YEE-HAW!!!

Mornin' and welcome.

Yep,a pork butt would give you a good long cook and finish seasoning it up.

I agree with Tom (always)

And welcome to the forum.

I think the recommendation here is usually for a Pork Butt, they're almost impossible to not do right (but you have to let them get to finish)

Check out the Pork Butt 101 link on the Guide Page (link at the top of the page).

Two most common mistakes on Pork Butt are:

1) Not cooking long enough (make sure the bone "wiggles" loose, then it's done)

2) Putting too much smoke in the smoker, only put in 1 or 2 oz. for your first butt. After that if you want more, you can add more wood next time you smoke.

Smokin'

I just got my new smokette broke in this past weekend with a pork picnic. Had a harder time finding a butt with the James River BBQ contest going on in the area Friday and Sat.
The picnic took about 11 hours to get it too 200 when it was pulled and a little Lexington, NC style finishing sauce was added. We had it for lunch and it was gone in no time. I had to smoke something else so I pulled out a brisket added my favorite rub and I put that in Sat. night before I went to bed. I pulled it off when it reached 198 on Sunday, foiled it, put it in a cooler and dinner was great. The inside of the smokette is really seasoning up great and can't wait to get something else cooking this weekend.

Welcome aboard GLH. Great to see ANOTHER Arkie aboard! Wooo Pig! Sooooooie! Hey! Batesville's not that fat away. I bet you've used your SeaDoo here on Greers Ferry Lake. If I had a good arm, I could plop a rock in the lake, live real close to it!

Have fun with your new unit!!!

Thanks everyone. I wish I lived closer to the lake, kids and all. As it is though, I am just 30 minutes from Old hwy. 25. Go hogs!

OK. Cooked a whole chicken and 12 skinless thighs and some sweet-hot peppers all at once. Used oil and rub on the chicken and just spinkled on some magic seasoning and salt on the peppers layed flat without veins and seeds. Put the smokette on 250 for 3.25 hours with 4 oz. mesquite. WOW. Very good. A little too much smoke flavor, though. The wife put a slab of beef back ribs in the fridge last night after rubbing good. Gonna put them on first thing in the morning. i think I will go with 200 for 6 hours with 2oz. hickory. Man i'm gonna get fat this winter. Oh well I will die happy.

Lets hear how the chicken and chicken pieces came out. This is always one that people try to master the skin on.

Can to talk some more on those? I have yet to do any since I am not sure about the skin

Well I don't eat the skin, but it wasn't crispy or leathery, rather just kinda like it always turns out in my wife's little rotisserie. The 4 oz. of mesquite was way too much though. I did some game hens yesterday on 250 for 3 hours with 1 oz hickory and they were just right, skin included. The next whole chickens I do will be on 250 for 4 hours with 2 oz hickory. I did a 1.25 pound salmon steak yesterday on 200 for 1.5 hours with 1 oz mesquite and it was just right. Did 2 slabs of beef back ribs wednesday on 190 for 6 hours with 2 oz mesquite and they were just a little done but very good. Had some pork loin chops in with the ribs and they were way too done, but tasted ok. I love it!!!!!!

What is that website for those jerky kits some on here have bragged about? Also, has anyone ever smoked with muscadine vine? Can I use pieces of vine that was killed with herbicide?

Hi!!!

Here is a link to Hi Mountain Jerky Seasoning's website. You can order online from them, and they also sell sausage making kits and other merchandise. I think it is what you have been looking for.

Hi Mountain Jerky

Here are several other useful jerky pages:

QDoggs Jerky 101

Stogie's Jerky Page

Thanks a bunch, mate! Ever smoke any roo? Just wondering. I heard it tastes like venison. Probably good.

GLH,

You were right to ask.

NEVER, and I'll repeat, NEVER smoke any wood that has pesticides or resins in it, it might be your last smoke...

That's one reason I hear bad things about grape vines, as they're most always sprayed with something, just part of how grapes are grown.

Good luck to the Hogs. My kids live in Ft. Smith, so they're Arkansans.

Smokin'

Thanks Okie. As always, they need all the luck they can get! We are all holding our breath and crossing our fingers this year. anyway, the muscadines were not sprayed with pesticide, but herbicide, which is some kind of complex salt. When I got home this morning, the wife had a 14 pound turkey set out to thaw. I can take a hint. It might be a little large for my smokette. If I get it in there, where should I place the thermometer probe, and should it be stuck in all the way? What should I set the alarm temperature at? I thought about 180? Thanks alot!

Welcome to the Forum GLH...
Holding breath, and crossing fingers here as well....glad to hear about your results on your smokette..I have one and just finished two butts earlier today for my "EMT/Paramedic" class. Big hit with the teacher...hint hint...let us know how the next smoke turns out.

cookin-n-arkansas

Hi GLH

I have never smoked any roo, however I have eaten quite a bit of it, and it is delicious. The red kangaroos are really good to eat, but the gray ones aren't very good at all. I have an Aboriginal friend who occasionally gets me some roo meat (they don't need a license to hunt them). The roo that we buy in the store isn't as good as stuff that you get in the wild.

