I finally gave up on my smoker and decided to get a new smoker. I went with a bigger model but less tech. Yes, its a cheater electric smoker. My 3rd one. I need more space to cook, I don't need help getting my smoke and temp right. :-)
I've also never used injection for flavor except for pork butt or other big cuts of meat. I decided to give it a try. I developed my own injection. Basically like the other recipes you have out on the internet but I'm putting the rub in the injection and using sirracchi.
Full results not in yet but my son and I think its the best sausage we have ever had.
No sauce. Marinated the meat overnight. Injected the meat. Slow cooked the ribs and chicken. Baste it with a combo of butter and apple juice. Using a combination of Apple, Mesquite, Cherry and Hickory wood.
I scored one of these this weekend to give it a try; just something to use on my gas grill until I can get an actual smoker.
I'll be damned....the thing worked outstanding on a big batch of wings did yesterday.
puts out a TON of smoke. Up until this point, I had tried a smoker box thing, and even some pouches made out of foil with wood chips inside. They worked 'ok', but didn't last very long at all.
I filled the tube up with pellets, and the damn thing smoked like a truck stop waitress for 2 hours, and still had about 1/4 of pellets to go. Supposedly the 12" tube will last for about 4 hours; I think that's probably pretty accurate based on what I saw. I probably let the initial flame go a little longer than necessary and burned up more pellets before blowing out the flame.
I would say that anyone with a gas grill that wants to cook anything at that 250-300 range for an extended period of time, should check it out. I suspect it would work great with anything with a sub 3 hour smoke. Don't think I'd try a brisket or anything, but wings, chicken, ribs etc would be good. Might try ribs next weekend and see how that goes.
Granted, a smoker will always yield better results, but I was super pleased with it the first go around on the gas grill. wings turned out great, though I think my thermometer on the grill is off by probably 30 degrees or so. I had it going at 300 indicated on a single burner about 1/2 way 'on' for 45 minutes, then another 35 minutes after turning the wings, but the skin was still a little rubbery. Not super rubbery, but a little more so than I care for. next time I'll probably do the smoke, the at the end apply some direct heat at the very end to see if that will crisp up the skin a tad. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Dayze:
I scored one of these this weekend to give it a try; just something to use on my gas grill until I can get an actual smoker.
I'll be damned....the thing worked outstanding on a big batch of wings did yesterday.
puts out a TON of smoke. Up until this point, I had tried a smoker box thing, and even some pouches made out of foil with wood chips inside. They worked 'ok', but didn't last very long at all.
I filled the tube up with pellets, and the damn thing smoked like a truck stop waitress for 2 hours, and still had about 1/4 of pellets to go. Supposedly the 12" tube will last for about 4 hours; I think that's probably pretty accurate based on what I saw. I probably let the initial flame go a little longer than necessary and burned up more pellets before blowing out the flame.
I would say that anyone with a gas grill that wants to cook anything at that 250-300 range for an extended period of time, should check it out. I suspect it would work great with anything with a sub 3 hour smoke. Don't think I'd try a brisket or anything, but wings, chicken, ribs etc would be good. Might try ribs next weekend and see how that goes.
Granted, a smoker will always yield better results, but I was super pleased with it the first go around on the gas grill. wings turned out great, though I think my thermometer on the grill is off by probably 30 degrees or so. I had it going at 300 indicated on a single burner about 1/2 way 'on' for 45 minutes, then another 35 minutes after turning the wings, but the skin was still a little rubbery. Not super rubbery, but a little more so than I care for. next time I'll probably do the smoke, the at the end apply some direct heat at the very end to see if that will crisp up the skin a tad.
I use the maze version of that for cold smoking. [Reply]
I have my grandkids for the weekend. As usual when they come, they ask for and get baby back ribs. My granddaughter loves helping out while my grandson enjoys eating. [Reply]
My first BBQ Competition is in the books. I participated in the Route 66 competition. I didn't finish last. It was hot sonbitch but we had a good time.
My cupcake chicken scored the best of the four proteins but I made some mistakes that I'll learn from. I didn't put au jus on my pork so they said it was dry and lacking flavor. I also had both the pork and brisket box prepared to soon so they sat for a little while and that's not ideal. On the other hand I knew we would make the turn in time. [Reply]
Time for my second solo foray into bbq competitions. I had previously worked on another team in several competitions including the American Royal.
I entered the same contest last year. Pretty much the same teams as last year as well, 12 total. And I was right next to the guys who got shitfaced drunk last year for the whole weekend. One guy passed out in the port-a-potty. They didn't drink as much as last year, but they still managed to cook things in a similar fashion:
Yeah, they finished dead last, again.
Last year I had issues with air leaking into my firebox causing the smoker to run hot. I fixed the gaskets so I was able to maintain my temps better. The problem was getting the temps up in my fully loaded smoker. I started the brisket and pork at midnight, wrapped them at 6 am, and put on the ribs. I think all that meat stifled the flow of smoke through the smoker. I ended up having to finish some things on the small grill I brought. Not ideal. Sorry for the sideways pics.
Sausage:
Italian sausage from the same place my old team took first in at the American Royal. Turned out pretty good and finished 4th.
Chicken:
My weakest entry last year. I cooked chicken a couple of times to prepare for this year and bought a mini loaf pan to cook them in. I felt this was my best entry this year. Finished 4th.
Ribs:
Pretty good for me. Doneness was good and had a good flavor. Finished 5th.
Pork:
Pulled some and sauced it and didn't like the flavor, so I set that aside and pulled some more and just tossed it with some Sweet Baby Ray's. Added some chunks to complete the box. Thought it was a mediocre result for me. Finished 2nd. Go figure..
Brisket:
Having to rush it at the end overcooked the outside and made it dry. Taste was good, but very disappointing for what I consider my strongest meat. Finished 7th.
So my overall finish was third. Improvements from last year were time management, preparedness, and building my boxes closer to turn in. I think to improve in the future I will need more cooking space - either a larger smoker, or a second one. Just something to cook the brisket and pork on once they are wrapped. [Reply]
