Grilling and smoking thread

[NKYknowitall]

A coal/woodburning vertical smoker is actually pretty efficient and adds a nice smoked flavor. The big key with those is how well they are insulated, ie, thickness of the metal. If the metal is thick enough they are really good smokers and much more efficient than the offset smokers.

 

Thanks for some Insight.

[JDEaston]

Thanks for some Insight.

 

You may find some that while they are made out of thin metal, they have another layer of insulation between two pieces of metal. That's a popular design on some of the lower end Kamado style grills. It makes for a really efficient cooker at a good price point compared to 1k+ cookers. Just do your research before you purchase one and you'll likely find something that will be great. If you need any opinions post them here or pm me and I'll help the best I can when you narrow down your options.

[NKYknowitall]

You may find some that while they are made out of thin metal, they have another layer of insulation between two pieces of metal. That's a popular design on some of the lower end Kamado style grills. It makes for a really efficient cooker at a good price point compared to 1k+ cookers. Just do your research before you purchase one and you'll likely find something that will be great. If you need any opinions post them here or pm me and I'll help the best I can when you narrow down your options.

 

Sounds good, thanks!

[BigVMan23]

Anybody in here use a vertical smoker?

 

I have two...an electric and a propane. Don't let anyone tell you that a vertical smoker can't give a good smoke profile/flavor, because they absolutely can, and both of mine do. Now, the electric smoker won't give you the same smoke ring other smokers will (not sure why, but they don't), but an electric smoker with a good smoke box will/should give you just as good a smoke profile/flavor. Now, some of these electric smokers with tiny chip holders might not be able to, which is why I chose the electric smoker that I did, It has a huge chip box and it does an excellent job. With that said, I do prefer my propane smoker and use it more when the weather is good, use my electric smoker more in the winter and bad weather since I can put it on my front porch and use it. My propane smoker can hold a lot of meat, where my electric is smaller...it also gives me a good smoke rig, which I really like, and I can crank it up pretty hot if I want/need to. Electric will only get up to 300deg, and that's under optimum conditions.

 

Here is an example of something I smoked on my propane smoker this weekend. Bacon wrapped pork tenderloin with my secret mustard base and sweet bbq rub. Yum yum!

 

 

If you are interested in getting a smoker, I'd start looking end of the month, first of September. Most of the stores start marking down their smokers/grills and good deals are to be had. My propane smoker, depending on where you purchased it, ran anywhere from $200-250. I found it tucked away on an upper shelf last fall at Wal-Mart, marked down to $49.99. Last one of that model they had. Got me a steal on that one.

[JDEaston]

I have two...an electric and a propane. Don't let anyone tell you that a vertical smoker can't give a good smoke profile/flavor, because they absolutely can, and both of mine do. Now, the electric smoker won't give you the same smoke ring other smokers will (not sure why, but they don't), but an electric smoker with a good smoke box will/should give you just as good a smoke profile/flavor. Now, some of these electric smokers with tiny chip holders might not be able to, which is why I chose the electric smoker that I did, It has a huge chip box and it does an excellent job. With that said, I do prefer my propane smoker and use it more when the weather is good, use my electric smoker more in the winter and bad weather since I can put it on my front porch and use it. My propane smoker can hold a lot of meat, where my electric is smaller...it also gives me a good smoke rig, which I really like, and I can crank it up pretty hot if I want/need to. Electric will only get up to 300deg, and that's under optimum conditions.

 

Here is an example of something I smoked on my propane smoker this weekend. Bacon wrapped pork tenderloin with my secret mustard base and sweet bbq rub. Yum yum!

 

[ATTACH]66923[/ATTACH]

 

If you are interested in getting a smoker, I'd start looking end of the month, first of September. Most of the stores start marking down their smokers/grills and good deals are to be had. My propane smoker, depending on where you purchased it, ran anywhere from $200-250. I found it tucked away on an upper shelf last fall at Wal-Mart, marked down to $49.99. Last one of that model they had. Got me a steal on that one.

