New Smoker

E.J. · Ladies Man Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 7597 City: Mogadishu

Damn Costco... Laughing

Just went to pick up some standards(go every week or two) and they were having some Traeger event thing. You know, they have the guy there selling. I've kinda wanted a smoker for a bit and just couldn't pass up that little Jr. Elite.

Time to start figuring out some new recipes.

BrentC5Z · Posted: Jun 21, 2015 4:56 am Post subject:

Had the lil tex for a couple years now and really enjoy it. Thing is, it's not really a smoker. Tried smoking a few things but the minimum temp it will do is a little too hot.

It doesn't bother me in the slightest honestly. It's the best grilling experience for flavor vs ease of operation.

Bambamski · Posted: Jun 21, 2015 6:48 am Post subject:

We have a traeger and really like it. I'm smoking a couple of 20 lb pork butts as I talk. It's great I can set the temperature for 225 and go to bead, the pellets last about 7 hours so I don't have to wake up every two hours like a smokey mountain.

If I was going to buy another one I would have gotten a bigger traeger. I think mine is a little tex.

I can't actually eat pork anymore that isn't smoked.

BrentC5Z · Posted: Jun 22, 2015 4:37 am Post subject:

That's good to hear. Guess it needs to be a thicker cut. When trying chx breast and then pork chops, they dried out pretty bad.

My common practice is to run it on smoke for about 15 minutes when cooking burgers, chx breast, chops, etc. then turning up to high for the remainder until fully cooked. Also, been using the traeger seasonings exclusively. 'Beef shake' on burgers and steak. 'Pork and poultry' on pretty much everything else. Not too creative I know, but with a family of 6 there's usually no time to get fancy.

BrentC5Z · Posted: Jun 22, 2015 4:38 am Post subject:

PS, have been doing a 50/50 blend of hickory and mesquite pellets for the past year and love it.

Bambamski · Posted: Jun 22, 2015 6:09 am Post subject:

Brent I'm more of a slow smoker. I find if you crank it up you can risk over cooking and drying things out.

I did the two butts on the weekend and they were awesome! Put a light mustard cover on them and put a generous amount of rub on them. smoked them for 14 hours on about 225, got the internal tempt to 200, then rested them for 2 hours. Wrapped them in tinfoil and a couple of towels and put them in my cooler. They pretty much just fall apart, the bone just slides out with no meat on it what so ever. The bark is amazing as well, I prefer a little bit of spice in the bark to give it some zing.

Chicken, I prefer to do whole chickens. I"ve done a couple of beer butt chickens on the smoker and it's the most tender chicken you'll ever eat.

My favorite is the little Costco pork tenderloins where you get 4-5 per package. We use Bad Byron's Butt rub and cover the tenderloins entirely in the rub. I smoke those for about 5-6 hours on about 180. Get the internal temp to about 150 and they're amazing. Costco has a pineapple habanero sauce that's awesome with them.

If you get the big Costco tenderloin, cut that into pretty thick slices. 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick. I have a sear station on my bbq, (inferred) and I sear them on each side for about a minute. Then I throw them on my smoker and smoke them for about an hour at about 185. Get the internal temp to about 145-150. Wrap them in tinfoil and let them rest for 15 minutes. We use the pineapple habanero sauce on these ones as well and they're awesome. So tender and moist.

It's pretty fun to experiment with for sure.

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Cool...what are you thinking you're going to cook on it?

Brent, if you brine those smaller cuts, that will help keeping them from drying out.

vette74 · Posted: Jun 22, 2015 10:17 am Post subject:

I have a Louisiana grill (same concept). I love it got rid of my gas grill all together cook all my steaks to brisket on it.

Bambamski · Posted: Jun 22, 2015 12:04 pm Post subject:

My brother in law got rid of his grill after he bought his Traeger a couple of years ago. He ended up buying a BBQ a couple of years later as it's pretty Convenient to be able to just fire up the grill and cook some burgers or steaks. We did the the pit boys beer can stuffed burgers for fathers day and I don't think they would have worked that great on the smoker..

Stuffed them with the pulled pork we did on the smoker, plus chorizo sausage, grilled onions, grilled peppers, mushrooms, bacon and covered in cheese.

Really really good

E.J. · Ladies Man Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 7597 City: Mogadishu

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Awesome...that tri-tip looks good. We just did a tri-tip on our smoker about a week ago. Brining certain items certainly makes a difference...sounds like you already know that. I've experimented with the hot & fast method with brisket and pork butt...might be something to look in to.

goofyboy · Posted: Jun 23, 2015 4:06 am Post subject:

I run hot on porkbutt. I smoke it at 300 or so. I have a webber smokey mountain. That thing is idiot proof. I have not done a high heat smoke on brisket. I have seen plenty of guys do a high heat smoke on ribs and they have come out great. You just have to be careful that you don't burn them.

Blue22V · Soul Rider Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 290 City: Double Oak

I did a 15 lb. Prime Brisket on the Traeger this weekend. Best I have had in a long time. Also, my family loves the potatoes smoked and baked on the Traeger. Last week, we did 20lbs. of Pork belly into bacon.

Bambamski · Posted: Jun 23, 2015 8:00 am Post subject:

EJ

The dripping tray right underneath the rack there. Wrap that up in tin foil so when everything you cook drips down on it, it's easy to clean up.

