Thought I'd start a thread where everyone can just quickly mention what they're makin' on their cookshack equipment. Any model, any method, any type of grub, etc. Pictures encouraged!
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I currently have an overabundance of fresh peppers from my garden, so I stuffed and smoked some last nite on my PG500. Some were hot, some were just sweet peppers.
Stuffing was hamburger, cheese, rice, tomato soup concentrate and some simple seasoning.
Turned out very good although a couple of the hot peppers kicked my butt...
I just finished a Bologna Blunt that needs to be sliced. I am doing Johnny Trigg style ribs today. I have to pick up a Chuck roast and get some smoke on it so it can go in the crock pot on Tuesday. This will be for tacos. The weather here is too hot to cold smoke so am waiting to salmon, cheese, summer sausage, and bacon.
Well, for the holiday weekend, not much. Green chile cheese sliders on the grill last night, wings tonight (my preferred technique of grilling with the Amaz-n tube smoker alongside putting out lots of apple wood pellet smoke) tonight, and tomorrow hasn't been determined yet, but I'll do a batch of almonds while I think about it. Happy Labor Day!
Just threw an eye of round on the pellet grill... Going for a sear then smoke.
Will probably end up tossing on some okra for a side dish.
@idahomike - love me some smoked bologna!!!
Weather was beautiful here yesterday, so did all my oven cooking outside on my PG500...
Cooked up some bacon in the morning and did some roasted diced potatoes and some baked tilapia for dinner.
I haven't been really happy with my smoked almonds until now. I use raw almonds from BJ's (about $7 for 11 or 12 oz, just enough for one level of frog mat in my SM066). I've tried various flavors and combinations, knowing you need a liquid "wetting agent" to let the dry spices or herbs adhere. I finally found a really good version! I used (for 11 - 12 oz of raw almonds) 1 tablespoon of Sriracha sauce, stirred well to coat every nut, followed by one teaspoon of sea salt, also stirred well. Placed in the smoker on a frog mat on one level, used a one oz hickory chunk, and smoked for about 2 hours 15 minutes at 225 F.
The result was fabulous smoked almonds, good smoke flavor, enough salt to make them addicting, enough time to make them crunchy, and enough Sriracha to make them just spicy enough to be interesting. Will do again!! Simplicity is good!
That sounds awesome @jay1924!
I cooked some sliders on a salt block tonight for supper... Tasted great, but man I hate cleaning that dang salt block...
Today I smoked my last batch of wild salmon for the season - 6.5 lbs of Coho (from Costco, a real find). That makes about 25 lbs total for the summer, a bit low since wild Alaskan sockeye salmon was not available until July this year vs early June most years, and Copper River sockeye was not available at all. I used Mr. T's brine as always and cut the salmon to three pieces per side (I try to get sides about 1.5 lbs each), so 12 pieces on two racks in my Amerique. I used 2.5 oz of alder (two small chunks) at 200F for about 55 minutes, for an IT in the thickest piece of 145 by the Amerique probe.
We use smoked salmon all year from the freezer (it freezes great in Foodsaver vacuum bags), mostly for breakfast, but over the holidays we make lots of smoked salmon spread with cream cheese and sour cream for bagels and toast in the morning or on crackers for a snack. A freezer full of home-smoked salmon is a beautiful thing. Try it!
@jay1924 That sounds awesome dude! I got lazy this weekend and did some salmon under the broiler. It was ok, but man you got my mouth watering...
When you freeze, do you leave the skin intact?
jobiewan - yes, I leave the skin on while I cool the pieces to room temp on racks and then freeze them individually in foodsaver bags cut to size from the roll. I think (without real evidence) that it helps retain moisture in the freezer. I've found that if the freezer bag vacuum holds, the pieces can go well over a year and still be great. I'm currently eating a batch I made in July last year.
Did a pork shoulder last weekend. Got a late start so cooked at 300. Turned out just as tender and juicy as going low and slow. Decent bark and decent smoke flavor...
Had to strip the vegetable plants yesterday bcuz we had our first hard freeze last night so I've got a bunch of hot peppers that I'm going to smoke this weekend. Will dehydrate some and make some chipotle sauce out of the rest.
Hoping to give jay's smoked salmon recipe this wknd too!
Thanks for the mention jobiewan, but I have to make sure the credit goes to Mr. T. It's all in the brine!
got a smoked meatloaf going right now and gonna grill up some asparagus to go with it!