I made up my own wet jerky marinade the other day, you might want to try it sometime.

Micah�s Wet Marinade for Jerky

� cup soy sauce
� cup Worcestershire
1 T. garlic powder
2 t. cayenne pepper
1 t. meat cure
� cup red wine
� cup red wine vinegar
4 cups water
1 T. sugar

The meat cure I use is a commercial brine I got from an import company here in Perth, because I couldn�t find Tenderquick. You could use Tenderquick or another equivalent, just follow the manufacturer�s directions for proportions.

Hey thanks mate! I will print it out and take it home. I ordered a jerky board and knife. I plan to make alot from local whitetail deer. I will hang it in the smokette kinda like ribs but skewered on metal rods 1" apart. I think that will work on very low heat for about 12 hours with alot of wood. ???

Hi again!!!

You don't need to use very much wood because the strips of meat are very thin and therefore they absorb smoke flavor very easily. I only used one chunk of wood with my first batch, but I only did a small batch (2 pounds). Still, even with a large batch you shouldn't need very much wood or else you will oversmoke the meat. Don't forget to crack the door open about an inch for the first hour. This helps the meat dry out since the Smokette is designed to retain moisture in meat. If you aren't sure what I mean, check out Stogie's jerky page that I put a link to on the previous post. He goes into good detail on the process. I basically used his method, but I made up my own recipe because I didn't quite like the sound of most of the other marinades that I saw. Give it a go and let me know how it goes. If you try mine and like it please send me an e-mail and let me know.

G'day,

Micah

OK Micah. We'll do.

Put the 14 pound turkey in monday morning. Started it out on 250. WOW. The breast temp went up to 150 in 2.5 hours! Turned it down to 225 and the temp went to 160 about 2 hours later. Turned it down to 200 and it stayed steady at 158 for 4 hours. I then turned it back up to 225 for 1.5 hours, at which time I called it done and turned it off but left the turkey in for about an hour while the wife finished preparing side dishes. The turkey was very good except the breast was slightly dry. All the dark meat was very moist, actually wet. I used 4 oz. of hickory, which was too much. Very smokey! Next time I will use 2 oz. wood. The turkey was so good all I had to do was grasp the thighs just right and they pulled away from the bird in one clean piece as pretty as you please. The breasts pulled away in the same fashion, leaving the 'tenders' in place, which also pulled away clean. Very happy with my first turkey, except for too much smoke. I guarantee nothing was wasted!

Mornin and congrats.

I guess you were holding the bird at temp for timing purposes,but as you see it can be hard on breast meat.

If you have to do that again,you might try covering the breast with foil-once it gets near the 160� point.

You can also pull it out,plasticwrap,foil,and go to the dry cooler.

It will hold several hours,if well insulated.

10-4...

Hi!!!

I have heard several chefs say that if you cook a bird upside down then the breast meat won't dry out since the juices from the leg and thigh settle in the breast meat. This helps the breast meat to stay moist but the legs won't dry out, they will just be less greasy. I have never tried it yet, but it makes sense. Give it a go!!! Also, have you tried any of the jerky recipes yet? How did they go???

G'day,

Micah

Hi Micah. Yes, I cut up and cured and seasoned the jerky on wednesday with Hi Mtn.'s kit. That knife and board is a big time labor saver! I used about 5 pounds of cheap steak cuts and trimmed them down to about 3.5 pounds or lean meat. Smoked it yesterday (thursday) with 2 oz. hickory and 2 oz. mesquite on 200 for 4 hours. Dude, it is very good! I am very happy with it and will make more soon, hopefully with Whitetail Deer venison. See ya......

Whew! Did a 13.5 pound prime rib roast Sunday. Cut it in half and rubbed it down good with canola oil friday afternoon at 4pm, rubbed it with lots of minced garlic, a little Cajun Cowboy, and a little salt. Put it on at 8am sunday morning and let it cook at 250 til we got home from church at 11:45am. Had 2 oz. each of cherry and apple in the woodbox. Turned it down to I am guessing 130 and held there until served at 5:30 pm. We had a big shindig for my Momma-in-law's 70th b'day and all raved about it. I though it was a little too done and a little dry, but all in all it was mighty fine.

Just be sure you are keeping an internal probe in the meat if you are going to cook at that low temp. Don't want to get any sick due to the meat being inthe bad zone too long.


I have also used chuck blase roast in place of brisket. Used 2 parts turbanado sugar. 1 part montreal steak seasoning, 1/2 part cs rub. Cooked at 225 until temp hit 191.

The only time I gave not cooked at 225 is when I am doing Jerky. Anyone find this to be true of their cookings?

If you read my post again you will see I cooked at 250 for 3.5 hours before turning it down to hold.