What's in your smoker?

[T.G]

Originally Posted by Ranger_B

cooked some burgers over pecan wood today. I am doing some reading to find out how to smoke some cheese. Anyone done any cheese smoking? I am smoking a couple of pork tenderloins tomorrow.

Si.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showth...73#post1078073

[GoodFella]

Originally Posted by Ranger_B

cooked some burgers over pecan wood today. I am doing some reading to find out how to smoke some cheese. Anyone done any cheese smoking? I am smoking a couple of pork tenderloins tomorrow.

have not done it but i love it.

my smoker has been cold for to long. i am going to have to crank it up soon.

[cigarusmaximus]

Originally Posted by T.G

It might be a little green, but hard to say from here. What sticks out to me is that's a lot of smoke wood. Different design pits work differently though, some designs it might be ok. If I were cooking, I would use probably half or a little less than half of that.

When you use chips, think about how many handfuls of chips you use, and now think about how much a handful compresses. Compare the number of compressed handfuls to that log you tossed on to get an idea.

As for char all the way around, I don't worry about that, I put the wood on and maybe bury a chunk or two in the unlit briquettes, and after the flames and heavy smoke have died down (15-20 minutes usually) I put the meat on. That's what works for me with the smoker I use. If it works for anyone else, that's a bonus.

Thanks TG. I'm inclined to agree with you. I don't think the wood is bad. I believe the tree has been down for nearly a year and the banches I used looked to be die back from previous years. I did remove the bulk of the bark, with exception of a thin brown layer that is stuck to the core wood.

I'll split these branches in halves and quarters and try again.

Cheers

[cigarusmaximus]

BTW, 4 Top Sirloin Tri-caps going on the Keg this afternoon. I'll play it safe and use a small handfull of hickory for this cook since I'm feeding 12. ...and I love hickory on beef

[backwoods357]

Adam, what brand of cheese was that that you were smoking? What an excellent idea to keep the cheese becoming a puddle.

[MarkinAZ]

Tri tip plans fell apart yesterday due to teenage daughter plans (what us fathers do for our daughters huh?). So, Tri tip slapped in the smoker at 1:05 PM/PST today:



Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh yummm...

[MarkinAZ]

Its getting there folks @ 3:11PM/PST:



A couple more hours to go. The mesquite smells delicious...

[MarkinAZ]

Done @ 4:30PM/PST



along with some steamed broccoli, salad with tomatoes. Delish

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by MarkinCA

Done @ 4:30PM/PST



along with some steamed broccoli, salad with tomatoes. Delish

Looks outstanding.
What internal temp did you pull it off at, Mark.

[MarkinAZ]

Originally Posted by pnoon

Looks outstanding. What internal temp did you pull it off at, Mark.

Thank you Pete. This go around, it was pulled at app 147*. It slices like butter and melts in your mouth Pete. I love it! Cooking temp was app 225* - 230*. If I have a second tri tip in there, you can add another hour and fifteen minutes or so at that temp...

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by MarkinCA

Thank you Pete. This go around, it was pulled at app 147*. It slices like butter and melts in your mouth Pete. I love it! Cooking temp was app 225* - 230*. If I have a second tri tip in there, you can add another hour and fifteen minutes or so at that temp...

[T.G]

Looks outstanding Mark.

I'm a firm believer in tri-tip should be grilled over oak, mesquite, or grape but damn if your photos and reports from the front don't make me want to try one smoked one of these days.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by backwoods357

Adam, what brand of cheese was that that you were smoking? What an excellent idea to keep the cheese becoming a puddle.

Thanks Jorgen.

Looking at the shapes, it appears that the ones across the top were Tillamook medium cheddar. The ones at 4 & 8 o'clock were Safeway (one of the large supermarket chains out here) house brand medium cheddar and judging by the color, the one at 6 o'clock was also safeway, but it was sharp or x-sharp that was double smoking - It had already been smoked with a hickory based blend a few months earlier, vacuum sealed, then opened back up and smoked again with alder (double smoking didn't do anything special - I could have done it all in one shot with a mix of woods).

I actually thought the Safeway house brand gave a better end product than the Tillamook. Smoke didn't penetrate as well on the Tillamook.

I found that Costco/Kirkland sharp cheddar also works really well.

If you decide to set up something like that, shoot me a PM, I'll pass along some of that I've learned on it it, and save you some experimentation.

[MarkinAZ]

Originally Posted by T.G

Looks outstanding Mark.

I'm a firm believer in tri-tip should be grilled over oak, mesquite, or grape but damn if your photos and reports from the front don't make me want to try one smoked one of these days.

...Go for it Adam!

[Mr B]

Looks great Mark!! Now I'm hungry!!

[T.G]

Originally Posted by MarkinCA

...Go for it Adam!

I just might - I have a small vacuum sealed cut of tri-tip in the freezer I need to do something with. Is that a wet rub or a thin layer of bbq sauce on the ones in your photos?

[pnoon]

Sunday, I smoked another corned beef brisket (this one was uncured and 3.5 pounds) and a couple of small (~3/4 lb ea) boneless turkey breasts. Both turned out quite tasty.

So I have a question for the experienced (food) smokers here. What does it take to get that really dark crunchy bark? Is it a really thick layer of rub? Higher temps? Longer smoking? A combination of the above? Something else I'm missing?

UPS delivered four 20 pound bags of pellets today - 1 each of hickory, pecan, alder and cherry. Shipping costs ? $0.00!

What's next? Pizza? Ribs? Jerky? Chicken? Pork shoulder? So many choices.

[MarkinAZ]

Originally Posted by pnoon

So I have a question for the experienced (food) smokers here. What does it take to get that really dark crunchy bark?

I'll defer the 3 unit lecture series to Adam (T.G) to handle But I would recon it would be a longer period of time at lower temps, followed by some extra basting of sauce/spraying of liquids, etc. possibly along the way. Just thought I'd throw that in. It seems with the heavier pieces of meat (briskets, etc.), your cooking at the lower temps in the 200* to 225* range, and for periods between 8 to 12 hrs or so...

Wait to see what others have to kick-in...

[forgop]

Next on the smoker for me tomorrow:

3 spare ribs
7.5 lb brisket
12 lbs pork line back ribs (boneless)

[MarkinAZ]

Originally Posted by T.G

I just might - I have a small vacuum sealed cut of tri-tip in the freezer I need to do something with. Is that a wet rub or a thin layer of bbq sauce on the ones in your photos?

Wet rub prior to closing the grill cover to kick things off. Basically, Worcestershire sauce liberally sprinkled on top, followed by a handful or two of dry rub thrown on top and rubbed in to it forms a paste. The meat is turned over and the same is applied to that side. Its rather pasty looking on both sides, but taste dam good after its cooked!

If you go to www.texasbbqrub.com , its called the 1-2-3 method and appears to work