Smoking meats

[colonelbuckrobely]

Here is a fantastic site for you smokers. It doesn't matter whether you are using a grill or a commercial smoker. There have been thousands of posts over the years and the moderator, Smokin Okie knows more than anyone I have ever met. He was in Brainerd four or five summers ago with his son to help at a BBQ competition in the old down town. It is easy to do searches and the information is terrific. If you go to the open forum section you will notice Smokin's BBQ guides and his 101 series. Give it a try and happy eating. You will also find recipes.

forum.cookshack.com/eve/forums

[colonelbuckrobely]

I had to make a run to Cub's this morning. They had gorgeous pork shoulder roasts at a good price, so of course I had to pick one up. On Friday night at midnight I will throw it in my Cookshack smoker and set it at 225, along with three ounces of apple wood. By about 4:00 p.m. on Saturday it should reach the desired internal temp of 195. I then remove it, foil it and wrap it in a towel. I throw it into an insulated cooler, no ice of course. At 6:30 it will pull so easily and make great pulled pork sandwiches and will still be hot. The great thing is that it gets a "bark" on its exterior. That is where the most smoke flavor is. When I pull or chop it I make sure the bark is dispersed throughout the entire batch. Wowser, I am salivating already.

[hasset]

When shall we be there for dinner? I just smoked bacon for BLTs but I would rather have some of yours.

[colonelbuckrobely]

Actually I just love BLT's. We have so many tomato plants going and it is a good thing. We had terrible winds and hail last night. We were not able to salvage all the younger tomatoes. Thankfully we got the bigger ones protected so we probably still have twenty plants that are in good shape.

I felt so badly. We had someone over purchasing hostas when it hit. I made him pull his car into the garage for safety. We have a lot of jack pines and they are very brittle. All I could picture was his car being flattened. We made it through for a change without any downed trees but we were all drenched.

[knollwood]

WOW - thanks for the smoked meat ideals. I always wanted to try it. I think I might just have to do that sometime soon! I have a friend who smoked a lot of fish. It was very good. Have you ever tried this?

[hasset]

Have you ever tried growing "northern exposure tomatoes"? When the trees around my garden got so big that I hardly had any places with sun, I tried the nothern exposure tomatoes and had great success. They do well in the shade and in short summer climates. I only planted one tomato plant this year and it is the heritage one called Brandywine. It is my favorite tomato and they produce big. The only problem with them is that when they are ripe, you have to eat them right away as they do not keep long. They also get lots of little slits by their stems and insects like to get into them. The tomatoes are large so I just cut off the bad parts. YUM YUM

[hasset]

I bought a pork shoulder and I am going to try making pulled pork. What do you use for the sauce? My husband thinks I should use Sweet Baby Ray's hickory and brown sugar BBQ sauce. The main problem we have is that we never can find any decent buns. Do you make your own and if you do, may I have the recipe? I am going to cook my meat in a slow cooker all day as I don't want to mess with the smoker outside tomorrow. It is hot outside and it keeps raining off and on.

[colonelbuckrobely]

Sweet Baby Ray's is excellent sauce. Being a smoking purist I never use sauce. Mrs. Robely does, however. Buns are always an issue. On the Cookshack site most smokers simply use a cheap white bun so they can taste the meat better. If you can find it the best bbq sauce I have ever had is Texas Rib Rangers. I had to order it on-line but I know that you can find it at Hawgeye bbq in Ankeny.

Enjoy your sandwiches. Or you could create a samich by putting some good coleslaw on top of your pork. Happy eating!

[hasset]

I saw something somewhere on TV and I can't remember where, but the cook said that you can add smoke flavoring if you use a slow cooker in the house. Whom ever it was had samples of ribs made in an outdoor smoker and also some made in a slow cooker with smoke added. The people taking the taste test voted the slow cooker meat with added smoke being the best. I think I saw this on the Food Detectives. The program told how the smoke flavor was made and added to water. Very interesting and I will find out today if my pulled pork is really good enough to eat with BBQ sauce.

[valvalentino]

Let us know how your pork turns out.

[hasset]

It was wonderful! My husband said it was as good as what he has had in the fancy restaurants. It sure was easy. I did add liquid smoke and it tasted just like it had been done outside in my smoker. As for buns, we got a loaf of French Baguette that came from the New French Bakery, Minneapolis, and cut it in sections and heated them in the microwave. They were wonderful.

[hasset]

The pork is gone. Now what do I do? Does anyone have any more easy but delicious things to make? I don't like to cook in hot weather and I love it when something is really good and there is enough to eat for three days.

[colonelbuckrobely]

If you are feeling adventurous try a brisket. They can be tough so you really need to know what you are doing. The first thing is to visit the Cookshack forum that I provided a link to in beginning this thread. Then click on the Open Forum. Next click on Smokin Okie's Barbecue Guides. You next need to click to get Brisket 101. It is a fantastic tutorial.

When I do them I ALWAYS make sure that it has a good fat cap and is still in the cryovac. You will have to ask the butcher for one. Typically they trim and remove the fat cap prior to displaying them for sale. That is not what you want. I typically purchase one in the eight pound range. In this area Schaefer's grocery has consistently provided wonderful brisket for me to smoke. Expect it to take hours to reach an internal temp. of approx. 190 to195. Again it is low and slow. I always set my Cookshack at 225. Now the Cookshack was designed for brisket and is very efficient. I have the smaller version of what Grizzlies restaurant uses. If you have one that is electric hopefully it is efficient enough that there isn't a lot of air movement to dry out the meat. Brisket can be frustrating at first but once you get it they are wonderful. They are good right out of the smoker and provide a lot of leftovers. We like to slice the leftovers thinly and fridge or freeze bags of them for sandwiches later. We purchase a good crusty French baguette, warm it and the leftovers up, build a nice large sandwich and then have au jus for dipping.

Again though the key is to read thoroughly brisket 101.

Another option which is really easy is to purchase a smoked ham. Slap it in your smoker to warm it up rather than the oven. Use a little apple or hickory wood and basically you are getting twice smoked ham. About 15 minute before you have heated and smoked it thoroughly remove it and apply a glaze of your choice. Put it back in for 15 minutes. You end up with wonderful ham and lots of leftovers for sandwiches and other dishes.

I hope these suggestions help.

[colonelbuckrobely]

Here is another option to consider that is so easy. Yesterday Mrs. Robely put a chuck roast in the slow cooker, topped it with onions and bbq sauce. After 11 hours it was tender and just pulled so easily. She removed all the liquid from the slow cooker, pulled the beef and put it back in with new bbq sauce. It made great sandwiches. We will be having them for lunch again in a few minutes.