Category: Smoked Goodness

By Posted on Posted in Recipes, Smoked Goodness No Comments

So today I made pulled pork, again.  But it was not nearly as dreadful as I make it sound, as an avid connoisseur of all things smoked, pulled pork is a staple.  Its fairly easy to make, requires a slight flexing of the smoking muscle and is almost impossible to screw up.   Today was no different, I had a ham roast in the freezer that was just begging for some smoker time and as it ends up I also had a rosemary shortage which prohibited me from making my preferred Brown Sugar and Rosemary Rub, so it was back to the drawing board.

BBQ Pulled Pork

In the end I ended up with an excellent stand in using some ready made rubs and and brown sugar.  And a spritz with some molasses, cranberry juice, bbq sauce and seasoning, again we didn’t have any apple juice.  The day was full of improvising. You will find the recipes for the rub and spritz below.

I threw the meat on the smoker about 7:30 AM and it smoked at 225ºF with apple and hickory wood until it reached 165ºF, at which point I wrapped it in foil and threw it back into the heat until it reached an internal temperate of 205ºF.  Then it was, while still wrapped in foil, wrapped in old towels and thrown into the cooler for 2 hours to rest.  I then pulled it, put it on a sandwich and enjoyed.  It was most tasty not quite as tasty as the Brown Sugar and Rosemary Rub but it is certainly still edible, and will likely be the source of lunch room envy tomorrow.

Mix and Match Pork Rub
Ingredients
brown sugar
bbq3000
bad byron’s butt rub
mustard

Instructions
Mix together 2 parts brown sugar to 1 part each bbq3000 and butt rub.  When thoroughly mixed, spread mustard on meat in evenly.  Then rub meat liberally with bbq rub created above.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate over night or cook immediately.

Spritz Recipe
Ingredients
1 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp bbq sauce
1 c cranberry juice
1/4 c white sugar
1 tbsp bbq3000

Instructions
Combine all ingredients until mixed well.  Mop onto meat every hour until meat reaches 165°F.

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By Posted on Posted in Recipes, Smoked Goodness No Comments

After the catastrophe the first time I tried to make some chicken with this rub, I went for round two yesterday.  With the other smoker full of jerky that was smelling better by the minute we loaded up a second smoker with some chicken thighs rubbed with a Memphis Style BBQ Rub.  But I cheated in the end I ended up basting the meat with a mixture of BBQ sauce, whole grain mustard and water, so I deviated a bit from the traditional Memphis Style.

Memphis BBQ Rub Chicken

The rub however, was the important part and it was a pretty traditional style paprika based rub, all but once I forgot it was on there it married with the meat so well, but I must have had an abnormally heavy section of rub under the skin that gave me a faint paprika taste in my mouth. So here is the recipe for the rub.

Ingredients
1/4 c paprika
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

Instructions
Blend all ingredients thoroughly and rub generously onto chicken both under and over skin.

Once the chicken was rubbed I plopped it on the smoker at 250°F for about 2 hours over hickory and apple wood until it was cook through.  I basted the meat once which I think was unnecessary.   Usually I brine my poultry but I did not this time mostly due to oversight on my part, in spite of this it still turned out juicy and fell apart.

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By Posted on Posted in Recipes, Smoked Goodness No Comments

Was it beef or was it venison?  I don’t know but it was good.  Some people said it was venison and some beef, and I have to tell you sometimes I wanted it to be venison and sometimes I wanted it to be beef, but it was not labeled and for the life of me I cannot remember whether those were venison or beef steaks I cut up to make jerky.  But whatever they were they got me hooked, jerky is going to be an fascination until I can get it just right, every time in whatever flavor I want.  So there will be more jerky posts, probably even some this weekend.

I started out by cutting my steaks up into about quarter inch this pieces of meat at a 30° angle across the grain of the meat.  This was fairly easy to do and using a larger than necessary knife made it even simpler.

Jerky Rub Ingredients

Once the meat was cut I mixed together a rub as follows.

Ingredients
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c kosher salt
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground ginger

Instructions
Blend together all ingredients in a small bowl being sure to get any clumps out of the brown sugar.

Once the rub was mixed together I then rubbed the rub into the meat, this amount of rub is good for about 1 1/2 pounds of meat.

Jerky on the Smoker

I then placed it on the smoker with NO water in the water pan at 155°F for 5 hours over a blend of hickory and mesquite using my PID controlled electric smoker.  Using the propane would have probably been too moist to get good jerky and the charcoal might have been a little tricky to maintain that temperature for such a long period of time.  The electric with the PID controller is just easy.   At this point it was still a little moist in the middle but chewy and very jerky like, it was really good.

Mystery Meat Jerky

Even as mystery meat the reviews have been good, people have liked it, most importantly I liked it so I will be making more jerky and posting about it as I learn new things.

