Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I think that Berkshire pork was not so much a matter of fat on the outside as marbling on the inside.
It really seemed that it was not industrial ranched pork but some kind of good local farm pork, without
all the growth hormone. There was not much fat in that cut from what I could see. Might have made
a better ham. It had good marbling for beef, though. I am never sure how much there is in the junk
you get at the store, cause it's all the same basic color, lol. That was some bright purple pork you had there.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Yep, I was thinking that same thing myself. I didn't end up layering bacon on it as it became my lunch. Oops. :D

I'm thinking a brine is in order the next time if I use Berkshire again.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

What particular cut of meat was it? It doesn't look to be a shoulder. If it was in fact NOT a shoulder, it might be more like smoking pork chops, which IMO is not a good thing for long cooks, but better grilled.

edit: going over the picture more and more, it looks like you got what is called a center cut ham steak, or ham shank steak.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I think you saved yourself some bacon anyway. I can't imagine it having an effect at all, other than on the bottom
of your smoker, lol. I bet it made a good sammich anyway.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Bumped thanks.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Watcha talkin' 'bout Willis??? I cook... I just suck at taking pictures so I don't always post when I cook:D:D

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I was just labeled as a shoulder roast. I think you're right though about it being more of a ham cut as the bone looks nothing like what you find in a butt (there's a joke in there somewhere :D). Either way, it turned out very good, especially sliced really thin and dressed with a touch of NC style BBQ sauce.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Possibly a cut off the top of the picnic shoulder, which is the forward shoulder/leg, just below the butt.

http://www.foodsubs.com/MeatPorkPicnic.html

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

It was chicken Thursday....
My oldest daughter and boyfriend are in from out of town, so...
I made a bunch of these, one survived...:r
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...a/DVC00872.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Love this thread did some ribs for the 4th and only got this pic, used pecan wood man what a great flavor...

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...e/7bd6ac02.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Hey guys.
I have 4 8lb briskets going on tomorrow.
Any recs on cook time and temp?
I've never had the success with brisket that I've had with pork.
Googled and found every thing from an hour a pound to 90 min, to 2hr per pound, and temps from 180 to 300.
So I figured I would reach out and ask here.
Time is not an issue, since I'll be up most of the night and will only sleep about an hour or two.
Thanks in advance

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

What type of smoker do you have?

And have you tried the Hot and Fast method before?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I have a drum smoker, 2 propane vertical smokers, and a traeger.
I haven't heard of hot and fast.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I did short ribs on the ECB yesterday. These came out really tender.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Brisket on a drum is pretty easy. Here is a good hot and fast brisket: http://www.patiodaddiobbq.com/2009/0...f-brisket.html

I have tried a variety of that guy's advice and it's been pretty sound.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thanks for the link, I'll consider it, but the fact that my briskets are only 8 lbs are making me lean to slow and low.

Can anyone recommend a time and temp per hour?
Thanks in advance.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I do HnF with 3lb chucks all the time. Also, if you notice he, (and American Royal winners who do HnF) trim a lot of the fat off and want them fairly lean for hot and fast. It's up to you, but don't let the fact that you have smaller briskets be the reason for not trying that method.

If you want to go low and slow, it will be more of internal temp than a set time and temp per hour. I would cook it at 250 till the brisket was 190 internal at the thickest part. That's probably going to be around 1 hour per pound. Give or take. But the old saying holds true "it's done when it's done".

Also, are yours full packers or just the point or flat?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

How long and what temp did you do those beef ribs?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

225°F for close to 5 hours...
I foiled about half of them for an hour during the cook. Those came out slightly more tender, but still gave 5 hours total time.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I have dubbed the miniature bacon explosions "bacon bursts". They are much more tedious to make but soooooo good. I ended up cutting the bacon strips lengthways and widthways to make skinnier strips. That way they were exact miniature replicas of the original.
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/a...quigg1/008.jpg
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/a...quigg1/009.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I'll be putting on 7 racks in the WSM in the morning. :tu

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Those look great Andrew. I may have to try that soon.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Making me hungry Andrew!!!