I mixed up 30 pounds of sausage yesterday I need to get it stuffed and smoked of the next couple of days.
I did a "smoked pot roast" yesterday, adapted from a recipe from andyj here a few years ago. Got a angus chuck roast (about 3 lbs, about 2.5 inches thick) from Shoprite. Coated lightly with Smokin' Guns BBQ rub (thanks again, cal!), and used about 2 oz of pecan at 225 for about 2 hours, to an IT of 140F. Removed and placed in a dutch oven over one sliced red pepper and 1/2 sliced vidaia onion, and poured over one can of stout and 1 cup beef broth. Into a 300F oven for about 3 1/2 hours (covered) until pullable with a fork. Removed the meat to a pan and covered with foil back in the warm oven while I used a stick blender to puree the sauce and reduced it down for about 10 minutes. The sauce (now a great gravy) can be pretty intense if you don't go lightly with the rub in the beginning. Served with mashed Yukon golds and steamed green beans. A real weekend treat! My SO says "don't ever do pot roast any other way."
got a 13 lb brisket in process. threw it on at 6:30 last night at 225 on my PG500. just did a 12 hour probe and sitting at 170ish.
edit: tell ya what, this might have been the best brisket I've ever made. wrapped in butcher paper at about 180 internal took it off at 200 internal and FTC'd for a couple hours. Total cook time was about 20 hours.
Entire thing was fall apart tender and extrememly juicy. good bark, good smoke ring. was tough to get slices or burnt end cubes it was falling apart so easy.
OK, now you got my attention! Whole or flat? Choice or prime? Where did you get it? 225 the whole time? Inquiring minds want to know!
it was a full packer. trimmed it up real nice applied basic montreal steak type seasoning just before putting on the smoker. cooked fat side up whole time.
setpoint was 225 the whole cook. had to adjust LHT/HHT a couple of times due to fluctuations in ambient temp. I think overnight got down to 20 ish F daytime was in the 50's and windy.
so now for maybe the surprising part... was just a cheap ole walmart brisket. packaging was pretty non-descript... angus choice i believe.
just as good as leftovers for lunch today and I froze half of it to enjoy months down the road.
I am jealous. The only place I can find a brisket packer is in a Sam's Club a 45 minute drive away, and then only sporadically, and when they do have them (sometimes even prime), the flat end is so thin it seems like not worth my money or time. Very frustrating, since I am not willing to spend $100+ on a Creekstone or Snake River brisket. But I'll keep looking. Meanwhile, chuckies seem to satisfy the need for smoked beef.
Yes with the quality and price issues I've pretty much given up on briskets also.
I find Whole Packers at Costco and they have both prime and choice. I also find them at Albertson's and Wally World (they will order them in for you). I have a pretty good eye for judging beef. I have done Prime brisket, and can't tell the difference between the hand selected Choice brisket that I do. I have even done a select grade once or twice and they were pretty good. Jobiewan hit the nail on the head with his cooking method. you can use your thermometer right up to the end of the cook. I usually start probing my brisket at 190 degrees IT. I have actually had some that probed as done at that temp. I probe again at 200 degrees IT and pull the ones that are done. I have had one or two that that went to 215 degrees before they probed right. I don't wrap my brisket until it is ready to go in the cooler.
Thanks Mike - good input. I actually saw a really good looking choice flat at Costco today, seemed like the thickness was two to three inches throughout. It was just over ten pounds, at $6 a lb. Maybe should have bought it. I wonder what they do with their points? I'll look again when the weather gets a bit better. I No packers available anywhere near me, sad to say.
Tried something new yesterday. Smoked some pork country style ribs which I have never done.
Cajun themed rub applied about 4 hours ahead of cook. Smoked at 225 for about 4 hours. Basted with a cider vinegar based mop every 45 minutes or so.
Wasn't really sure how to determine doneness, so just did a poke and probe test until i thought it was good.
Was impressed that with such a lean cut of meat it still came out tender and a little juicy. Cajun rub was a little hot for the missus, but I loved it.
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Wow, that looks incredible! I've never done that cut in the smoker, but also, the name "country style ribs" is used in stores for many cuts of pork, from slices of bone-in butt roast to ribs from the loin, to rib cuts across the bone of the lower rib, etc. If you know what meat you are looking for, you can get the juiciness and tenderness you want, but be aware not all cuts with that name are the same. Anyway jobiewan, you done good! When I get a good package of fatty butt "ribs" I'll try it.
