The Happy Happy Joy Joy Thread

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thegenius said:
@Birdstrike

1) what is that cylinder metallic-looking thing in the front right of the grill?

2) the Daniel boone model has two inputs for temperature sensing probes?
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1. It’s a pellet smoker tube which you can use to amp up the level of smoke a bit. You fill it with wood pellets then light it with a blow torch and put the tube in there. My smoker cooks with wood and produces plenty of smoke on its own, but one of these tales it up to 11.

2. Yes, two temp probes. It has its own internal grill temp probe, also, which you don’t see. You can always get a stand alone unit with a couple more temp probes if you have more than two things on it, which I have too.
 
Currently going into a food/exhaustion coma after getting up at 5 am, running 14 miles (while listening to Grateful Dead 8/1/73), then coming home and taking the first of those ↑ pork shoulders off the smoker and pounding down a whole plate of it, while still hot, juicy and exuding smoke. SO. DAMN. GOOD. I gave my 11-year-old daughter first taste. Her response, "Oh, wow. This is amazing." The first one took 18 hours, the second one, 20 hours. Round 2, post nap will be Doritis and Chili-Cheese Fritos.
 
•Slept in
•Delicious coffee
•45 min run with great music
•1 hour in sun by the pool with the dog
•1 week mountain vacay in 4 days
•Lunch: cherry/maple/hickory/pecan-wood smoked pulled pork (Rufus Teague Meat Rub, needs no sauce, but Sweet Baby Ray’s on the side)

I think this is how it’s done in Heaven.

1596384282121.jpeg
 
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Birdstrike said:
•Slept in
•Delicious coffee
•45 min run with great music
•1 hour in sun by the pool with the dog
•1 week mountain vacay in 4 days
•Lunch: cherry/maple/hickory/pecan-wood smoked pulled pork (Rufus Teague Meat Rub, needs no sauce, but Sweet Baby Ray’s on the side)

I think this is how it’s done in Heaven.

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Can you do brisket next so I can go full core envy??
 
pollyspockets said:
Can you do brisket next so I can go full core envy??
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Haha..ha. I'd love to, but it'll have to wait, since I have two brutal days at work then leaving town. Brisket is next, though. I'll post it on here, too, just give me time! Lol Brisket is hard to do but I think my next batch is "the one."
 
If someone wants to dip a toe into the meat smoking pool, what is best (both meat wise and setup wise?)
 
pollyspockets said:
If someone wants to dip a toe into the meat smoking pool, what is best (both meat wise and setup wise?)
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In this case, the world is your oyster (and, you can smoke oysters). You can never go wrong with brisket (and that won't break the bank). You can use a dedicated smoker, or a grill. One thing to know - "if you're looking, you ain't cooking". There's all sorts of good info on the web.
 
pollyspockets said:
If someone wants to dip a toe into the meat smoking pool, what is best (both meat wise and setup wise?)
Click to expand...
Pork shoulder is the easiest to do right and hardest to screw up for a beginner. As far as smokers, a pellet smoker has the best combination of cooking ease and results (smoke flavor) in my opinion, but it's all based on one's personal preference. Green Mountain and Traeger make good ones. Walmart has an el cheapo version.

Other types of smokers some people like are the Green Egg smoker (expensive). Offset smokers are big in the South (old school). I started with a Weber Smokey Mountain 14" (cheap charcoal/wood-chunk smoker, good flavor, but hard to work with) but have settled on a pellet smoker (Green Mountain Daniel Boone model) because it's just so easy to use and produces enough smoke flavor. Buy this book, Project Smoke by Steven Raichlen. It's easy to read and tells you everything you need to know. Also, check out the SDN of meat: Meat Smoking Forums. It has a lot of good threads on this stuff.
 
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If you're just starting and don't even have a grill, I'd consider just getting a normal Weber Kettle grill and rigging it to smoke. Gives you a solid grill and a decent smoker. Biggest thing is to buy a decent grill/meat thermometer. I like the ThermoWorks Smoke.

