smoked meat recipes

[CardsFan]

The current thread on pork belly's got me thinking there may be some ideas out there for something different. BTW, if I can find pork belly's I will certainly try the burnt ends.

I bought my first smoker from Cabela's with a gift card I got when I retired.

Pork butts are good, and easy. Smoked chuck roast for pulled beef is really good. Did not have much luck with brisket, but probably needed to pay the bucks and get the better cut.

I have tried making pastrami from a corned beef (OK, but not great), and just tried a recipe for Canadian bacon. Too salty, so I will try again with less brine time.

One other thing that has worked well is smoked salmon. I don't have the equipment to low temp smoke, but if you like smoked salmon dip, smoke the cheap frozen stuff. For this you can't tell the difference.

So, any other ideas fro something different?

 

[Red Badger]

I smoke a fair amount of fish. I do the salt crust to prep the fish so it absorbs the smoke better.

I also like to smoke various sausages and meats, but they tend to fatten me up. Ergo, more smoked fish. Bluefish is one of my favorites, but I run the gamut; Catfish, Tilapia, Salmon of all stripes, Flounder, Grouper, Cod. Pretty much anything with fins.

My current rig is an offset smoker, and it's fair. I'm thinking of getting a bullet type, or maybe a BGE / knockoff.

I read somewhere a while back why men like to grill/smoke, etc.

It involved fire.
It requires equipment.
The equipment can get very specialized and pricey.
It's mostly done outside
Adult beverages are often present.
It often involves dead critters - veggies and plants are usually second fiddle, if present at all.

If these are sins, I need to get to the confessional ASAP.

 

[OldShooter]

Places to hang out:
https://amazingribs.com/
BBQ-Brethren Homepage

Briskets are hard to get right. Your fail almost certainly had nothing to do with the meat you bought. Study the various internet discussions, particularly the discussions on probing for tenderness and ignoring internal temperatures, which need to reach over 195deg before you bother to probe.

Cold smoking is easy in almost any smoker. Just go here: SMOKERS and buy a maze or a smoke tube. Just light the pellets and put the device in the bottom of your smoker. They put out very little heat. The maze is best; it will run for 10+ hours but if you don't have space for it one of the tubes will do.

Cold smoked cheese is great. Start with 2 hours of smoke, then maybe continue some pieces to 4 hours to see what you like. Refrigerate for a few days to let the flavor develop. I like cheddar, don't like Swiss, have not had luck with mozzarella. Smoked almonds are nice, too. Try various cheeses and nuts. Pizza screens are cheap and keep the cheeses from sagging through the cooking grate. Some kind of screens are mandatory for nuts.

Cured, cold smoked salmon = Nova Lox. Great!

Got my KCBS Barbecue Judge certification last year. Have sampled a lot of 'cue. Still like mine the best.

 

[CardsFan]

I smoke a fair amount of fish. I do the salt crust to prep the fish so it absorbs the smoke better.

I also like to smoke various sausages and meats, but they tend to fatten me up. Ergo, more smoked fish. Bluefish is one of my favorites, but I run the gamut; Catfish, Tilapia, Salmon of all stripes, Flounder, Grouper, Cod. Pretty much anything with fins.

My current rig is an offset smoker, and it's fair. I'm thinking of getting a bullet type, or maybe a BGE / knockoff.

I read somewhere a while back why men like to grill/smoke, etc.

It involved fire.
It requires equipment.
The equipment can get very specialized and pricey.
It's mostly done outside
Adult beverages are often present.
It often involves dead critters - veggies and plants are usually second fiddle, if present at all.

If these are sins, I need to get to the confessional ASAP.

Love the "explanation" of why men like to grill/smoke. Hits pretty close to home.

Living in the mid-west it is kind of hard to get good, and inexpensive, fish to smoke, hence the use of frozen salmon for making dip. I have heard blue fish is really good to smoke. Strong, oily flavor to start, so it is not overwhelmed by the smoke.

 

[Red Badger]

Love the "explanation" of why men like to grill/smoke. Hits pretty close to home.

Living in the mid-west it is kind of hard to get good, and inexpensive, fish to smoke, hence the use of frozen salmon for making dip. I have heard blue fish is really good to smoke. Strong, oily flavor to start, so it is not overwhelmed by the smoke.

I get it. I grew up one state west of "walleye world," so completely understand the limitations on fish. Frozen is a good option when one is 1000-1500 miles from big water. Charlotte has an Asian superstore with a wide array of fish. The fish counter is always busy, so it has great inventory turnover. We also do some saltwater fishing that gets us some cobia, flounder, redfish, shark, etc.

Another thing about bluefish is the "chicken" aspect. It has a lighter and darker flesh mix.

 

[Gumby]

I have enjoyed smoking turkey and chicken breasts.

 

[Souschef]

I would suggest going over to a sister site to this one, called Discuss Cooking. There is all kinds of advice and recipes from the posters, both male and female

DW is very active on it and really enjoys it. I enjoy the ideas for recipes she gets

 

[Bamaman]

I'm a Mid-Southerner that lived in Memphis 18 years. We never heard of barbeque beef (brisket) until Texans started moving east. And we like our fish fried in a cornmeal breading. We would never think of eating smoked fish of any kind.

