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Smoking Food Thread

TSY, your comment about never using lumber scraps really cracked me up. (Although it is totally warranted as a warning.)

"So, what did you use to smoke this pork loin?"

"Arsenic!"
 
I tried a new method of making pasta sauce a few weeks ago. I puréed home canned tomatoes with freshly chopped garlic, added a little olive oil and a touch of balsamic vinegar, then poured the mix into a wine bottle with about a glass of sangiovese left in it. The wine bottle was placed in the charcoal grill while the charcoal was settling and left beside the charcoal while everything else was cooking. The sauce came out a little thin, but it was crazy delicious.
 
Ordered another Maverick digital, wireless thermometer today. I'll use one for the meat and one for my smoker temps. Also ordered a couple pair of "fuel delivery guy gloves". They're super thick rubber and insulated enough to keep your hands from getting hot while moving stuff on the smoker.
 
Put my grill together last night and it was much easier than expected. The cast iron grates need to be seasoned before I can use it. Also, I'm going to have to modify the charcoal tray by overlaying a piece of metal grating so my charcoal doesn't fall through the wire rack and fall into the ash tray. I use hardwood lump charcoal and find that the small pieces get lost easily.

I'm thinking about smoking some ribs next weekend because I figure if the shit hits the fan, I can always pop them in the oven to finish them off.

TSY, do you have a rub recipe that you can share?
 
What kind of smoker did you get again?

She keeps our competition rib rub and sauce under lock and key, but I can point you to another great rub that we often use. Search for an Adam Perry Lang dry rib rub. I'm on my phone right now so I can't link it, but we have been happy with it and all his rubs each time we've used them.
 
http://www.adamperrylang.com/recipes/seven-spice-dry-rub/


Seven-Spice Dry Rub
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sweet paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup chili powder
1/4 cup dry mustard
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1. In a small bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients.
The dry rub can be refrigerated or frozen for up to 6 months.


I really like this rub, and I can tell you it has a lot of similarities to the rub we use. IMO, using Kosher Salt or Sea Salt is the key. I prefer the flavor of Sea Salt to all others, and use it for everything I cook with. I honestly cant remember the last time I bought regular table salt. Be careful though when you purchase ribs from the local supermarkets, as many of them come presalted and in a brine. You can actually salt them too much if they've been pre-treated and it'll mess with the taste of the end product.

I also love the brown sugar component of the rub. It adds flavor, but it also caramelizes really well, and helps put a little bark on the outside of the ribs. We also use brown sugar in our sauce for the same reason.
 
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Picked up an inexpensive Char-Broil barrel style smoker/grill. I realize it is considered a low end smoker, but overall it met my needs for a variety of reasons (budget, space, etc).

Will try to get some pictures up next weekend during my adventure with ribs.

Thanks for the rub recipe, btw.
 
Brown sugar is KEY to all good cooking, whether barbecue or cookies or whatever there is in between (I don't anything except barbecue and cookies). Glad you're giving it props, TSY.
 
Picked up an inexpensive Char-Broil barrel style smoker/grill. I realize it is considered a low end smoker, but overall it met my needs for a variety of reasons (budget, space, etc).

Will try to get some pictures up next weekend during my adventure with ribs.

Thanks for the rub recipe, btw.

You're welcome. I've had many a great plate of bbq and ribs off Char-Broil barrel smokers. There are some that swear by them. After a few smokes and you realize what you like and dislike about it, you can make some easy and inexpensive modifications and still spend significantly less than many of the other smokers on the market.

IIRC, you and your wife live in SC? If so, swing by and pick up some pecan chunks for your smoke. Its abundant in SC and fairly inexpensive. It'll impart a great flavor into the ribs.
 
You're welcome. I've had many a great plate of bbq and ribs off Char-Broil barrel smokers. There are some that swear by them. After a few smokes and you realize what you like and dislike about it, you can make some easy and inexpensive modifications and still spend significantly less than many of the other smokers on the market.

IIRC, you and your wife live in SC? If so, swing by and pick up some pecan chunks for your smoke. Its abundant in SC and fairly inexpensive. It'll impart a great flavor into the ribs.

We're still firmly rooted in Charleston, good memory. Will be working on tracking down some smokin' wood this week!
 
I just upgraded to a new Weber Kettle and want to experiment with smoking. I am intrigued by this product and wanted to see if anyone has had any experience: http://smokenator.com/

Is it worth purchasing? Is it possible to get good smoking results on an unmodified Kettle?
 
