Who likes to smoke food

If I could I would grill or smoke sumthin every nite for supper. I have pretty nice charcoal grill i use alot. I wore out a electric smoker with glass door (forgot brand) I go thru these things like crazy well couple weeks ago ,a feller offerd me a used traeger smoker (pellet) wasn't used 3 or 4 times but guy left it outside and paint started chipping off outside of it, so I asked what he take for it and he said just want u to take it with you , ok?? So I did (wouldn't take $) so I started looking for instructions on interwebs so I didn't mess anything up . Well this damn thang cost 1150.00 new. Best electric smoker I've ever used or ate from. There's noway I would even consider buying one these things new. I didn't even know what traeger was , of course I called by buddy after I found out and begged him to take sum cabbage and he wouldn't. I guess he just didn't use it or want it like he thought he would. Woukd like to hear from others that have one or knew bout em and see what you think of em

Neighbor has one, me and another neighbor supply him with fresh fish to smoke fairly often. He did some swordfish not to long ago that was probably the best smoked food I've ever eaten.
The whole plug it in and walk away seems to take some of the "magic" out of it, but there's no denying the delicious factor.

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Originally Posted by Whaaaaat

Neighbor has one, me and another neighbor supply him with fresh fish to smoke fairly often. He did some swordfish not to long ago that was probably the best smoked food I've ever eaten.
The whole plug it in and walk away seems to take some of the "magic" out of it, but there's no denying the delicious factor.

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I like to feed the smoker also , especially with group friends having a beer and such , but sure is nice put supper on at 230 or 3 and be done by 6 it sure beats hell out-of the cheap smoker I had. This thing will cook at close to 500deg if u needed to. 1st experience with one these and it's great

I own 4 Weber charcoal grills and have used all of them at the same time. If you stack the charcoal right, it can be a good smoker. Have had a Prime Rib going on one grill on low heat, while using another grill for cheeseburgers, hot dogs, sausage etc. while using another grill for corn and vegetables/onions/ mushrooms, while using the last grill for shrimp and lobster. Has been a while since I have done that, but every now and again there are a bunch of people around at the lake and having multiple grills is a nice option.

Now my brother in law is a master with the smoker. Every year he is doing something new and he really nails it as far as finished results. This year he had a smoker where the brisket was hung inside of the smoker and the heat was from charcoal that was stacked around the outside of the cooker. Never seen anything like it but man, the meat was excellent.

I am lucky to have such a big family, I guess. This past 4th of July there were about 30 of us together, and that is just the immediate family. Cousins own the 2 places next door and there had to be at least another 20 people with all of them. Hence the reason why 4 grills come in handy. I never use the grill at home as I am on the 2nd floor. But when I am at the lake, I almost never use the stove unless making pancakes or mac and cheese for the little ones. Even at my shop, I grill all the time.

This happens once a year at our cabin. Rest of the time we use our electrics.

...nice. date & time please.;)https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...9&d=1597232766

I will forward date and time info as soon as it is available. Might as well plan on hanging out a couple days. We cook enough food to last a week. Back when we were having the Illinois River Runs that was the official grill/smoker. One year someone brought 100 hot dogs and another brought 50 burgers. We had them all on the grill at once.

Rock

...just plain a lot of fun.:thumbsup:

Was trying to find a picture to show how I line up charcoal for smoking in a grill, this is pretty much how I do it. When I made the prime rib I lined the bottom of a foil pan with onion slices so the meat never touched the pan. I also had liptons french onion soup mix in pan that I kept spooning over the rib eye as it were cooking. Took about 7 hours and there were no leftovers.



https://www.kingsford.com/wp-content...trol4_0464.jpg

Love my Big Green Egg, use it a few nights a week. Does everything so well, smoker and high temp grill for steaks. I like the whole process of setting up the charcoal, lighting the fire, setting temp. It's a methodical process and part of the fun for me. I will admit that the electrics and pellet smokers are a lot easier. But theres something so satisfying about building the fire before you cook something.

This is only my second season with it so theres many things still on the list that I would like to smoke.

Favorite way to do steaks is get it good and hot, 700-750 degrees and go for 2 min a side, then snuff out fire and go another 1-2 min depending on preferred doneness. I buy in on whole beefs with my brother and order a custom cut so our steaks our 1.5"+ I wouldn't go that long with thinner steaks.

