Finally bought a pellet smoker / grill. Put it together the end of this week, and went out today in search of pellets, rubs and large pieces of dead animals. Came home with a bunch of rubs, no pellets (though I got three bags with the grill to start off anyway), a rack of ribs (K.C. style), some NY strips, a pork butt (which oddly enough is actually the shoulder- go figure??) and onions and potatoes to smoke. Got the potatoes and onions, two of the strip steaks and the rack of ribs on the smoker right now. I know I should not mix all those foods but as an excuse I can only offer 1) I have a new smoker and 2) I cannot help myself. The plan is only to smoke the steaks a bit and finish them off in the sear box that came with the smoker, get some smoke into the potatoes and maybe finish them off in the broiler in the house and fully smoke the ribs.

It is all part of my master plan for a low calorie diet, coupled with my new anti- cholesterol pills, which seem to be cheaper in large quantities.

Brian

Since it is winter and plenty cold on the docks and in the trucks would you like to sample a variety of meats from around the country?
I'm sure we would be glad to ship you a selection of regional roadkill to satisfy your epicurean desires.

What did you pick up, Brian? I got a Camp Chef Smoke Pro couple months ago.  I haven't used it much but what I've done has been pretty good.

What kind of wood {Pellets} are you using?
Down here in South Texas I just use real Mesquite is it's EZ to come by.

Ride safe, Ted

I find a fruit wood works well with a lot of meats. I prefer apple myself. I think it’s probably more of a matter of personal taste.

I grabbed a Camp Chef Woodwind with the sear box (propane). So far, after a couple of days, very happy with the unit. Have actually used the sear box more and find it fantastic- they claim it reaches 900F and I can see parts of the IR grid are red when it is on high. The smoker seems to be very well made and of high quality, and so far it is working well as far as I can tell. The display is not displaying the correct temperature (set the smoker to 250F and it displays numbers like 21 and 47) so I will contact Camp Chef and see how that goes. The control is a separate box, and swapping that out would be easiest for me, and I really do not want an entire new grill 'cause it took hours to assemble it.

For the first use, I just used the bag of pellets that came with the smoker, which are 'competition hardwood' pellets. Smoked a rack of ribs yesterday and they were fantastic! Used the 3,2,1 method and liked it a lot; 3 hours at 250 to form the bark, 2 hours wrapped tightly to finish them, and one more hour back on the smoker with a light coating of BBQ sauce. Parts of the rack literally fell off when I picked it up off the grill. I also have a bag of apple and a bag of hickory pellets that I ordered when I ordered the grill. Going forward I will probably order pellets through WalMart as they have a good selection and are the most reasonable in price. There is no local pellet supplier that I have found yet, so any I use will be ordered and WalMart will ship to the store without shipping charges.

Thanks but I will pass on the road kill. :-)  Although I have eaten a fair amount of that at the game dinner my club puts on- they get their venison from road kills and butcher the usable carcasses. Venison steak, venison sausage, venison meatloaf, venison meatballs in sauce with spaghetti, venison pate. They put on a 9 course meal that takes two days to cook and serve and almost an entire day to consume. There is a chef who is a member and he puts on the dinner, and it is fantastic.

Today is a pig butt which is about 12 or 14 lbs. On Wednesday, a turkey breast will get the smoke.

Brian

Mmmmmm, ribs....

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Oops, wrong pic.

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I love to eat smoked meats but I can't take enough antacid to protect me from the after effects..

Is that really the result of just the smoke or is it because the rubs / spices used on the meat are hot? Something that often gets confused in smoking foods is that it will be very spicy or 'hot' and that is just not needed. Starting with the rub, before smoking, all the way through the BBQ sauce used at the end, some people put fire into the system and the food will of course have a great deal of 'heat'. But that is not necessary. In fact, all the rubs and sauces we use have no added heat- not a big fan of anything that blisters skin myself :-)

Brian

I love to eat smoked meats but I can't take enough antacid to protect me from the after effects..

You know, it might be that.  I haven't done any research into the rubs or sauces themselves.  I may have to try something smoked without any additives to see.

What are kc style ribs?

I love to eat smoked meats but I can't take enough antacid to protect me from the after effects..

I have this problem with pretty much all food. However I find that on those rare occasions that I run out of beer I don't have it. So far haven't found any solution.

What are kc style ribs?

big ribs, slow cooked at lower temps, and slathered repeatedly with a very thick tomato and sugar based sauce, very sticky and sweet, and dark with a crusty outer layer at times... as opposed to a Carolina style, more acidic from higher vinegar and spices combo, squirted on during later cooking, and at time they get plated...
I kinda like Virginia style, but not all of it is true to the state... some is northern, some is southern... Mountain (Blue Ridge) style is the smokiest, and best, combining all the differences...

now, ask about Cleveland Style BBQ, and smoking....low and slow...
I'll never give up my recipe for "Dirty White Boy" ribs... In the 80's, it cost about $35 a gallon to make my sauce... now that I grow my own peppers, and some of the hottest in the world, I may have to update my secret sauce.
Growing up in the Inner City of Cleveland, in the 60's (which was called the ghetto...) I watched and learned as a young child, every different aspect I could from all my pal's momma's, it was a melting pot of BBQ history,KC, NC, SC, Alabama, everywhere they emigrated from.. and on Memorial day, 4th of July, and all thru the summer, up and down my "ghetto" street, the air was filled with "perfume" of smokin' BBQ.
I backed a "biker" store with my sauce, and methods in the early 80's, and they won some top honors in the rib cookoff in Cleveland 2 years in a row....

