Smokin.....Oh Yeah !!!

[dmccarty]

Anyone else start drooling after seeing Scotty's finished BBQ?

Bought a London Broil last night since it was on sale. Never smoked this one so it will be interesting. The Pork Butt was not on sale but it was only $2.50 a pound so I brought it home. Have to go back for the oysters at the end of the week.

The wife won't eat poultry, fish or beef. But if you put pig in front of her don't get in the way. It does make it hard to cook a variety of foods though.

Tried the American Ale last night from Bud. Not bad. Seemed like it had too many hops/bitterness for my tastes but decent. Bass Ale was $12 a 12 pack. So I had to by the 6 pack of American Ale to go with the 12 pack of Bass.

I'm hoping to take off either a full day or a half day on Friday so I can smoke some food. The high will be 68-70 so pretty good BBQ weather.

Later,
Dan

 

[srossman]

I've used a little Brinkmann electric smoker for years with good results. However, I found this add-on for a Weber kettle grill Smokenator 1000 last spring and it is great. You can get 6 hours of cooking from one fuel load and only requires filling the water tray hourly. Doing a turkey this weekend. Can hardly wait.

Let us know how the turkey turns out. I did about a 7-8 lb turkey that I had shot last year in the smoker and the breast turned out really good, but the legs and wings got too tough to eat. This was the practice bird before Thanksgiving, so I'm looking for any advice on how to smoke it. I'm using a smoke vault propane smoker and keeping the temp right around 250.

 

[jinman]

Anyways here is a pic of the finished product !

Nice lookin' tray of meat, Scotty. Do you find that chicken dries out very quickly? I haven't had a lot of luck smoking chicken.

I recently tried a recipe I found online for pork loin wrapped in bacon. I was smoking some ribs too and had a huge pork loin I bought at Sam's Club. I had to slice it into two pieces just to get it into the smoker. I followed the recipe in the link and injected the beer and butter. I also wrapped the loin with the bacon as shown in the online photo. Of course, the pork loin doesn't take as long as the ribs, so I waited until the last 2-1/2 hr of rib smoking to put in the pork. The temperature was only 220 degrees. The ribs I smoked for almost 9 hours, but when I probed the pork at just 2-1/2 hours, it showed 165 degrees in the middle.

When I pulled the probe out, juice squirted out of the pork. I knew it was going to be juicy and I wasn't disappointed. Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of smoke into the pork because it was in the smoker such a short time and because the bacon wrap absorbs so much. Next time I may put the bacon strips on top and not completely wrap the loin. The meat has a very light smoke flavor, but that beer and butter injection worked wonders. The loin is tender, juicy, and full of flavor.

 

[scott_vt]

Anyone else start drooling after seeing Scotty's finished BBQ?

Bought a London Broil last night since it was on sale. Never smoked this one so it will be interesting.

Later,
Dan

Good Evenin Dan,
Thanks actually it was pretty good, but as I stated to Bird in an earlier post I really like my Texas Bullseye Barbeque, and I also like the Masterpiece Barbeque mentioned also. Anyways you dont know until you experiment !

Dan, that london broil I would think needs to be baysted because it doesnt have any natural fat. I havent done one so I dont know but I would be careful with it IMO. Im sure you have some ideas on how your going to go about it !


Good Evenin Jim,
I have had very good luck with my chicken, I have used the top rack of the smoker and it has consistently come out moist and flavorable. This past smoker experiment I put the pork ribs on first, bottom rack over the water and then shortly thereafter I put the chicken on. I had the smoker going for an honest 5 hours and actually I could have gone a bit more on the ribs but they were fine the way they were.

Thanks for the recipe on the pork loin wrapped in bacon, I will have to print that off and try it in the near future ! Thanks !

 

[Bird]

Bought a London Broil last night since it was on sale. Never smoked this one so it will be interesting.

I've never cooked a London Broil at all, and can't even remember eating any in the last 40 years. But 40 years ago, I had a moonlighting job at a Marriott Motel that had a restaurant that was open all night, and they served a delicious London Broil.

 

[dmccarty]

Dan, that london broil I would think needs to be baysted because it doesnt have any natural fat. I havent done one so I dont know but I would be careful with it IMO. Im sure you have some ideas on how your going to go about it !

Bing Bing you are right about no fat. I was looking at the broil and saying, "Wheres the Fat?" I have this big book on cooking. Its about the science of cooking and answers questsions like do we add milk to scramble eggs. I'm going to have to check to see what the book says about this cut of meat. Maybe the Joy Of Cooking will help. Since I bought a Boston Pork Butt maybe I should just put the pork on top of the London Broil. Enough fat in the pork for both cuts of meat.

But most likely it will get a low and slow smoke in the smoker/grill. Getting hungry....

Later,
Dan

 

[scott_vt]

Bing Bing you are right about no fat. Maybe the Joy Of Cooking will help. Since I bought a Boston Pork Butt maybe I should just put the pork on top of the London Broil. Enough fat in the pork for both cuts of meat.

