Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Wow everything in here looks good!!!!

 

I use this and most of there products, they are all good!!!

 

Sub'd

 

Dizzy Pig Swamp Venom FTW!!!!

 

Hey Gang...

School me on Brining.... I understand the 'salt' does something to the meat, but is it that much of a difference?

What's the maximum amount of time to brine? I've seen - couple hours. Is it a bad idea to start a brine in the morning and leave it all day until you get home - too much?

 

It depends on the size of the meat you are brining. Something like a whole chicken would be fine to let brine all day while you are at work but chicken breasts will only take a few hours. Try adding some other flavors in also instead of just the salt and sugar. I like to use herbs, whole garlic cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves, ect.

 

I did a turkey for thanksgiving last year and brined it for 24 hours. I put celery, carrots and onions in the brine. It was very tasty.

The bigger the piece of meat, the longer it needs brined, otherwise you just get the flavoring on the outside and the meat in the middle isn't affected.

 

Long read, but this was interesting to me and explained how it works.

How a brine works

Moisture loss is inevitable when you cook any type of muscle fiber. Heat causes raw individual coiled proteins in the fibers to unwind—the technical term is denature—and then join together with one another, resulting in some shrinkage and moisture loss. (By the way, acids, salt, and even air can have the same denaturing effect on proteins as heat.) Normally, meat loses about 30 percent of its weight during cooking. But if you soak the meat in a brine first, you can reduce this moisture loss during cooking to as little as 15 percent, according to Dr. Estes Reynolds, a brining expert at the University of Georgia.
Brining enhances juiciness in several ways. First of all, muscle fibers simply absorb liquid during the brining period. Some of this liquid gets lost during cooking, but since the meat is in a sense more juicy at the start of cooking, it ends up juicier. We can verify that brined meat and fish absorb liquid by weighing them before and after brining. Brined meats typically weigh six to eight percent more than they did before brining—clear proof of the water uptake.
Another way that brining increases juiciness is by dissolving some proteins. A mild salt solution can actually dissolve some of the proteins in muscle fibers, turning them from solid to liquid.
Of all the processes at work during brining, the most significant is salt's ability to denature proteins. The dissolved salt causes some of the proteins in muscle fibers to unwind and swell. As they unwind, the bonds that had held the protein unit together as a bundle break. Water from the brine binds directly to these proteins, but even more important, water gets trapped between these proteins when the meat cooks and the proteins bind together. Some of this would happen anyway just during cooking, but the brine unwinds more proteins and exposes more bonding sites. As long as you don't overcook the meat, which would cause protein bonds to tighten and squeeze out a lot of the trapped liquid, these natural juices will be retained.

More infor here:
http://www.finecooking.com/articles/why-brining-keeps-meat-moist.aspx

 

Short answer is yes, brining makes a huge difference, and no, an 8-hour brine is not too long for any type of poultry. I'll let a whole turkey breast brine for 36 or 48 hours sometimes. Something thinner won't need as long but even a thin chicken tender isn't going to be ruined by an 8 hour brine.

 

Awesome!! I'm still in the 'experimental' stages. I mean..how bad can it be? LOL This past Friday, I rubbed & injected 6 breasts (halves) and threw it in at 5pm when I got home from work. Turned out pretty good....nothing of WOW factor. Next time, I'll probably throw it in brine while I'm at work.... and no injection - same rubs, sauces, etc and see how that turns out. Not that my stuff will ever be WOW...but, I'm enjoying experimenting (and eating too!!).

My husband has gotten pretty good with ribs and tries to re-create the same results. But...he's discovering even when he tries to copy, there are so many variables that make it different than before. It's still DAMN GOOD!!!
LOL

We wanna try wings too...but the 'bite thru' skin might be ...harder to grasp.

 

A buddy does smoked hot wings - "brines" them in pure franks red hot sauce for a day then smokes them. Everyone raves about them!

 

Holy hell that sounds good. I must try this now.

 

Here is what I do on my Eggs. This with 1 1/2 inch chops.

Best thick pork chops (rib chops)

Simple brine, 1/2 c kosher salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2-3 cups water...brine the chops a few hours (zip lock gallon bag is perfect). Pat dry, coffee rub and cook 'em hot and fast. preferred internal here would be to pull at 130-135* tops...carryover during the rest will bring them to 140-145* +/-. Keep it simple! Just don't cook 'em to death!!
Now for turkey breast I go one or two days with a commercial turkey rub.

 

I use this brand for most things and really enjoy all the ones I have tried. I buy it from a BBQ supply store we have here. My favorite is the stockyard steakhouse

http://www.johnhenrysfoodproducts.com/index.html

 

Would that be considered a marinade instead of a brine? (sorry, trying to learn ) Sounds good! Hell, I'd try it.

I often marinade chicken breast in Greek Lite Italian dressing before grilling.

I wonder what part of the hot sauce actually penetrates and/or what do you taste? Hot chili's... or.... I know sometimes those sauces have vinegar in them.

Another questiion: Seasonings vs Rubs - are they the same? I guess you can use whatever you want for whatever results you're looking for. Some bottles of 'stuff' are labeled as Rubs while others are seasonings....
(am I getting too technical about all this? That seems to be 'my nature')

 

Chicken legs smoked today since I was firing up the akorn for a pork shoulder. Done in 1.5 hours, cooling down now and smelling awesome!

 

^^^ that looks good!

 

I smoked some wings and boneless country ribs earlier. Turned out really good. Still have a roast on the smoker. Should be done a little after 7.

 

I've been smoking for about 6 years. I've had a few horizontal offsets, and have gone to a UDS. Cheap, efficient and can smoke a lot of meat! I also have a MUDS for when I'm cooking just for the family, or for sides (ABTs, moinks, etc.)

Here's my baby, a few other members of the family and some of the results...

 

the other family members