Cleveland is TOUGH on BBq, I have to say that...

I resurrected a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) Cast aluminum grill, from someone's front "garbage day" discard last year, as I was driving a back road... it actually took me, and another fellow to get it lifted and into the truck...
Had a bad wheel... and the "baffle" plates over the gas flame elements were somwhat rusted, but everything intact, including the "multi burner side cooking areas" for pots and pans... covered since new, and pristine....

I'd have to say the unit when new, had to cost $2k easily..
I pulled the gas burner elements out, and cleaned the interior and cast iron grill tops, (saved the burners and will re-install this coming season), and all the hoses and such, and after cleanup and installing some internal "charcoal pans" have a grill that I can utilize for smoking, and also grilling, using a great "lump style hardwood charcoal", one side for coal for smoking, or both sides for smokin' & Grillin'.
Having 30 acres of hardwoods behind the house, helps dramatically, buying "smokin wood" ain't happening, as 1 dead Hickory tree, and a couple other Oak/Cherry/Chestnut/ and fruitwoods, cut into 2" slabs off the trunks, then simply chopped into small blocks which can be soaked and tossed onto my coals, makes for some nice flavor. I bought Smokin' Wood chunks... once.... then double face palmed myself and said never again. 

I had one of those "tall cylindrical type" smokers, that I used for a couple dozen years, smoked MANY turkeys and ham combos in that, (ham on top, 2 turkeys below).. and always enjoyed the flavor, this new rendition I have didn't cost me a penny, and I really like that part, especially since I can do 4x more in the same time.

smoked turkey?

here's our mobile "grill master 2000"....



and a few years ago, we simply did it the old fashioned way... for 150# of turkey...
mmmmmm that WAS all done on Hickory wood, start to finish....

Perhaps in addition to what Rich said, KC ribs are a cut of meat. They come from the end of the rib cage and include the end of what would be baby back ribs (from further up the rib cage) as well as two fairly large 'flaps' of meat with no rib or any kind of bone in it. When the pro's, or very serious BBQ people get these ribs, they normally cute them into a rectangle along the edges of the bones so the rack is actually all 'rib'. That is a lot of meat for me to chuck though and it is just as 'good eating' as the actual ribs so I cooked the entire rack when I did mine. In fact, I did not even trim them; other than pulling the tough membrane off the back of the ribs, they went into the smoker like they came out of the pig.

There are other cuts of pork ribs, and in TX they have a tendency to use beef ribs for BBQ but that does not seem to be common elsewhere in the country.

Pulling pork from a pork butt right now that I smoked yesterday. At first taste and smell, it seems great.... :-)

Tomorrow the smoker has the day off and on Wed. a turkey breast is going through. Little more concerned with that one because it is such a lean meat that it will be easy to dry out and turn it into leather.

Brian

What are kc style ribs?

The easiest way to tell is: does bacon or ham irritate you? Both are smoked but bacon gets no 'cure' while ham usually has a mild (no heat), sweet cure on the rind such as maple, honey, etc.

Brian

You know, it might be that.  I haven't done any research into the rubs or sauces themselves.  I may have to try something smoked without any additives to see.

Problem with attempting to just some  turkey breast, or multiples, is as you said... it will turn into leather, way before the flavor permeates the meat...

Best bet is the complete thawed turkey, or multiples as we have done before...

unless you stick the turkey breast in the farthest corner away from heat, and smoke really cold... welll...

Tomorrow the smoker has the day off and on Wed. a turkey breast is going through. Little more concerned with that one because it is such a lean meat that it will be easy to dry out and turn it into leather.

     I have not done this yet but my brother will brine the fowl for a day before putting on the smoker. Don't ask me what he uses.
     Kinda like dry rubs, everyone has their favorite.

Bacon does it to me big time.  Deli ham not so much.

The easiest way to tell is: does bacon or ham irritate you? Both are smoked but bacon gets no 'cure' while ham usually has a mild (no heat), sweet cure on the rind such as maple, honey, etc.

Brian

Bacon does it to me big time.  Deli ham not so much.

My condolences on the bacon issue.   

Wow Jim, that is really bad news and you have my sympathies! A V-twin thumper and you CANNOT eat bacon..... well, I just do not know if life is worth living with those, er, 'detractions'.

 

Brian

Bacon does it to me big time.  Deli ham not so much.