What smoker should I get?

CZfool68 said:
I liked it even though you cut your ribs. 😥
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I know I should not have done it... But I did it because I put the rub on the ribs and put them in the fridge over night. The biggest container I had was Gallon Size ziplock bags. I had to cut them in half to fit in the bags.

What else should I have done instead? I guess I could have left them whole and wrapped them in aluminum foil. I just didn't think of that.

And I was a little tipsy...
 
BBD280 said:
Smoke butts at 200° or sear steaks at 600° plus....... I love mine.
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I love mine too. It can be a little finicky at holding low temps (yes I use the smoking stone) because the double wall steel construction is so well insulated, better than the ceramic models. It takes so little fire to maintain 215 that it's on the edge of going out. I typically run mine at 230.

What the Akorn really excels at is searing steaks. It will get really hot really quick if you want it to.
 
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Alabamacoastie said:
I know I should not have done it... But I did it because I put the rub on the ribs and put them in the fridge over night. The biggest container I had was Gallon Size ziplock bags. I had to cut them in half to fit in the bags.

What else should I have done instead? I guess I could have left them whole and wrapped them in aluminum foil. I just didn't think of that.

And I was a little tipsy...
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I use the turkey oven bags. There are also some larger ziploc bags, but they are still too small for some ribs. You could just wrap them in plastic wrap too. They’ll still taste fine. I like to check doneness by seeing how much they flex. But I am a little off in the head too.
 
Something else thats easy you might like is a smoked eye of round. Get a 2-3 pounder and crust that bad boy in herbs. Smoke at 225 until you get the color/bark you want. Wrap in paper (to save the herb bark, foil will steam it off) and finish to 140 internal. Let rest for about 45 min and you should get up near 145. Slice thin for smoked roast beef sammitches. Goes great with a homemade garlic aoli and deli fresh bread.
I do two or three at a time and hack em in half when theyre done. Freeze most of the halves for later.
These take 3-4 hours and are pretty hard to eff up. Since youre not doing these for that days meal, its a good one for sittin on the back porch with a beer and buddies on a warm evening.

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Alabamacoastie said:
I know I should not have done it... But I did it because I put the rub on the ribs and put them in the fridge over night. The biggest container I had was Gallon Size ziplock bags. I had to cut them in half to fit in the bags.

What else should I have done instead? I guess I could have left them whole and wrapped them in aluminum foil. I just didn't think of that.

And I was a little tipsy...
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Saran wrap is easiest. You can season right before you put them on also. Have done both ways (day before and just before) no real difference to me, just preference. Same with using mustard to get rub to "stick". You can play with all the tips and tricks and find out what you prefer.

Large cuts, I am a no wrap guy. Done both for years and just don't waste my time wrapping (or spritz/mopping). I also never brine my poultry and it's as juicy as can be (unless I am looking for different flavors ex cranberry brined turkey).

The fun thing about smoking is playing around to find your style!

Enjoy and smoke on!
 
Now that "family dinner", with my mother in law, is over... I'm ready to make a brisket for my family. Butter, milk, gluten, sugar, etc is all on the menu!

Does anyone have a killer brisket recipe? I'm happy to let it cook over night, if it really does take 18 hours...

Thanks guys!
 
Alabamacoastie said:
Now that "family dinner", with my mother in law, is over... I'm ready to make a brisket for my family. Butter, milk, gluten, sugar, etc is all on the menu!

Does anyone have a killer brisket recipe? I'm happy to let it cook over night, if it really does take 18 hours...

Thanks guys!
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IMO a simple salt and pepper rub is hard to beat. With beef and a long smoke there’s plenty of flavor and crust. I have played around with a lot of brisket rubs, but salt and pepper if fine. Get Aaron Franklin’s book. He is a brisket cooking God.

Edit - @Alabamacoastie, try to use fresh ground pepper and sea salt or kosher salt. None of that finely ground stuff.
 
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Salt and pepper with a touch of garlic powder is good on brisket. I will usually put mine on between 1 and 2am and let it go around 225 until around 8 and check. Wrap at 165 and cook until it feels like the probe is sliding into warm butter. The last one I split the flat and point to cook them separate. Easier for me to trim and get both done how I wanted. Made burnt ends from the point and sliced the flat. Good luck.
 
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draco88 said:
Try a chuck roast.
Rub woth your favorite rub, smoke for two and a half hours at 225 with a pan under it to catch the drippings. Then put the roast in the pan with 1/4 cup water, a stick of butter, chopped onion, chopped bell pepper, jalepenos, pepperoncini, fresh herbs, and chopped garlic.
Cover, smoke another 90 minutes and you should be at 205 internal. Take it out, pull like pork, and make cheesesteak hoagies with the cheese sauce you made during the last 30 minutes of the cook.
Chuck is forgiving, but good. Something easy to get your techniqies right.

ETA: forgot to mention straining the juice from the pan and pouring all over the meat before making the sammitches.

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This. Is really similar to another recipe I saw here: http://www.thewolfepit.com/2009/10/pepper-stout-beef.html?m=1

I made it without the jalapeño that my wife doesn’t like, flavor or heat
. It was a real winner. I will say though, it’s an all day cook, be warned. I started the roast at 3pm and by 9pm it not about 160f. I stopped for the day. I put it in with vegetables for about 4 hours at 350, longer than the recipe said, but I was starting cold. Came out perfect.

its lIke Italian beef only different.
 
draco88 said:
Try a chuck roast.
Rub woth your favorite rub, smoke for two and a half hours at 225 with a pan under it to catch the drippings. Then put the roast in the pan with 1/4 cup water, a stick of butter, chopped onion, chopped bell pepper, jalepenos, pepperoncini, fresh herbs, and chopped garlic.
Cover, smoke another 90 minutes and you should be at 205 internal. Take it out, pull like pork, and make cheesesteak hoagies with the cheese sauce you made during the last 30 minutes of the cook.
Chuck is forgiving, but good. Something easy to get your techniqies right.

