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From our Food Goddess, TaMara:
JeffreyW bought a new smoker recently so tonight’s recipes are all his. He wanted me to point out he’s in the experimental stage and open to all kinds of suggestions. He’s smoked ribs (featured below), smoked a chicken (recipes and photos here) and smoked pork (photos and description here and here). EDIT: To add recently posted Pastrami (photos and description here).
Got any good suggestions for JeffryW’s next smoking endeavor?
From JeffreyW:
I’ve been wanting to get a smoker for a long time and finally pulled the trigger on this one. I looked around for a while and decided on this model after surfing Amazon reviews. Almost uniformly excellent reviews, most of them five star. I can add my first impressions to that list: It’s a keeper, well built from good materials and seems well thought out. We fired it up, empty, with some of the included hickory chips to season it as per the directions. It got hot and we saw smoke rising from the top vent, it seemed good to go.
This morning I placed some cherry wood into the smoke box and turned it on, then loaded two slabs of spare ribs when it reached temperature. The slabs were a tad too long to fit easily so I cut them in two. Four hours later they were done.
Pretty good eats! The smoker did need some cleaning up.
The racks and their hangers all come out for easy cleaning, as did the smoke box. I was able to scrape the black splatter from the top fairly easily, and a scrub with a green nylon pad put a shine back on it. The same scrub pad worked well on the interior, and I used a garden hose to flush everything afterwards. It’ll never be shiny new again but I think I can keep it presentable with minor effort. Mrs J is thawing a chicken for tomorrow.
Mnemosyne
I am strongly prejudiced against smokers because of our idiot neighbor who decided to set one up on her balcony and then leave for the weekend.
I hope the fire department ruined all of her meat when they turned the hose on it. Frickin’ moron.
raven
He knows this but I smoke turkey tasso on my cajun watersmoker. Roll boneless chunks (I prefer thighs) in zatarains and cinnamon and smoke until pretty stiff.
Violet
Does JeffreyW weigh a zillion pounds? Or else is he Michael Phelps and burns a million calories a day? Because his photos always look fantastic, but if I ate that much food I’d be as big as a house.
Ribs…yum!
MikeJ
We need to find a way to get JeffreyW a good Pacific salmon. A Copper river king would be excellent, but for smoking, lesser fish will suffice. It should be a good, fat laden, free swimming Pacific fish, non of that mushy farmed Atlantic stuff.
The Dangerman
I didn’t drool this much when Scarlett Johannson was on stage last night. Want (the ribs; well, Scarlett, too).
black onion
As I sit here while my dinner is cooking, I open balloon juice to see what’s new.
I now hate my dinner. That looks so good it is criminal
dewzke
I. Want. Ribs. Now. Gonna see what else I can muster up out of the fridge. Scheet!
cathyx
I believe I love all smoked meat. Bar none.
Violet
@MikeJ: I’m having Coho for dinner. I think the Copper River run is done for the year. You can still get frozen, but I’m not sure that would work in the smoker.
dewzke
Kluwe on Schultz show is great!
Omnes Omnibus
I had french bread, cheese, and fresh garden tomatoes for dinner. Ribs would have been good.
jeffreyw
@Violet: Just a quarter zillion, thank you very much!
Comrade Mary
Oh, that looks amazing.
I’m just recovering from a week of hellish deadlines and my kitchen is a disaster, so I ran out to the store for a bag of green beans and a box of pork dumplings. Dumplings got cooked in a pan(simmer in water with some oil, then let crisp up to make potstickers that were served with a few drops of soy and a shake of crushed chilis), and 4 minutes in the microwave took care of the beans, with just a little butter on top. Tasty and reasonably nutritious, and I didn’t have to unearth the knife or the chopping board.
Clean up and regular cooking start tomorrow.
Yutsano
@MikeJ: The fish throwers at Pike ship all over the country. I’d even throw in some scratch for that as long as we got to sample the proceeds. We’d make a convert for sure.
