What We’re Smoking (or Grilling, or Curing)!

[CincyDave]

First of all I brine them overnight so no chance of drying out and no basting required. They are super juicy and great flavor. I do cook low and slow - 225 for about 3 hours until they reach around 140, and then turn it up to 325 degrees to finish.

I stuff the cavity quite loosely too - lemon slices, thyme and sliced garlic.

Sounds delicious. Never wet brined my chicken. Definitely going to give it a try.

 

[audreyh1]

Sounds delicious. Never wet brined my chicken. Definitely going to give it a try.

I always brine poultry before smoking it. Comes out amazing.

My poultry brine is pretty simple - for 1 quart of water I add 2 Tbsps coarse kosher salt and 2 Tbsps brown sugar. I make as many quarts as needed. I often throw in some other herbs or spices depending on the recipe. I rinse the poultry really well after brining, then pat dry well before applying rub.

 

[CincyDave]

Did some ribs and pastrami today. Pastrami will be refrigerated and cut on meat slicer for future reubens.

 

[jfn111]

We got to a balmy 45 degrees so it was time to fire up the smoker.

 

[pacergal]

CincyDave and jfn111--
Those all look delicious!

 

[Winemaker]

Going to smoke half of a fresh ham today in new Masterbuilt Smoker. I ran it through the seasoning break-in earlier this week. Rubbed it down Thursday night, put in extra fridge uncovered, pulled it out a little while ago to come to room temp.

 

[Ronstar]

Smoking a brisket today. Rubbed it down last night and injected a marinade. Refrigerated overnight, took out just now to warm to room temp. Will throw on the smoker in an hour or so.

 

[Trooper]

I've never injected a brisket. Let me know how it turns out.

 

[Ronstar]

I've never injected a brisket. Let me know how it turns out.

Turned out great. Very juicy. I usually have dry briskets. I think the injected marinade really juiced it up.

 

[Trooper]

Looks great!

 

[Winemaker]

The fresh ham turned out pretty good, also. The recipe called for a maple/honey/ginger/fresh black pepper glaze. DW kept the recipe.

 

[jfn111]

Turned out great. Very juicy. I usually have dry briskets. I think the injected marinade really juiced it up.

What kind of marinade did you use?

 

[CincyDave]

Turned out great. Very juicy. I usually have dry briskets. I think the injected marinade really juiced it up.

Looks great Ronstar. Is that the point end?

 

[CincyDave]

The fresh ham turned out pretty good, also. The recipe called for a maple/honey/ginger/fresh black pepper glaze. DW kept the recipe.

Sounds good. Haven't tried a fresh ham yet. Didn't happen to snap any pics did you?

 

[Ronstar]

Looks great Ronstar. Is that the point end?

Yes. Butcher asked which end I wanted. I didn't know - he said the point end is the fattest. Prior to this one, I was always getting a dry brisket. So I figured the fattest end would work best.

 

[Ronstar]

What kind of marinade did you use?

This one:

 

[Winemaker]

This is the upper half about 8 pounds. Was so excited I didn't take after pics. I made some apple chips from last weeks heavy apple trees pruning.

 

[Ronstar]

This is the upper half about 8 pounds. Was so excited I didn't take after pics. I made some apple chips from last weeks heavy apple trees pruning.

That looks tasty!

 

[GravitySucks]

DGF found pork belly on sale at a local grocer. Cured with brown sugar and maple syrup and smoked over alder wood.

 

[Happyras]

Just catching up on this thread. I would like to report my first completely perfect Brisket. I did the Alton Brown method, cheated. 18 lb WAGU from Costco $3.49/lb worth it. Cut in half, crammed both into vacuum sealed bags after rub with Salt, Prague #1, Montreal, pepper and paprika. Soue Vide at 155 F for 44 hours, ice bath 2 hours, removed from bags placed on Kamado Smoker (Vision) 4 hours at 300F. 1st hour bare, 3 hours in foil with apple cider bath. Burnt ends were amazing, barq was perfect. let it rest 30 minutes prior. The family devoured most, and carted the remains home.

So much easier than tending the smoker over night, and it DID NOT DRY OUT! BTW the final temp at cutting was 202F, but perfectly moist.

 

[aja8888]

Going to cook a prime brisket on my Camp Chef pellet grill/smoker tomorrow. The question I have is "fat side up or down"?

Fat side will be trimmed to leave a 1/4" layer of fat.

 

[pacergal]

I always cook fat side up, lets the flavor and moistness drip down and around the meat as it cooks.

 

[Steeler75]

In my experience, fat cap down provides a heat shield for the meat and gives a better bark on top. You didn’t mention if it’s a full packer you are cooking or just the flat or point.

Are you planning to cook low and slow or hot and fast?

 

[aja8888]

In my experience, fat cap down provides a heat shield for the meat and gives a better bark on top. You didn’t mention if it’s a full packer you are cooking or just the flat or point.

Are you planning to cook low and slow or hot and fast?

Full 14 lb, packer, low and slow at 225 F.

 

[tizod]

If enough is trimmed off for use: fat down but put fat trimmings on top while cooking. Let them crisp/render then remove mid way or so for the top bark. Likely don't hear this much but works great for me- best of both worlds kinda thing.