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

[audreyh1]

I thought it would be fun to have a thread for outdoor cooking.

There have been some great shares, especially with photos lately, showing different homemade charcuterie and smoking projects. But these are buried in related threads.

Recent threads with fun smoking or other charcuterie projects:

Recommendation for electric smoker. https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/recommendation-for-electric-smoker-104292.html

I’ve got a confession to make about bacon. Some of us posted bacon making projects, and even homemade pancetta and pastrami! https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/i-got-a-confession-to-make-about-bacon-104994.html

 

[audreyh1]

There is an aisle in our nearby HEB Plus that I don’t seem to be able to go down without buying something. It’s mostly beef on one side, pork on the other, in big open refrigerated meat cases. They have so much nice stuff, it gets irresistible.

A couple of days ago I couldn’t resist a huge whole spareribs, 20 inches long. Smoked me some ribs today. Just dry rub, no wrapping. I did brush on a very thin layer of homemade BBQ sauce in the last 30 mins. The HEB natural pork is very very good tasting - that’s what I’ve been making my bacon from.

DH had already commandeered the breast bone corner in that lower photo, and I’d taken a center rib, so there is a bit missing.

 

[braumeister]

Good thread topic!

I think more than half of the meals we make at home come from my Big Green Egg. I use it at least twice a week all year round, often three or four times. We have our favorites, like baby back ribs and pulled pork, but fish always seems better with a touch of smoke as well.

One of the best things I've done in recent years is to buy a rotisserie for it. It's the Joetisserie, which is actually made by and for the Kamado Joe but fits the BGE perfectly. There is no better way to cook a chicken than on a rotisserie IMHO.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Good thread topic!



I think more than half of the meals we make at home come from my Big Green Egg. I use it at least twice a week all year round, often three or four times. We have our favorites, like baby back ribs and pulled pork, but fish always seems better with a touch of smoke as well.



One of the best things I've done in recent years is to buy a rotisserie for it. It's the Joetisserie, which is actually made by and for the Kamado Joe but fits the BGE perfectly. There is no better way to cook a chicken than on a rotisserie IMHO.

That’s interesting. I’ll look into the Joetisserie. You think that’s superior to the beer can chicken?

 

[MuirWannabe]

And thanks Audrey for this thread. I hope it hangs around permanently like the what did you do all day thread. Come to think of it, they have a lot in common. Along with the blow that dough thread.

 

[audreyh1]

We love the smoked whole chickens on the Traeger. They come out wonderfully juicy because I brine them overnight. Once they are on the smoker no attendance is required. I love that.

 

[Montecfo]

Audrey-

Looks yummy.

Even up here in Nova we grill year round on our Weber Genesis. Shovelled snow to get to the grill a couple of weeks.ago. It is usually nothing heroic on the grill, but always good.

I need to try some smoking.

 

[RetireBy90]

NY strip from Wegmans. Sorry no pic, they are gone. Love them. Normally use our gas grill at about 450-500 degrees to cool outer meat and heat the red center. Last time I used a traeger and they were good, but a little less rare than we like. Still learning times and temps on it.

 

[audreyh1]

I only use my Traeger for low and slow smoking, or perhaps some mid-temp indirect cooking. Steaks go on my gas grill, or in the oven in a cast iron pan, after searing on the stove top.

 

[braumeister]

That’s interesting. I’ll look into the Joetisserie. You think that’s superior to the beer can chicken?

Unquestionably.

 

[bbqcoder]

I'm a big Weber fan. I still have my Genesis 1000 form 1999 that is still going strong. It's a three burner gas grill that you can still get parts for. I use it for grilling and baking/roasting. I also have a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker. All of this is still in my shed until mid April since it's too cold outside.

Lastly, I have a three burner Tejas Smoker Camp Stove Cart. Except for the smoker, everything is NG fueled with a permanent hookup on my deck. No refilling of propane bottles. In the summer time, we do almost all of our cooking on the deck to keep the heat out of the house.

We'll roast vegetables, make pizzas, do wok stir frying, and grilling/smoking. Then by November, the stuff is put away for the winter as I'm using tired of grilled foods by then.

 

[brentnice]

Those ribs look tasty! Nice smoke ring. I'm a bit of a noob on this site and am still very much employed. Learning lots though and I couldn't resist contributing to this thread since I do have a fondness for meat and smoking.

For anyone who is interested, I've learned a lot from the site https://amazingribs.com . You can learn about technique and there are also some good rub recipes on there as well like Memphis Dust (for Pork) and Big Bad Beef Rub (for Beef). They don't contain salt because they preach "dry brining" or wet brining (if you don't care about a mess) as a separate process to salt the meat prior to applying the rub.