I did smoked meat loaf on Sunday. I found the recipe on here years ago. Equal parts of ground beef, and Italian sausage. I mixed everything up on Saturday so the flavors would mingle. This ended up being a total of 6.5 pounds. I put them in the smoker with pecan and oak. 210 degrees to 150 degrees IT. Pulled and rested them for 20 minutes and bumped the smoker to 250 degrees. Moped them with BBQ sauce, and back in the smoker for 20 minutes. This is seriously good stuff.
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@jay1924 - great point! these were cut from the butt...
@idahomike - I LOVE smoked meatloaf! i've always left mine dry, so curious what style BBQ sauce you finished with?
Logan's Roadhouse puts a good mushroom sauce on their grilled meatloaf which is something I have always wanted to take a swing at but never got around to it.
those pictures look awesome! I might have to make one this weekend!
Great stuff Mike! Is that red pepper I see in the mix? I haven't done smoked meatloaf (yet).
Jobiewan - here's the mushroom gravy we use on our (baked) meatloaf. we like it a lot. The longer you let it simmer, the thicker it gets.
just put a meatloaf in. 35mph sustained winds with gusts to 50 plus here in the heartland today, so we'll see how that affects things...
I think this thread you cooked up (
) should require pics.
@jay1924 I agree, but i get so dang anxious to shove the finished product down my face i forget to take pictures!!!
Jobiewon and Jay: I used Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce over the top, and used onions and red bell peppers in the meat mixture. I used half regular Italian sausage and half hot Italian sausage. I need to cut back on the hot sausage as the meat loaf did have a bite to it.
Mike - Sweet Baby Ray's is my new favorite for loin backs if anyone wants sauce. I also use it on my baked meat loaf ( a Julia Child recipe but using beef, pork, and lamb 1 pound each), but I spike it with my favorite NM hot sauce Santa Fe Ole 3 pepper hot sauce.
So I'm going to try to post pics of some beef cheeks I did a couple of weeks ago. I started with about 7.5 lbs cheeks cryovac from Sam's Club. After (a lot of) trimming of fat and gristle, I had about 5 lbs of good clean cheeks. I froze half for later and put a light sprinkle of Oak Ridge Back Ops brisket rub on the 3 lbs or so:
Then in the smoker (SM-066 Amerique):
After about 5 hours in the smoker at 225, with 2 oz of pecan wood:
Another 5 hours in a 225 oven foil covered to finish with a braise, then pulled and ready to eat. We used a good hot fresh salsa and guacamole with a bit of lettuce on flour tortillas.
If you can find beef cheek meat (otherwise known as barbacoa) it is fantastically flavorful beef. Try it if you can!
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@idahomike - I've never tried an all sausage meatloaf... will have to give it a whirl. i've either done 100% beef or 60% beef/40% sausage. Red bell peppers chopped up in the mix is good and I usually mix a little hot sauce in too with some worchestire
@jay1924 - wow that looks and sounds fantastic. something to add to my wish list!
made some quesadillas yesterday... veggies in cast iron pan and steak on a salt block. turned out awesome!
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i have and 11lb. brisket. I will smoke it to in internal temp of 160 F. After it cools completely do you think that I can put it back in with a pan of water and steam it up to an internal of 190 F.? If I turn my machine up to it's max setting of 250? Thanks everybody. Paul Irving. Toronto
Did a whole prime packer brisket from Sam's club (under $3 per lb.!). It had a fairly thick flat and a huge point, about 14.5 lbs in the cryovac. After I trimmed the surface fat on top to about 1/4 inch, and took out some heavy fat from between the point and flat on the sides, it weighed about 12.5 lbs. I used a medium rub of Oak Ridge Black Ops Brisket Rub. This was an overnight cook, based on IdahoMike's prescription. I rubbed the brisket about two hours before putting it in the smoker (SM066) with about 3.5 oz white oak in two chunks around 8:00 pm at 200 set temp. I ignored it all night until about 9:00 am, at which time the probe said 151F. I then boosted the temp to 250. Around 1:00 pm I was alarmed to see the probe read 180F. I thought it must be wrong, so I probed around a bit with my thermapen and found the true temp in the middle of the thick part of the flat was 175F. I moved the smoker probe and kept going, noticing that it was in the stall at 175 - 177 for about two more hours. At 4:00 I probe tested it at 190F, seemed a bit tough at the thickest part pf the brisket, so I let it go to 195 when it probed pretty tender. I pulled and FTC'd it at 5:00 pm for about 2 hours. Out of the smoker, it was very dark bark, and a lot of juicyness, and it wiggled a bit when I handled it.
