Everything smoking...meat smoking !! Tips, tricks, and recipes + (poll added)

My first brisket on my pellet smoker turned out as perfect as it could be. Then I did a couple that I really messed up badly. Hopefully you won't have as rocky of a road getting it dialed in! For me it was beginner's luck followed by some trial and error, haha

 

Results of todays smoked brisket. Turned out surprisingly well. Wife was hitting the burnt ends.

 

Bacon. Round 2. Little bit more time in the freezer and the meat slicer did the hard part. Then broke out the experiment. Venison pastrami. Lunch for a week.

 

Hey, how often do you clean your baffles? The wet oil drains to the pan pretty quick, but i dont change out my foil but 2-3 times a year. I know its all flavor, but is there a schedule or something for # of cooks? Granted, probably not alot of you building baffles in your smoker, but the first cook isnt the best, and towards the end it slows the cook. Just curious. About to replace my foil until march or so.

 

A couple 7lb Turbo Butts

 

What do people on here feel about spraying butts or brisket while its smoking? Water or ACV?

 

Apple juice or ACV

 

I don’t spritz. According to Meathead it doesn't make much difference.
Check out amazingribs.com and searh for spritz.

 

Agree and dynamite resource

 

If I spritz, it's Apple Cider Vinegar & Water mix.

 

I like doing BBQ competitions. I have one coming up on the 20th. Our local fair does one for charity. They supply the meat and the charcoal for a $50 entry fee. Any winnings goes to the charity of your choice in your teams name. This year the meat is brisket. Last time we did brisket I won so hopefully I can do it again this year.

I also do some processing. I make my own bacon, sausage, snack sticks and the likes...

For smokers I have 2 Mini WSM's (homemade) A weber kettle and a custom built (by me) reverse flow stick burner...











Pecan wood is my favorite..



My smokehouse with a load of snack sticks. I do 50 lbs at a time.







Here's some breakfast sausage




For the best BBQ forums on the internet go to smoking meat forums.. I've been a member there for 13 years... We have Gatherings all over the place...

I guess that's enough for now.. Thanks for looking

 

Lots of good info on smoking meat forum. I’ve tried several recipes from there.

 

I wonder how their secret Santa goes, I need to find me a new or used offset

 

We don't spray, but generally have a water source in the smoker to help w/moisture...

 

In the past I have added onion, apples or ACV to this however not certain it does much

 

If I am doing a butt I use a mixture of ACV and Whiskey. Apple juice at the end while it is resting. Comes out tasty every time. Brisket, never spray.

 

I've done a few rack of pork ribs, a half dozen or so pork butts, a prime rib and a beef tenderloin on my Pitts & Spitts 1250. Following advice and recipes from Pat Martin's book, Meathead's website and Meat Church videos, they've all been excellent.
I'm interested to try a brisket. Having read that they are a little more difficult to get right, I'm wondering if you guys have some insight on where they typically go wrong?

 

I see most failures from not cooking it long enough... The fat doesn't start rendering down until 180` or so (IT).. This is what remoistens the meat... at an IT (internal temp) of 195 start checking for probe tender... This (probe tender) doesn't happen at a certain/set temp... It's done when probe tender (probe sliding in like peanut butter, no resistance) in all different spots of the packard (brisket)....

 

Secret Santa is basically the same... Except it's not secret kinda sorta... The two that are exchanging know each other... The rest of the forums don't... They enter their name into the exchange and Admins randomly pair... They must post their gifts after receiving them... It's encouraged to give something local that wouldn't normally be in the recipients area...

 

Hey, I’m in need of some help and advice.
I’ve been using crappy worn out broken down cheap smokers for several decades and I just got approved by my financial advisor for a smoker purchase! We just finished making about 30lb of rabbit sausage that would have been much improved with a little smoke. Also we’re going to be butchering another pig before spring, so I want to get the new equipment for the bacon and hams.
Please give me your recommendations and suggestions.
I believe that I want to get an automatic pellet type.

 

There are quite a few brands of pellet smokers, Traeger likely being the most prolific/common. I have used my kid's Traeger and my friend's Traeger and am perfectly happy with my Grilla smoker. Because I wanted a "tailgater" model, I compare Traeger, Grilla, Recteq, and Green Mountain. They all were relatively in the same price range. I liked the way the Grilla Chimp had their folding legs better than Traeger or Recteq, so I went with that one. Then Recteq changed the legs on their model, and it makes even more sense the way it scissors with one hand. Oh well.

You'll probably want something a little bigger. My neighbor swears by his Recteq. Of course, there are some smokers out there that are quite out of reach, but the basic consumer models are nearly all the same. I would definitely shop around between those brands.

 

Thanks. The traeger is certainly on the list because they are available lots of places and frequently are on sale.

 

I’m not intending to move it around much. Just get it set up out there on the porch and use it as needed

 

For processing (bacon/sausage/hams/cold smoking, ETC.) I recommend an electric smokehouse something like these... https://www.sausagemaker.com/product-category/equipment/smokers/ ... Also have the option of building a smokehouse(that's what I did)...

For hot cooking/smoking I suggest a gravity fed charcoal.... something like these... https://www.homedepot.com/p/Masterb...2R4nvUyJ7Yq4zM-Xf-BoC1REQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds ... Some searching will produce better ones than this particular smoker... it's just for example ...

I hear a lot of people that have pellet poopers (grills) aren't satisfied with the amount of smoke on their meats... They substitute with a pellet tray/tube for extra smoke ...

I use a weber kettle (22 1/2") and a weber smokey mountain (14")... I just like the flavor of charcoal and real wood chunks for smoke ...

 

Pit Boss is owned by ex Treager founders and about half the price. The temperature control is decent +/- 25 for me. As some have said the smoke is light. I think that's true of most pellet smokers. I got a $10 smoke tube for when I want more smoke. Warenty and customer support is spectacular. Look at the vertical models for your needs. The 700 series is very spacious.

 

John, can you link to the one that you have?

 

https://pitboss-grills.com/grills/v...perhead-5-series-vertical-pellet-smoker-pbvp1
I have a friend that got the 7 series if you need more capacity. He loves it.

 

I have the Pro version, it's exclusive to Lowes and a little cheaper. I don't know if they're very different but the owner's manual and parts are the same.

 

Any difficulty keeping the glass door clean?