Threw mine on this am @730 for a 13lbr. Wasn’t really done till 3pm
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I want to buy a smoker (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter liftapint
- Start date
Did mine on Weber kettle for about 4 hours to get to 165 internal temperature, used regular Kingsford and some cherry chips for smoke. Stuffed with apples and oranges for flavor it was a 20.5 lb turkey just killed yesterday. Olive oil and rub on the outside. Damn was it good! You can do most anything on a good old kettle.
Finally!
First time doing a turkey on the rotisserie... Probably the easiest cook I've ever done. Even easier than spatchcock! 20 pounder, trussed up via the Alton Brown method and it didn't wiggle once throughout the entire 3.5 hours it cooked. And seriously.... MOIST and delicious. Will definitely be doing this again...
Purchased on Black Friday (came with free $300 gas/wok grill), arrived on Thursday. Did my initial burn in and first cook tonight. Bacon cheeseburgers, jalapeño poppers and stuffed mushrooms! Plan on doing some ribs this weekend!
So this is a pellet grill, right? How hard is it to go back and forth between grilling temps and smoking temps? It looks like you have foil on the drip tray, but on my green mountain you only foil if you're only going to smoke. And where's the pellet hopper, in the back?
Yes, it is a pellet grill (RT-700 from recteq.com)....it has a 40 lb hopper in the back. The only thing you need to do to change from smoking to grilling is turn the dial up. I think the "extreme smoke" setting is 185 and from what I read, you still get a decent smoke up to 225-250. The temp range of the grill goes up to 500 degrees although others have claimed to get higher temps and a lot of people will use sear grates which adds approximately 100 degrees to the grilling surface. I myself plan to use my Weber gas grill for reverse sears until I replace it with RecTeq's RT-380 (yes, I'm a RecTeq fanboy now)...just saves time as I'll be able to have my Weber preheated instead of waiting for the RT-700 to get up to its max temp for searing.
The foil is optional and I only tried it out for easier cleanup. Some people do it, some people don't.
I have to say this thing is great, built like a tank and has a 6 year warranty. I hope to have many great cooks on it for years to come!
The foil is optional and I only tried it out for easier cleanup. Some people do it, some people don't.
I have to say this thing is great, built like a tank and has a 6 year warranty. I hope to have many great cooks on it for years to come!
Simple queso dip today, who has the best queso recipe I can try next?
This is just sausage, onion, poblano, rotel, cream cheese and velveta. And do we need a “what are you smoking” thread? I know this one just kind of took over.
This is just sausage, onion, poblano, rotel, cream cheese and velveta. And do we need a “what are you smoking” thread? I know this one just kind of took over.
Start one!
FDLmold
Royal Flush
Smoked a prime rib roast (130 internal temp was perfect) and mac and cheese. Vertical pellet smoker.
Best Christmas dinner ever!
Best Christmas dinner ever!
Looks awesome! I think I’m going to try my first prime rib for NYE.
FDLmold
Royal Flush
There is so much fat on the outside, that as long as you hit the proper internal temperature and immediately remove it from the heat and let it rest for a bit, it's difficult to screw up. Which is good for such an expensive cut of meat. (Meijer had them on sale for $5.99 a pound for Christmas, which is the only way I can afford them.)
We do Prime Rib for Christmas dinner every year since I bought my pellet grill. (3 years now) We like ours a little more rare. I pulled it off at 118 this year. Then let it rest for 15-20 minutes. Sorry I forgot to take pics. My wife likes hers medium, so after I slice hers, I put it on the gas grill for a couple of minutes per side.
FDLmold
Royal Flush
Got a PRIME brisket to smoke this weekend instead of a CHOICE brisket. We'll see how it goes.
RainmanTrail
Straight Flush
It'll be better for sure. Brisket is all about the cut (well that and not fucking up the cook). Always get prime if you're doing a brisket. Or so Aaron Franklin says.
FDLmold
Royal Flush
I'm not going to argue with that guy. First one was a Sam's Club choice, smoke ring was great and flavor was awesome, but the tenderness lacked. This one is a Costco Prime. Yeah, I am a member of both. Sam's sells giant bags of high-gluten flour and Costco doesn't, while Costco gives me a great deal on some of my pool chemicals and bourbon.
RainmanTrail
Straight Flush
Prime will definitely help on the tenderness front. Something else that's really important for tenderness though is consistency in your temperature. If you're opening the lid every hour or two and checking on it, that can cause the meat to get tough. Low and slow is the way to go. And let that baby sit for at least 6 hours before you even think of opening the lid for the first time. Also, wrapping it up in butcher paper (or aluminum foil) after that ~6 hour mark helps too (depending on the size of the brisket).
You can get a choice brisket just as tender as prime with proper cooking technique, as pointed out by @RainmanTrail What you can't get is the extra flavor that comes from more marbling. You also can't beat the awesome burnt ends you can make with a prime point. It's all in the extra fat, baby!
