Welcome to Flavor Country!

Got my new meat slicer today, my god its a game changer.

Still working on the full cook video for my latest turkey breast, but figured I'd share some of that slicing B roll I got today. What I really need to do is slice up some of the smokedmuenster I made and put together a hell of a turkey sandwich!

Finally finished editing and putting together the video/recipe on this one. I changed up pretty much everything from the initial failure here. Got some new equipment, fixed ingredient ratios, kept everything ice cold, and even worked on refining my casing strategy. I don't know if any one thing fixed the texture issues I had previously, but I couldn't be happier with the results!

Ingredients:

hog casings

5lbs beef

5lbs pork

12oz water

200g Gospel rub

70g table salt

12g Prague powder no.1

90g nonfat dry milk powder

1-2 cups homemade smoked muenster

Method:

-Cut down meat to ~1inch cubes

-medium grind, can do twice for smoother texture

-keep cold and mix, adding water and seasonings.

-add cheese after extremely well mixed already

-stuff in hog casings, dont overfill

-once casing is full, pinch and twist alternating directions with each link to prevent unraveling

- let sit overnight and then cold smoke for ~4-5 hours, keep below 50F, ideally lower

-snip between links and store in freezer or cook to eat

-200-250F on the smoker till 160F internal

Recipe is also updated and listed on my website (check the profile)

Enjoy!!

Hey everyone. I made my first pastrami about 2 months ago. I separated the point from the flat and it turned out great. Cured all the way through. I only did a 6 day cure. Then recently decided to try again but, I wanted to leave the brisket whole rather than separating it. I trimmed it up the exact same way, obviously without the separating part. I cured this one for 10 days, starting on the 17th of October. I pulled it out today and got the spice blend on it, smoked it until it hit 150 internal then I transferred to a hotel pan with a wire rack. At that point I steamed it in the oven until it hit around 200. I rested it for about 2 hours. I just cut into it and, there’s a pretty noticeable grey line running through the middle of the cuts. Did it not cure all the way through? I’m confused because I followed the exact steps I did the first time and the only thing I can think of is that it didn’t cure all the way. For context it was a 16 pound brisket and after trimming it was around 12-13. Refer to the pics below.

I've been cooking my bacon in a cold pan over medium heat with water covering the bottom of the pan. When the water boils off, drop the heat to medium low and fry the bacon. The water start makes the fat render out into the water so that when the water evaporates, there's less fat cooking out and so less splattering. It also keeps the meat tender and juicy but gives the fat a nice crisp and a full rendering without burning anything. Just like with a steak, frequent flipping means a consistent searing of the meat because every flip brings different parts of the surface to the pan.

I think I'll just keep making bacon and vacuum sealing different flavors to thaw out for when I want that particular flavor combo.

Just picked this up for $20 bucks. What do I have here? Any tips on cleaning it up and using it are appreciated.

Curious to hear other peoples experiences and looking to learn from the sub. I’ve got a Highlander that when I first got I used a ton but had a hard time managing the fire. Through trial and error, I’ve finally got the correct size wood I’ve been cutting with the right frequency to keep a smooth fire and it’s been going well but I’m constantly tending to the fire.

It’s small so it’s temperamental, whereas I had a chance to visit a local bbq spot and they showed me how they tend to their fire. Much less work because they didn’t have to add small bits at a time and the fire box was larger so they could spread the heat out better. It’s in NYC so it wasn’t a gigantic smokers that I’ve seen around the country but still was eye opening.

Basically, I’m wondering if there is something I’m missing or maybe I need to change to a larger rig?

I feel like I’m moving past the hobbyist stage and want to purchase still a residential smoker but one with a bit more size and capacity. I’ve got a family of 4 to feed so I’ve got plenty to practice with lol.

Thanks!

With a hat tip to Chef Jean Pierre these are unbelievably tasty lasagnas. Thanks for looking!

This is a new one at my local ace store, anybody have experience with smoking with reclaimed blue agave fibers? Definitely on the higher end of the price scale when it comes to a bag of pellets.

My grilled cheese made with my cold smoked pepperjack and Colby jack cheeses I smoked two weeks ago. On my whole wheat sourdough bread I made yesterday. I should try cold smoking a loaf of bread sometime!

Normally i wrap once i notice the temperature stall out. Brisket and pork shoulder. Doing beef ribs tomorrow and wondering what everyone thinks. Wrap or not at the stall. I have always been told wrap it so the meat doesn’t dry out but i have a buddy who told me push past and it makes for the best bark.

Need hints to make my smoked mac n cheese more creamy vs less like a casserole. Any suggestions/recommendations would be welcome.

Ho utilizzato un Pitbarrel 3 ore appese e 1 ora abbondante in foil! Sicuramente da migliorare ma molto buone e tenere!

First time I've cleaned my smoker in a year or two and when I did I noticed there's a lot of rust. Is this okay? I feel like it's not healthy

275f~ until wrapped temperature then 350f

More a follow up than a question. I came here some years back after my dad's death, looking for help on how to start smoking, to sort of pick his mantle up on holidays. Since then, I have practiced a lot! Sausages, pork butt, ribs, tons of chicken and turkey.

The miso Cornish hens were a massive hit! I'm still learning and trying things out, and I've got a pellet smoker as of now (a gift from my mom). I hope to get a good tall box before next summer, as I really want to work on mixing wood chips.

I'm still very new, and make lots of mistakes but I just wanted to say thank you.

And to give dog tax. They benefit from my errors immensely.

Edit: the turkey was my first time some years back and a big goof up. It tasted great according to everyone but was real dry. I'd done a dry brine overnight in the fridge. Have changed tactics since to include an acv spritz and a lower temp than I was working with. But I wanted to share it anyway :)

Posted last week about how the Bronco was half off at Home Depot. Well, I picked it up this weekend and seasoned it. Today, I broke it in with a spatchcocked chicken. Seasoning is Kinder's red jalapeño and garlic. Chicken was delicious and I couldn't be happier with it.

i was wondering if dubble fryed buffalo wings would be good smoked and if so what

Smoked some beautiful bone in pork chops on my BGE before reverse searing over the coals. I basted them in some habanero peach rum, bbq sauce, & Calabrian chilies.

Served with a fresh, green apple salad in a champagne & Dijon vinaigrette.

Cheers

I'm relatively new to smoking and have only done pork up till now. My husband wants me to try to do chicken wings for his birthday dinner. What is the best way to achieve this on the Webber? Any tips to give? I also need to make enough wings for 10 people, would it be best to do two rounds reheating the first for that many or any other ideas? Thanks for the help!

They’re not the prettiest thing in the world but I smoked these up and threw some crap together to make a sauce to slather on top of them. They taste pretty damn good.