I like ribs as a starting point. Hard to mess up, relatively short smoke time. Another great website to add to Birdstrieks suggestions: Reviews and Ratings Of Grills, Smokers, Barbecue Pits, Accessories, Books, Tools & Toys
 
pollyspockets said:
If someone wants to dip a toe into the meat smoking pool, what is best (both meat wise and setup wise?)
Click to expand...
Another thing to know is that the finishing temps for the meat when you smoke versus grill/roast something is often way different and that difference is super important. For example, when you grill pork tenderloin you're shooting for a final meat temp of 145F. When you slow smoke pork shoulder your finishing meat temp is 200F. If you hot grill pork (high temp, short time) to 200, it'll taste like a shoe. Similarly, if you smoke pork (low temp, long time) and stop at 145, it'll taste like a shoe. But reverse the two and you have perfection. That takes a little getting used to.
 
A relaxing, cool morning run around a quiet mountain lake while on vacation with family and friends. It doesn’t get any better than that.
 
pollyspockets said:
If someone wants to dip a toe into the meat smoking pool, what is best (both meat wise and setup wise?)
Click to expand...
As a different thought, I suggest salmon as a good learning smoking option. It is delicious and easy to smoke a single dinner portion so you can play with temperature, wood type and rub composition more easily than you can if you smoke a whole pork shoulder or brisket and have a full weeks worth of meat to eat before you smoke again. I'm sure I need a better recipe, butb personally, I haven't been able to get pork shoulder or ribs to turn out better in the smoker than in the Crock-Pot.
 
No offense, but crock-pot ribs are nasty. Just roast em in the oven, it's just as easy and so much better.

Ok, yeah rib jelly is still delish. But rub+ribs, wrap in tin foil, 3 hrs at 300 degrees. Finish on the grill w/ some sauce. So easy, so good, still falling off the bone but at least you need teeth.
 
Water skied for the first time in 17 years. 2 skis, then took a round with 1 ski. Climbed a mountain yesterday (well, not really) but hiked to a great view. I’ve eaten more junk food in the past 5 days that I have in the past 1 year. Sleeping 9 hours per night, routinely. Wives are doing their own thing, shopping. Kids are playing on the water. The guys are just chillin’ lakefront, listening to old tunes, reminiscing. Life is good.
 
PS: If you’ve never jumped off a second floor deck of a boathouse into a lake, do it. It’s fun.
 
Birdstrike said:
Water skied for the first time in 17 years. 2 skis, then took a round with 1 ski. Climbed a mountain yesterday (well, not really) but hiked to a great view. I’ve eaten more junk food in the past 5 days that I have in the past 1 year. Sleeping 9 hours per night, routinely. Wives are doing their own thing, shopping. Kids are playing on the water. The guys are just chillin’ lakefront, listening to old tunes, reminiscing. Life is good.
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Wives?!?
 
Groove said:
@Birdstrike Glad you had a good time man!

I’ll play.

I’m currently on vacation in the Rockies and finally climbed Long’s Peak yesterday which has been a goal of mine for 25 years. At the time, me and my college buddy drank too much beer and overslept our alarm and climbed Flattop mountain instead after waking up to a park ranger chewing our butts out for leaving beer cans on the ground. This year, 25 years later, me and my girlfriend woke up at 3a.m. and were on the trail by 4a.m. hiking in the dark by headlamp for the first few miles. The night stars were incredible and dawn in the Boulderfield was majestic. The mountain is 14,259ft and is one of the most arduous hikes I’ve ever done personally and is my first 14’er. It took us 8 hours to reach the top and about 6.5 hours to get back down. It felt incredible to have finally accomplished this goal. The keyhole route is only supposed to be 15 miles but strava logged our route as 18 miles for some reason. Man, what a brutal hike...but definitely one for the memory books!

View attachment 315922
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Wow. Congrats. That’s awesome.
 
thegenius said:
necrobump as the kids say. and that's you rusted fox.
@Birdstrike and others
Finally bought a traeger wood pellet smoker/grill. At Costco. Paid $649 for this https://www.costco.com/traeger-silverton-620-pellet-grill.product.100506764.html . It's listed higher on the website, but there were discounts at the store itself. I'm now just starting to play around with it.

@Birdstrike I bought that smoking book you recommended like 3 years ago, and now finally I get a smoker. Doh!
Click to expand...

