Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

I know a guy from Canada (fellow grouse hunter) that was in Hong Kong a few years back and built one. Considering the lack of availability of smokers in HK made sense to me. Now of course you can buy a 14" WSM from Weber but $40 is a lot less than $200. 14" is awfully small though and I also am not sure what I would use it for either.

Speaking of Canada I made Yorkshire Pudding with the drippings from my Standing Rib Roast I did on Christmas. Was fantastic had a slice for breakfast this morning. Used the 12" cast iron skillet could have used the 10" but still turned out good.



Still don't believe the butcher cut the bones off the roast and tied them back on



Picked up a package of 2 pork butts last week at Costco and just put them on. And turns out they are boneless they removed the shoulder bone damn it! On a roll with bones going boneless LOL.



I Prefer Hormel butts over the Swift brand that Costco sells normally. See how these turn out but they may be last pork butts from Costco that I get.

Balmy 22° out and haven't even needed to put on a jacket yet today

 

What!!! Just Who in hell butchers like that. Just gonna pretend I never heard that. Just No excuse to do that to good meat.

 

Thanks for the info there. I probably won't waste my money trying to build a mini smoker. Between my kettle and my Smokey Mountain I can do everything I want. I'm still going to keep my eyes out for a Smokey Joe though.

The plan for yesterday was to do an 8 lb pork butt to portion out for future dinners - I like to divide it up into smaller portions and vacuum seal it for future use. I ended up pulling it off the smoker at the 14 hour mark as I didn't want to add more coals to the grill and I tossed it in the oven at 250 for another 4 hours until it hit 200 internal temperature. After that it rested in a cooler for another 3 hours. By the time I pulled it I was too full from other food to eat any but my wife said it was good.



I also had an 18lb choice brisket that I scored for $40 a while back and figured that as long as I'm firing up the smoker I might as well load it up with this thing as well. I only do brisket about once a year because its an expensive piece of meat and I still haven't mastered it. This one however came out pretty darn good. Not perfect, but good enough.

 

Looks incredible. Recipe?

 

Plans cancelled on us tonight, what ever will I do with all this meat?

 

I mixed up some breadcrumbs, minced garlic, and rosemary with some olive oil to make a paste. Seasoned the lamb with s&p and then seared all sides in the cast iron. Pulled it out and coated it with a thin layer of dijon mustard and then applied the paste. Into the oven at 350 (after about 15 minutes I bumped it up to 375 so I probably should have just done 375 the whole time) until IT of 125-130. Start to serve was about an hour.

 

Any of you all ever used Kai knives? They are the same company as Shun. I need a new set of knives and want something decent but I don't want to spend $300+ on a set right now. I was looking at the Kai Pro 7 piece set. It's on sale for $160 right now.

 

that is the same company that makes kershaw pocket knives
i would buy with confidence

 

Happy New Years all!

I forgot to share my Christmas cook. Like most, I did rib roast. Mom bought a Choice on sale at Kroger and I picked up an American Wagyu. Time for a side by side challenge! Wagyu on the left in all pics.





For this pic, I'll grant that the Choice hadn't bloomed as much, yet. They were both a very solid medium rare.




The middle of each were pretty similar with a slight flavor edge to the Wagyu.

The cap, though, was a wagyu winner hands down. An absolute beef flavor bomb.



Worth 5x the price? For a special occasion, I'd say that cap makes it absolutely worth it. An excellently prepared and cooked Choice is some damn good eating, though!

 

Looks great!

 

Nice! Any seasoning?

 

I'd tell you, but I might get slayed by a vampire .

 

Bastage

Seriously though looks great.

 

I'll take my chances. Give it up.

 

Let's team up on him. I'll bring the steak, you bring the hammer.

 

Looks awesome.

 

Like many brands they have several lines and looks like the Pro series is at the bottom. Made in China and the reviews aren't so great. Soft steel, hammering doesn't keep food from sticking, etc.

If you already have a knife set I'd recommend against getting another full set if your happy with it. Have been down that path over the years and prefer getting specific knives for specific tasks. And much of that is VERY personal. Find a place if you can that will let you try different knives before buying. Feel and balance has a lot to do with how happy I am with a knife.

I have 3 Miyabi knives I am happy with.



They have 10-12 deg edges and are for fine delicate work.

Have a Shun Premier Carver with a 15 deg blade and it too is a specialized tool.



Honestly more times than not will grab the Mercer Granton Edge Slicer. Unlike Japanese knives I am not worried about chipping the blade. In fact when using Japanese knives because of the steep angle you want to make sure your cutting board is softer than a typical walnut\maple laminated American board.

For heavy lifting I use a 10" Henckels Chef knife and use it a lot. The heavy duty German Henckels and Wusthof Chef knives are better suited IMO to heavy duty cutting.

I like my Japanese knives but to be honest more times than not I reach for my German Chef knife or Chicago Cutlery 5" boning knife for 90% of my knife work

The Chicago Cutlery steel is extremely soft so requires a lot of sharpening and honing. But I am used to it. So soft steel isn't necessarily bad it just requires a lot more maintenance.

My 2 cents anyhow and worth what you paid for it

 

I no longer have anything even remotely resembling a set of knives let alone anything I would remotely call even decent. I would like to pick up a decent set. It the Shun set I like is $1300 on sale. That’s not happening

Guess I’ll have to keep looking for something. Appreciate the feedback.

 

Soft steel is easier, and faster to sharpen. A good smooth steel, crock sticks, and a Work Sharp make life better. I don't let my knives get badly dull before they get a touch up. And I always touch them up after my wife has used them.