Re: What's in your smoker?
 

A little something that I did for the unit during a little R&R.

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...r/480db439.jpg
Yeah I know...But that is how I roll
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...r/7981f158.jpg
Little Beer can chicken
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...r/304af823.jpg
What else to do, when sailors are on land
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...r/9450c090.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Just pulled this off.
As with most things on the Traeger, this was done sooner than expected.
The skin is done to a perfect crispness.
I'm going to let it sit for at least 30 min, before I slice it up.

I cooked @300 until an internal temp of 160
Then cooked an additional 30 min @500 to crisp up the skin

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1339963708

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1339963713

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

One more pic

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/8ebbbf45.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

What time is dinner? :dr

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

looks amazing dom

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

GEEZ, what did the arabs say when they smelled THAT?!?!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

LOL.... I think they liked it:sh

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Nice looking stuff Vin, Dom & Shawn.

Nothing on the smoker this weekend for me. Did everything on the grill.
(smoking hanger steaks would be sacrilege)

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I punished the landlady this weekend. She took in a dog that her daughter had irresponsibly bred and pawned
off on some guy who has had him a couple years. Apparently he is in transition between houses or something,
so he brought it to the landladies house and she just tied him to the bars in the window of the abandoned house
next door. The POS bit me, too. Where was I?? Oh yeah, I told her that dog goes or I stop helping her do things.
She is old and in the past if she needed a flower bed dug, lawn cut, dogs fed, pond pump fixed, pond de-leafed in
the spring, EVERYTHING, I ended up being the one that did it. So she had a choice, dog or work out of me. She
chose DOG and was upset that I had given her an ultimatum that she felt removed her right to free will. I told her,
no, that's exactly what you GET to do...choose one or the other.....the lady or the loot (The Grifters)

Apparently she chose no more smoked meat, hahahahahahahahaha.

So yeah, I was idle this weekend. I did cook up a WICKED batch of pintos with some rib trimmins I had in the freezer.
Ate almost a whole pot's worth this weekend. Just phenomenal. In fact the recipe is going up this morning.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

That looks like a pork belly wrapped around a pork loin....Is that about the long and short of it?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

That my friend is "Hitting the Nail on the head"

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Some hickory smoked chicken halves, bacon wrapped pork.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...35833831_n.jpg

Some brats that I actually stuffed myself.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...60223996_n.jpg

And some super yummy twice baked potatoes, these were awesome!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...17668212_n.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I am so glad I got to SEE those photos. That is some kind of epic cook, maybe a record for this thread.
Just WOW....wow, wow, wow.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

We have a cool day here today for a change, so I decided to take advantage of it so I'm just about finished smoking 8lbs of pepper jack and cheddar cheese over applewood this morning.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

How do you smoke your cheese?

I assume it's a cold smoke but for how long?

Also, how do you keep it from turning rock hard?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I lurk on this thread often and would love the answer to this because cold smoked cheese sounds amazing.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Yes, it's a cold smoker. An 18" Weber with a 15 watt element in a smoke can.

Every smoker is going to be different due to how much smoke they make and how well they trap/contain it. Additionally, it depends on how thick and how much surface area there is for what you are smoking. In my case, I typically use 8-10 oz rectangular blocks (about 7"x2"x1" to 8"x2"x2") and smoke the cheese for about an hour, sometimes as long as two if I'm using a very mild wood or the element is nearing the end of it's useable life. Someone with a different smoker might have different times. It's something that you just have to experiment with to find the smoking time that works for you.

Never had an issue with it hardening anymore than just it forming a slight rind, which is to be expected.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thanks for the info!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Welcome.

BTW, just as with BBQ'ing, different woods will behave/taste differently and different cheeses will work differently / need different amounts of smoke. Some woods will create such a pungent smoke flavor that you will need to rest the cheese for some time to lose the astringency before serving. Others, it can be served within days, or even hours.

Minimize your variables and experiment to find what works - pick a cheese to work with, medium or sharp cheddar is a good place to start, use the same brand & cut them the same size each time, use the same wood, just change your smoke times. After you get that baseline time figured out, adjusting for different woods and cheeses is pretty easy.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Good advice here.