Do you think it's better than a gas fired grill (ease of use, taste of food, cleaning etc)
 
GassYous said:
Do you think it's better than a gas fired grill (ease of use, taste of food, cleaning etc)
Click to expand...
Charcoal and wood pellets are always better then gas for taste. Cleaning is a different story. I don't know about pellet stoves. But, my kamado makes a mess of ash.

As for ease of use, if you can manage a vaporizer, you can easily manage any of these.
 
My kamado is easy to manage with a FireBoard.

If I was to do it again, I would get a pellet grill. More cooking area, smoke is probably a tab bit petter. Not as expensive.
 
I got myself a RecTeq pellet smoker for Christmas and have been loving it. Has integrated probe thermometer and temp management which have been very accurate. Previously I've had a charcoal and electric smoker, charcoal makes some dang delicious food but I don't have the patience for fussing with it, electric is easy and accurate but missing a lot of the flavor. Pellet is a happy middle ground for me.

Oh, and I got a pizza oven attachment (from green mountain grills but fits my smoker perfectly) and have been making some great pizzas. Used to make them on a baking steel indoors, I much prefer outdoors during summer!
 
thegenius said:
necrobump as the kids say. and that's you rusted fox.
@Birdstrike and others
Finally bought a traeger wood pellet smoker/grill. At Costco. Paid $649 for this https://www.costco.com/traeger-silverton-620-pellet-grill.product.100506764.html . It's listed higher on the website, but there were discounts at the store itself. I'm now just starting to play around with it.

@Birdstrike I bought that smoking book you recommended like 3 years ago, and now finally I get a smoker. Doh!
Click to expand...
N I C E !

Get yourself a Boston butt, put a good BBQ rub on it and smoke it at 225 with some hickory pellets until the meat hits 200-205. Let it sit for a few minutes, the pull it. You'll be eating it off while you pull it as your mouth waters.

The art of this is the timing. A big pork shoulder can take 10-18 hrs. But you don't want to rush it. Low and slow is the name of the game.

And don't accidentally buy a "picnic" cut of pork shoulder. Those have the skin on it. I did this once by accident and had to skin the damn thing.

The book you're referring to is Project Smoke, I think. I still refer to it. It's legit.

Enjoy!
 
GassYous said:
Do you think it's better than a gas fired grill (ease of use, taste of food, cleaning etc)
Click to expand...

I just got it...so I haven't done much. My first cook on it is just a standard $10 full chicken that I seasoned with lemon pepper rub. I'm not even "smoking" it I've set the grill to 375F and am basically cooking it, like an oven more or less.
 
Birdstrike said:
N I C E !

Get yourself a Boston butt, put a good BBQ rub on it and smoke it at 225 with some hickory pellets until the meat hits 200-205. Let it sit for a few minutes, the pull it. You'll be eating it off while you pull it as your mouth waters.

The art of this is the timing. A big pork shoulder can take 10-18 hrs. But you don't want to rush it. Low and slow is the name of the game.

And don't accidentally buy a "picnic" cut of pork shoulder. Those have the skin on it. I did this once by accident and had to skin the damn thing.

The book you're referring to is Project Smoke, I think. I still refer to it. It's legit.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Thanks I'm trying out my first which is just a chicken. I've noticed that at low temperatures like 180, I don't see much, if any, smoke billowing from the grill. I've read that it's probably a combo of things, including the grill itself, and the type of pellets I'm using. I'm using the traeger signature pellet right now. I've also read that even though there isn't much smoke, the finished product appears to be good. And I can buy a cheap pellet smoker tube for $10 on Amazon to augment the smoke.

Yea I'm reading Project Smoke, again. Appears to be completely legit
 
thegenius said:
Thanks I'm trying out my first which is just a chicken. I've noticed that at low temperatures like 180, I don't see much, if any, smoke billowing from the grill. I've read that it's probably a combo of things, including the grill itself, and the type of pellets I'm using. I'm using the traeger signature pellet right now. I've also read that even though there isn't much smoke, the finished product appears to be good. And I can buy a cheap pellet smoker tube for $10 on Amazon to augment the smoke.

