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

I dont see a problem using the racks but ya might want to flip the ribs over halfway through the process.
Assuming you're going with low and slow which is around 220 degrees?

 

The Smoke Shack is an electric smoker.
It has a Heating Element that provides the heat and it makes the wood chunks smoke.
You hear about people soaking their wood chips in water to make them smoulder.
While that works it doesn't give you that clear blue smoke you're looking for.
As far as electric smokers go it's probably the best electric smoker out there.

This is a good place to learn about BBQing....
https://www.bbq-brethren.com/#google_vignette

 

LOVE a good pork butt!!!!
To be honest I like it better than a good Brisket.
But keep that on the down low.......
Being a Texan I'm supposed to like Brisket over all other BBQ.....

 

Same here. I hit the easy button with the pellet smoker and it makes me happy. Mine lets me select a smoke level; I think it’s 1-10 but I’ve never gone past 4. Good smoke rings on the meat, excellent flavor. My fear with a more traditional smoker is letting the smoke go cold and then the smoke starts tasting like a cigarette. Blehch..

I’m still struggling with brisket, though.

Great flavor, but turns to jerky really quickly. I suspect the closer heat source of a pellet smoker has something to do with it but I still try. Finally temp is an issue. Running it over 200f always turns out tough and dry.

I cooked two pork shoulders last weekend to see if I was crazy pulling them where I do. One shoulder came off at 184, the second I ran out to 195. They both tasted great but the one I pulled at 184 was perfect. Tender, moist, shreddable, and overall better texture. I pulled the second one because it stalled again at 195, which is what I see my brisket do around the same temps.

 

Hahaha. There’s a bbq caterer in town that makes THE BEST brisket I’ve ever had. Well, maybe tied for first. But they had a storefront for a year and I prolly ate there at least twice a week. My brisket is so abysmal compared to it that I have to call it something else.

But brisket can be so rich that even I needed a break from it. There’s something about pork butt with its sweet and savory that I can eat it everyday the week after we make it. Pulled pork sammy for lunch, pork on my burger, pork tacos for dinner, pork enchiladas end of the week to finish it off, and I’m picking at it straight out of the fridge all week.

Your secret is safe here. Maybe.

 

Hmmmm...
The key to moist and tender brisket or any kind of large hunks of meat is Pink Butcher wrapping paper. Although I've never had to use it on pork,it usually has more than enough moisture/fat to keep it moist. As long as you keep the temps around 220.
As long as you keep the temps low Pork should stay moist
When you get close to the finished internal temp wrap it in the pink butcher paper if you think moisture could be an issue.
When you get close to the finish temp you need to unwrap it so the bark will set up and not become mushy.

 

What was your seasoning/rub? Your review is making me consider killing one out of the freezer for a Monday smoke.

 

I started wrapping it in pink butcher paper the last two go rounds, which helped but still no dice. I think I wrapped one just after the stall (170), and one just as it hit(165). I’m wondering if I need to wrap it sooner, like 145ish. I also usually cook it around 215 or 220. Might try dropping that a few degrees, too.

Any pointers are appreciated.

 

Do it…

Seasoning it is pretty simple, but I don’t measure anything except the brown sugar. I just sprinkle each seasoning on one at a time, which I’m sure I’ll catch some flack for. Anyways, it goes like this, covering the whole thing:

- Liberally coat in large flake kosher salt
- 1/3 C dark brown sugar
- medium sprinkle of garlic powder (not garlic salt), black pepper, paprika
- light sprinkle of red chili pepper, onion powder
- splash of white pepper and cayenne

Toss it on the smoker at 215 unpapered until it hits 184 (of below 5000’ elevation, you may want to raise you final temp accordingly, ~2* per 1000’). Foil, toss in a cooler for 30 minutes to 4 hours. My pork butts usually take 8-12 hours so I start them before I go to bed and check them when I wake up. Or I start them first thing in the morning and expect a late dinner.

I also don’t like a heavy red taste, so I take it easy on the chili powder. I had some ribs from a place here in town once that was like a paprika/chili pepper popsicle. Not my thing.

Good luck and tell us how it turns out.

 

One thing that I have always done while smoking my pork shoulders/butts is make up a mix of coke a cola and apple cider vinegar about 60/40 mix in a mist spray bottle and give it a good spray coat every 1 1/2 hrs or so. Helps keep some moisture and tenderness going and then almost gives a candied bark with the rub once it’s all done! I’ve also been using a Meater+ temperature probe that I can monitor on my phone if I’m away or doing over night cooks, seems to be very accurate and spot in for when to remove from heat.

 

Shouldnt have to wrap it sooner.
Whats your temp in the pit?