 

The smoke ring is actually a chemical reaction that happens due to combustion inside the cooker as well as the temperature of the meat. It actually has zero effect on the flavor profile of the meat, it just adds a little color to it so to speak. Electric smokers have very little combustion, essentially it all comes from the smoke box, hence why it's hard to get much of a smoke ring with electric. Personally I don't care about the smoke ring as long as I'm still able to get a nice smoke profile, but there are some tricks to help achieve a smoke ring with electric smokers, if you really want that color profile. I am a fan of the Masterbuilt electric smokers though, a friend of mine has one and it's really well insulated. He also added a pellet maze for it to enhance the smoke profile by using pellets instead of wood chips, which has also added more of a smoke ring to the meat he cooks.

 

That said, my Akorn doesn't produce much of a smoke ring unless I put the meat on straight out of the fridge, which allows more time for that chemical reaction to happen. As I mentioned before though, this doesn't effect the smoke flavor at all. But in the end, I'm a charcoal/wood chunk kind of person so I love it for the $300 and under price point.

[NKYknowitall]

I have two...an electric and a propane. Don't let anyone tell you that a vertical smoker can't give a good smoke profile/flavor, because they absolutely can, and both of mine do. Now, the electric smoker won't give you the same smoke ring other smokers will (not sure why, but they don't), but an electric smoker with a good smoke box will/should give you just as good a smoke profile/flavor. Now, some of these electric smokers with tiny chip holders might not be able to, which is why I chose the electric smoker that I did, It has a huge chip box and it does an excellent job. With that said, I do prefer my propane smoker and use it more when the weather is good, use my electric smoker more in the winter and bad weather since I can put it on my front porch and use it. My propane smoker can hold a lot of meat, where my electric is smaller...it also gives me a good smoke rig, which I really like, and I can crank it up pretty hot if I want/need to. Electric will only get up to 300deg, and that's under optimum conditions.

 

Here is an example of something I smoked on my propane smoker this weekend. Bacon wrapped pork tenderloin with my secret mustard base and sweet bbq rub. Yum yum!

 

[ATTACH]66923[/ATTACH]

 

If you are interested in getting a smoker, I'd start looking end of the month, first of September. Most of the stores start marking down their smokers/grills and good deals are to be had. My propane smoker, depending on where you purchased it, ran anywhere from $200-250. I found it tucked away on an upper shelf last fall at Wal-Mart, marked down to $49.99. Last one of that model they had. Got me a steal on that one.

 

I’ve got me one that’s supposed to be here today. It’s a charcoal smoker. Hoping to test it out this weekend.

[ukcatfan17]

The smoke ring is actually a chemical reaction that happens due to combustion inside the cooker as well as the temperature of the meat. It actually has zero effect on the flavor profile of the meat, it just adds a little color to it so to speak. Electric smokers have very little combustion, essentially it all comes from the smoke box, hence why it's hard to get much of a smoke ring with electric. Personally I don't care about the smoke ring as long as I'm still able to get a nice smoke profile, but there are some tricks to help achieve a smoke ring with electric smokers, if you really want that color profile. I am a fan of the Masterbuilt electric smokers though, a friend of mine has one and it's really well insulated. He also added a pellet maze for it to enhance the smoke profile by using pellets instead of wood chips, which has also added more of a smoke ring to the meat he cooks.

 

That said, my Akorn doesn't produce much of a smoke ring unless I put the meat on straight out of the fridge, which allows more time for that chemical reaction to happen. As I mentioned before though, this doesn't effect the smoke flavor at all. But in the end, I'm a charcoal/wood chunk kind of person so I love it for the $300 and under price point.

 

Used my Masterbuilt digital electric smoker this weekend for ribs....came out juicy with a great smoke profile. Had some leftovers tonight and can still smell the smoke on my fingers after doing dishes.

 

Hey Bigvman.... what propane smoker do you have? Might just scan Walmart for one!

[Pete W]

Fired up the Akorn for first time in a couple weeks cooking up a bunch of pork chops and chicken breasts for dinner tonight and lunch the rest of the week. Getting tired of cafeteria food at work.

[BigVMan23]

Used my Masterbuilt digital electric smoker this weekend for ribs....came out juicy with a great smoke profile. Had some leftovers tonight and can still smell the smoke on my fingers after doing dishes.

