Smoking Meat

[-Devil-]

Grilling is just that, grilling. True Q is smoke, low & slow, indirect heat. Only Yankees fire up a grill, incinerate some meat, and call it "barbecue."

you would be suprized what is passed off as BBQ at even 'award winning' restaurants ... most of it consists of nothing more then grilling ... or baked in an oven and tried to pass off as smoked .... thats why i finally seperated bbq from smoking ....

Care to share your recipe with another fan of dry rub? I'm always open to trying a different product on a pork butt.

Mike

sure, give me a few days to type up the recipe and i will PM it to you ... (got to get my recipe book back from my boss first haha)

 

[Lucius]

You have not been to my house yet!

Commercial, that is. Is that an invite?

 

[JET]

Grilling is just that, grilling. True Q is smoke, low & slow, indirect heat. Only Yankees fire up a grill, incinerate some meat, and call it "barbecue."

Hey now, wait one minute ..............
I live in Ohio and have always known the real difference between the two.
If I'm having people over for hamburgers and such, I'll say, hey stop by later, I'll be grilling.
But if I'm gonna be smoking all day, I'll say, hey stop by later for a bbq.

But so true in that so many people think a bbq as being hot dogs and hamburgers or even blackened and seared meats up here. While I do like spicy blackened meats and fish, I'd rather a slow cooked smoked beef or something. Plus I love the day long event that smoking offers.
-Get the meat ready and seasoned
-Have a beer
-Soak wood chunks
-Have a beer
-Put meat and chunks in smoker
-Do some yard work, cut the grass and enjoy the smoke scent
-Have a beer with the neighbor who stops over to see whats cookin.
-Decide to boil up some crawfish that I had shipped in from La. for a snack.
-Neighbor brings over more beer and I cook more crawfish.
-Friends stop by. Meat's out of smoker. Music is on. Table is set.
-Beef, mashed potatoes, baked beans, salad, and cheap beer!

 

[Groundhog]

Here's a good rub recipe I've used for years. It was posted on the old Big Green Egg website for a long time by one of the forum users. JJ passed on some years ago, but his favorite rub recipe lives on.

5 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon rosemary
4 teaspoons onion powder
4 teaspoons garlic powder
4 teaspoons dry mustard
3 teaspoons dried sweet basil
2 teaspoons ground bay leaves (If you can't find ground use whole)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1.5 teaspoons ground savory
1.5 teaspoons dried thyme
1.5 teaspoons ground black pepper
1.5 teaspoons white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Kosher Salt, to taste

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend. If you use whole bay leaves blend until leaves are pulverized. (I use an old coffee grinder for this)

Rub meat and cover with saran wrap marinade over night in fridge. Allow to come to room temperature and place in smoker.

I usually cover ribs and butts with yellow mustard prior to coating with the rub.

 

[Groundhog]

Hey now, wait one minute ..............
I live in Ohio and have always known the real difference between the two.

OK, OK, I stand corrected! Some Yankees know the difference! (Jim included!)

 

[murchmb]

Here's a good rub recipe I've used for years. It was posted on the old Big Green Egg website for a long time by one of the forum users. JJ passed on some years ago, but his favorite rub recipe lives on.

5 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon rosemary
4 teaspoons onion powder
4 teaspoons garlic powder
4 teaspoons dry mustard
3 teaspoons dried sweet basil
2 teaspoons ground bay leaves (If you can't find ground use whole)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1.5 teaspoons ground savory
1.5 teaspoons dried thyme
1.5 teaspoons ground black pepper
1.5 teaspoons white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Kosher Salt, to taste

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend. If you use whole bay leaves blend until leaves are pulverized. (I use an old coffee grinder for this)

Rub meat and cover with saran wrap marinade over night in fridge. Allow to come to room temperature and place in smoker.

I usually cover ribs and butts with yellow mustard prior to coating with the rub.

One of my favs as well. His dipping sauce is fantastic too.

 

[texcattlerancher]

I love me some real BBQ.

Here is the smoker a friend and I put together.



