Smoking Meat and other Things

[Freelander]

I figured I would start a new topic here about smoking meat since there was some interest in my little smoker.

Briskets are really 2 pieces of meat, the long piece is called the flat, and on one end is the point, and normally has a layer of in between the two piece. And the grain of the meat is different between the two pieces.

I have started the point half, at 6:00 am this morning at 275*. I inserted the meat probe and will cook until it hits at least 195* before I even look at it.

They have a saying, "If you're looking you're not cooking." So DONT open that lid, every time you do it will add 15 minutes onto the cook time.

I used some store bought rub for it, rubbed it down last night, wrapped it in plastic wrap and put in the fridge over night.

I put the temp probe into the middle of the meat and now I will wait and wait and wait until its done.


The meat will be cooked at 160* but it will be too tough to chew, so it has to go to a final temp of about 205*. But that can take many hours to get, at around 140* the meat will go into the 'stall' when the internal temp will not rise much. Think about when we are hot and are sweating, that is there to cool us down, the meat will do the same thing. and after the moisture has 'sweated' out of the meat the temp will rise again, just like when we are hot and stop sweating, we will get hot again.

After the stall the meat will start to break the down the connective tissue that makes it hard to chew. After it reaches about 195 I like to pull it out and wrap it in foil and an old towel or blanket let it coast to about 205. That will take about about an hour. 

Brisket can hard to cook until you figure it out

 

[Freelander]

Preparing the Brisket.

I like to remove a lot of the fat on the brisket and trim it down to about 1/4" . Some people leave it, but when you put rub on the fat is doesn't do any good, won't penetrate the fat.

I tend to use store bought rubs, but the old stand by rub is 'Dalmatian Rub'. That is 2 parts salt, 1 part black pepper, and 1 part Garlic powder.

Don' be bashful with the rub, don't worry about wasting any, a lot of it is going to fall just off handling the meat, and that's the only seasoning the meat is going to get.

 

[Freelander]

3 hours in and it has entered the stall, about 150* now.

 

[RoamerRV428]

we smoked and grilled and all of it thru so many darn years, decades
from our hogs to our goats to our beefs and more............darn I am Carnivore so I get ya on the delish taste....but one thing I don't like ever is smoked chicken. Smoked chick is a hubby fav but for me a no go.

nothing like it if done right.

 

[gizmotron]

...but one thing I don't like ever is smoked chicken.  Smoked chick is a hubby fav but for me a no go. 

nothing like it if done right.

Yep, me too. But there was this chain of Smoke houses in the Tampa Bay area back in the 90's that I would go to for lunch. Can't remember the name. It was like "Smokey's" or something. Anyway they had proper smoked chicken. It's skin was crisp and the smoke flavor was superb.  

So I failed with chicken until I purchased a few recipes from a past time competition barbecue chef on the internet. It was a simple PDF file. Can't find it now. It's been years ago. 

So there are some tricks to competition barbecued chicken. You don't cook it at 225. You smoke it at 300. You take common everyday cheap Italian salad dressing and marinate thighs with the skin on for 24 hours before the cook. (This is never possible in a competition cook-off most of the times.)  You then take the skin side up and stretch the skins down so that they look great. You look for even sized pieces. You then place them in the cooker without touching each other. It falls to the style of the cook if you use sauce, rub, or both. The secret trick is the Italian marinade and the 300 degrees. That higher temp crisps the thighs and gets the meat cooked all the way through. Most people cook at 225 and they get rubberized chicken.  

Great thread.

 

[abnorm]

^ SONNY's




MOD ................Move to FOOD and Cooking

 

[gizmotron]

^ SONNY's

Yep, that's it. Oh I loved that place for lunch. Sweat tea.

 

[GotSmart]

So much for smoking meat. 

What about the other things?

It takes a fine touch to smoke cheese.  :heart:

I would love to give a demonstration but after contracting AGS I have to stay away from mammalian containing products. 

No no no I just can’t smoke it no more. 