Yutsano
@Comrade Mary: Tonight is a sweet potato latke. A peeler and a grater and I’m pretty much done unless I use green onions, which is tempting.
LM
I’m as likely to smoke meat as I am to barbecue pot. But the pictures are pretty.
The Dangerman
@dewzke:
Kluwe is a ridiculously sharp dude (UCLA, representing!) that seems to master whatever he wants (I read somewhere he picked up a guitar, or maybe it was a bass, on a lark and now he’s great). If memory serves, the other FB guy in this controversy (Brendon A.; won’t try to spell his last name) is also from UCLA. Again, representing.
rikyrah
damn, that looks good
Yutsano
@The Dangerman: Pac-12 rulz. Except the University of Spoiled Children. :)
raven
I also like to brine a turkey and smoke it on the water smoker.
Southern Beale
I bought a Cameron’s stove top smoker a couple years ago. Works like a charm and the smoke is very well contained so it’s not like your kitchen gets full of smoke. The only thing is that I don’t really like smoked meats all that much. The ribs come out great but I’ve tried to smoke chicken thighs and while they taste delicious, I really don’t like the texture. It’s kinda … I dunno … gummy or something? And the skin doesn’t get crispy and when I try to crisp it under a broiler after smoking and it just doesn’t come out right.
Suggestions?
I love my smoker otherwise. Works great with spareribs.
RareSanity
Call me old fashioned, but there is just something very manly with me spending the day, watchin’ sports, drinkin’ beer, smoking some meat.
Not in one of those new fangled electric smokers…with their automatic temperature controls and humidity sensors. I like to use my Char-Griller with the side fire box. Using actual fire, natural wood charcoal, natural chips soaked and thrown on top of the charcoal.
Just 5 hours of zen like state…a man, tending to his fire, drinkin’ a beer, and watchin’ sports.
It’s so much more fun when you have to manage your temperature manually by opening this, closing that, adding the right amount of charcoal, at the right time, to keep the temperature constant.
Don Beal
Owned a BBQ catering business for about 15 years. Retired now. Keep your temperatures low (225/250) and invest in a good instant read thermometer. Easy peasy.
Rick
Okay — but smokers vary widely in style and quality. The most important ingredient here may be the smoker…the brand and make of which remains a mystery. IOW, WTH kind of smoker did Jeffrey buy?
feebog
I have used an electric smoker for years. Turkey on Thanksgiving, chicken, six racks of ribs at a time. My favorite is a smoked pork shoulder. Pork shoulders can range from 22 to 26 pounds or more, but you can have them cut; I prefer a 7 to 8 pound smaller end. Then…
Make your own rub. I use sea salt, pepper, garic garni, sage, fresh rosemary, chili powder, and brown sugar. Mix it all together, with the suger being at least 30 to 35% of the mixture.
Rub it into the pork shoulder, and I mean massage that stuff in. Wrap in plastic wrap and set overnight in the fridge.
Get the smoker up to speed, soaking the wood chips for at least 20 minutes. Add additional soaked chips through the opening in the bottom ever two hours. After 8 hours, wrap tightly in foil and let ‘er cook for about two more hours. Use a meat thermometer to tell you when the meat is done, 185 degrees equals done. Let the meat sit for at least a half hour. Done right, the bone will easily slip out of the meat, and the meat can be shredded with a fork.
Eat ’em all up.
RareSanity
@Rick:
I clicked through on one of the links, because I was curious about the same thing.
It’s this one.
Kathy in St. Louis
To hell with the meat, I couldn’t find a recipe for that slaw. Looks awesome. Where can I find that?
vtr
Secret to properly smoked meat. Just a bit of smoke at the start of the cooking. The other four hours of slow cooking get the meat dine right. Too much smoke makes otherwise great ribs taste like cheap ham. Be careful.