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By Posted on Posted in Fishing Tales, Smoked Goodness No Comments

A week and a half ago we had a successful fishing adventure, we went up to Half Moon Lake here in Michigan and fished for Rainbow Trout.  As luck would have it we got one, a hair over legal size, yes merely one but it was a successful trip none the less.  Because of other things going on I had to wait to smoke him until today so he took up residence in my freezer until I took him out to thaw.  Today was the day, I brined him this morning for about an hour and a half in my standard fish brine, why change a good thing right?

Previously I had not smoked a whole fish, and that was the plan to smoke the whole gutted fish, but I decided since I had forgotten to remove his gills when I cleaned him and he still looked rather surprised I had to smoke him without his head.  In reality there is nothing edible in there anyways.

After his stint in the brine, I pulled him out, did not rinse him and stuffed him with some lemon wedges and onions and tossed him on an oiled smoker grate.  I then smoked him at 190°F over some apple wood, I usually smoke fish over alder, but had heard that trout was excellent over apple wood and I was not disappointed.  Using my PID controller for my electric smoker it was easy/effortless to maintain temperature and once the smoke was rolling it was time to sit back and let him cook.

After about 2 hours I retrieved him from the smoker and using a technique I had recently learned I grabbed the spine with on hand and the fish with the other and gently removed the spine and all the bones from the fish, it worked great.

Smoked Rainbow Trout on Rice

As if smelling the sweet smell of the apple wood smoke all morning wasn’t good enough, eating it was incredible.  It was done just right, flaky.  It was smoky but not too smoke and the apple wood complimented the lemon well and trout well, it was not fishing but it was fish.  It was in a word awesome, so trout beware I am coming for you.  If I only fish for one thing for the rest of the year it will be trout.

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By Posted on Posted in Misc Food, Smoked Goodness No Comments

So today I decided I was going to try a new rub on some chicken breasts and smoke them up over some apple and hickory wood.  And that is when it happened, I got cocky and ruined a today’s smoke.  I decided I didn’t need the rack over the water pan, I didn’t want to have to clean another rack, one is enough. I was going to have some delicious chicken breasts for dinner, but ended up with Subway.

Here is how it happened, the chicken was cooking along and I had basted it with some bbq sauce and honey.  I then allowed it to come up to temperature and was ready to remove it and that is when it happened.  I pulled the lid off and somehow the rack swung around and dumped my delicious looking chicken in the water pan.  Which was disgusting, so I threw it away, but not without trying it first.  It was incredible, so look for that in the next couple of weeks I have a special rub I made for it that is tasty.

So with all of that aside I did take lots of pictures along that way and thought this would be an excellent opportunity for a smoking primer using the tools and methods I use. I am working with a Brinkmann Gourmet (Charcoal), I also have the electric version of the same but opted to go with the charcoal one today.  I didn’t use the charcoal portion of it I used my propane after burner.  Smoking with propane is easy, this was a worth while mod for easy smokes, almost so easy it takes away some of the challenge; light it and find the temperature and away you go.

Well its not that easy so here is the easy to get going guide, I am sure I will adopt my process as I get more experienced in smoking but until then here is how I do it.

Getting fire started and the smoke rolling

Getting the fire started is easy turn on the gas and light it up.  Getting the smoke started with this set up is almost as easy.  I have an old large tomato juice can I set over the flame on the rest built into the after burner.  Once the can is in place I add my wood chips or chunks, depending on what I have on hand.  I do not soak my wood.  I don not add all the wood for my smoke at once but I add it throughout the smoke.

The burner and the smoke can

Regulate the temperature

I start by putting the rest of the smoker on the burner and then adding the water pan and water to the water pan.  I like to boil my water on the stove prior to adding it to the watering pan.  It helps to bring the temperature up quicker.  I add enough water to fill the pan up to about 1 inch from the top of the water pan.  For short smokes, less than 4 (at 225°F) hours this is usually plenty of water.  For longer smokes keep an eye on the water pan.

The full water pan in the smoker

Once the water pan is full, I start out with the burner on its lowest setting and work my way up to the sweet spot for most hot smoking, 225°F.  It is important to keep on eye on the temperature during the smoke since things such as ambient temperature, sun and wind can directly impact the temperature of the smoker with the same burner setting.

The Smoking Sweet Spot

Adding the meat

Now for the best part, add the meat.  Well not so fast, first I oil up my rack with canola or olive oil to make sure the meat doesn’t stick and to make clean up much easier.  Then its on with the meat and throw the rack in the smoker.  Now is an opportune time to insert an electric remote thermometer if you are using one.  Replace the lid and get smoking!

Meat on the Smoker

Final notes

Once you temperature has evened out and settled where you want it and the smoke is rolling nicely, you job is not done.  Check back frequently, make sure the smoke is still flowing, the water pan has plenty of water or at least is not dry and the temperature is right where you want it.  Smoking is not a fire and forget task, it requires frequent attention to deliver a consistently fantastic result.

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