Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Cooked some hangar steaks on the santa maria grill on Saturday after a few hours of burning some logs to finish curing and degass the paint.

Did pulled pork on the CC last night, came out quite well. First time for pulled pork in that cooker, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. No real bark, but I guess that's the nature of pellet cookers, but super even cooking.

No photos, had my hands full.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I've wanted a smoker for a bit and finally pulled the trigger on a little one today.... Pretty excited to start trying some different things!

q
 

Not using my Weber 22.5" that much since I bought the santa maria pit, so I decided to turn it into a WFO. No way I'm paying $120 + another $200 drop in sheet metal, extra grates and stones that I already have lying around. So, $17 later plus some stones I bought last year at end of season clearance for $5 each, I have an 800+F degree WFO.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1434913027

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1434913122

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1434913011

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1434913022

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:cl That's what I call recycling!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Looks delicious Adam!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Adam, that looks like something OLS would be proud of. ;)
You are the MacGyver of smokers.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Santa Maria TriTip on Sunday and then some chicken breasts & potatoes tonight.

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...psvu447ivn.jpg

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...psri2m12de.jpg

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...psep54nhqt.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thawed out a couple small chickens that spent too much time in the freezer. Threw on the CampChef pellet grill. Apple wood smoke, 350° for about 75-80 mins (were still partially frozen when they went on). Still moist and juicy. Should make for some good dinners all week. Thinking a chicken gumbo one day.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Chicken wings and Hebrew national dogs.
http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/y...psr9r6xr3a.jpg

http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps2hjt5mxb.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Picked up some St. Louis style ribs at Costco today. 4 hours later, they were a tasty treat.

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...psofosvhai.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Those ribs look delicious EJ:dr

In 7 more weeks, I think I'll make a couple of racks myself:tu

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Final exam for cooking 101 class?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Yeah, its a silly 2 unit Summer course;)

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Some good looking eats.
Anybody planning something special for the 4th?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Don't know about tomorrow, but going to do a couple whole chickens today.:tu

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Going to crank up the pellet grill and do a nice NY strip steak for dinner tonight.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Dinner...

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5absmiup.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Great looking dinner EJ:dr

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Some carne asada for tacos tonight... Way too much meat.... Live and learn. Leftovers?

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...psg4py3zvx.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Looks like a winner to me.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Fired up the Santa Maria grill yesterday afternoon. Along with stuffed mushrooms on the pellet cooker and my trademarked "DILLIGAF plating job"

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1438007085

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1438007091

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1438007097

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

YUM!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Must resist Santa Maria grill.

Looks good, Adam.
EJ, there's no such thing as too much meat. ;)

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Resist hard, because once you get your hands on one, they are so easy to fall in love with. They do one thing, and one thing only, and they do it very, very well and relatively effortlessly.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Something I like to call ABOSSS. A Bowl of Smoked Stupid Stuff.

Someone asked me if you could smoke olives, of course you can, I've done it a number of times before. But I decided to go full retard this time.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1438098896

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Pulled my own card this weekend. Cooked a rack of spares and a pack of 8 chicken thighs, did it all with downed limbs.
Lost patience in the brutal 100 degree heat and let em smoke before it was really time to shut the lid, white smoke, ehh, who
the hell cares, can't wait for blue time forever. blech. I ate em, but I realized I just can't cook in this heat. This weekend it
will dip below 95 for the first time in a month it seems, and MAYBE I can earn back my card.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I'm not familiar with these types of grills. What is it that they do?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

With football season quickly approaching, I decided I'd try out these appetizers. Called an Atomic Buffalo Turd. Going on the grill for 1.5 hours.

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...psho0cmhg0.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Finished
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6r3pwple.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

ABTs are wonderful. Prep is labor intensive but the finished product makes it worth the effort.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

They are live fire grills, you basically fuel them with firewood logs (ideally oak, although almond and walnut work well too). Very simple design, big open top steel boxes and because there is no intake or exhaust air control they run hot, real hot. To control temps the grate that food sits on can be cranked up or down. They are basically just for direct cooking, they have no lids, indirect can be faked by having the grate really high up.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

AGREE! Tasty treat, everyone loved 'um.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thanks for the explanation. I've used one once, about a decade ago, that a friend had built while we were in Germany. I'd not heard it called a "Santa Maria", though. It was great for the steaks we were cooking, I remember that.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Trying my first ever brisket on the pit barrel. Not a full packer - didn't want to invest the dough only to screw it up.