Since nobody asked, charcoal/wood grilled pizza. Make your dough. Roll it out. Thin layer of heavy cream and caramelized onions. Prociiutto. Dust it with parmesan cheese. Bake it n your charcoal grill.
This recipe was deduced from the pie we used to order at the pizzaria the Mittmeister visited in New Hampshire Wedesday. It’s much better than the pedestrian pepperoni thing he ordered.
Specific equipment needed to cook pizza over charcoal is available upon request. Or you can try to figure it out for yourself in invent your own combinations of naughty words
Persia
I made an adapted version of this fig and cheese stuffed pork chop recipe. It was fan-fucking-tastic.
Steeplejack
@vtr:
Do tell, please.
TaMara (BHF)
@Persia: That looks amazing.
Roy G.
@RareSanity: Thank you – that’s the, ahem, burning, question I had.
I’m in the market for a smoker. Had a full-on 55-gal barrel type smoker, but despite the atavistic desire to stand over a wood fire for hours on end, in the end it had to go. This unit would be perfect – except I don’t think I can do my signature dish – a smoked turkey on Thanksgiving.
TaMara (BHF)
@Kathy in St. Louis: Kathy, I know JeffreyW has posted a recipe for slaw on the my blog somewhere, I looked, but I couldn’t find it. He’ll be around, you should stalk him and have him give it to you.
dp
One word: Brisket!
RareSanity
@Roy G.:
The setup I have, with the fire box attached to the side, really does make it a lot easier to regulate the temperature. You can futz around with the fire, without ever disturbing the “chamber” containing the meat.
The 55-gallon drums are for really hardcore smokers…usually people that make money selling their meat. I can see how that would be quite off-putting.
The real cool thing I like about my grill is how flexible it is. It’s one of the “dual” Char-Grillers…one side propane, one side charcoal with the fire box attached. I can be smoking ribs on the charcoal side, then during the course of the day, cook hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, corn, etc. on the propane side.
DarrenG
Some random thoughts on smoked meat from a member of the Cult Of The Big Green Egg:
If you’re not gonna beer can your chicken, spatchcock it. Much faster cooking. No need to go low and slow with chicken, either. It does just fine up to 300.
For large cuts and long cooks like brisket or pork shoulder, wrap the roast in foil half to two-thirds the way through the cook time, By then you’ve got all the smoke you can use and a nice bark, and wrapping it with some butter, herbs, and a small amount of flavorful liquid (50/50 mix of apple juice and cider vinegar for pork, for example) will give it a mind-blowing flavor and texture.
Copper River sockeye > Copper River king. The Pacific king run this year has been epic, though.
JustRuss
Smoked up some ribs for the first time on Labor Day. With some fresh corn on the cob, Culinary Nirvana.
presquevu
Smoked some onions, garlic and apples to simmer to make the base for the injection marinade for the 60-lb pig I’ll be cooking Sunday. The caja china I’ll be cooking in does it in 3.5 hours, but is indirect, so no smoke flavor. Going to try to get there by injection. Sassafras wood this time.
Usual smoked meat for me is pork picnic, boneless beef short ribs smoke-braised, or bulk sausage in a pampered chef ceramic muffin pan, normally a hot Italian or merguez recipe.
JCT
I’m late to the party but I bought my husband a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker for a housewarming gift. Yes, yes, clever me it WAS a way to get him to do much of the cooking for when we invite our research groups over for dinner.
It’s fantastic — excellent deal for the money, holds 250 deg for hours with no fuss and everything he has cooked so far (RIBS, chicken and pork butt) has turned out great. One tip is to look for ribs/pork butt at Sams or Costco, great prices. Has to be one of the cheapest ways to feed a crowd.
Great enthusiasts web site here: http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/
And thanks for the heads-up re the UCLA players — my son will be a freshman there in a few weeks and I can’t wait to share this with him.
Kathy in St. Louis
@TaMara (BHF): Thanks. No one has to ask we twice to stalk.