Result was a slightly overcooked dry flat, on the thin end, but juicy and moist under the point. Quite good flavor. The point needs a bit of trim on the residual surface fat before I do burnt ends, which I expect to be fabulous. The dry flat slices will go to Texas chili (Wick Fowler's spice blend) for summer fun on hot dogs.
My takeaway lessons: 1) Pull the brisket when the flat is tender and don't worry about the point being a bit stiff - you are going to cook it further to render more fat for burnt ends anyway. 2) Overnight cooks keep you sane if you have a smoker you can set and forget. Love my Amerique.
(Sorry no pics.)
No pic, it's just a story!!
Paul B
I try to post pics (see my beef cheeks above), but yesterday I was a bit too frazzled to do it. I'm still not experienced enough with brisket to feel comfortable about timing or doneness. I run in and out with my thermapen a lot. I'll do better next time.
A question for all the good brisket cooks I assume (hope) are still lurking here: When you say "done at 195" or "done at 200" I assume that means the thickest part of the flat. How overdone is the thin part of the flat at that point? When my thermapen registered 195 in the thickest part, the thin part (about 3/4 inch thick) registered 201 and was pretty dry and crumbly. Any way to avoid that except wrapping (which I don't want to do - I love good bark)?
Jay: I bought a ThermoWorks Smoke a long time ago. I am now using the Smoke X4. This is a leave in probe that is connected to a sender. You take the remote in the house and shows the temps where ever you are in the house. Just another one of those tools that lets you set it and forget it. I put the probe in the thick part of the flat, and set the temp on the Smoke to 190 degrees. When the alarm goes off I go out and probe both the flat and the point. When they both feel like I had just stuck the probe into warm butter the brisket is done. You may have a little dry area on the thin part of flat. Just trim it off, and freeze it for the next time you make chili. I am getting older and my back is raising heck with me. I usually trim out my brisket and hit it with the dry rub the day before I am going to put it in the smoker. I do cold smoker and cold brisket to start. I set the smoker for 225 degrees, and let it go for 3 to 4 hours and then add a little more wood to the smoker. I usually start the smoker in the early afternoon. When it is time for bed I turn the smoker down to 205 and go to sleep. The It is usually around 165 to 170 degrees when I wake up. I turn the smoker temp up to 250 to 275 degrees, and sit back and wait for the alarm to go off. Each brisket is different and some are done at 190 degrees IT. I have had some that were done at 215 degrees. FTC for 2 to 4 hours after they come out of the smoker.
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Thanks Mike, that's about what I remember you posting a while back. And I guess you mean "done at" the temp in the thick part of the flat. I guess I'll have to shop for really thick flats on a packer, or just accept that a pound or two will be "sacrificed" to chili or such. Yeah, I'll probably get a bluetooth or WiFi thermometer, I should stop being such a troglodyte (I'm told by some). Actually, the thick part of the flat I did was great, and I'm still going to do burnt ends with the point. I have not done burnt ends from a cooked point before, any ideas? I see there are two schools of thought: Smokey's Burnt Ends 101 says cut it up and re-smoke them with sauce and serve, while others (Chris Lilly) say re-smoke the point whole and then cut up and serve. I guess the difference is cut up chunks swimming in fat in a pan or the whole point allowed to render in the smoker before cutting up. If you've done it I'd appreciate your views.
Jay: I do mine just like Smokin Okie said to do them. I earned a lot from reading his 101's, and simply modified some of his teachings to fit my style. I think it is easier to call the different meats a method and once you have the method figured out, you can make some modifications on the method to suit you.
Jay: I just finished my last reply, and then remembered something that I have either done, or read about somewhere. I do all of my briskets fat side up. If you have a thin flat that might dry out, turn the thin end under. You would end up with a fold, and thin section would be fat side down. When I first started off I used a SMO09, and had to fold the bigger briskets just to get them into that little smoker. That was a lot of years and a lot of briskets ago.
Did some ribs yesterday... St. Louis cut from wally world were on sale.
While the smoker was getting to temp, peeled the membrane, did some trimming and got rid of excess fat. Generously applied some blues hog rub to both sides.
Smoked at 225 for 3 hours then wrapped in butcher paper and back on for 2.5 hrs. Here's how they looked after coming out of the wrapping.
