Smoking (not NUance's lame cigar thread. Lame.)

[Paul in WI]

i consider you my best friend. you introduced me to the love of my life, after all. claymore scotch ale. trying oskar's take probably tonight.

i got an electric smoker like 4 years ago. do not use it as much as i would like, but i am smoking some ribs this weekend.

i think a charcoal one would be fun to mess around with, but much more labor intensive.

what kind of smoker you got?

For now I just have a Masterbuilt electric. It works pretty well with the pellet tray that I bought for it. (This: http://www.amazenproducts.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AMNPS5X8)

I've done a couple briskets with OK results and ~10 pork butts with average to great results. Smoked around 18lbs of pork for the first game of the season and every bit was gone in under 15 minutes . . . but the fact that everyone was a little tipsy played into that.

I'd definitely like to get into charcoal. I'm intrigued by those electric controllers that you can use in Weber kettles or drum smokers. Supposed to be nearly as foolproof as electric but with the better results of charcoal.

Every type of smoker has their strengths and weaknesses. For example: Electric smokers don't move much air through them, which makes them ideal for things like summer sausage where you want to retain as much moisture as you can to avoid shrinkage. I keep my Cookshack 55 electric around just for that purpose. I can hang a standard 25lb batch of sausage in it and the low draft (due to being electric) helps keep the moisture in and shrinkage to a minimum. Keep in mind that if you ever want to do competition like KCBS events, electrics aren't allowed. They also won't produce a smoke ring on your meats, due to the smoldering wood not generating enough nitrites to make that pretty ring. You need fire for that.

These days, a good charcoal smoker is almost as easy to use as an electric. The aftermarket electronic draft controls make the things darn near like using an oven, although I recommend that people learn how to use their pits manually before adding an electronic control. Take a Weber Smoky Mountain (WSM) charcoal smoker as an example...... If you load up a charcoal basket and use the Minion Method, you can get 12- 18 hours out of a load of charcoal, depending on which size Smoky Mountain and how cold/windy it is outside. The things will hold a nice BBQ temp without an electronic controller. Add a digital control after you're comfortable doing it "old school" and you're set.

The digital controls by Guru, Stoker, and PitMaster really have revolutionized smoking. Heck, with the more advanced models, you can be at work and pull up an app on your phone to check your temp, adjust it, and then set a hold temp for your meat once it is finished. It doesn't get much cooler than that.

 

[BigRedBuster]

OK...I have a question for everyone who claims to be a brisket expert.

I have cooked one heck of a lot of briskets. Here is my problem. I can not get it to slice nicely with out falling apart and basically be pulled beef. Everything I have ever read about it claims to take it to 190 just like pulled pork. Well.....the reason you take pulled pork to at least 190 is because at that temperature the water cells in the connective tissue burst allowing the meat to fall apart and thus....become pulled pork.

Well, the same thing happens with brisket.

So, at what temperature to you cook your brisket, for how long and at what internal temp is it when you take it off?

I can make pulled beef that tastes DANG good. I just wish I could make sliced brisket.

 

[carlfense]

OK...I have a question for everyone who claims to be a brisket expert.

I have cooked one heck of a lot of briskets. Here is my problem. I can not get it to slice nicely with out falling apart and basically be pulled beef. Everything I have ever read about it claims to take it to 190 just like pulled pork. Well.....the reason you take pulled pork to at least 190 is because at that temperature the water cells in the connective tissue burst allowing the meat to fall apart and thus....become pulled pork.

Well, the same thing happens with brisket.

So, at what temperature to you cook your brisket, for how long and at what internal temp is it when you take it off?

I can make pulled beef that tastes DANG good. I just wish I could make sliced brisket.

I am in no way a brisket expert. Not at all . . . but this is what the site that I use the most says about the topic:

http://amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/texas_brisket.html

Everyone here probably already knows about amazingribs.com, though. Haha.

 

[carlfense]

Every type of smoker has their strengths and weaknesses. For example: Electric smokers don't move much air through them, which makes them ideal for things like summer sausage where you want to retain as much moisture as you can to avoid shrinkage. I keep my Cookshack 55 electric around just for that purpose. I can hang a standard 25lb batch of sausage in it and the low draft (due to being electric) helps keep the moisture in and shrinkage to a minimum. Keep in mind that if you ever want to do competition like KCBS events, electrics aren't allowed. They also won't produce a smoke ring on your meats, due to the smoldering wood not generating enough nitrites to make that pretty ring. You need fire for that.