 

Wish me luck…

 

Utter failure. Sad when one of kids tells me they don’t like it while sitting at the table. Brisket is no longer on the menu chez nous.

 

do you know what went wrong?

 

Not seeing any separation in the brisket.
Normally you get the small lines/separation where the brisket is basically falling apart.

 

Smoking a turkey breast for a couple dinners this week. Trying out a new brine, mayo binder, and I seasoned it with Meat Church Voo Doo and Hickory. Guest appearance by Ranch Water and jalapeno poppers. Will report back when finished.

 

No idea, TBH. Which is why I’m so baffled with brisket. Other smokes I can usually see or at least intuit what I did wrong, try to rectify the problem on the next try, and see results one way or another. Then I fine tune the process to my liking. The internet seems to be full of malarkey.. ha.

For that brisket, I followed the Meat Church pellet method: overnight smoke at 200*; wrap in the morning at around 165/170* internal; bump up the temp to 250* and smoke to doneness around 204*. I pulled it at exactly 204* when the temp probe resistance dropped significantly when probing.

So today I’ll do a tri-tip. Hard for me to screw that up.

 

I don’t go with what the internet says. I start probing at 160ish and once it gets easy, I pull it, wrap it (if it wasn’t already), and throw it in the cooler for at least an hour. Usually ends up coming off in the 180 range and turns out good. Every time I’ve tried to pull it at the 203-204 number it turns out dry.

Meat selection is also a key item. Make sure it’s a floppy brisket. If it’s a hard one it won’t have good marbling. If it basically folds in half when you grab it then it’s a good one. I get weird looks in the store when I’m picking briskets and shaking them haha.

 

Thanks for the input. I do the same thing with my pork butt/shoulder - usually end up pulling around 184 for perfection. I had several people telling me I was pulling brisket too early and not letting it breakdown enough, which is I why I tried an "experts" guide. Not knocking Meat Church, just acknowledging that BBQ is more 'grandma's baking measurements' than 'refined, exacting cookbook standards'. Maybe one day I'll try it again, but tri-tip is so much less work and soooo rewarding.

I do have a neighbor that makes killer brisket. We usually have a neighborhood part in July or August and he might do brisket again this year. I will probably meander on down the road and peek over the fence if he does. But for now, it's off the menu - at least until I get a wild hair to try again.

 

I smoke a couple of shoulders today. Had to improvise. I sloshed water into the smoke pot and the smoker wouldn't light.
I put them on the grill with a smoke rube, when the grill gas ran out I moved rhem to a 275 oven. The first one is perfect, but a little less smoky than I like. The second has about 5 more degrees to go.

 

Glad it worked out! Would be a shame to toss that!

I had something similar happen where my smoker turned of in the middle of the cook. I did the exact same thing and tossed in the oven. Turned out to be a worn outlet letting the plug pop out a little if somebody bumped the cord. My kids and dogs were running in and out of the house and I'm sure one of them knocked in to it.

 

Round two.

 

Finished product. Tasty and juicy as hell.

 

Perfection.

 

How do you do your tri tip? I reverse sear and season with salt, pepper, garlic, and parsley.

 

The exact same as you it appears, just without parsley. Large flake kosher, pepper, garlic before smoking to 127*, then reverse seer, wrap in foil, and toss it in the cooler for an hour or two. The foil collects the juice that doesn’t reabsorb - usually a few spoonfuls to spoon over the thin cuts.

One of my kids requested bacon-wrapped tritip today. Knowing that wouldn’t smoke well, I pan fried a few pieces of bacon then seared the tritip in the bacon juice. A slightly different flavor but delicious and very robust - almost a hair heavy on Maillard reaction flavor but not in a bad way. So my kid got bacon-wrapped tritip. Usually it’s just butter in the pan, though.

It’s almost too easy I feel like it’s cheating. Makes it even harder to try another brisket knowing I have a better chance of flopping than succeeding, judging by my track record.

 

I love cooking tri tip. Very rewarding no matter how you do it. I’ll do a heavy smoke until 100* internal then pull it, crank the heat to 700*, sear for 30-45sec a side to 120*, then rest for 10-15mins. I like a good chimichuri sauce on top.

Regarding bacon wrapped stuff, I’ll smoke or grill whatever and then to crisp the bacon I’ll pop it in the oven on broil for a couple of minutes and that’ll crisp the bacon right up.

I’ve been cooking briskets for 15 years. They are a pain in the ass. Do a chuck roast or Dino ribs. Cooks and tastes the same but cheaper and easier.

 

Ooh, chimichuri sauce sounds good Whatever we have left over always goes in to tacos the next day. Bet that would be killer all together.