 

Hey Bigvman.... what propane smoker do you have? Might just scan Walmart for one!

 

Masterbuilt Sportsman Extra Wide. Lot wider than normal smokers, holds a ton of meat. Nothing fancy, 4 racks, one burner, unique chip burning tray that will produce smoke like a raging forest fire if you want it to. I'm getting a door insulation strip to help seal it up a little, be about perfect after that.

[NEERFAN]

Today I smoked my first brisket. I cut the off the fat and rubbed it last night. I put it in the Master Built at 8 a.m. and through research had to wait until 190 degrees. After 12 hours It sat at 178 but I pulled it wrapped it in foil and let it rest for 60 minutes. Flavor wise, I knocked it out of the park but it was a tad dry. If the temp was sub 90 but still a bit dry, did I possibly trim too much fat? I know the hard fat needs to go but there wasn't a great amount of soft fat on the cut.

[JDEaston]

Today I smoked my first brisket. I cut the off the fat and rubbed it last night. I put it in the Master Built at 8 a.m. and through research had to wait until 190 degrees. After 12 hours It sat at 178 but I pulled it wrapped it in foil and let it rest for 60 minutes. Flavor wise, I knocked it out of the park but it was a tad dry. If the temp was sub 90 but still a bit dry, did I possibly trim too much fat? I know the hard fat needs to go but there wasn't a great amount of soft fat on the cut.

 

Briskets are tough to get right, it really depends more on the quality of cut you were able to find than the technique you use to cook it. What temp did you cook it at? Do you have a digital thermometer to determine the temp at the grate?

 

First thoughts are that it stalled at 178'ish and had you wrapped it in foil or pink butchers paper and let it ride out the stall to 190-195 it would have came out more tender as at that point it's steaming itself and will cruise right through the stall.

 

All briskets are different though, so you may not have done anything wrong. The fact you say it was dry though makes me believe you may have either pulled it too early and all of the fat and connective tissue didn't render down, but you would notice that, it wouldn't just be dry it would have fat or connective tissue in each slice.

 

My other thought is the temp was too high and the juices likely left the brisket before you wrapped it, but generally that eliminates the stall. So if it stalled at 178 then I doubt you cooked it at too high of a temperature.

[BigVMan23]

Brisket is finicky, it can be very hard to get right, especially a whole packer. The flat can get done way before the point if you aren't carefull...even if you are careful it can still happen. I smoked one a few weeks back, best one yet, flavor was soooo good, might be the best Brisket I have ever had, period. About 2/3 of it was perfectly juicy and tender...about 1/3 was as dry as boot leather (all on the flat side). It's not easy to get right. I also don't wrap mine, it takes away from the flavor and bark, but it does make it a little easier to get "right".

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

They had all of their bone-in chicken on sale at my local Kroger this week for 88¢ a pound.

 

I've been playing with the idea of buying a smoker for a little while now (mostly in the interest of making my own smoked sausage), but I decided to borrow my buddy's electric smoker to give it a go. It's one of those ~$175 Masterbuilt digital smokers.

 

I've had 3 HUGE bone-in chicken breasts and a mess of bone-in thighs brining in a mixture of water, sugar, salt, Worcestershire, soy sauce, and garlic cloves since last night. I've got my own concocted grilling rub that I've been using for a few years...I'm going to give everything a good dusting with that, and then from what I've read, about 2 to 2-1/2 hours at 225° should do nicely.

 

I'll get some pictures on here of the finished product.

[BigVMan23]

I was asked to do all the bbq for our employee day last week. About 15 pounds of pulled pork, 7 pound brisket, 9 chicken quarters and 2 large racks of ribs. Everything turned out delicious!

 

Getting ready to get me a pellet grill. They have a Pit Boss model at Wal Martl with 1000 Sq. inches of cooking surface calling my name.

[ukcatfan17]

Kicking myself right now. Went to Walmart for deer corn a few days ago and walked past the grill section. Everything on markdown and they 1 Barrel House 18c smoker marked down from $197 to $30. Didn’t know much about it so I went home and did research on it later in the eve. Seems like it is a great system. I went back the next morning and it was gone. Called some other local stores and they didn’t have any either. UGH!