Food / Drink TCG Grillers, smokers and red meat enthusiasts

Flyn

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Amy called me over to my big upright freezer today. She opened it and said "Look!" I said "What?" She said "This freezer is crammed with meat. Stop buying it." "But, but... The apocalypse..." She didn't see the humor.

I can't resist buying meat when it's on sale. I was careful not to open the freezer next to it so she didn't look inside. ?
 
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ldyzluvdis06

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I have a Masterbuilt in my shed. Use it as an extra smoker if I need one. I suggest putting a thermometer inside and testing the temp. Mine is off by around 30 degrees so I adjust the temp setting accordingly.

I appreciate that tip, I’ll definitely look into that as 30* could make or break some good meat!
 
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Spivitz

The Throttle is ur friend
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Trinten Trinten


From Mindy :

This last pizza stone we have is a cheap one from Target. Any stone will do. The one prior was from Amazon



The World's Best Bread Machine Pizza Dough Recipe Recipe - Food.com

It's a recipe for a breadmaker machine. Recipe says for 2 pizzas. Last time I did 3 pizzas to make it thin crust. I don't prebake it like the recipe recommends but if oven baking I would.

I also rub olive oil on the edges of the crust with a bit of garlic powder for extra flavor and golden crunch
 

Flyn

Go ahead. I'll catch up.
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Selling homes on the Gulf Coast of Florida
Smoked beef short ribs today. 4 hrs at 250*. I put them in a baking pan covered with foil for the last hour after the bark was developed. I added some smashed garlic/butter potatoes. Nice bark and super tender. Hickory wood for the smoke. Potatoes with a bit of smoke flavor were interesting.

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Trinten

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That looks great, and congrats on getting it to come out right! I am terrible at smoking meats.

A friend has a charcoal grill with an offset smoker. The last time I tried to use it to do smoking, it turned out so, so bad. If I recall, I had beef ribs, country style pork ribs and a small beef roast (I don't recall the cut right now). The unit has a temp gauge on it with an indicator for various cooking methods (grill, smoke, a few others). So I had it around 250-275, which was a challenge at first, then had an issue with getting the "thin blue stream of smoke", my wood had quickly advanced to actual charcoal, apparently. I had soaked 75% of the wood chunks we were using, and had a single layer of charcoal briquettes to keep enough heat in there so the wood would burn.

My attempt turned out to be bizarrely overcooked, tough, and dried out. It was at that time I decided my next attempt at smoking meats will be with one of those complete "set it and forget it" style smokers, with the auto wood pellet feeders and everything. lol

If I ever try again on his smoker, I'll have to remember to bring out my leave-in meat thermometer. It would have prevented overcooking, but not sure if it would have fixed the other two problems.

If I want to do smoked-flavored bbq stuff, I cook pork shoulder chunks that I've seared in my pressure cooker with "liquid smoke" and the prerequisite amount of water (heavily seasoned), vinegar, and a few other things. Comes out well enough that most people don't know I didn't put it in a smoker - until they start looking for signs of bark or the smoked-pink-band. lol
 
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Flyn

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Thanks! Sounds like too much heat on the cook you mention. Another thermometer is a good idea. I never trust the grill thermometers. I have a MEATER and an instant read.

I have a temp controller on this Weber and set it to 240* The temp hangs out right around there for the entire cook. Makes it a lot easier. I put a water pan in the bottom and spritzed the ribs with beef broth every hour. As soon as the bark was formed I put the ribs in the tray with some beef broth in the bottom. Covered them with foil. This allows the meat to continue cooking (steaming) and get tender while preventing the bark from getting burnt or dried out. The fat was completely rendered and the meat was tender and juicy. I use the poke test to tell when it is done. You want the probe to go into the meat like it's room temp butter. This usually happens somewhere around 200*.

I used a snake method for the charcoal set up. Lit one end of the charcoal snake with a propane torch and had hickory chunks on top of it at periodic intervals. The controller uses a fan to keep the temps in range of whatever I set. You can see the controller temp probe right next to the meat.
 
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Trinten

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Is the metal box on your gas grill one of those that you can load up with wood chips for smoke flavor? That looks too far away from the heat to keep wood chips burning? I had one that was wedge shaped and sat between the spreader/guard things over the burners, so flames would hit it directly and keep the (soaked) wood chips smoking.
 

Spivitz

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Is the metal box on your gas grill one of those that you can load up with wood chips for smoke flavor? That looks too far away from the heat to keep wood chips burning? I had one that was wedge shaped and sat between the spreader/guard things over the burners, so flames would hit it directly and keep the (soaked) wood chips smoking.


Yes, I put dry cedar in there when I want a little smoke ?
 
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MEATeorite

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Apr 10, 2016
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I've got a weird fascination with cheap cuts of meat. This pork loin was a 3lb'er and i think was under 10 bucks. I wet brined over night and smoked with Hickory. I think this cut does really well with 24 hour wet brine (lean cut) and smoke with a strong wood like hickory because done temp is 140, like a pork chop. Did a glaze with bourbon, bbq sauce, and honey. Wet brine was 8 cloves of garlic, water, applecider vinegar, salt, water, pickling spice.Turned out.

Its nice have bbq flavor and not a fatty cut once in a while. I prefered back ribs for a long time over spares for that reason. Definitely worth throwing one of these roasts a try. I think wet brining is a must to get it tender. Was really juicy for lean cut also.

Im going to revisit this one with a bachans yuzu japanese bbq sauce and some seasame seeds for texture next go around.
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Flyn

Go ahead. I'll catch up.
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Mar 1, 2004
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27,984
Selling homes on the Gulf Coast of Florida
Anybody have the Oklahoma Joe Highland smoker? I'm looking for an older one on FB/Craigslist because they are welded and 3/16ths of an inch thick compared to the newer 2.5 mm bolted ones. Wondering how well the newer ones maintain temps?

When I find one, I'll do the baffle mod and smokestack mod as well as sealing the openings better with the insulating tape.
 

Trinten

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@ MEATeorite MEATeorite
I see that you used Dijon mustard in your rub/coating! Last week I did a pork roast (in the oven) that used coarse/"stone" ground mustard, rosemary, Worcestershire, minced garlic, olive oil, Parmesan, onion powder, black pepper, and a little white vinegar. It turned out really good! As you said, cooked it till the thermometer read 140, took it out, and while I finished prep and it rested, it reached 145 and was perfect.
 

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