And the results.

This photograph is just wrong to post. I can't get that vision of tasty meat out of my head.

 

[Jim]

This photograph is just wrong to post. I can't get that vision of tasty meat out of my head.

Well lets help some more- Grilled meat

 

[JET]

JIM - I must say, very nice! Looks great! Grilling and smoking have long been a hobby of mine. Have you ever smokes cheeses? I tried the whole soldering and soup can with chips thing but looking for a better way.

 

[rjv71]

Has anyone ever tried something like this:

"The Alton Brown Flower Pot Smoker"

Basically 2 flowerpots, a hot plate, grate, wood and one has a cheap backyard smoker.

Here's just one description of it:

http://www.naffziger.net/blog/2008/07/05/the-alton-brown-flower-pot-smoker/

 

[Sue]

I think all the photographs of the smoked food should be deleted immediately!! Talk about cruel....
Sue

 

[Aevum]

i´ve tried to smoke some meat, but i cant keep the pipe lit...


anyways, jokes aside, can you really use a electrical hotplate to smoke meat, i thought that the good old smokey flavour required some buring woodchips,

 

[expatCanuck]

My arteries are hardening just reading this thread.
Condo doesn't allow for Q but, thankfully, there's the Village Smoke House about a 20 minute walk from here.

 

[Spacegeezer]

i´ve tried to smoke some meat, but i cant keep the pipe lit...


anyways, jokes aside, can you really use a electrical hotplate to smoke meat, i thought that the good old smokey flavour required some buring woodchips,

You still need aromatic wood, the hotplate is handling the heat but won't add any magic

 

[Jim]

JIM - I must say, very nice! Looks great! Grilling and smoking have long been a hobby of mine. Have you ever smokes cheeses? I tried the whole soldering and soup can with chips thing but looking for a better way.

Yrs I have, some soft fresh Mozzarella, I like it better unsmoked to be honest, with a slice of homegrown tomato, leaf of basil and some EVOO.

 

[Jim]

What are you Gents wood choices?

I tend to stick to White Oak, Cherry, and Apple.

 

[Groundhog]

I use lump charcoal in the BGE with wood chips or chunks. For butts & shoulder I like oak or hickory. Ribs do well with these also, along with sugar maple and apple. I like chickens & turkeys with pecan wood.

 

[Lucius]

What are you Gents wood choices?

I tend to stick to White Oak, Cherry, and Apple.

I typically use a mix of hickory and cherry, although to be honest, outside of hickory (and never used mesquite) I personally can't detect much of a difference.

 

[maxpower]

I love good BBQ. I have a New Braunfels but it is just OK. The metal is too thin and chimney is too small of a diameter. I use my webber most of the time. Wood on one side, meat on the other. I am finding as of late that I can get just as good if not better BBQ by cooking using the offset heat method on my Webber and then finishing it with a dutch oven on the stove. I know that is not the purist way but I get a lot of compliments.

The original post asked about smoking meat and to be honest smoking meat, BBQ and grilling are three different things. Smoking meat is done at very low temperatures, like 70 degrees F. BBQ is more like 200-220 F and grilling is done at like 500-800 F. I do not have the equipment to smoke meat but I do BBQ a lot. Pork shoulder is the easiest. I also like brisket as well.

If you do some searching on the web you will find some good sites with good recipes. I used to have them all bookmarked but lost the bookmarks at some point.

Good luck with your BBQ adventures!

 

[Rughi]

I use lump charcoal in the BGE with wood chips or chunks...

I use lump in the BGE as well - either oak or mesquite. I don't really prefer the mesquite, except for chicken, but it's the most economical in my area.

For flavor wood, I use prunings from either apple or plum,because that's what I have. In my experience, most of the wood character is in the outermost layers, so prunings are very effective for flavoring.

As much as possible, I substitute some plumwood or applewood for some of the lump, but so far there seems to be a limit to how large a proportion of hardwood you can substitute in and still have the BGE work at its best.

Does anyone do mostly or all hardwood in their smokers/barbecues?

Roger