 

[gizmotron]

What about fish? In the Columbia Gorge the local tribes have very old grandfathered in fishing rights. They will sell right off the dock salmon or shad for super cheap. Bring cash. You brine them for at least 24 hours and then long smoke the meat. Smoked shad is great. If done correctly it will dissolve the bones. BTW, shad are a blast to catch.

 

[B and C]

Their shad must be larger than what I am used too. I used them for bait.

 

[gizmotron]

The shad run is like a salmon run. These are about 20 inches long and look just like a silvery Tarpon. They are soft mouthed and fight like a Tarpon. They get into the swift water and pull like a bag of rocks. They often come off. They are not considered a great fish to eat, until you have properly smoked shad that is.

 

[B and C]

Ah. The ones I used for bait were MUCH smaller.

 

[Cammalu]

Freelander have you smoked chicken in your smoker? Unfortunately John was bitten by a tick and now has Alpha Gal Syndrome. I knew about Lyme but had never heard of Alpha Gal.

The tick can pass an enzyme that can make you allergic to all red meat and dairy products. He was in constant severe stomach pain and running to the can.

Anyway his diet is pretty limited now.

 

[gizmotron]

Yikes.

 

[eDJ_]

I've been smoking meat and cheese for some time now.  Doing this at home of course.  But I got the idea to try and build a cheap mobile smoker to take along using dollar tree heavy foil stuff and recycled items such as the lid from a #10 can for the upper damper. 

I had this 1/2" steel post and a long handled grill grate that could be be used together over a fire.  Good for burgers etc just as it was.  But to make a smoker out of it I used some foil trays and heavy metal folder clips.  The top was a Turkey baking pan modified to use as a dome lid. 

If smoking cheese I'd use a wire mesh office tray 10 X 4 X 1 1/2 from Dollar tree and for a fuel Hickory wood pellets.  For this I would want a low temp heat with plenty of smoke and a few hours of time.

If smoking meat in camp I may try to use smaller cuts of meat than what I'd do at home. In camp for a week end you may not have gear for a brine soak, before applying a rub etc.  Although some smoke could improve the flavor of even Kielbalsa or other smoked sausage for a quick smoked dinner meat.

Mobile Smoker
http://djsaan.homestead.com/Foil_Smoker_full.jpg
http://djsaan.homestead.com/Foil_Smoker_full.jpgSmoker knocked down
http://djsaan.homestead.com/Foil_Smoker_full.jpghttp://djsaan.homestead.com/Foil_Smoker_KDF.jpg
http://djsaan.homestead.com/Foil_Smoker_full.jpghttp://djsaan.homestead.com/Foil_Smoker_KDF.jpgClips that hold smoker together
http://djsaan.homestead.com/Foil_Smoker_full.jpghttp://djsaan.homestead.com/Foil_Smoker_KDF.jpghttp://djsaan.homestead.com/Foil_Smoker_Clips.jpg
http://djsaan.homestead.com/Foil_Smoker_full.jpghttp://djsaan.homestead.com/Foil_Smoker_KDF.jpghttp://djsaan.homestead.com/Foil_Smoker_Clips.jpgGrill surface of smokerSmoker without skirt

 

[Freelander]

So much for smoking meat. 

What about the other things?

It takes a fine touch to smoke cheese.  :heart:

I would love to give a demonstration but after contracting AGS I have to stay away from mammalian containing products. 

No no no I just can’t smoke it no more. 

Yes I have smoked cheese, and yes it can be tricky. I like to use a big ice tray under there cheese. The idea is to smoke it with out melting it.

 

[Freelander]

Freelander have you smoked chicken in your smoker?  Unfortunately John was bitten by a tick and now has Alpha Gal Syndrome. I knew about Lyme but had never heard of Alpha Gal.

The tick can pass an enzyme that can make you allergic to all red meat and dairy products. He was in constant severe stomach pain and running to the can.

Anyway his diet is pretty limited now.

Not in this smoker, but I have in there past.

 

[gizmotron]

Thanksgiving Dinner?

How about this?

 

[Freelander]

Looks YUMMY!!!

 

[gizmotron]

It's mouthwatering. Even Bob with his microwave could cook this.