Smokin.....Oh Yeah !!!

[Bird]

Steve, my smoker is on a patio in a breezeway, so it's never in the sun. Wind can make it a little more difficult to control the temperature, but I do the ribs at 250-275. But I have a simple spray bottle and mix one-third each 7-Up (or Sprite), water, and red wine (burgundy or sangria) and I open the smoker briefly about once an hour and spray a fine mist of that mixture on the ribs. Now I've eaten some ribs in restaurants that I thought were better than mine, but last week when my wife was telling our younger daughter about the neighbors' ribs, our daughter told my wife, "Nobody does ribs better than Dad."

 

[BigE_]

Thanks for the tip, Bird. I'll have to give that a try.

I've heard of mixing BBQ sauce and red wine 50/50, but the sprayer would always get plugged. Then I tried a basting brush with the mixture, and while that worked, the BBQ sauce would go a little ways past carmelization to the carbonized point.

I've also heard that putting beer in your water pan really makes it moist. At some point I'll try some cheap beer to check that one out.

-Steve

 

[jimmyj]

You fellas sure are making me hungry.
I'm going to get a smoker this year and I can't wait.

 

[Bird]

I've also heard that putting beer in your water pan really makes it moist.

I suspect that would work, but haven't tried it. I'm probably repeating myself, but many years ago, my wife used to fix a good "pot roast?" in the oven and she poured a can of beer on it. It was really good. So then, I cooked a beef roast in the pressure cooker and poured a can of beer on it before cooking it. Bad mistake and bad flavor. I guess most folks know that when you cook with wine or beer, the alcohol evaporates and disappears, but in a pressure cooker, you have it trapped in there with no place to go. Another lesson learned.

 

[jinman]

I suspect that would work, but haven't tried it. I'm probably repeating myself, but many years ago, my wife used to fix a good "pot roast?" in the oven and she poured a can of beer on it. It was really good. So then, I cooked a beef roast in the pressure cooker and poured a can of beer on it before cooking it. Bad mistake and bad flavor. I guess most folks know that when you cook with wine or beer, the alcohol evaporates and disappears, but in a pressure cooker, you have it trapped in there with no place to go. Another lesson learned.

The last three times I've smoked, I have been using a can of beer along with a cup of apple juice and a cup of wine. I ran out of cheap wine, so the last time I used a cup from a $20 bottle of wine. I'll have to buy a couple of jugs of cheap red wine and keep it on hand because it really gives all meats a good flavor when mixed with the beer.

I think the real trick for moist meats is to keep the temperature low. I cook at 210 to 225, never more for anything. The inside of my smoker gets dripping wet from the moisture. Just think about it. At boiling or a little above, most juices won't boil. That leads to a very moist environment. After about 4 hours on ribs or 6 hours on a big brisket, you will not get any more smoke, so you might as well just wrap the meat. That's when I baste heavily to trap that moisture inside the foil as the meat finishes. I just think low and slow is the way to moist and tender meat that is full of flavor. The ribs I had with my wife and inlaws last night were juicy and tender.

BigE: I read somewhere that heavy sweet basting should not be done to meats you want to absorb a lot of smoke. The sugar will glaze over and block smoke. The author suggested such things as vinegar, apple juice, beer, and wine mixed with other ingredients to produce a very light wetting of the surface instead of the heavy glazes. Bird's spray bottle mixture would be about the perfect consistency according to that smoking recipe.

 

[scott_vt]

The last three times I've smoked, I have been using a can of beer along with a cup of apple juice and a cup of wine. .

Good Afternoon Guys,
Well Kathleen and I along with two other couples are leaving for St. Martin wednesday, so we are havin are friends over for dinner tonite and we thought we would fire up the smoker for the event ! We wanted to go with a carribean flair, so Kathleen came uo with a marinate that has some carribean spices, lemon juice and garlic as the main ingredients !

Anyone that has been to Grand Case on the french side of the island, has smelled the natives smokin and barbequin chicken and ribs.

Are menu tonite is country style pork ribs, smoked to perfection, with Kathleens carribean marinate. We are also havin sliced potatoes wrapped in foil with butter and garlic, along with a host of veggies also marinated !

Jim, I did pour some beer in the water bowl, I just hate to pour too much in there ! You get the idea !

A couple of pics on startup and then after 3 hours, lookin good so far !

 

[Bird]

Sure looks good. Of course, I think those country style pork ribs are hard to beat no matter how you cook'em.

 

[BigE_]

I generally put in two bottles of cheap beer. You can't really tell the difference in taste, and it does seem to hold the moisture better.

Definitely looks good! I'm going to have to fire up my smoker again!

I built a little wheeled base for it and the propane tank, and then took it a step further and added a roof to it to keep some of the rain off. Much easier to wheel it out away from the house now, and I don't worry about rain getting into the top opening anymore.

Thought I had pictures, but can't find them right now. Camera is off at the repair shop getting fixed under warranty...

 

[Bird]

I didn't fire up the smoker today, just the Patio Caddy and grilled some chicken breasts that had been marinated in Allegro and served with a baked potato and asparagus.

 

[JohnDeere4300]

Good Afternoon Guys,
Well Kathleen and I along with two other couples are leaving for St. Martin wednesday, so we are havin are friends over for dinner tonite and we thought we would fire up the smoker for the event ! We wanted to go with a carribean flair, so Kathleen came uo with a marinate that has some carribean spices, lemon juice and garlic as the main ingredients !

