The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

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Swirls
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by Swirls »

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:
lukethedrifter wrote:Seems high. 225-250F is the range I’m familiar with.
That's a pretty normal range. But, for some items especially poultry, I like a higher temp at the end to get a little crisp on the skin. Brats don't need to cook at 250, either, I've found. They get plenty of smoke and lose no moisture a little hotter. Jalapeno poppers (jalapenos stuffed with creamcheese/cheddar cheese and wrapped with bacon) need to start slow to get the cheese hot and inner side of the bacon hot, but need the heat at the end to crisp the bacon. Etc.

For those instances where you'd want 250 to climb to 300 pretty quickly, it has trouble doing that especially with the water pan in there. With a big green egg or pellet grill or electric smoker, I think you can get that extra temp much more quickly. But, to be fair, we're talking about a very specific complaint. And, as I mentioned, without the water pan, this problem is somewhat mitigated.

Still, if you're asking if I like it because you're in the market, I can't give it a big ole thumbs up and lead you down a path without pointing out any faults as well.

Another thing, at first I noticed that it 'leaks' a lot of air. So I went ahead and got some gasket to put around the door in the middle section and around the top ring where the lid sits. That seemed to restrict the flow of air out of the smoker and as such prevented hotter fires/higher temps. This makes sense as there are three vents letting air in and only one letting it out. The gasket at the lid burnt off after about 6 months and I haven't replaced it. The gasket around the door remains in tact though. Probably because the hot air rose and kept trying to get out at the lid melting the gasket adhesive.

But, yeah, for a pork butt or ribs or anything that requires a constant 225-250 temp for hours on end, it's great, imo.
If you're looking for high temp gasket material, I would recommend Viton/FKM. It's a fluorocarbon that is usually good to 400-450 degrees. The cheap stuff you normally see for rubber gasketing is Nitrile/Buna-N, which is only good to about 200ish degrees. EPDM is more expensive and good to about 350 or so. Silicone is another good middle ground material cost-wise that is rated for pretty high temperatures.

You could go with a more expensive polymer like Kalrez/FFKM, which is a perfluorocarbon that is rated for 550ish degrees, but that stuff gets pretty expensive.

Places like McMaster-Carr and Grainger have the stuff for fairly cheap if you're willing to cut the lengths yourself to fit.

AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

Man, swirls, that is awesome info. Thanks. I did zero research and just picked something off amazon. It was fine for a while, but after noticing the leak was necessary to get proper airflow, it's probably best to just let it leak.

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33anda3rd
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by 33anda3rd »

I start with Kingsford to get a good fire going, add wood while it’s still flaming, then keep adding wood. Charcoal only as starter.

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33anda3rd
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by 33anda3rd »

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:Man, swirls, that is awesome info. Thanks. I did zero research and just picked something off amazon. It was fine for a while, but after noticing the leak was necessary to get proper airflow, it's probably best to just let it leak.
I kinda feel the same way. When I first bought my smoker I was using it wrong. A friend who's much better at it than I was like "why do you have the vent closed at the top?", which I thought, y'know, keeping the smoke in would smoke the meat better. Turns out that was way off, and that you want it open so the air flows and the smoke doesn't get stale in the smoker. Seems painfully obvious at this point, and my meat has been better since I learned that. As I did some research later, talked to some chefs who use smokers a lot, I realized that the more holes/leaks there are in the rig, often that's better. I think if you're running a big commercial smoker at a BBQ joint, you probably have something that's very carefully engineered for the best airflow and you have to remove any leaks so your rig works properly. But for us home guys who are using Webers or other rigs we buy at the Home Depot they're far from perfect and it's best that we learn their little ins and outs and not try to over-manage them.

AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

++

I feel like I learn something every time I cook and it's an endless cycle or trying to get the perfect smoked {insert food here}. But, even if perfection is acheived (impossible, er, yet to happen), I'll come up with a new idea and want to try it. I'm literally a dog chasing it's tail at this point, but that's fine by me.

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by Freed Roger »

To celebrate the Birth of the Lord, I am going with Screw-the-Old-Testament Smoked Pork Roast (basically park steak only rolled - has nice marbling and was cheap.) Along with a smoked beef rump roast (also cheap and nicely marbled) I am not about the cheap, but isn't that the heritage of smoked meat - making a cheaper cut that is fatty into a delicacy? No one will ever know it was cheap but me. Besides, some other dinner stuff will make up for the cheap.

Not the technical smoking artist that some of you folks are -but always works out well,even with variations in method. Grew up watching grandpa do it.

Seasoning them with a mix, Some of it montreal steak , and some other rub I had on hand. Wrap this up for a day. Cheapo tube smoker (Brinkman) - with a water smoke pan. Charcoal, plus some apple and hickory chunks (I soak them and wrap the chunks in foil before putting on the charoal). I usually cut up some apples for the water pan. Maybe an orange too, why not. Then meat smokes. I usually wrap up the meat fairly tight after about 2 smoke hours (parchment if I have it, and foil.) and keep it on longer.

Temps? I have no idea. medium I guess by the the needle. These cuts aren't as big as the normal full-on pork butt, or brisket - so going to have to keep some vigilance here to not over heat it.

Am doing this a little ahead of time, instead of my customary Xmas Eve- I know, sacrilege. Day of, will probably will do a little reduction of stuff in a pan- butter, apple juice, ..maybe wine - - something to simmer it up in the oven with before serving.

Oh yeah, and this smoked meat is all for tacos. I can't believe I talked Mrs Freed into tacos for Christmas. Feliz Navidad!
Maybe we can get some tequila shots going and have a therapeutic family airing of grievances.

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Fat_Bulldog
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by Fat_Bulldog »

I am smoking a 15 pound brisket for Christmas.

I am going to use montreal seasoning for a rub.

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by Freed Roger »

Fat_Bulldog wrote:I am smoking a 15 pound brisket for Christmas.

I am going to use montreal seasoning for a rub.
Sexy.

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by Freed Roger »

decided to stay with tradition and smoke it on the Eve of the Birth of the Lord. My smoker is calibrated perfectly with alignment of the sun for 3 days after the winter solstice.

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lukethedrifter
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by lukethedrifter »

No smoking. Sorry for not following the thread.


Pan seared ribeyes with Chimichurri for Xmas Eve dinner at the fire house.

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