FDLmold
Royal Flush
By far, my first brisket was my least successful smoke out of at least 5 or 6 so far. (Vertical Pit Boss Lowe's pellet smoker) Being of a scientific mind, I tried to figure which variables were responsible. I found three, so I'm changing them all. First was choice (versus prime). Second was I froze my first brisket, this one I have not. Third I think I got impatient with my temperature plateau at the evaporative cooling phase of the smoke and wrapped my brisket too soon and I think I upped my temperature at that point too. So this time I'll start my smoke earlier in the day and be ok even if it goes 12 hours or more.
RainmanTrail
Straight Flush
My Costco briskets usually stay on the smoker for about 16-18 hours, because they're always massive lol. A good rule of thumb for low & slow is that it should take about 1.25 hours per lb, per Aaron Franklin that is. I cook at about 255F for the first 6 hours or so, then bump it up to about 280 after I wrap it. Also, you should wait to wrap the brisket until after it has made it through "the stall", which is when the muscle fibers tend to lock up during the cook. Here's an excerpt from Aaron Franklin's MasterClass BBQ course that I kept the notes from. He doesn't take the brisket off the smoker until it reaches an internal temp somewhere between 203 and 205.
Aaron Franklin said:
^^^This is the key to tenderness, not whether you you choice or prime. I buy grass fed beef by the side. Since they are grass fed, the meat is extremely lean. I smoke the brisket just like Aaron Franklin above, making sure to leave it on until the internal temp reaches 205, and it always turns out super tender.
FDLmold
Royal Flush
Brisket is currently in the stall. Bark developing nicely. 10 pounds of sausage just came out of the smoker and 10 pounds of chicken went in. Today is a good day for SMOKED MEAT.
16oz heavy cream
16 oz velveeta
8 oz monterey
6 oz green chile
4 oz preferred red salsa
Lot's of garlic salt
Optional cilantro
FDLmold
Royal Flush
The denouement of "Attempt 2" at a brisket was much more satisfying than that of "Attempt 1". Still not perfect, but it was pull apart tender like it is supposed to be. Flavor was off the charts great (just salt and pepper for the rub the night before).
I wrapped a little late (too much inedible bark), the heat was a little too direct on the flat, and I was too conservative with my trimming of the flat. It was a 13 pound prime brisket, trimmed to probably 10. Smoked at 250 for 8 hours until it looked right and the stall looked to be over, then wrapped in butcher paper and smoked at 275 to an internal temp of 203 (took about another 2 hours). Stuck it in a cooler for over an hour when it was done, then trimmed. No pictures, but it was beautiful. Brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. Smoking a large flat horizontal piece of meat in a vertical pellet smoker is a mild challenge, but I'm getting better. I would serve this to friends and family, but I would not sell it. Yet.
Now my gumbo? Or my scratch biscuits? Or my smoked mac and cheese? Those I would sell to people. That is my ultimate standard for everything I try cooking/baking/smoking.
I wrapped a little late (too much inedible bark), the heat was a little too direct on the flat, and I was too conservative with my trimming of the flat. It was a 13 pound prime brisket, trimmed to probably 10. Smoked at 250 for 8 hours until it looked right and the stall looked to be over, then wrapped in butcher paper and smoked at 275 to an internal temp of 203 (took about another 2 hours). Stuck it in a cooler for over an hour when it was done, then trimmed. No pictures, but it was beautiful. Brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. Smoking a large flat horizontal piece of meat in a vertical pellet smoker is a mild challenge, but I'm getting better. I would serve this to friends and family, but I would not sell it. Yet.
Now my gumbo? Or my scratch biscuits? Or my smoked mac and cheese? Those I would sell to people. That is my ultimate standard for everything I try cooking/baking/smoking.
For brisket I use the Weber WSM which has a built in water tray that helps not to dry out the meat. I make mention of that because my low and slow smoking temp is bumped up to around 260 range. I don't find a noticeable difference between smoking at 225 and 260. I have found it saves a lot of time cooking slightly hotter.
Now if you struggled not to burn some of the bark even cooking at 225 then I for sure would not recommend going any hotter. If you are so inclined look for a used WSM 22.5" unit in your local classifieds. I love mine. There are no moving parts and it works like a dream. I got mine used for about $200 -CAD.
Great insight from @RainmanTrail on doing brisket. I never knew that checking frequently was problematic. I don't check it anyway but I never knew the implications. I always just check the temp and then tweak my vents to dial in the temp where I want it.
Something else I have done is smoked salsa or smoked queso. Both turned out awesome. I have never done smoked mac n cheese. That sounds like heaven.
PS. Something else I have done frequently is finish off the brisket in the oven just to get to that final 203-205 internal temp. Reaching that internal temp. is key. Sometime I will loosely cover it in foil just to prevent further charring of the bark. I like my bark dry and solid so sometimes I let it cook off the excess moisture and the inside is still very moist.
FDLmold
Royal Flush
Whatchay'all using for temperature probes these days? If the 5-star rated $30 instant meat temp probe on Amazon is the way to go, I'll do it. I have zero need for some bluetooth probe with a phone app that gives me the date of birth of the cow, what its last meal was, and the temp of the meat and the smoker, but I could be convinced.
Thermoworks Smoke. If you think you'd be interested in an automated fan control, get the Thermoworks Signals instead....you can add the fan later if you please.
The Smoke is a two probe set with remote. Signals is 4 probe.
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