We'll see ...

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Nice! Look forward to the update.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Yeah, the concept of cooking over a live fire with the meat on giant skewers or grates that can be moved up and down is certainly nothing new and goes back centuries. The story behind the name "Santa Maria grill" and "Santa Maria tri-tip" or "Santa Maria BBQ" goes back to the 50's when it was popularized in CA by a local butcher in Santa Maria CA and then by a few restaurants.

Here's some more history on it
http://santamariavalleybbq.com/2009/...tyle-barbecue/
http://www.tmbbq.com/santa-maria-style-bbq/


From a dumb pedantic point of view, my grill was actually built by "Santa Maria BBQ Grill Outfitters" so calling it a Santa Maria grill is actually it's proper name - kind of like Pit Barrel Cookers / PBC which is really just a upright drum smoker. I know, lame. :D
http://www.santamariagrills.com/index.htm

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:tu Thanks for the info! My local grocery just started carrying tri-tip so I'm going to have to pick one up and have a go at it.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Cool. One word of advice, when you take tri-tip above medium-rare, it's gets really tough and loses a lot of flavor. It ain't brisket, it doesn't need to be cooked for days.

Amazing Ribs has a decent discussion on how to do it on a normal grill
http://amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/...ip_steaks.html

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

My wife and I both like our beef on the rare side, so if I take it over medium-rare things have gone horribly, horribly wrong. :D

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5619/...8b5c3dbdde.jpg

Had marginal success.

On the plus side, the flavor was absolutely wonderful. Nice smoke ring with a great smoky flavor. I used a simple, mild rub of black pepper, Kosher salt, onion powder, garlic powder & paprika which allowed the smokiness to shine through. Flavor & appearance-wise, this was a win.

The one (major) negative: it was on the dry side. I smoked this hanging in the PBC to about 165*, wrapped it in foil with a half cup of beef broth & put it on the grill rack until it got to 200*. Packed it in towels in a cooler and let it sit for about 4 1/2 hours. It made a nice au jus, but the meat itself was a touch dry. It was ok doused in the juice, but it wasn't juicy on its own at all, and made the meal a little disappointing.

As I mentioned in my OP, I went with a small brisket: it was roughly 4 lbs, and what I've been told by the more experienced guys on the board since is that it's difficult, if not impossible to get a moist brisket if you 're not doing a full packer.

Bottom line: the flavor experience was good enough to make me want to try this again. Next time I'll spring for the full packer and see if I can better my results.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Vin,
My experience is that the Flats don't cook well and should be left for pastrami making. You really need the point and a thick fat cap intact to "self baste".

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Yes. Flat's are good for braising in tomato sauce or steaming

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

So growing up in Florida we had Fat Boys' BBQ and their smoked beef was actually top rounds (think roast beef), it was a bit dryer as it isn't a fatty cut of beef, but man it's so good, I still prefer that to any brisket, left or right pointing. If you want to try something different I would go for that just to try it, oh and you just slice it really thin when serving.

A

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I think they call that Pit Beef around these parts. in fact I went to one over in Baltimore called Chaps and it was very, very tasty stuff indeed.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Vin, please keep trying. Agree with advice here about full packer. Amazing difference. You did everything right it sounds like, just the base product. I've done over 15 or so and the first few weren't great, but after a few I love them. Ususally very moist and great flavor, but it all depends on what you start with. Worth the effort!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Pulled pork sandwiches tonight.
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...pszjkee3yq.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I don't add broth when wrapping it and I serve when it hits near 200, but actually I go by tenderness when it the temp is above 185. Depends what the brisket is "telling me". Fork does not lie.

Full packer's or even just a point cut is more difficult and expensive to find then down south.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Wow!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

From the last week or so...

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1439331428
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1439331433
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1439331437

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1439331446
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1439331450

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Not to be contrary but what Vins got in that picture ain't even a flat. It's market brisket which is a trimmed down cut. It ain't easy smoking any butcher trimmed final cut. Too much fat and membrane have been removed from them. That fat isn't for self baisting either, but it does reduce the direct air contact with the meat which helps keep it moist.

Primals and pac-primals, which whole brisket falls into, are the best cuts to learn to smoke and to smoke IMO. Problem of course is that's always a lot of meat. OK so that's not such a huge problem.

As specific to brisket, smoking a real flat or point is no different than a whole pac brisket.

And the other brisket specific advice I can give is smoke it hot. If you are smoking brisket at under 225 you are doing it wrong IMO.