Anyone that has been to Grand Case on the french side of the island, has smelled the natives smokin and barbequin chicken and ribs.

Are menu tonite is country style pork ribs, smoked to perfection, with Kathleens carribean marinate. We are also havin sliced potatoes wrapped in foil with butter and garlic, along with a host of veggies also marinated !

Jim, I did pour some beer in the water bowl, I just hate to pour too much in there ! You get the idea !

A couple of pics on startup and then after 3 hours, lookin good so far !

Good Evening Scott,

So your back to smokin again.......That is some nice looking ribs

I reached my laptop to my wife & told her to read & look....... she said that you & kathleen sure know how to fix ribs....But we have never tried the potatoes that way, and it sure sounds good!....We will try it in 2 weeks when we go camping for a couple weeks.

When we go camping, we always get up early & fix breakfast on an open fire & fix dinner....but if it's raining, we have to cook in the camper

Hope you enjoy your trip!.....Where is St. Martin???.....

Enjoy your ribs

 

[jinman]

Jim, I did pour some beer in the water bowl, I just hate to pour too much in there ! You get the idea !

A couple of pics on startup and then after 3 hours, lookin good so far !

I never use more than I have to to get the right level in my water pan. Then, I have to take a few sips to make sure the cheap beer I use hasn't gone bad.

Nice lookin' meat, Scotty. I hope you and Kathleen have a great time in Saint Martin.

 

[jimmyj]

Jim those ribs sure look fine.!

Anybody used a smoker like this style?

 

[Bird]

Jimmy, I think that's the most popular style around, if you want to do your smoking with wood instead of gas or electric. Before we moved back to town, a neighbor had two big ones of that style and I helped a bit with his annual Fourth of July picnic. We always had lots of briskets, chicken, and sausage, but in addition to that we did a whole goat and 8 of my rabbits one year. One of my brothers has one and he and his wife used it to feed about 30 volunteers who were working on their church last year.

 

[scott_vt]

Good Evening Scott,

So your back to smokin again.......That is some nice looking ribs


Hope you enjoy your trip!.....Where is St. Martin???.....

Enjoy your ribs

Good Afternoon Bill,
Thanks we leave tommorrow afternoon !

St Martin location...Saint Martin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BTW the ribs were excellent, even though they should have been taken out of the smoker at 5pm when exactly at that moment, our VFD sounded a tone for a structure fire ! I ended up driving our 3000 gal tanker, we partially saved the home, but the ribs didnt come off until 7:30, I was worried that they would be dried out but thankfully the charcoal had died out !

I never use more than I have to to get the right level in my water pan. Then, I have to take a few sips to make sure the cheap beer I use hasn't gone bad.

Nice lookin' meat, Scotty. I hope you and Kathleen have a great time in Saint Martin.

Good Afternoon Jim,
Yeah... I thew in some not so good beer ... But I did sample to make sure it hadnt gone bad !

We stay on the French side ..... and yes I will try and keep my clothes on !

 

[jimmyj]

I will try and keep my clothes on !

You know, I think that "try to" may fall short of the mark my good man!!!!

 

[scott_vt]

You know, I think that "try to" may fall short of the mark my good man!!!!

Good Afternoon Jim,
Ahh heck, yea never know what gonna happen after a few rum punches !

 

[scott_vt]

Good Afternoon Guys,
Nothin like a beautiful fall day in the Northeast to get the smoker smokin !

Just had to try out a new bag of wine barrel wood chips, and when you add water to these it really smells like wine !

Usual fare, ribs and chicken, Kathleens secret marinate, and Ill be sure to tell you guys how they came out !

 

[Tig]

Great thread guys. I just bought a smoker last week. I can't wait to get home and try it out.

 

[scott_vt]

Great thread guys. I just bought a smoker last week. I can't wait to get home and try it out.

Good Evenin Tig,
Your gonna love it !!!

The oldest boy just stopped by, no time to eat with us, but he scoffed a rack of ribs and a piece of chicken, he wasnt really hungry when we ate !

Anyways, heres what left, and it was really good !!!

Plus Kathleen made her killer potatoes, and some corn also....


BTW the ribs are to die for .....

 

[scott_vt]

Good Afternoon Guys,
A few weeks back Uncle Dave went salmon fishing with a friend of his and brought back a boat load of salmon !

He knows I love runnin my smoker, and we both know that we really like smoked salmon, so he asked me if I would give it a try. I was a bit apprehensive about doing fish but I gave it a try about three weeks ago. The salmon came out fantastic !

So of course he has a freezer load of salmon and he was so happy the way the last salmon came out that he wanted me to do it again.....

So I just thought I would share with you guys what worked for me and pass it along ! I think I really came onto something really good with the Mr Yoshida's marinate, the original formula. I marinate the filets overnite in this marinate and throw in a few cloves of garlic.

For the smoker I tried using wine barrel wood chips for my smoke, it seems to be a great combination...

I will post some finished pics when donre, it only takes about 1 hr 45 mins for the whole deal. You dont want to dry the fish out too much.

Heres some action shots...

BTW the weather here in new england is fantastic today just right for smokin and a few beers.....