Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

I just picked up 80lbs of “busted” Lumberjacks hickory for $20.00, well $17.00 after discount, $18.53 out the door.

 

Hope the Barkin' don't wake the Neighbours.

 

Proud poppa pic dump from this weekend!

I picked up a 4 bone plate of short rib from the butcher. My 5 year old daughter, Stella, wanted to help cook them.

Stella helped remove the membrane, then put on the unicorn rub:


I started the smoker and had it rolling with oak wood for the smoke. Stella put them on the grates (the gloves crack me up):


Not much in the way of in progress pics, but we checked it periodically and I showed her how to tell if it's too hot or too cold inside and what to do about it.

When we decided they were done, I put them in a pan and let Stella bring them in. She insisted on one more temp check with her pink Thermopop before resting:


She helped a bit with the cutting and was proud of wielding the big knife:


We made some fancy pics of the final product:



My view for dinner:


Stella's little sister, Claire, enjoying the fruits of big sis' labor:


I obviously had plenty of input and control over the cook, but I had her do the work whenever I could and we talked about why we did certain things. Her and her sister played during the downtime, but when I told her we needed to check on it or do something, she was very engaged. Hoping to get her little smoker built soon, then teach her to do cooks all on her own.

By the way... The short rib was outstanding!

 

Pit at 225° for the night.







I don't expect much of a stall. These are smaller Packers. Hoping they ride 5-7 more hours to finish line.

 

Hope you are able to get some rest! Good luck with the rest of the cook.

 

Outstanding! The BBQ world needs some more prominent females. She'll have long lines and you can retire early! Glad y'all have that to share. Cook looks awesome.

I can't get my dogs to learn the patience of bbq

 

Bout to nap for a few hours and check on temps later. Night y'all

 

PBBEs on. Didn't want to, but gotta crutch it...







Back for a quick nap.

 

Already 178 on all 4. Bumped pit to 250 to finish them. Now nap

 

I hope your coworkers at least provide the Red Bull you'll need after your lack of sleep

 

Going to be a long day for you my friend.

 

Long days cause of tending que... Worth it

 

That’s awesome man. My daughter and I did spaghetti and meatballs last week for dinner. I told her what to do and then had to help in mixing the meat up so that we got the right consistency but she did a lot of the work herself. Of course I didn’t let her drain the noodles too big of a pan and filled with boiling water so that’s no go. But as we ate dinner she was so happy and proud.

 

No doubt there. The results justify the long night.

 

They both probed tender around 201-205 depending on probe location but they felt good. Pulled, vented til they hit 180° then double wrapped in new foil and towels and in cooler to rest.

Blurry pic cause I had to my nose. Liner gloves don't work











Pork belly continues.

 

I did lose most of the barq as expected from wrapping which sucks. Should've bumped pit temp and left em nekkid, but chickened out due to time. This method at least gave me a 2.5 hour rest period so I'm ok with that.

Not sure if I should slice and pan then take em in or slice there? Not sure I'll have space to do so there so I'll do it right before I leave. They will be sliced for about 45 mins minimum before eating. I hate preslicing but I think that's my best option. I saved the foil juices to brush back on at least to help prevent drying out as much as possible.

So many decisions! Glad I did this so I can learn and do it better next time

 

Slice em and back into the foil with the juices? Should keep them plenty moist since they’ll be trapped in the foil with the heat and warm juices.

 

That's the plan I think I'm gonna do. Gonna wait at least 2 hour rest first.

 

2.5 hours in on the Belly

 

Looking for some quick tips here. I've done a couple of smoked briskets before and they all turned out great. Nothing too complicated on the rub. I have an 11lb brisket I plan to smoke over the weekend and I wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts on brining a brisket beforehand. Also, what are your favorite rubs to use? I'm playing around with a mixture of brown sugar, kosher salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, coriander seed, ground ginger, celery seed and nutmeg.