Regarding smokers, there are so many options I don't think you can really go wrong if you buy a quality one. The Weber Smokey Mountain and Big Green Eggs have been mentioned which I agree are fantastic. I use a Pit Barrel Cooker which is kind of niche. It's basically a large metal barrel where you "hook and hang" the meat. Pretty fantastic and I've included a stock picture of the Pit Barrel Cooker below. If I had to buy again though, I'd probably choose a Weber Smokey Mountain. It seems to be the best combination of quality, versatility, and price.

 

[Bamaman]

Weber, Big Green Egg, Traeger, WSM, UDS. They're all great things.

In the Mid South, pork shoulder is the king. And we can usually get it for $1.59 or less per pound. Of course, there's shrinkage.

We also love specifically Baby Back Ribs. Kroger has on sale for $2.79 a lb. this week which is $1.00 off normal sale prices. But they're still danged expensive.

We cook outside all year round, and I usually use a high quality gas grill. I also have a Mastercraft electric smoker that we use some, but I don't like as well as a UDS.

I'm also a big fan of Meathead at AmazingRibs.com. His techniques are right on the money. His opinions on grills and smokers are also very good. I'm especially a fan of his Rendezvous copy dry rub, as I ate Rendezvous ribs most Friday nights of my college years in Memphis.

We're very fortunate to have great barbeque sauces in our grocery stores from all over the U.S. I'm especially fond of Wicker's Marinade, and Wicker's Thicker bbq sauce. I also love the sauces from Famous Dave's restaurant chain available in grocery stores.

 

[flintnational]

Audrey, great topic and nice looking ribs!
!

 

[braumeister]

As to the rotisserie, the reason it's best is because the bird bastes itself while it's cooking. You get a nice crispy skin with incredibly moist, juicy meat. Costco sells 60 million of them every year, losing about fifty cents on each one, but generating a lot of traffic to the back of the store where they're located.

 

[Ronstar]

I haven't fired up my Traeger since Christmas. It was 15° outside and I smoke a 14 lb brisket IIRC. Took forever. Now I'm ready to smoke a smaller brisket with warmer outside temps. Should be easy.

But the store where I buy my pellets is going out of business. Thats a problem.

 

[CardsFan]

I mentioned this in the other thread, but I am about to make some corned beef, and probably smoke the point for burnt ends.

I plan on using the Amazing Ribs recipe (https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/beef-and-bison-recipes/home-made-corned-beef-recipe).

Any one tried this? Any recommended tweaks? Seems pretty simple.

Will cut the flat in half. Might make pastrami from one. Depends on how big they are after trimming.

 

[braumeister]

If you follow that recipe exactly I know you'll be happy with it.

 

[CardsFan]

If you follow that recipe exactly I know you'll be happy with it.

Did you add any of the optional ingredients? (pickling spice, brown sugar, garlic, as I recall )

From reading some of his comments, the author doesn't think they add much flavor, to the brining process. We always add pickling spices when boiling the corned beef, and that also adds flavor to the cabbage, potatoes, carrots, etc.

 

[Markola]

I’ll go so far as to predict this will become one of the most-subscribed strings on the forum! [emoji39]

 

[steelyman]

I’ll go so far as to predict this will become one of the most-subscribed strings on the forum! [emoji39]

I think there has been a sticky recipe thread (ER Forum Cookbook, in Other Topics) for a long time. It’s good - check it out and contribute!

 

[audreyh1]

I haven't fired up my Traeger since Christmas. It was 15° outside and I smoke a 14 lb brisket IIRC. Took forever. Now I'm ready to smoke a smaller brisket with warmer outside temps. Should be easy.

But the store where I buy my pellets is going out of business. Thats a problem.

I’ve ordered mine from Traeger via Amazon before without problems. It’s possible that the pellets are a little more broken up, but not enough to cause problems.

 

[audreyh1]

I mentioned this in the other thread, but I am about to make some corned beef, and probably smoke the point for burnt ends.

I plan on using the Amazing Ribs recipe (https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/beef-and-bison-recipes/home-made-corned-beef-recipe).

Any one tried this? Any recommended tweaks? Seems pretty simple.

Will cut the flat in half. Might make pastrami from one. Depends on how big they are after trimming.

Be sure to post some pics!

 

[audreyh1]

I’ve considered buying a whole packer, cutting it in half lengthwise, and using the flat end for corned beef/pastrami and the point end for traditional smoked brisket.

 

[RobbieB]

Rack of lamb, smoked in the BGE for 45 minutes at 300F;

Lambie pops -