We argue over which way to cook our pork ribs--wet or dry. I'm good either way. I'm sure beef ribs are good--but we don't eat'em. I do prefer the tomato based sweet sauces over vinegar sauces of North Carolina. I do like the mustard/sweet sauce of South Carolina for a change.

I'm watching my son in law getting better and better at barbequing on the competitive BBQ contest circuit. He finished 8th and 12th at Memphis in May, the World Series of Barbeque the last 2 years.

I have a Mastercraft electric smoker, and my food is a work in progress. I do realize the smoke infusion comes at the start of a cook--the first hour or two. It's easy to oversmoke meats--and especially with smoke that's not good smelling. '

I prefer to cook with hickory or oak coals with the meat rendering its fat straight on the coals. That method of barbequing is getting rare, with most commercial restaurants using gas cookers (with timers) and just a couple of pieces of wood for smoke. They can cook 8 hours in the middle of the night instead of 12-14 hours tending to fires. As far are recipes go, most good pittmasters just smoke their meat--no marinades, little salt and pepper. Some do rub butts with mustard and season with a high quality barbeque rub, however. That's about it.

 

[audreyh1]

I smoke a fair amount of fish. I do the salt crust to prep the fish so it absorbs the smoke better.

I also like to smoke various sausages and meats, but they tend to fatten me up. Ergo, more smoked fish. Bluefish is one of my favorites, but I run the gamut; Catfish, Tilapia, Salmon of all stripes, Flounder, Grouper, Cod. Pretty much anything with fins.

My current rig is an offset smoker, and it's fair. I'm thinking of getting a bullet type, or maybe a BGE / knockoff.

I read somewhere a while back why men like to grill/smoke, etc.

It involved fire.
It requires equipment.
The equipment can get very specialized and pricey.
It's mostly done outside
Adult beverages are often present.
It often involves dead critters - veggies and plants are usually second fiddle, if present at all.

If these are sins, I need to get to the confessional ASAP.

Hmmmm - since I’m the griller and the smoker in the family, yet female, I not sure what to think of your assessment.

I’m also an engineer.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Beef ribs. I like pork spareribs, but beef ribs are something very different and delicious. Almost can’t smoke them too often cause they’re just decadent. Perfect cut for smoking low and slow. And not terribly hard to get right. Try em, you’ll like em!

 

[Red Badger]

Hmmmm - since I’m the griller and the smoker in the family, yet female, I not sure what to think of your assessment.

I’m also an engineer.

Well, if the list fits, please wear it proudly.

 

[Jimmie]

Pork butts are good, and easy. Smoked chuck roast for pulled beef is really good. Did not have much luck with brisket, but probably needed to pay the bucks and get the better cut.

Hi. Have to agree for briskets, you need to get good quality. I've been smoking briskets for years (from Texas originally). I never buy them from my local grocery store or Sams/Costco, as quality is poor. Found a great local butcher I buy from now that costs more but well worth the extra cost.

Main thing to look for in briskets is flexibility. When you hold it in the middle, the ends should droop down. The more it droops, the better. If it's stiff like a board, meat is guaranteed to be tough.

Briskets have to push through the "stall" of 165 deg before fat starts rendering into the meat, creating that great juicy meat when slicing. I wrap brisket in butcher paper for last few hours in smoker, as really helps with the fat rendering and can easily probe meat while is wrapped. I take out at internal temp 205 deg, double wrap in foil, then wrap in towel and put in a cooler to rest for an hour before serving.

In my smoker, a 12 lb brisket will take ~12 hours.

 

[OldShooter]

... I never buy them from my local grocery store or Sams/Costco, as quality is poor. ...

I'm sure this is very location-dependent. I buy prime briskets from Costco. I think the last one cost me $3.99/#. Properly cooked I can't tell much difference between these and the high-buck Wagu briskets that people tend to use in competitions. Of course as a judge I don't know which are Wagu but that's really the point; the expensive briskets just don't stand out for me even compared to my Costco primes. I'd still bet that the OP will get more benefit from developing a good cooking technique than from spending extra bucks on the meat.

 

[Spock]

I've got ribs into repeatable process using nothing more for low and slow smoke than aluminum foil pouches with wood chips in them placed on a gas grill burner. My version of the "texas cheat" is to put them into a cast iron dutch oven with a little apple juice after smoking.


Tried a tri-tip, didn't come out as well as the guy in the supermarket parking lot, so I'll just buy one from him once in awhile.


While not smoked, Mississippi Pot Roast, beef stew and a few others keep the cast iron out on the grill frequently.

 

[Souschef]

DW is my BBQ Queen (apologies to ABBA). We have a triangular steel box that fits between the burners that we use for smoking. Depending on what is being smoked, we have Oak, mesquite, and applewood chips.
She has this dandy temperature probe with a magnetic remote indicator to monitor the internal temperature. She just did a boneless pork loin that was excellent.