Yea I'm reading Project Smoke, again. Appears to be completely legit
Click to expand...
There's quite an art to smoking meat, and it's unlike grilling, so I've learned (the hard way).

I totally messed up my first smoked chicken. Did it at low temp and it ended up soggy (lol). (Chicken needs to be smoked closer to grill temp, not low and slow, to crisp up the skin). My first brisket came out like a lump of coal. I started out (unknowingly) with a corned beef brisket and it came out horrendous. I've since done some decent brisket's but I'm still working towards the perfect brisket.

Pull pork is the easiest not to mess up. 225 until meat is 200-205. Don't rush it when it stalls around 160F for many hours, just let it go, until the temp starts rising again.

My neighbor first got his smoker and tried to do pulled pork with a tenderloin (first mistake) and not a pork shoulder (better, need the fattier meat, better for smoking) and then stopped the smoke with the meat at 150 like when you roast it in the oven. He said it was horrendous (I never touched it).

I sometimes wrap with butcher paper when the temp stalls, never with foil. Then when wrapped, I'll keep smoking it, but wrapped in a disposable roasting pan to collect the juices which I put back on the meat when done. Or sometimes I just don't wrap it and let it smoke bare the whole way. Pork shoulder always comes out great. Good dry rub: Rufus Teague pork rub. Yum.

Get bear claws for shredding and a grateful dead grilling apron. Make delicious en route.
 
Apollyon said:
Charcoal and wood pellets are always better then gas for taste. Cleaning is a different story. I don't know about pellet stoves. But, my kamado makes a mess of ash.

As for ease of use, if you can manage a vaporizer, you can easily manage any of these.
Click to expand...
71sM5tPdM6L.jpg
 
Birdstrike said:
There's quite an art to smoking meat, and it's unlike grilling, so I've learned (the hard way).

I totally messed up my first smoked chicken. Did it at low temp and it ended up soggy (lol). (Chicken needs to be smoked closer to grill temp, not low and slow, to crisp up the skin). My first brisket came out like a lump of coal. I started out (unknowingly) with a corned beef brisket and it came out horrendous. I've since done some decent brisket's but I'm still working towards the perfect brisket.

Pull pork is the easiest not to mess up. 225 until meat is 200-205. Don't rush it when it stalls around 160F for many hours, just let it go, until the temp starts rising again.

My neighbor first got his smoker and tried to do pulled pork with a tenderloin (first mistake) and not a pork shoulder (better, need the fattier meat, better for smoking) and then stopped the smoke with the meat at 150 like when you roast it in the oven. He said it was horrendous (I never touched it).

I sometimes wrap with butcher paper when the temp stalls, never with foil. Then when wrapped, I'll keep smoking it, but wrapped in a disposable roasting pan to collect the juices which I put back on the meat when done. Or sometimes I just don't wrap it and let it smoke bare the whole way. Pork shoulder always comes out great. Good dry rub: Rufus Teague pork rub. Yum.

Get bear claws for shredding and a grateful dead grilling apron. Make delicious en route.
Click to expand...

When you are smoking do you always see smoke coming out of the grill? Like a lot? When I turn on the Traeger I only see a lot of smoke for the first 3 minutes then it basically disappears.
 
@Birdstrike
Did my first BBQ. Beef back ribs. Costs $11 at Safeway. I also found a random dry rub recipe on line and mixed it all up. I didn't buy any of these premade ones.

F'ing delicious I couldn't believe how good it tasted. My o my! Pics below. Meat just fell off the bone.


IMG_4783.jpgIMG_4786.jpgIMG_4792.jpg

So a few questions:

1) online it said it would take about 5 hours. Took about 6.5 or so. Not sure what to make of that. Meat was at 205 by the time it came off.

2) too salty. That's on the rub though. Overal the rub had brown sugar, salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, smoked paprika, and dry oregano.