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Originally Posted by Merc 2.5

If I could I would grill or smoke sumthin every nite for supper. I have pretty nice charcoal grill i use alot. I wore out a electric smoker with glass door (forgot brand) I go thru these things like crazy well couple weeks ago ,a feller offerd me a used traeger smoker (pellet) wasn't used 3 or 4 times but guy left it outside and paint started chipping off outside of it, so I asked what he take for it and he said just want u to take it with you , ok?? So I did (wouldn't take $) so I started looking for instructions on interwebs so I didn't mess anything up . Well this damn thang cost 1150.00 new. Best electric smoker I've ever used or ate from. There's noway I would even consider buying one these things new. I didn't even know what traeger was , of course I called by buddy after I found out and begged him to take sum cabbage and he wouldn't. I guess he just didn't use it or want it like he thought he would. Woukd like to hear from others that have one or knew bout em and see what you think of em

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If ya wanna make a trip to SW Louisiana I'll sell ya my pit for a real good price. It's made out of sheet metal, 3/16" IIRC, and can hold 2 cases of chicken. It would be easy to convert it into a smoker and you won't wear it out. :D

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Originally Posted by SS Minnow

I own 4 Weber charcoal grills and have used all of them at the same time. If you stack the charcoal right, it can be a good smoker. Have had a Prime Rib going on one grill on low heat, while using another grill for cheeseburgers, hot dogs, sausage etc. while using another grill for corn and vegetables/onions/ mushrooms, while using the last grill for shrimp and lobster. Has been a while since I have done that, but every now and again there are a bunch of people around at the lake and having multiple grills is a nice option.

Now my brother in law is a master with the smoker. Every year he is doing something new and he really nails it as far as finished results. This year he had a smoker where the brisket was hung inside of the smoker and the heat was from charcoal that was stacked around the outside of the cooker. Never seen anything like it but man, the meat was excellent.

I am lucky to have such a big family, I guess. This past 4th of July there were about 30 of us together, and that is just the immediate family. Cousins own the 2 places next door and there had to be at least another 20 people with all of them. Hence the reason why 4 grills come in handy. I never use the grill at home as I am on the 2nd floor. But when I am at the lake, I almost never use the stove unless making pancakes or mac and cheese for the little ones. Even at my shop, I grill all the time.

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I have a master forge gril with adjustable rack and love it, but if I had a choice the smoked meat wins everytiime. We have had many hunting trips where we will kill and clean a deer, then build a pit from blocks and grates beside fire pit and hang out by fire and smoke/cook deer from that morning

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Originally Posted by Merc 2.5

I have a master forge gril with adjustable rack and love it, but if I had a choice the smoked meat wins everytiime. We have had many hunting trips where we will kill and clean a deer, then build a pit from blocks and grates beside fire pit and hang out by fire and smoke/cook deer from that morning

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If I had more time, I would get a smoker. Unfortunately it is only a few, maybe three times a year I have an entire day to pay attention to a smoker. From what I have seen, it is not just a set it and forget it type of project. The prime rib I did was not too bad for keeping an eye on it. Maybe once an hour to check on it. Just rare that I have a full day to dedicate to cooking.

And just to make it official, I do not like to cook, but man, I do like to eat!!!!!!!

One of the first times I seen my brother in law smoke something was a simple block fire pit set up. It worked out really well, I was impressed. But again, he spent a bunch of the day controlling the temperature and moving things around. It was worth it in the end, but I do not have that much time in the day. While he was busy cooking, I was on the boat hauling kids on tubes and or ski's. Everybody has their place, I guess.

That must be a higher end Traeger if it cost that much! Great score! :cool:

I have an old CharBroil (belonged to my Dad) that I need to have a new ash pan made. Before it rotted out, the thing was air tight, less the spit holes.

Center cut poke loin on the spit

Attachment 471564

Poke ribs

Attachment 471565

You could raise and lower the fire grate from 10" to about 2". So it works great for burgers, steaks etc.

Been looking at one of these though... I hate those puny casters they put on grills/smokers!

https://store.grillagrills.com/products/silverbac-at

I have a Grill Dome. It is very similar to a Big Green Egg - some worse (the paint flakes off) some better (all steel parts are stainless).

It is fantastic at grilling, including extremely hot sears. It does a decent job of smoking - you can basically just set it and go, but it does not allow you to get that "good smoke" that the true bbq folks get by running their smokers at WOT while limiting amount of fuel available. Instead it works by having lots of fuel available while the air flow is throttled (like a Weber).

Had it shipped from Florida about 10 years ago. While pricey compared to a Weber, it has huge capacity and the lower char coal consumption has paid back the upfront price.__PRESENT

I have a 55 gallon barrel 1/4 cut and hinged. Adjust grates with some old fireplace bricks stacked up. Very crude but makes some of the best groceries. Fuel it with mangrove wood chunks combined with some orange tree chunks. Citrus and mangrove wood make some of the best smoked BBQ ever.

Me, I bought a new Traeger about a month ago and got rid of the wood/charcoal offset smoker. This
Thing is amazing.Attachment 472446

Attachment 472447

Pulled pork butt.

Attachment 472448

Beef ribs

Attachment 472449

Barbecued chicken

Attachment 472450

Brisket

Attachment 472451


Mahi fillets.

I have a good old fashioned smoker made out of steel pipe. offset smoke box i guess you would say. i use red oak or pecan, sometimes mesquite depending on what i'm cooking and how. i learned to cook on the 4 hour bbq cookoff time table but i do stuff longer sometimes...

bullet20vee, stop it! you're making me hungry!