Let 'em go for another 1.5 hours. Unfortunately I got sidetracked and the smoker temp got a bit out of control on me. It was at 350 plus for I'm not sure how long. However, aside from blackening the crust I didn't notice any ill effects. Here is the end product:
They were SUPER juicy. Nice crusty bark. For the most part pretty tender. Required a little tug to pull the meat from the bone. Paired perfectly with the homemade parmesan pepper bread I baked.
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Don't ya just love it when something goes wrong BUT tastes soooooo good.
Nice clean bite is right, fall off bone is over cooked. But cook as you like(wife is always right).
Paul B
I just wanted to update my post above re brisket. I know there are several posts in the archives about this but it was my first time successfully reheating cooked brisket, and it came out fantastic, so I wanted to share it. I had about a 1.5 lb piece of cooked flat, the piece from under the point that was incredibly juicy and flavorful after the original cook (described above). I wanted to put the meat in barely simmering water to get it slowly up to serving temp without drying it out. I figured out a trick to put the piece in a foodsaver bag without either leaving it completely unvacuumed, so that the meat would float, but not completely vacuumed, so it had space to expand and release fat and juice. I found that if I put the meat in a bag, and turned on the machine to vac and seal, but immediately turned off the machine by turning the lever when it was about half-vacuumed, then immediately turned it back on and pressed "seal," it worked like a charm. I then placed the half-vacuumed bag in just-simmering water and monitored temp. After about 10 - 15 minutes, the water was back up to about 190F, a good serving temp. The brisket was every bit as juicy and delicious as just after the smoke. There are warnings on other posts here about not letting it get too hot or boil since the bag seal might fail, but I had no problem. Sorry for the long-windedness but I was so jazzed that it worked.
Well I'm about to put a couple of pork shoulders on the smoker. What's everyone else got planned for the holiday weekend?
High winds and rain here until Monday, then it will be just a couple of racks of ribs accompanied by fried green plantain (tostones) and a salad with red lettuce from our garden. And a G&T to start off the season.
Well, here's a cheater's confession. I bought a package (2 x 1 lb) of "carnitas" at Costco. It was basically pulled pork, but not smoked and with essentially no seasoning. I pulled apart one 1 lb package and placed the pulled meat in a foil pan. I sprinkled it lightly with Pork Mafia Memphis Mud and put it in my SM066 with about a 1.5 oz chunk of peach wood at 225F. I preheated the smoker, which I never do otherwise, and waited until it was up to temp and lots of smoke was being produced. Then in for about 1.5 hours. It tasted pretty good at that point, so I pulled it, covered the pan with foil and placed it in a 200F oven for about 1/2 hour until the other parts of dinner were ready.
Wow! Not up to my best smoked pork butt, but pretty damned good! Just a bit dry, so I'll decrease the smoking time the next try, but for a lazy-man's pulled pork it was great.
Well this is most likely my last huzzah around here...
Wrapped up the weeklong process of "pastrami" (in quotes because I didn't steam it) yesterday. Last weekend bought a 5 pound brisket section. Was hoping just for a trimmed flat, but there was a section of point too. Trimmed out most of the fat and went ahead and separated the piece of point meat.
Applied a dry cure with Morton's tender quick as the base. Put in a vacuum bag and in the fridge for 5 days.
Yesterday morning rinsed real well and soaked in clean water for an hour. Dried and rubbed while my PG500 was coming to temp. Had some fresh coriander seeds from my herb garden that I used in the rub which was cool.
Smoked at 225 degrees with the point sitting on top of the flat. Once internal temp hit 165, wrapped in butcher paper. Continued to cook at 225 until IT was 185ish. Wrapped couple layers of heavy duty foil around the butcher paper and stored in cold oven until dinner time.
Sliced up, slapped between some homemade bread with some Kraut. Was absolutely perfect. Some slices had a little tug. When I reheat the leftovers I will steam them which will help that situation. Great color, great bark, great flavor. That fresh coriander really popped!
Good luck to y'all! I'm deleting my account after I post this. Too much garbage around here these days. Kudos to those of you that continue to try to keep this a positive and helpful environment. I'll still reference the forum when I need some advice, but actively monitoring it and participating in discussions doesn't interest me anymore.
Most of y'all probably don't care about any of this... Good news is that I don't care that you don't care...
Cheers!
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Good to have interacted with you. Be well...
Take care and may the smoke be with you!