I've noticed and read about the moisture retention in electric smokers, too. When I use my pellet tray I usually leave the chip loader pulled out an inch or two and the top vent wide open to get as much airflow as possible.

Do you think that the high humidity in the smoker might contribute to my really, really, long smoke times on pork butts?

 

[BigRedBuster]

OK...I have a question for everyone who claims to be a brisket expert.

I have cooked one heck of a lot of briskets. Here is my problem. I can not get it to slice nicely with out falling apart and basically be pulled beef. Everything I have ever read about it claims to take it to 190 just like pulled pork. Well.....the reason you take pulled pork to at least 190 is because at that temperature the water cells in the connective tissue burst allowing the meat to fall apart and thus....become pulled pork.

Well, the same thing happens with brisket.

So, at what temperature to you cook your brisket, for how long and at what internal temp is it when you take it off?

I can make pulled beef that tastes DANG good. I just wish I could make sliced brisket.

I am in no way a brisket expert. Not at all . . . but this is what the site that I use the most says about the topic:

http://amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/texas_brisket.html

Everyone here probably already knows about amazingribs.com, though. Haha.

I've read that before and tried it absolutely as close to how they describe it as possible and it still shreds when I try to cut it. They claim you should take it to around 203 degrees. That's above where the connective tissue "melts" thus....allowing it to fall apart.

I've always been frustrated about this. I've lost competitions before where my pulled pork and ribs were fantastic but my brisket wasn't.

FYI.....my burnt ends recipe basically came from this site. It's awesome.

 

[Paul in WI]

Every type of smoker has their strengths and weaknesses. For example: Electric smokers don't move much air through them, which makes them ideal for things like summer sausage where you want to retain as much moisture as you can to avoid shrinkage. I keep my Cookshack 55 electric around just for that purpose. I can hang a standard 25lb batch of sausage in it and the low draft (due to being electric) helps keep the moisture in and shrinkage to a minimum. Keep in mind that if you ever want to do competition like KCBS events, electrics aren't allowed. They also won't produce a smoke ring on your meats, due to the smoldering wood not generating enough nitrites to make that pretty ring. You need fire for that.

I've noticed and read about the moisture retention in electric smokers, too. When I use my pellet tray I usually leave the chip loader pulled out an inch or two and the top vent wide open to get as much airflow as possible.
Do you think that the high humidity in the smoker might contribute to my really, really, long smoke times on pork butts?

Humidity shouldn't effect the time. If I were to guess, your smoker is probably running an average temp that is cooler than you think it is. Here's where it gets tricky with electric smokers: If you put a digital thermometer on a probe in your smoking chamber, you might freak out when you watch it. It is very common to have electric smoker chamber temps wildly fluctuate during the course of a smoke as it cycles on and off. For example: If I set my Cookshack 55 at 225, the actual internal temp may fluctuate between 190 and 290 as it goes through its heating cycle. Don't sweat it, because that's normal. With electrics, you have to look at averages.

How long are your butts taking, and what temp do you have it set?

 

[carlfense]

Every type of smoker has their strengths and weaknesses. For example: Electric smokers don't move much air through them, which makes them ideal for things like summer sausage where you want to retain as much moisture as you can to avoid shrinkage. I keep my Cookshack 55 electric around just for that purpose. I can hang a standard 25lb batch of sausage in it and the low draft (due to being electric) helps keep the moisture in and shrinkage to a minimum. Keep in mind that if you ever want to do competition like KCBS events, electrics aren't allowed. They also won't produce a smoke ring on your meats, due to the smoldering wood not generating enough nitrites to make that pretty ring. You need fire for that.

I've noticed and read about the moisture retention in electric smokers, too. When I use my pellet tray I usually leave the chip loader pulled out an inch or two and the top vent wide open to get as much airflow as possible.
Do you think that the high humidity in the smoker might contribute to my really, really, long smoke times on pork butts?

Humidity shouldn't effect the time. If I were to guess, your smoker is probably running an average temp that is cooler than you think it is. Here's where it gets tricky with electric smokers: If you put a digital thermometer on a probe in your smoking chamber, you might freak out when you watch it. It is very common to have electric smoker chamber temps wildly fluctuate during the course of a smoke as it cycles on and off. For example: If I set my Cookshack 55 at 225, the actual internal temp may fluctuate between 190 and 290 as it goes through its heating cycle. Don't sweat it, because that's normal. With electrics, you have to look at averages.