I just upgraded to a new Weber Kettle and want to experiment with smoking. I am intrigued by this product and wanted to see if anyone has had any experience: http://smokenator.com/

Is it worth purchasing? Is it possible to get good smoking results on an unmodified Kettle?

Interesting design and theory. I noticed that the site is affiliated with "The Smoke Ring", which is a pretty reputable smoking website/message board. I'd assume if they support it, then it would work, but like all smokers it'll take some getting accustomed to.
 
Got new tires for the trailer yesterday and slapped a fresh coat of high heat paint on the smoker. Should be good to go now for the spring game!
 
Going by today to pick up a few pair of gloves similar to these. They're fuel delivery driver gloves, and are double dipped in PVC. We use them at the FD for our BBQ Chicken and they work great at insulating your hands. They're much better than the cheap dipped gloves at the big box stores, and easily cleaned.
6512SJMG.jpg
 
Getting lined up for trying my hand at Ribs on Sunday afternoon. Going to use a rub on the ribs and smoke them up.

Adding in Cream Corn Cakes and my world famous bacon-bleu cheese coleslaw.

Will try to take pictures, but will definitely post results on Monday.
 
Smoked ribs yesterday, with great success.

I had them on a low smoke for about 4.5 hours, and then stoked my fire up to a medium-high and finished the ribs off on direct heat to add a little char on the outside. I flipped frequently when they were on high heat and used a cider-vinegar/water/apple juice mop (in a spray bottle) frequently.

I used hickory chips and was quite pleased with the results. The rub recipe I used was a little salty for my taste, but otherwise I had a great first time smoking ribs.

TSY - I found that I was only adding a few coals at a time to my grill to keep the temperature constant, maybe every 45 minutes or so. Does that sound about right to you? I felt like I should be putting more "fresh" coal in the fire, but found that 2-4 coals at a time would keep the temperture in my target zone.
 
The rub recipe I used was a little salty for my taste, but otherwise I had a great first time smoking ribs.

TSY - I found that I was only adding a few coals at a time to my grill to keep the temperature constant, maybe every 45 minutes or so. Does that sound about right to you? I felt like I should be putting more "fresh" coal in the fire, but found that 2-4 coals at a time would keep the temperture in my target zone.

Check to see if the ribs were packaged in a brining solution. If so, they already had the salt added, which could lead to your increased salty flavor. If they came in a package similar to the one below, then they were most definitely presalted. Presealed packages tend to have the solution. If possible, try to get ribs that look fresh and arent vacuum sealed.
0007080006300_A


The great thing about the charcoals are that they burn at a slow, fairly constant rate. When I was charcoal smoking, I'd add a piece or two every so often like you mentioned. As long as you dont forget about it and let your temps drop too low, you should be fine just adding a piece here or there. The problem comes when it drops too low, and you have to start another chimney to get enough coals going to bring it back up.
 
We ended up selling 13 shoulders for the Easter smoke this weekend. I'm looking forward to a fun filled, beer filled smoke on Saturday. I'll be sure to take pictures.
 
Check to see if the ribs were packaged in a brining solution. If so, they already had the salt added, which could lead to your increased salty flavor. If they came in a package similar to the one below, then they were most definitely presalted. Presealed packages tend to have the solution. If possible, try to get ribs that look fresh and arent vacuum sealed.
0007080006300_A


The great thing about the charcoals are that they burn at a slow, fairly constant rate. When I was charcoal smoking, I'd add a piece or two every so often like you mentioned. As long as you dont forget about it and let your temps drop too low, you should be fine just adding a piece here or there. The problem comes when it drops too low, and you have to start another chimney to get enough coals going to bring it back up.

Yeah, we used the ribs in your picture...probably the same brand which would explain the saltiness. I washed them before I removed the membrane thinking that might help.

Will try using different ribs next time. We've got a few good meat shops in town so it shouldn't be too hard to find them.
 
The meat shops are great, and some of the local grocery stores have fresh ribs as well. Its amazing the difference. Those vacuum sealed ribs are great for taking directly out of the package and throwing on the grill, but arent very well suited for smoking and personal seasoning.

Occasionally, when I'm not ordering bulk, I'll get some ribs from Costco. I've had some pretty good success with those. They're also vacuum sealed, but they arent brined. A good rule of thumb, if there is any liquid in the package then chances are they are prebrined.
 
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