But most likely it will get a low and slow smoke in the smoker/grill. Getting hungry....

Later,
Dan

Good Afternoon Dan,
Well thats an option, another idea is you could lay some bacon across the top of the london broil also. I tried that on a turkey sometime ago and I believe Jinman used some strips of bacon on one of his smoking adventures, so he maybe able to offer some advice also !

Let us all know how you make out, and what your using for marinate !

 

[sherpa]

We smoked our first butt of the year yesterday, I was wondering how many of you had already got out your smokers!
sherpa

 

[dmccarty]

On Friday I cooked/smoked three things.
- Oysters
- Port Butt
- London Broil which is really Flank Steak.

I just put salt and pepper on the pork and beef.

After starting the wood and letting it burn down to coals I put on the meat. I made a bowl out of a couple pieces of aluminum foil and just poured in the oysters.

While I was cooking it was also Halloween. Since we live in the woods the kids can't go Trick or Treating. Even when living back in the city very few people would go door to door anymore. I took our oldest the to the mall but that was a mad house. Never again.

So Friday I took 16 lunch bags and wrote the kids initials on half of the bags. Then as best I could I filled the bags with the same type and amount of candy. After they ate dinner Friday evening I went outside and "hid" the bags. I put them out so I could watch the kids hunt for the candy while I cooked.

The kids had a great time looking for candy. And we had a better time watching the kids look for candy. But I also was not watching the meat.

I thought for sure I had over cooked the flank steak. It cooked VERY quickly. Its a touch piece of meat and if it is done or well done its going to be like eating the chewing gum that was in the kids Trick Or Treat bags. I pulled the flank steak off the smoker and put it under foil while I waited for rest of the food.

I ate the oysters and they were just ok. We have had the same brand before but we breaded and deep fried them. They were very good. I don't know if I just did not like this batch of oysters or I don't like them smoked. I'll try it again. But I will put them in when the pork is almost done.

We have not had the pork yet. Tonight or tomorrow I'll chop it up.

The flank steak was great. I ate some of it with the oysters while outside. It looked over done. But when cut some of the meat up in the house it was perfect. I sliced it up real thin. I don't know the name but the Japanese have a dish of thin sliced almost raw meat with scallions and soy sauce. So I did this with the flank steak. Very good.

So good I wanted more meat so I sliced off a few more thin pieces. Then I drizzled some of Rox's Boutilin(sp) olive oil on the meat. VERY VERY VERY Good.

I'm hungry again ....

Later,
Dan

 

[Bird]

Even when living back in the city very few people would go door to door anymore.

I thought for awhile the trick or treat custom might slowly die out, but we had about 50 that night. When we bought the candy, I thought we were getting at least twice as much as we'd need, so we didn't run out, but we sure gave out more than expected. A neighbor who has lived in this neighborhood many years said they had more trick or treaters than they've ever had in the past.

 

[dmccarty]

I thought for awhile the trick or treat custom might slowly die out, but we had about 50 that night. When we bought the candy, I thought we were getting at least twice as much as we'd need, so we didn't run out, but we sure gave out more than expected. A neighbor who has lived in this neighborhood many years said they had more trick or treaters than they've ever had in the past.

Maybe YOUR neighborhood is THE place to go Trick Or Treating? There is a subdivision a few miles from us that gets LOTS of Trick or Treat traffic. Apparently many people who live out of town and don't live in a subdivision take their kids to this one neighborhood in town for Trick or Treating. Its supposed to be a real zoo with all of the traffic. I don't think this is the right thing to do and it sounds risky. There was a kid hit by a car in a city to our south on Friday. Kid just got excited and ran in front of a car.

The kids really liked what we did with hiding the candy this year. Said it was the best Halloween EVER! I AM the WORLDS GREATEST DAD according to them.

So it was worth thinking I burned the steak.

I have plans for Halloween next year....

Later,
Dan

 

[Bird]

Dan, of course I think what you did was a very good way to go. If I were younger and still had small children, I might have done something like that. In 1976 we were living in a neighborhood in which we had sort of a pie shaped lot and the biggest back yard in the neighborhood. So a couple of weeks before Halloween, the two teenage brothers across the alley asked if they could build a haunted house in our backyard. Naturally, I said they could. I thought they might put together a little cardboard, but didn't expect it to amount to much. However, they brought in 2 x 4s, cardboard, paint, ladders, and friends to help build a 4 room haunted house. Word spread throughout the neighborhood, the women fixed up sacks, as you mentioned, to give one to each kid, we had the sacks in the bed of a pickup to pass out, we had a number of games set up, such as "bobbing for apples" in a tub of water, and we had kids lined up all evening to go through the haunted house. One of the teenage girls, dressed as a witch, was stirring a boiling, steaming cauldron (dry ice), one room had a cardboard piano, but a teenager inside would reach from under the keys up to the keyboard, one room had a body and the kids were told to feel the guts (peeled grapes and spaghetti), etc. And I actually had nothing to do with it; those teenagers really surprised me and did it all on their own.