3) I have two levels of racks as you can see. Does the meat cook at different speeds depending on what level it's on? We are having a family get together and I thought about making like 60-80 of these (60 total tibs, the pic above has 5 ribs on it). I could theoretically put several on the lower level and 2 on the upper level, but would that substantially slow the cooking process? Like would I have to double the cooking time or so?
 
thegenius said:
When you are smoking do you always see smoke coming out of the grill? Like a lot? When I turn on the Traeger I only see a lot of smoke for the first 3 minutes then it basically disappears.
Click to expand...

The smoke you see originally is due to incomplete combustion. As it heats up, the fire becomes more efficient and the smoke is cleaner.
I don’t add meat until i have pretty clean smoke.
 
thegenius said:
When you are smoking do you always see smoke coming out of the grill? Like a lot? When I turn on the Traeger I only see a lot of smoke for the first 3 minutes then it basically disappears.
Click to expand...
It puffs a lot of smoke at the beginning then it’s much less thereafter. Sounds normal.
 
thegenius said:
@Birdstrike
Did my first BBQ. Beef back ribs. Costs $11 at Safeway. I also found a random dry rub recipe on line and mixed it all up. I didn't buy any of these premade ones.

F'ing delicious I couldn't believe how good it tasted. My o my! Pics below. Meat just fell off the bone.


View attachment 387339View attachment 387340View attachment 387341

So a few questions:

1) online it said it would take about 5 hours. Took about 6.5 or so. Not sure what to make of that. Meat was at 205 by the time it came off.

2) too salty. That's on the rub though. Overal the rub had brown sugar, salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, smoked paprika, and dry oregano.

3) I have two levels of racks as you can see. Does the meat cook at different speeds depending on what level it's on? We are having a family get together and I thought about making like 60-80 of these (60 total tibs, the pic above has 5 ribs on it). I could theoretically put several on the lower level and 2 on the upper level, but would that substantially slow the cooking process? Like would I have to double the cooking time or so?
Click to expand...
That looks amazing. I’ve only smoked ribs a time or two, and I think they were baby back and went for about 3 hours. Never done beef ribs, but if they tasted amazing then you did it right.

As far as different cook speeds at different levels it seems possible. I’d probably rotate them a time or two.

I’m usually smoking for a family of four, single level, so I don’t know for sure.

It shouldn’t slow it overall (I wouldn’t think) because once the chamber is a certain temp, it’s certain temp.
 
Birdstrike said:
That looks amazing. I’ve only smoked ribs a time or two, and I think they were baby back and went for about 3 hours. Never done beef ribs, but if they tasted amazing then you did it right.

As far as different cook speeds at different levels it seems possible. I’d probably rotate them a time or two.

I’m usually smoking for a family of four, single level, so I don’t know for sure.

It shouldn’t slow it overall (I wouldn’t think) because once the chamber is a certain temp, it’s certain temp.
Click to expand...
Except for every time you open it up.

But I agree, might slow it down a little, but not substantially, and I would definitely rotate.
 
uh oh, looks what’s goin’ on the smoker!
Hickory wood and 225°F for 16 hours and we'll have some amazing meat to die for.

IMG_1511.jpeg


Check back in 16 hours!
 
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Birdstrike said:
uh oh, looks what’s goin’ on the smoker!
Hickory wood and 225°F for 16 hours and we'll have some amazing meat to die for.

View attachment 390006

Check back in 16 hours!
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Two pork shoulders, bone in.
Mustard binder
Salt/Pepper/Paprika/Onion/Garlic rub.

Just fabulous! So you are putting them on at like 10:00 PM to be eaten around 2:00 - 4:00 PM the next day, I reckon.
 
thegenius said:
Two pork shoulders, bone in.
Mustard binder
Salt/Pepper/Paprika/Onion/Garlic rub.

Just fabulous! So you are putting them on at like 10:00 PM to be eaten around 2:00 - 4:00 PM the next day, I reckon.
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You’re pretty damn close. Mustard first (half Dijon, 1/2 regular)

Then 3 separate rubs plus brown sugar. Yea, both bone in.

Put it on at 5:30 pm at 225°. Didn’t finish until 1:00 pm the next day!

19 1/2 hrs! My longest smoke, ever. They were both 10lbs and having two, made it take longer, I think. Plus I didn’t wrap them. Just raw dog, the whole time

Tasted incredible. My best batch ever, I think.
 
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