Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Ya man not sure I could toss out $100 in beef either. Was telling my friend we need to get to hacking the pellet pooper so I can monitor and control of WiFi. Would also like to rig a way to tell how much is left in the hopper but not sure how to go about that one.

 

Ya I want to try and figure something out. I would like to know that the hopper is even like only 1/4 full or something. I'm just glad I checked ahead of time instead of getting everything ready getting it all started up and THEN realized that it was almost empty lol.

 

Could be like some of the guys who put the smoke stacks on their diesel trucks and have it like 4' above the smoker lol.

 

I tried something a little different this weekend.

6lb pork shoulder
Dry rubbed and vacuum sealed for 24 hours in the fridge.
Sous Vied at 165 degrees for 24 hours
And finished on the smoker at 260 for 3.5 hours

By far the most moist pulled pork I've ever had. I'm doing another one for new years I'm going to mix it up and do 20 hours in the bath and 8 at 200 degrees on the smoker to see how that turns out

 

It's a precision cooker the technique is called "Sous Vied" and it's awesome!
https://anovaculinary.com/anova-pre...ANpGizn7YN60CPw2Fb1Pl8HPpM4i7k8VTKRoCKuTw_wcB

 

It hooks on anything thinner then about 1.25" the cooler works well on the long cooks and the Sous Vied buckets are like 150 for the insulated ones.

 

I thought the same...

 

The only thing that I can say worries me about this method is there used to be a lot of backlash on on chemicals leaching out from the plastic bags. Is this still an issue? I have wanted to try this method out but never have based on that.

 

Our GMG has wifi temp/timer/low pellets. They sell replacement parts might give you an idea on how to do it.
http://greenmountaingrills.com/products/grills/davy-crockett-pellet-grill-wifi/

 

Not so much of a modern issue, and sous vide is such low temperatures, I wouldn't be worried about it at all.

There's a lot of backlash and fear mongering when it comes to consumer grade chemical exposure, like plastic bags, can linings, and thermal receipts from businesses. Now things are BPA free, but all that really meant is that they used a different chemical called BPS, which is essentially a twin to BPA but with far less studying done on it and with the same known problems, with slight variations.

Unless you're one of those kinds of people who adamantly refuse to touch their receipts from their grocery stores with their bare hands, don't use microwaves, and don't eat off plastic utensils, I wouldn't think anything of sous vide cooking. It's safe.

 

I have the daniel boone. Love the thing. Cooking pork on fri night-sat and prime rib sunday.

 

Yeah, love our Davy Crockett, I don't cook in the house oven anymore. Take it camping and have found it to be very useful with all the campfire/charcoal restrictions during the Calif fire season (all year now it seems). Running on 12vdc, I put plugs on the front toolbox of our teardrop to make it easy to set up on either side. Of course I found out I can run it directly from the solar panel but easier to run it on battery and charge at the same time so there is no possible interruptions.

 

I was contemplating a DC for our Florida room but found out the exhaust fan was going to cost twice as much as the grill. So I decided that buying the DB with wifi would be a much better use of money!

 

I have to agree that a Weber 22 kettle is a great way to start especially if you don't have a charcoal grill. They are very versatile and I have the rotisserie for both the Weber Genesis and Kettle. Meat always taste good on a stick.



I have a slow'n sear that is linked to however not as pleased with it as I thought I would be. For searing it doesn't take up enough surface area even with the water tray it doesn't come to the half way point across the grill surface. And you have to add a lot of coals to it so that they come to right below the grill surface. I ended up going back to the old way of sear and slide using the

$45 Weber 7402 Charcoal Rails

Weber 7402 charcoal rails to hold another charcoal grate right below the meat.



But I like to Sear and Slide large chunks of meat obviously



When using the kettle for smoking and the sear'n slide I didn't get the long burn down time I was hoping for. Eventually ended up going back to the

$26 Weber 7403 Weber Char-Basket Charcoal Holders

Weber 7403 Char Baskets on each side of the grill and minon method. With the sear'n slide it pushes the meat to the other side and seems like less room. The baskets concentrate the meat into the center of the grill where there is more room. Then again on Amazon the sear'n slide has nothing but positive reviews so maybe it is just me. I don't care for the reverse sear using charcoal and still sear and slide so maybe I am just too old and set in my ways LOL.

I like my Weber's obviously and normally grill ~3 times a week. Would smoke more often if it wasn't for the cold, and if I had a decent smoker. Have a Masterbuilt smoker that hasn't been used in a long time and I only use it as a dedicated fish smoker. Which it doesn't excel at to say the least. I use a Genesis for quick cooks on hotdogs, brats, sausage burgers, etc. The Kettle does a decent job for most of my needs. However....

Been wanting to get a WSM for years and reading the Weber Virtual Bullet website for a long time. My concern is the cold here. It was -21F yesterday but up to 16 above today. Not all that uncommon here in the winter. The thermal jackets for the WSM look like a PITA for refueling, adjusting, etc. Wind shields only work up to a certain point and there is still the cold and temps change a lot during the day. It is a struggle with the kettle and will be with a WSM too with the wide temperature fluctuations.

This weekend was looking at the Char-Griller 20" Akorn Kamado Kooker. It is a wanna be BGE and realize it will not last as long as a WSM and has no where near the surface area to cook on.


But being insulated even if it is with air I think would do well for consistency. Debating if I should just bite the bullet and get a WSM like I've always wanted and work on modding it for the cold? Or go with something like the Kamado. Or am I missing something else? I have no desire to go with pellets, and electric will not work in the winter here. Thoughts?

 

Great writeup. As far as searing on a WSM, you just remove the dome and middle portion, grab the grate, and set it directly on the coal ring. Did just that last night when reverse searing a trip tip. The coals couldn't be closer (if you want them to be close) and there's no sacrifice of grate room. Very quick and easy. Btw, I haven't found much issue at all with external air temps being an issue with the WSM. Wind yes, temp no. Once it's seasoned and has a decent coating of flat dull stuff on the inside (after the first couple smokes), it holds temp amazingly well no matter the outside temp. It's all about fiddling with it for your first, say, 5 smokes. After that, you are its master.

 

Of course, for the ultimate, get a Primo. I want to but it'll wait... the WSM is just ducky for now.

 

I am confused about the sear n slide? Is that a product (slow n sear) or a cooking method?

Thanks

 

That is exactly what Meathead says too LOL. This thread has me reading there again even though I have his book. The general consensus from him and those on the board there is a kamado is the only way to fly in really cold temps. I did find several building insulated sheds for the WSM with vents of course and using a pit viper mod for heat control. I forgot about those although it does bring the cost up to closer to at least $450-$500 for the WSM. I doubt any of us are into this to save money however, it is for the damn fine food!

 

My bad the product is Slow'n Sear. I got mine from Amazon

Sear and Slide is where you cook your meat as hot as you can over flames for a short time then move it to the other side of the grill to finish cooking using indirect heat.

 

I like my slow and sear xl but I agree the sear area is not big enough. I like the using vortex with grill grates to get the sexy bbq lines!