a while.

 

2 racks of frozen ribs here is gonna cost ya $38 now. Saw them in the store yesterday. Was like damn! Ground beef went from $6 to $11.

 

Then again I was looking at King Crab and Lobster online early today. $44 a pound for King Crab seems to be the going rate now. Damn...

 

I threw away the receipt. Both racks, 6 pack frozen turkey burgers and a bag of buns, 2 cans cream of chicken soup, and two bags of frozen fries (okay, one was tots....) same out to about 38 bucks. Near a city, budget store. They had a full stock of TP and whatnot today. They were out of hot italian sausages though those my favorite to smoke. They don't hike the prices and nobody knows they exist. However if i went to Shaw's or Stop and SHop I'm sure they'd be stocked but 3x the price.

We haven't been hit that hard here. We're in Providence so we have the supply chain of Boston, Portland (Maine), Hartford, Worcester, and NYC included in our region.

I read that some Maine fishermen were having troubles. No markets for Lobster, scallops, etc. might be able to get it cheap nearby. But. Not sure if it carries over to MN

 

insane, if you guys lived closed to me i have a restaurant depot card, everything you find at restaurants i get at cost. that's crazy ground beef is so expensive. Didn't they pass something where they can't price gouge?

 

There's probably a percentage of supply and/or demand which means they arent gouging. I guess.

How much is that? I live in PVD and could see myself getting meat and some other stuff in bulk. I need to convince the wife we need a deep/stand up freezer in the garage anyway....COnsidering starting to start fishing for food, maybe some small game rabbit/bird hunting too.

 

Huuzah! Thanks @bvbull200


Now send me some vampire

 

Demand is out doing supply. People cleaning everything out is what’s the problem. Suppliers have to work overtime to meet demand equals a rise in cost. We pay that cost.

 

My youngest sister and family lived in Providence for a few years, a long time ago. My oldest son is in Boston. Last time I was in Boston I ate a 5 pound lobster. Not sure I could pull that off now as I get older just can't eat as much as I used to. But I'd try like hell LOL.

Garage freezer is not an option, it is a requirement! Also have a second fridge there and that freezer is full up too.











If you don't have a vacuum sealer you might want to start looking at getting a decent one now. Just saying....

 

One thing to remember is that some fridges and freezers are not made to be in an garage that isn't temp controlled.

 

I need to check that out.

I’d suggest not separating before cooking. Figure out another way to arrange it so it fits whole. Place a metal bowl under it in the middle or something. What kind of smoker are you using?

 

I agree... Cutting down a brisket to make it fit should be a crime! Making burnt ends AFTER is definitely cool.. but separating the point and the flat should be a no no!

 

Im leaning towards this one...i know it looks small but i think it will work for what we need, i need to measure the inside but its cheaper and home depot carries it.

https://www.masterbuilt.com/products/gravity-series™-560-digital-charcoal-grill-smoker

 

Interesting

 

I saw that one at Home Depot awhile back.. think I posted a picture here somewhere... I wasn't impressed by the quality of the build... But my expectations are pretty high.

 

Seemed fine to me, care to elaborate?