This stuff is addicting, I thought I could cook a steak until I got this grill. Attachment 472452Attachment 472453

Smoked mac and cheese with bacon wrapped. Cheese stuffed jalapeños.

There were a lot more jalapeno poppers when I took them off the grill, my daughters got their hands on the other 12 before the steaks came off and stood for 10 minutes.

I'll share my secret recipe for jalapeño poppers. Mix your cream cheese with boudain before stuffing the peppers. Just knead in enough boudain to make the mix about 50/50. Sometimes you can find boudain in blocks, if not just peel the casing off. Stuff the peppers and wrap with bacon as usual. I pin them together with toothpicks so they don't unravel on the grill. Everybody loves this recipe! Apologies to those of you who can't find boudain locally!

I have never heard of this boudain you speak of, I usually just use cheddar or colby jack cut into rectangles. I'll have to look into that. Thank you sir.

it's a cajun pork and rice sausage. it's not available everywhere but i have seen it up north. zummo's is a good brand that's commonly available.

I'll look into that, seems like it would be way better with some meat in there. I never thought of that addition. Thank you sir

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Originally Posted by bullet20vee

I'll look into that, seems like it would be way better with some meat in there. I never thought of that addition. Thank you sir

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Not sure where you are located, but here is where I order all my Cajun food from. Shipping map: http://www.lacrawfish.com/Regional-Shipping-C145.aspx

BTW the pork loin stuffed with cream cheese and jalapenos wrapped in bacon sucks. :D

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Originally Posted by nitro_rat

I'll share my secret recipe for jalapeño poppers. Mix your cream cheese with boudain before stuffing the peppers. Just knead in enough boudain to make the mix about 50/50. Sometimes you can find boudain in blocks, if not just peel the casing off. Stuff the peppers and wrap with bacon as usual. I pin them together with toothpicks so they don't unravel on the grill. Everybody loves this recipe! Apologies to those of you who can't find boudain locally!

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Haha. The only time I've seen or heard of Boudain is from duck dynasty , miss kay makes em they looked good but I don't care for rice

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Originally Posted by Merc 2.5

I don't care for rice

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I knew there was something wrong with you :D

He may have STIRRED the rice nitro.

:D

I'll let you guys in on another secret. When I'm cooking I always like to get out some off the wall stuff and open it up and leave it on the counter with my spices I'm using. Cinnamon Sugar is one of my favorites. People are always like "Really!" and I'm like, "it's the secret ingredient."

The secret is to leave it out...

I can't believe I missed this thread before! I LOVE smoking, but don't do it often enough. No Trager here, I use a stickburner that I have slowly been building/modifying for better performance. Having a hard time with finding more pictures but here's some from a brisket smoke last year. Brisket is by far my favorite, usually take me between 12 and 16 hours.

Brisket was bigger than the little guy:

https://i.postimg.cc/YCYZ28vk/photo-...2-14-10-12.jpg


Slicing, some beef ribs in there too (this is actually from a different smoke):

https://i.postimg.cc/m20KGK28/photo-...2-14-10-07.jpg



Burnt Ends just about to go back on for carmelizing:

https://i.postimg.cc/wBzP1JNN/photo-...2-14-10-18.jpg


Breakfast the next morning is always the best:

https://i.postimg.cc/qMtWSp0N/photo-...2-14-09-49.jpg

I like smoking Turkey. The hardest part is getting it lit.

This is a great thread. I’ve developed a “smoking habit” as a result of pandemic isolation. I’m very much still a rookie - I use a kettle style charcoal grill with supplemental apple or hickory wood chunks. I can totally see how folks take the next step on a dedicated smoker. I’ve smoked some awesome rack of lamb, pork chops, triple-smoked bacon, and I usually toss on a skinned whole pineapple (rubbed with brown sugar and cinnamon) as the coals are dying. I want to try a whole chicken next.
There may be some rye-and-cokes involved at the same time. :p

Matt

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Originally Posted by MattGreen

This is a great thread. I’ve developed a “smoking habit” as a result of pandemic isolation. I’m very much still a rookie - I use a kettle style charcoal grill with supplemental apple or hickory wood chunks. I can totally see how folks take the next step on a dedicated smoker. I’ve smoked some awesome rack of lamb, pork chops, triple-smoked bacon, and I usually toss on a skinned whole pineapple (rubbed with brown sugar and cinnamon) as the coals are dying. I want to try a whole chicken next.
There may be some rye-and-cokes involved at the same time. :p

Matt

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Sounds delicious, IMO this is the proper way to do chicken. I've done it in my smoker before and it gets too smokey flavored to me. I need to try some different wood though. I prefer it on the grill.

For chicken I like red oak. Start it out for about 5-10 minutes each side @ 350° then wrap it in foil and back down to 225-250° for as long as you like, 3-4 hours is plenty. The foil holds all the juice in, no worries about basting it or whatever. It just falls apart and melts in your mouth!