E.J. · Ladies Man Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 7597 City: Mogadishu

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Great looking brisket...did you cut in half to help with cooking time?

Bambamski · Posted: Jun 23, 2015 1:07 pm Post subject:

Really depends how much dripping you have on there. Turkey and chicken are super greasy. I take the shop vac and suck out all the dust and crap out of the bottom every 20-30 hours probably. That's when I usually do the tin foil as well.

Blue22V · Soul Rider Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 290 City: Double Oak

I change the foil when it gets full. I vacuum out the firebox and bottom every 8-10 hours.

Okie - I had to cut the brisket between the point and flat to fit in the refrigerator. We had guests and space was at a premium. When smoking, if you push them together, it cooks the same, and for finishing I put it in a pan with 1/2" beer/broth to make the meat stay moist until 205*. I then pull it off and rest wrapped in foil for 45 minutes. Makes an awesome brisket.

eeven73 · Posted: Jun 24, 2015 8:05 am Post subject:

I had been eyeing offset smokers for the last few years.

I bought a Brinkmann Trailmaster( one or two step ups from complete crap) this year and have been killing the whole packer briskets. So delicious.

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Blue22V, ahhhh.

eeven73, I've looked at those...definitely decent units. I've had a New Braunfels hondo bought from HD 15 years ago and it's done fairly good over the years. I've been eyeing something much bigger and heavy duty trying to decide my next step.

Bambamski · Posted: Jun 25, 2015 9:47 am Post subject:

Okie I'm not sure what your budget is going to be.

As soon as my daughter and husband finally pull the trigger on a house I think I might give them our Traeger and buy a bigger one or maybe get something like a yoder somoker

http://www.yodersmokers.com/pellet-grills.html

The research I've done of them has been very positive. I think the biggest mistake I made when I bought mine is I didn't get one that's big enough. There are so many times when I think I need more room. Ribs for instance. You do 6-7 racks of ribs and you can't fit a chicken on there as well.

goofyboy · Posted: Jun 25, 2015 10:49 am Post subject:

I'm very, very happy with my Weber Smokey Mountain. It's basically idiot proof. Hit your temp and set your vents and it will hold for a good long cook.

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Bambamski, I'm not interested in the pellet style...I'll probably do a larger stick burner. Although, I've thought about getting a BGE, too and building a pit for large cooks with a smokehouse nearby. Ideas are still bouncing around and I need to start settling in within the next couple years.

Bambamski · Posted: Jun 25, 2015 12:21 pm Post subject:

follow the link back to the main page. They have a bunch of smokers that aren't pellet. The traditional smokers are their main business actually. If you go to any of the smoking competitions you'll see a bunch of Yoders there. I figure if the "pros" are using them i'm sure they are good enough for me. I just like the convenience of dumping in some pellets and setting the temp and not working about it for 10 hours. I can't tell the difference so I don't want to bother with the extra headache.

Goofyboy my buddy has the Smokey Mountain and he loves it. However when he does a 20 hour brisket he sleeps on the couch down stairs and has to wake up ever 2-3 hours to check on it. I'm not that dedicated.

The neighbor has a green egg and he loves it. Easily one of the best out there but not for the lazy like me. I smoke easily 5-6 times more than he does just cause the Traeger is so much user friendly for me and low maintenance. He ended up buying at Traeger for his cabin. He also bought an outdoor pizza oven/fire place which I would like to build at some point. Can't remember the brand or name but he said they basically own that market.

Friends that have bought smokers ask me all the time what to get. There's lots of good ones out there. I basically tell them not to cheap out. It's like BBQ/Grills, if you cheap out you get a POS that doesn't work or last a couple of years at best.

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Yeah, Yoder makes some good stuff. The Durango is the design I've had in mind...would love to have the horizontal and vertical options.

The ease of the pellet is definitely a cool feature, but the process of doing bbq with a stick burner is one of the aspects I enjoy. Smile

BrentC5Z · Posted: Jun 28, 2015 4:45 am Post subject:

E.J. · Ladies Man Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 7597 City: Mogadishu

Picked up some St. Louis style ribs at Costco and threw them on the grill for 4 hours today. VERY TASTY!

goofyboy · Posted: Jun 29, 2015 4:29 am Post subject:

Bam - I've done over night smokes. just set my Mavrick probe on the grate and set an alarm for the low and high temp. WSM stays pretty steady all night, as long as I have enough fuel. I think your buddy is hiding from his wife. Very Happy

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Nice!

BrentC5Z · Posted: Jun 30, 2015 6:42 pm Post subject:

E.J.,
Please tell me how you prepared/cooked the ribs.

E.J. · Ladies Man Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 7597 City: Mogadishu

chavez · RIP MHL 04/25/1958 - 01/11/2006

E.J. · Ladies Man Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 7597 City: Mogadishu

goofyboy · Posted: Jul 02, 2015 3:57 am Post subject:

Best method for Ribs that I have found:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/rib5.html

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Do you use the minion method very much goofy? I've tried several variations of that with an indirect cook on my Weber charcoal grill and in my offset smoker. It seems like the food has a bit of an off flavor, but I wonder if that is just in my head.