Looks good!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thanks. I did a brisket and a couple slabs of spareribs. All were pretty decent. The bacon explosion/bursts were the stars though.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Post up the recipe in the Recipes sub-forum.
:2

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Done:tu Hope it suffices.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

The last couple of times I've fired up the WSM, it's been a bear with temps. The last time or two, I struggled to get temps over 210 and this time, I somehow got temps up to 300+ after foiling the BBR's and had a hell of a time getting them back down.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

2 words...........Char-griller.

:r

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

What is the ratio of wood to charcoal that you are using? I find that if I use too many wood chunks, I have a harder time keeping the temp stable.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I honestly don't use that many chunks. If I use a whole 16 lb bag of Stubbs charcoal, I probably use 1 lb or less of wood-usually hickory or apple. What do you think is a good ratio of charcoal to wood?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

That ratio is about right. Have you tried looking over at virtualweberbullet.com for an answer? To me it sounds like you may not be starting the charcoal correctly or the water pan is effecting something. But I don't have a WSM, so I am not certain.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I've been starting it the same way the past couple of times the way I always have. I've lighted the chimney and poured on top of the charcoal the same way I always have. I'm thinking the lower temps were mostly due to the charcoal not taking a good fire early on, but the 300+ temps are what really puzzled me. Generally before yesterday's smoke, I've generally never gone over 255.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I’ve heard I should modify my smoker. Is there a down side to smoker modifications? - This is very much a buyer beware operation.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Did you have the lid off for an extended period of time. I smoked some ribs last weekend on my 18.5" and was rock steady at 250*, but it started to shoot up after I had the lid off for 5 minutes or so. I had to shut the bottom vents to get a handle on it.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I thinks it's good practice to shut the intake vents a good couple of minutes before removing the lid to compensate for the spike in temp.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

75% of smokers could use modifications. The rest are perfect the way they are.
I guess it depends on what you have, doesn't it, Thermal?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

What he said.

My ECB has been modded, as has my NBBD. I'll probbaly mod the vertical gas sausage smoker once I get around to using it a time or two.


The Lang works pretty good as she came, but I have thought about dropping the money on a Guru once or twice.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thanks bud, only mod want is the guru for my egg, but i think it would take some of the fun out of it, what do you guys think?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Yeah, kinda does take the fun out of it. I'd like to have a Guru for my WSM, but I still enjoy controlling the temps manually. If time were an issue and I no longer enjoyed it, I'd get a controller in a heartbeat. Until then, I'll be tinkering with the vents.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I have a Stoker for my Spicewine as it is nice at competitions. I like being able to get some sleep and not having to worry. I have the adapter for my BGE and have used it a couple of times. The BGE is so easy I don't even bother hooking it up any more.

On a more exciting subject... I am doing two briskets tonight. Well actually one packer and two halves of a flat from the last cow I killed that my butcher messed up. What I am really excited about though is a huge rack of beef ribs from that cow that I am going to put on tomorrow. They are about 12 inches wide and almost three inches thick at the thick end. I can't wait to chow on them!!!!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

No smoking for me this weekend. I'm building a UDS.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

It helps to greatly reduce or even eliminate a variable that can lead to inconsistency in the cooking process from one run to the next.

The fun, at least to me, is in consistently / repeatably creating good food, not jockeying briquettes. If the cooker can do that without a controller, that's great, but if not, then there is always that option.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Alright folks... I am don't post many pics 'cause I am lazy and I suck at taking pics. The beef ribs I cooked today are so amazing though I had to bite the bullet and break out the camera.
Attachment 9998

These are from a cow I killed a couple of months ago. I told the butcher I wanted some meaty ribs. I think he took me at my word!!!:banger

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

The Bradley Smoker lays eerily silent this weekend. Nice dino bones, B-man.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Darn, those make me want to be the hey-I-just-happened-to-stop-by next door neighbor to you...like mine. Smoked some more bacon explosion and bacon bursts today and took them to my favorite bar to make some people very happy. Man, those things are addictive.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

A pic from Brent?!?! Looks amazing sir!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Looks like I'm firing up 9 racks of baby backs on Tuesday. :tu

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I often wonder who EATS all that stuff.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Nice George! Just be sure to keep the flames low so the po-po and fire department don't show up. ;)