Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Good thread, what I read of it anyway!

This post ended up being kinda long winded but I'm having a nice lazy Sunday today so...

I don't smoke as much as I used to, meat has gotten rather expensive. I still try to get something on at least once a month though. The family really likes smoked meat but it's only my wife and I and our daughter so giant hunks of meat end up with a lot of cooked meat in the freezer, which is not a bad thing.

Anyway, I run a Brinkmann Gourmet electric kettle smoker that I've had for years. I want to say I spent maybe $50 on it on sale at Home Depot. It's certainly not fancy but with a little fiddling it gets the job done just fine. I've smoked just about everything you can hot smoke on the thing. Brisket, Butts, ribs, meatloaf, kosher salt (diy smoked salt), chicken wings, chickens & turkeys, London Broil, Chuck Roasts and more and most everything turns out great. I've gotten more than my money's worth out of it that's for sure but I've been thinking about upgrading to cabinet style. Some folks down on the electric smokers but I like the fact that once it's going all I really have to do is toss in a couple of chunks of wood every hour or so and let it rock.

I've found that for small things like chicken wings, thick pork chops or steaks I can smoke them from frozen until they are about 15-20 dungarees under my final temp then finish them off on the grill (or fry daddy for the wings, makes awesome smoked hot-wings).

Today's "Sunday Smoke" is an 18 lb. turkey. It came from the Amish so it wasn't super-processed or brine injected, so yesterday morning it went into a wet brine:

• 3 gallons water
• 3 cups (kosher) salt
• 3/4 cups brown sugar
• 3/4 cups white sugar
• Worcestershire sauce
• bay leaves
• fresh garlic cloves
• marjoram, thyme, sage (dried)
• whole black pepper corns

This morning it was rinsed off and dried. Then I worked a compound butter with fresh parsley, sage, and thyme up under the skin and applied olive oil and a dry rub very lightly (since it was already wet brined) on the outside. My basic home-made dry rub is a mixture of:

• pink salt
• brown and white sugar
• chili powder
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• paprika
• black pepper

Then I shoved the "sittin' turkey steamer" up it's butt (think beercan chicken), filled with some of the boiled wet brine, and put some of the boiled wet brine into my water bowl for the smoker (my smoker uses a water bowl for moisture). I usually just re-use the wet brine for the water bowl because it's already got seasoning and stuff and waist not want not. I don't think what goes in the water bowl really makes a ton of difference in the results anyway because when it goes to steam it leaves behind whatever seasonings and what not you've put in it (I mean that's how distilling works).

The wood today is Mesquite (which some find a little bold for poultry but we like).

On the smoke at about 9 am. I'm hoping to finish at around 5 ish for dinner at around 6. I'll be tossing some taters on the smoker at around 2:30 or 3 too.

About 6 or 8 months ago I got a Tenergy Solis thermometer on super-discount from woot.com (I think I paid around $35 for it) that I've been using to replace my Maverick wireless smoker. It has 6 temperature probes (thought you don't have to use them all), connects to a phone or tablet app using bluetooth, and is better designed overall than the Maverick. You can set up custom range and max alerts for each probe and it tracks all the probes for the smoking session on a line chart in the app too.

$58 Tenergy Solis Digital Meat Thermometer, APP Controlled Wireless Bluetooth Smart BBQ Thermometer w/ 6 Stainless Steel Probes & Carrying Case, Cooking Thermometer for Grill & Smoker

https://www.amazon.com/Tenergy-Thermometer-Controlled-Bluetooth-Stainless/dp/B077821Z4C

So with that i'm tracking the temps of both breasts, both thighs, the smoker temp, and outside air temp! I'm a "data guy" and a bit nerdy so I like having lots of information. It does make my turkey look a little bit like a crazy science experiment that I'm trying to re-animate like Frankenstein's monster though.

IT'S ALIIIIIVEEE!!!!

I let the smoker run hot when I do turkeys and chickens, if it wants to, because I don't think they really benefit much from super long smokes like beef and pork does. Today is a little cold here in Maryland so I toss my old beach blanket that I use for just this purpose over it to help insulate it against the outside air a bit and it will probably run about 225 to 250 or so.

I'll take some pictures of the finished product (and a screenshot of my temps if I can figure out how) tonight!

 

Wonder if when the board shit the bed it either took out the igniter or igniter took out the board. On the bright side you can always use a torch and start the pot off and go from there. Hopefully you just forgot to plug it in.

Like is said though if you need me to take it off your hands I can help ya out

 

I was trying to find the vomit one.

 

Looks good man. Smoked is about the only way I can do turkey anymore. I add honey in my brine and fresh sliced citrus in mine. Wife loves the turkey done that way.

 

Hurt to even type that

sir

Not sure. I though about manually lighting pellets but it still cycles the ignitor every now and then if needed. Wasnt worth risking the whole cook if it went out. Figure I'll get parts overnighted under warranty like last time or vac seal and freeze the brisket.

 

For the love of god, just put them in the oven

 

Gonna have to go out of state to do them Shenanigans.

 

The boiling pot in the oven? Better temp control? Gotcha!

Haha. If I ever did that, someone come put me outta my misery

 

Closest I ever came to doin that was for a Korean Rib recipe. Directions were to pour boiling water on 'em for one minute. Then season them & hang in the Smoker. Had to get the Wife to do it as I couldn't do it myself.

 

Did you have to leave the room so you didn’t see the atrocity? My wife’s dad boils his ribs, I don’t eat them. The closest mine come to water is if I need to thaw a package out and those are wrapped in plastic when the water is near.

 

Don’t forget to throw some wood chips into the water.

 

Put a pork butt on the smoker, did t take any before pics as it was early and I forgot. Goi g to pull the pork and make BBQ nachos for the SB. I have 5 more pork butts in the freezer since they were on sale for $0.60 cents a lb. I am glad it is 65 degrees, nice day for some smoke.

 

Glad to see you Practiced Safe Ribs & left the package on.

 

Wrap that rascal!

 

Jesus fuck 60 cents a pound!?? I think the one I grabbed from Costco was $1.99 a pound. It was a 15 pounder. It’s halved though. Mines in the smoker going on hour 4 right now. Lookin damn good I just snuck a quick peak. Also doing pulled pork nachos and sliders for the game

 

Hoping I timed this right, although I think I did. Hoping to pull from the pit by 1 so it can get a good 2 hour rest in the cooler before shredding

 

.60 cents a lb I would have bought cases of them

 

And another freezer!

 

Yeah I was out of state working and my wife picked them up at the commissary. Sometimes it is a good thing when the wife knows good deals.

 

Thanks!

I agree we love smoked poultry around this house!

On Thanksgiving I usually do a full Bird in the smoker and a breast in the oven. I really only do the breast in the oven because my wife's gramma doesn't like smoked food. She complains of bacon if it's too Smokey! But she's family and we love her... And okay she also happens to be moderately loaded.

I like that idea of some citrus I'll have to try that next time. My wife is not a fan of honey (I am) but I bet by the time everything is said and done it would be a real subtle background flavor anyway so I might try both on my next Bird. Sometimes I add concentrated frozen apple juice either for poultry or pork.

I end up doing a lot of birds since they are cheap!

My Turkey today is running fast, nearly done already, so it's gong to be done pretty early. No worries, it'll just get a nice loooong rest in the cooler and maybe an earlier dinner.