Grill and/or Smoker Recommendations

No, and even if I did, everything we used was on an industrial scale, and rated for food service.  You won't need anything like that at your home. 

I know we used top round beef and took the cap off, then stripped all the fat & connective tissue from the slab.  It was a VERY lean piece of meat before we ever made anything out of it. Then we'd partially freeze it so it would cut easier, slice it into thin strips on a deli meat slicer, then tumble it overnight in the spices & cure in a giant automated tumbling machine.

 
knapplc said:
No, and even if I did, everything we used was on an industrial scale, and rated for food service.  You won't need anything like that at your home. 

I know we used top round beef and took the cap off, then stripped all the fat & connective tissue from the slab.  It was a VERY lean piece of meat before we ever made anything out of it. Then we'd partially freeze it so it would cut easier, slice it into thin strips on a deli meat slicer, then tumble it overnight in the spices & cure in a giant automated tumbling machine.
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I can understand tumbling it for a short time to coat it with the seasoning.  But....why all night?

 
BigRedBuster said:
I can understand tumbling it for a short time to coat it with the seasoning.  But....why all night?
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You're right. It's been a long time. It wasn't overnight, in fact, it was the opposite - we'd tumble it for 15 minutes. It was quick enough that it was still really cold after mixing it with cure & spices, so that when we laid it out on the racks to smoke it was just awful for your fingers because it was so icy cold. Each smoker truck held either ten or a dozen racks and a typical batch would fill almost that whole truck. Each rack was at least 4x4. So by the time we got done loading them your hands were screaming with the cold.

I think it was in the smoker overnight, and that's where I misremembered.  Then we'd come in and package it the next morning. 

Making jerky was one of my least favorite jobs. The stuff was so cold it made your hands feel like you'd been hit with a hammer after laying it all out. 

 
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knapplc said:
No, and even if I did, everything we used was on an industrial scale, and rated for food service.  You won't need anything like that at your home. 

I know we used top round beef and took the cap off, then stripped all the fat & connective tissue from the slab.  It was a VERY lean piece of meat before we ever made anything out of it. Then we'd partially freeze it so it would cut easier, slice it into thin strips on a deli meat slicer, then tumble it overnight in the spices & cure in a giant automated tumbling machine.
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I think you severely underestimate how much jerky I can and will eat :lol:

 
BigRedBuster said:
Amazingribs.com

I've done a hell of a lot of BBQ and grilling.  Any questions....ask away.
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I'm a little confused about this website. If I join their club it just removes the ads off the site? Or is there more access to other things on the site? 

 
GSG said:
I'm a little confused about this website. If I join their club it just removes the ads off the site? Or is there more access to other things on the site? 
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I think there is more access to Meathead answering questions and giving advice.  Possibly more actual information on the site.

I'm not a member, so I don't know for sure.

 
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Meathead and the gang will answer your questions whether you join or not. They're pretty good guys.

I think joining removes some, but not all, of the ads. And I think that if you don't join you only get a certain number of page views or something like that.  I don't remember ever being told that I'm out of views, though.

 
The correct answer is...

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But seriously, look at that Camp Chef one linked above if you're interested in all at smoking/BBQ. I don't have one, but it looks pretty slick.

Pellet = Easy mode for low and slow, show to heat up, cant get very hot to sear steaks.

Gas = Quick & Easy, not as hot, can't do low and slow very well.

Charcoal Kettle = Can do low and slow with help, can get very hot, lots of work to maintain a cook.

Kamado (Big Green Egg) = Expensive, can get very hot (over 900º), can do low and slow with relative ease. But they're smaller, heavier, and more expensive.

 
GSG said:
That's what I ended up getting with the sear box on the side (supposed to get up to 900º). Trying to decide what to make first is all now!
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So how do you like the Camp Chef? Stories, reviews.....

Im interested because I was very close to getting a Green Mountain pellet grill (like Saunders) but when I saw this Camp Chef with the sear box I’m reconsidering. That would allow me to possibly eliminate my gas grill and have it all in one unit. Plus I loved that commercial :lol:

 
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Comfortably Numb said:
So how do you like the Camp Chef? Stories, reviews.....

Im interested because I was very close to getting a Green Mountain pellet grill (like Saunders) but when I saw this Camp Chef with the sear box I’m reconsidering. That would allow me to possibly eliminate my gas grill and have it all in one unit. Plus I loved that commercial :lol:
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From what I can tell, the smoker part is pretty much the same as the Traeger. We smoked some wings on Saturday, then pulled them and threw them in the air fryer for a few minutes to crisp them up. They turned out pretty damn good. Meat was juicy and had a good smokey flavor to it.

The sear box is a little smaller than I thought. We threw a couple foil packets with potatoes, onions, and green beans with some herbed butter we made. Then we did 3 chicken breasts on there. There's a hook to hang your propane tank from on the back, which was cool. It's a good rig so far. My parents gave me some steaks, so I'll have to test out the reverse sear method.

 
Saunders said:
Kamado (Big Green Egg) = Expensive, can get very hot (over 900º), can do low and slow with relative ease. But they're smaller, heavier, and more expensive.
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I mentioned it above, but you can get one of Char-Griller's lightweight Akorn steel kamados for only about $300. That's my main cooker.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Char-Griller-Akorn-Kamado-Kooker-Charcoal-Grill-in-Graphite-16620/205026253

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Char-Griller-AKORN-Kamado-Kooker-20-in-Charcoal-Grill-in-Grey-with-Cart-6520/204151650

 
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