Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Oh, you’re not doing low carb, you’re doing low cal. Godspeed my man. That’s a tough road. But a big payoff.

 

In Hawaii for a few weeks for vacation (Big Island). Out seeing the sites and stopped for lunch at Waipao Cookhouse. Owner of the place farms his own fruits/veggies and the beef, chicken, fish and lamb are all from the island. The food is awesome.

The guy has a custom built offset smoker he uses for brisket and pulled kalua pork. He uses Kiawe wood, a version of Hawaiian mesquite. Fantastic brisket sammies. They also have an Emu. Wish I could get some Kiawe lump...



Waipao valley, namesake of the cookhouse, which is on the way to the valley.

 

That’s lretty much what we do, when the weather cooperates.

Yes it is. They have some cherry and peaches as well. Unfortunately, a developer bought it years ago, and tried to turn it into high density townhomes. The community has stopped it for now, well, he was asking for 20 variances, and the township said no. No future plans have been put forth since then.

That’s part of the reason we bought this house. Would be a shame to have to move.

 

Recipe?

 

Dead freezer equals venison bacon burgers on the pooper. Thanks to @Bigdaddy4760 for the hook up. Late night cook!

 

Also... When flipping burgers the grate probe fell out... Onto my foot. Landed and I went "huh... That's hot... Ffffuuuuucccckkkk" .425*

Good thing the Jack Daniels is flowing

 

Lol! When we landed in Hilo Thursday we were bushed after a long day. Our rental house is an hour drive north and we had to stock up on groceries and supplies before the drive, so we stopped by Walmart. Their liquor selection is very limited and I ended up with Woodford Reserve as I didn't feel like seeking out a liquor store and making another stop. Turns out it's pretty decent...

Anywho, skip forward to tonight and I'm grilling chicken on the bbq of the rental. It's one of those small stainless steel marine things. I've had the Woodford flowing for awhile when I grab the handle on the grill to check the chicken - damn things was burning hot! As it happened to you, the brown stuff tempered the pain a bit!

 

I tried a few wings (again) using peach wood...
I also smoked some salmon using peach wood...

 

i really just winged it based on what i remember from an old recipe.

bunch of hashbrowns
~cup of sourcream
can of "cream of Celery" soup - you can use cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, or even the cheese base soup
little bit of milk/cream/half and half
salt and pepper - i used my steak and chop seasoning that is pretty much garlic salt and pepper.

mix it all up, throw it in the oven or grill. i had enough that i split it between 2 foil packets. put them on the top rack and they cooked for about 40 min.

 

I still need to smoke salmon one these day!!!

 

3hr difference with some ribs!! Going to foil her up soon

 

All done

 

those ribs look killer!

 

Looks great!!

 

King Sooper had choice tri-tip for $4.99/lb so I got 2. One seasoned with Pork Pleasoning and salt, the other with Montreal Steak. Smoke for 1:15-30 then sear on grill, fool proof goodness.

 

Preview for tomorrow:

About three pounds of belly, cut into two peices. Then sliced each into thirds, but not full cut, ends still attached.

Rubbed one in salt, pepper and garlic, and the other in Pitfaced with some added brown sugar for the wife. Braided them to see how it would be, then bagged for an overnight rest. I’ll pick up some string tomorrow and tie the ends before smoking.

Plan is to smoke them until about 160 over apple wood, Check to see how much fat rendered, and pull them or take them to 165. Rest them, slice, and devour them.

 

Damn. This weather makes me want to stay indoors

 

Folks, wise me up a little here. 13 lb brisket, I trimmed it up some. it's still 1 piece, the flat is 2 inches thick, the point is at least 6 inches thick. Do I need to cut these apart? Then cook each 1 to IT? Obviously I'm no brisket guru. Like that TV show my wife watches, 'what would you do'?

 

I’d do it whole. Fat down.

 

Trim hard fat off. Don’t go to crazy especially on the flat. I cut a majority of that fat on the point of the sides. It’s a huge chuck of Fat called the deckle. I don’t go way deep inside but I take off a huge chunk.

I like the Fat up. Just experiment and learn so you can cooknit better the next go around.