ETA: forgot to mention straining the juice from the pan and pouring all over the meat before making the sammitches.

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Tried a really similar recipe (may have found the link here): smoke chuck roast at 225/250 until it hits 165. Put vegetables (onion, peppers, garlic) in pan with 1/4 cup Worcester sauce and 12 ox of Guinness stout. Cover and cook 2-3 hours at 350.

Getting the roast up to 165 took way longer than I expected and I ended up stopping when it was close and putting it in the fridge to do the second step the next day.

Still, it came out excellent. Toasted sandwich buns with cheese and add meat.
 
@noway2
After you quoted me last night and the times were so different, I checked my notes.
I was off on my recollection of temp..I did it at 275...but my time was spot on. Took 4.5 hrs for a 2.5 lb chuck. I did forget to put the weight in my o.p.
 
draco88 said:
I was off on my recollection of temp..I did it at 275...but my time was spot on. Took 4.5 hrs for a 2.5 lb chuck. I did forget to put the weight in my o.p.
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That makes sense and seems pretty inline with what I did: starting at 225 for a ~4lb chuck. Turned it up to 250 for a while and it still took a while. I noticed that it seemed to plateau for a while at certain temperatures too.
 
noway2 said:
That makes sense and seems pretty inline with what I did: starting at 225 for a ~4lb chuck. Turned it up to 250 for a while and it still took a while. I noticed that it seemed to plateau for a while at certain temperatures too.
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Just about any meat cooked below 300⁰ will stall at some point throughout the cook
 
I'm about to smoke some ribeye steaks for an hour and then sear them (reverse sear). I hope it works out. I'll add pics as I go...

I'm also planning to smoke sweet potatoes and asparagus wrapped in bacon.

Wish me luck...
 
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Alabamacoastie said:
Now that "family dinner", with my mother in law, is over... I'm ready to make a brisket for my family. Butter, milk, gluten, sugar, etc is all on the menu!

Does anyone have a killer brisket recipe? I'm happy to let it cook over night, if it really does take 18 hours...

Thanks guys!
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Mustard and that same rub recipe I already gave you.

Smoke for 6 hours Wrap for 4. Let rest for at leeat 30 minutes
 
I found a recipe for smoking sweet potatoes.

My MiL is coming over for dinner tonight. She can eat sweet potatoes, but not regular potatoes...

Here's the recipe: https://www.madbackyard.com/smoked-sweet-potatoes/

You cut the sweet potatoes to look like a squeeze box, then you slather them in butter before smoking... She can't eat butter, so one sweet potato is in a pan by itself. The others have butter and salt on them...

I'm going to drizzle maple syrup on hers, at the end... (I know! How can she eat maple syrup, but not sugar? I almost believe that some of her "allergies" are bullshit)

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Alabamacoastie said:
What temp? 180? 225?
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250 and put it on the very top rack.

for best results put a baking pan with water in it on the shelf under it.

Check and add water as needed to the pan. This will ensure indirect smoke and heat and prevent burning the bottom of the brisket.
 
Tonight we’re Smoking a piece of tenderloin, a sweet potato sliced according style and coated with bacon grease from breakfast this morning, salt and pepper and mushroom caps stuffed with wilted spinach and goat cheese and topped with crispy bacon.

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Alabamacoastie said:
I found a recipe for smoking sweet potatoes.

My MiL is coming over for dinner tonight. She can eat sweet potatoes, but not regular potatoes...

Here's the recipe: https://www.madbackyard.com/smoked-sweet-potatoes/

You cut the sweet potatoes to look like a squeeze box, then you slather them in butter before smoking... She can't eat butter, so one sweet potato is in a pan by itself. The others have butter and salt on them...

I'm going to drizzle maple syrup on hers, at the end... (I know! How can she eat maple syrup, but not sugar? I almost believe that some of her "allergies" are bullshit)

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Alabamacoastie said:
I'm about to smoke some ribeye steaks for an hour and then sear them (reverse sear). I hope it works out. I'll add pics as I go...

I'm also planning to smoke sweet potatoes and asparagus wrapped in bacon.

Wish me luck...
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I just had a moment with a slow cooked Ribeye from the Egg. I don't lnow how I got along without this thing...
 
Alright... I'm gonna do it... Time to smoke a brisket...

This one is not too big, about 7 pounds... It's just the flat, no point. It was the biggest one they had and they didn't have any whole ones.

But, the good news is, this one should smoke in like 8 hours, right? I just watched a YouTube video with a ton of good reviews where the guy smoked it at 225* for about 5 hours, and then 250* for 3 hours wrapped in butcher paper, and then let it rest for 30 minutes before slicing it up.

I got the meat, the rub, and the butcher paper.

I'm going to rub it down and put it in the fridge over night, then put it on the smoker early tomorrow morning for 6pm dinner time.

Wish me luck!

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Alabamacoastie said:
Alright... I'm gonna do it... Time to smoke a brisket...

This one is not too big, about 7 pounds... It's just the flat, no point. It was the biggest one they had and they didn't have any whole ones.

But, the good news is, this one should smoke in like 8 hours, right? I just watched a YouTube video with a ton of good reviews where the guy smoked it at 225* for about 5 hours, and then 250* for 3 hours wrapped in butcher paper, and then let it rest for 30 minutes before slicing it up.

I got the meat, the rub, and the butcher paper.

I'm going to rub it down and put it in the fridge over night, then put it on the smoker early tomorrow morning for 6pm dinner time.

Wish me luck!

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It’s like sending little Johnny off to his first day of school. I think I have a little tear in my eye.
 
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