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Smoking Food Thread

Jeff Fatt said:
The brine was a salt and brown sugar mix but I don't recall the proportions. There was no dry rub but a little salt and pepper sprinkled over the butter rub before going on. I've not done much brining and don't really like much salt so maybe that's just a consequence of the brining process. It was noticeably more juicy that other turkeys I've smoked so I don't know if that is because of the brining, not overcooking it, or just the perfect storm (no pun intended). I used this recipe and technique:

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/madmaxturkey.htm
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Question: Was the turkey a "fresh" turkey or was it already "pre-brined" from the factory? Most that you buy are pre-brined to keep people from turning out even more disgustingly bad Thanksgiving turkeys than they already do. It seems our culture has forgotten how to cook and/or doesn't want to take the time to do it correctly. If it was pre-brined, you were basically doubling up the brining/salting process.

Also,some info on rinsing and drying:
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brining.html#rinsing
 
tsywake said:
That being said, I really dont like brining. I'd rather slap the thing on, rub it down and be good to go.
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Agreed, but brining is almost a requirement for poultry. Even more of a requirement for heritage birds that aren't pumped full of chemicals during their life and during processing.
 
Racer-not sure if it was pre-brined but it was frozen, so that may have been the case.
 
Jeff Fatt said:
Racer-not sure if it was pre-brined but it was frozen, so that may have been the case.
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I'd almost guarantee it then. You usually have to specifically seek out birds that aren't pre-brined at the store because the vast majority come in a salt solution.
 
Smoking a salmon this weekend along with a brisket and pork shoulder. Any tips on the salmon would be appreciated.
 
Use the lightest flavored wood imaginable with the salmon, and cook it separately from the brisket and pork shoulder. Fish absorb flavors much quicker and easier than other meats. I tried smoking a salmon once with just oak and hickory, and the smoke flavor was a little too much for my tastes.
 
I cook salmon a fair amount and usually either smoke with alder chips or just grill on soaked cedar planks.
 
I've given up trying to smoke fish, and like Jeff cedar plank it on the grill. I'd love to eventually build a cold smoker to cold smoke fish and eventually bacon, but I wouldnt do it enough to justify the cost.
 
What has been your cook time. I am thinking around two hours at 200 degrees should do it, but don't really know.
 
I went around an hour and a half. I tried my best to keep it between 200 and 225, but with my wood burner, it was next to impossible to keep it that low.
 
I need to expand my slate of smoked deliciousness. I used to keep a Boston Butt in regular rotation, but---and I am not making this up---read an obit for a dude whose nickname was "Fatback", who was locally famous for his habit of throwing masterful pork shoulder around prior to his untimely and fatal heart attack at the age of 43. I think this sad story scared me straight when it comes to planning my menu. I have the impression that a lot of low and slow cooking are fattier cuts of meat. Is that necessarily true? Looking for healthier alternatives.

I have limited myself to a pork shoulder once a quarter and ribs on game days. Beer can chicken and smoked turkey seem healthy enough to do monthly. Do you guys get a big slab of Salmon from Costco and get after it? What else is prime beginner smoker fodder that won't put me in an early grave?
 
jhmd2000 said:
I need to expand my slate of smoked deliciousness. I used to keep a Boston Butt in regular rotation, but---and I am not making this up---read an obit for a dude whose nickname was "Fatback", who was locally famous for his habit of throwing masterful pork shoulder around prior to his untimely and fatal heart attack at the age of 43. I think this sad story scared me straight when it comes to planning my menu. I have the impression that a lot of low and slow cooking are fattier cuts of meat. Is that necessarily true? Looking for healthier alternatives.

I have limited myself to a pork shoulder once a quarter and ribs on game days. Beer can chicken and smoked turkey seem healthy enough to do monthly. Do you guys get a big slab of Salmon from Costco and get after it? What else is prime beginner smoker fodder that won't put me in an early grave?
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Nutritional info for shoulder. Note that this is for the raw cut. I would imagine that a decent amount of the fat is rendered and drips off during the 12 hour slow cooking process. With a name like Fatback, I wouldn't be surprised if excessive quantities of other less healthy porcine delicacies along w/ a less than active lifestyle may have played a prominent role in the untimely passing and resulting hit on Nahunta's bottom line.
 
I work with hearts on a daily basis, and can safely say there is much more to heart attacks than diet alone. It does play a part in it though. How is your cholesterol jhmd? That'd be an indication on whether or not you're eating too much fat. Of course I'm an advocate of smoking different meats just so you'd have that in your repertoire. If I dont get my meats from the wholesaler, I get everything else from Costco. Their quality is unbeatable IMO, and they tend to do less brining and pre-salting.

The low and slow method of cooking was actually started by southern slaves as a way to make use of tougher cuts of meat, not necessarily the fattier meats. Those cuts were given to the slaves, and they came up with bbqing techniques to make use of cuts that were otherwise thought as waste. Pork especially nowadays is much different than it was 40 or 50 years ago. Animals are fed crazy amounts and given substances that will cause them to grow very quickly to maximize the profits for the industry. We havent raised hogs in 15 years, but when we butchered our own the meat was incredibly leaner and tasted so much better than anything you can buy in a store.
 
I didn't have the time or a second smoker to cook separately so went with the three meats on all at once.

My neighbor was in charge of prepping the salmon and he put the salmon in a brine the night before and then we put the salmon on tin foil. Followed up by basting every 30-40 minutes with a maple syrup baste. It didn't get too smokey for my taste and the brine made it taste a little like ham, which was interesting. Cooked for about 2 hours at 200-225.

The brisket was our best yet. It sat on the smoker for 10 hours at the same temps. After six hours I put it in a tin foil covered drip pan with a half inch of beef broth, worchester and little cajun rub . It was by far the best brisket we made yet.
 
smoking 8 lbs of backbone in a couple hours.
 
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