How long are your butts taking, and what temp do you have it set?

I use a probe thermometer to monitor the smoker temp and it fluctuates (slowly) from about 238-255. I try to get the probe near the meat without touching any metal. I usually have it set at around 240 but the observed temps vary some.

The longest I've seen is 19 hours. I think that they probably average about 12 hours. The stall seems ridiculously long . . . somewhere between 150-160 it will get stuck for 5-6 hours. I know that the stall is normal but that seems to be unusually long.

 

[BigRedBuster]

this thread is just so ripe for the out of context thread. i propose we make it off limits so we can freely speak of our meat and what we do to it.

LOL...one time I was asked to cook for this large event. It was around 300 people. The lady who hired me kept telling me if I needed help, she could get some one to come help. The day of the event when the meat was on the cooker, she kept sending me text messages...."Are you sure you don't need help pulling your meat?" She had absolutely no clue what she was saying until I saw her and her husband in person and started teasing her about it.

It was priceless.

 

[Paul in WI]

Carl, I've got some thoughts for you on shortening the time on butts (your times look pretty normal).

I also will share my brisket method with you, BRB. It works for me. The problem is that I need to get a little wordy, and I'm only on a 7" tablet at the moment. So....I shall type more when a proper keyboard is at my disposal this evening. This thing is driving me nuts.

 

[carlfense]

Carl, I've got some thoughts for you on shortening the time on butts (your times look pretty normal).

I also will share my brisket method with you, BRB. It works for me. The problem is that I need to get a little wordy, and I'm only on a 7" tablet at the moment. So....I shall type more when a proper keyboard is at my disposal this evening. This thing is driving me nuts.

Thanks Paul!

 

[sd'sker]

ribs at hy-vee have been 3.99 per pound. i have stocked up sufficiently.

 

[BigRedBuster]

I am going to try venison ribs this year. Should be interesting.

you will have to let us know how that goes. preferably with pictures.

Ok. Cleaned both deer tonight and got a good look at the ribs. I was attempting to figure out the best way to cut them out when it dawned on me.....there is absolutely no neat here.

It's not worth my time.

I'm fine feeding the ribs to the coyotes.

 

[sd'sker]

I am going to try venison ribs this year. Should be interesting.

you will have to let us know how that goes. preferably with pictures.

Ok. Cleaned both deer tonight and got a good look at the ribs. I was attempting to figure out the best way to cut them out when it dawned on me.....there is absolutely no neat here.

It's not worth my time.

I'm fine feeding the ribs to the coyotes.

that makes sense. is there any part of the venison that you have or would smoke?

 

[BigRedBuster]

I Smoked a neck roast this summer and I thought it turned out very good.

 

[Hingle McCringleberry]

OK...I have a question for everyone who claims to be a brisket expert.

I have cooked one heck of a lot of briskets. Here is my problem. I can not get it to slice nicely with out falling apart and basically be pulled beef. Everything I have ever read about it claims to take it to 190 just like pulled pork. Well.....the reason you take pulled pork to at least 190 is because at that temperature the water cells in the connective tissue burst allowing the meat to fall apart and thus....become pulled pork.

Well, the same thing happens with brisket.

So, at what temperature to you cook your brisket, for how long and at what internal temp is it when you take it off?

I can make pulled beef that tastes DANG good. I just wish I could make sliced brisket.

I am in no way a brisket expert. Not at all . . . but this is what the site that I use the most says about the topic:

http://amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/texas_brisket.html

Everyone here probably already knows about amazingribs.com, though. Haha.

I've read that before and tried it absolutely as close to how they describe it as possible and it still shreds when I try to cut it. They claim you should take it to around 203 degrees. That's above where the connective tissue "melts" thus....allowing it to fall apart.

I've always been frustrated about this. I've lost competitions before where my pulled pork and ribs were fantastic but my brisket wasn't.

FYI.....my burnt ends recipe basically came from this site. It's awesome.

Are you wrapping in foil? I started using "pink butcher paper" and that seems to help. I smoke to 180, wrap in paper, back on till 194, pull let set in cooler with towels for a few hours, meat will "set" slices really well.

Using a Hasty Bake, with lump coal, and large oak pieces. After my first try with oak I will not use anything else for beef, will try it on ribs in the spring. Got a Tappecue, it connects to your router, and you can check the temps on up to four probes from anywhere using the app. also you can set triggers or high/low temps etc, plus it makes you a smoke session graph to review once you are done.. Good lord Im a nerd...