I don't know who told them about it, but the neighborhood newspaper sent a photographer and reporter a few days before Halloween to get a picture of the construction crew, and I still have that old yellowed newspaper. Kids and adults all had a great time.

 

[scott_vt]

On Friday I cooked/smoked three things.
- Oysters
- Port Butt
- London Broil which is really Flank Steak.

The flank steak was great. I ate some of it with the oysters while outside. It looked over done. But when cut some of the meat up in the house it was perfect. I sliced it up real thin. I don't know the name but the Japanese have a dish of thin sliced almost raw meat with scallions and soy sauce. So I did this with the flank steak. Very good.

So good I wanted more meat so I sliced off a few more thin pieces. Then I drizzled some of Rox's Boutilin(sp) olive oil on the meat. VERY VERY VERY Good.

I'm hungry again ....

Later,
Dan

Good Evenin Dan,
Glad to hear that the flank steak came out great ! We have used scallions and soy as a marinate, but then I grilled it. I have never done it on the smoker, but it sounds like you were quite successful so I may try it at some point ! Im wondering about how long you had it on and did you use a digital thermometer or just cut into it to check if it was done ???

Wish I could offer some help on the oysters but thats uncharted territory for me ! We do buy the tins of smoked oysters and eat them with crackers occassionaly but thats not much help to you !

Anyways glad to hear it went well !

 

[Bird]

When I smoked oysters, I first left them overnight in a "brine"; salt, water, worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and lemon juice, then I put aluminum going on the rack and punched it full of holes with a big fork, then spread the oysters on the foil to smoke. Any yep, they're quite tasty on crackers.

 

[dmccarty]

Scotty,

I don't think the Flank steak was cooking more than 20-30 minutes. I use an instant read thermometer. I have an electric one but lost the probe when we moved. It would really come in handy now. I did move the steak frequently to try to keep the ends from over cooking.

The 7n1 cooker we have is not real big, maybe 18inchs around on the grill. Cooking the pork butt and steak took up quite a bit of room. Whatever room was left was taken up by the oysters.

Lesson learned was if I was cooking the pork and steak was to put the steak on the grill much later than the pork. The fire would have been a bit cooler and the steak would have smoked a bit longer. It still was very good.

Work has been real busy lately so we are eating frozen pizzas a few times a week. Last night I dressed up the frozen pizza with dried Basil, cut up a bit of the steak in thin/small pieces, and put on some Provolone. That little bit of steak really made that frozen box pizza pretty darn good.

MAYBE tonight I'll cut up the pork.

The nice thing about using the 7n1 is that I can cook up a bunch of meat that will last all week. It does save time during the week night when we are trying to get the kids home work done, get them baths, etc....

Back to the oysters. I will try them one more time. But I don't really like the smoked oysters in a can. They are ok but I like fried oysters much better. The oysters I cooked tasted a bit like the smoked canned oysters. Not sure if that means I was successful or not.

Later,
Dan

 

[scott_vt]

Good Mornin Guys,
Sorry about bringin up an old thread, pullin a little LB this mornin ! Sorry LB !

Spring fever has hit ... 50 degs and gettin warmer... gonna try out some new Jack Daniels chips my son gave me for Christmas !

Todays menu is smoked chicken and ribs ... yum JD style !

Us newenglanders just lose it when the weather turns good...will post more pics later !

BTW I would love to be startin up a new BGE but yea got to use what yea got !

 

[jinman]

Scotty, that looks like a day full of "I can't wait," and a night following with "OMG! I can't believe how much I ate."

I smoked 6 racks of ribs a few weeks ago. We ate 1 rack over several days. (I'm on a diet, you know.) The others we froze. I'm thinking of takin' a rack out this weekend, let it thaw, and warm it up. I can eat meat one day of the week on my diet plan, and I can't think of any meat I like better than smoked ribs.

BTW: I like the snow on the ground. All you have to do is bury your 6-pack in the snow and check it often to make sure it's still cold.

 

[scott_vt]

BTW: I like the snow on the ground. All you have to do is bury your 6-pack in the snow and check it often to make sure it's still cold.

Good Mornin Jim,
Yeah Im pretty fired up about this event today, can yea tell !

Absolutely beer in the snow, and my wife gave me a taste of the JD marinate, and wow !!!

More to come !

 

[Thomas]

I'll be watching the sky for smoke and my nose to the wind sniffing you out Scotty.

Enjoy and step in some mud for me.

 

[Bird]

Scotty, let us know what you think of the Jack Daniels chips. I haven't tried the chips, but did try their pellets, but only once. I was not favorable impressed and went back to using regular old hickory and mesquite chips.

And you say 50 degrees? Our high yesterday was 82, the low was 64. But I don't plan on any outdoor cooking this weekend, since the south wind is currently gusting to 36 mph. We went to Fischer's Meat Market in Muenster, TX, yesterday (50 miles each way) and stocked up on the German sausage, Brats, Hot Links, and even a little smoked Cheddar cheese and a few steaks.