BBQ/Smoking Meat

[00Sebby]

I'll have to look for Orange wood, thanks

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I buy almost all of my smoking wood chunks (including orange) at Academy Sports. Also, their oak lump charcoal is the best I have found... better than BGE lump and much cheaper. Their hickory lump works wells but is sometimes too hot with plenty of fireworks.

 

[octanejunkie]

I buy almost all of my smoking wood chunks (including orange) at Academy Sports. Also, their oak lump charcoal is the best I have found... better than BGE lump and much cheaper. Their hickory lump works wells but is sometimes too hot with plenty of fireworks.

My Masterbuilt smoker needs shavings or splinters and chips vs. chunks

I buy my smoking wood in the camping department at Big5, but limited variety.

I'll look on Amazon shortly

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[00Sebby]

My Masterbuilt smoker needs shavings or splinters and chips vs. chunks

I buy my smoking wood in the camping department at Big5, but limited variety.

I'll look on Amazon shortly

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Academy also has the small chips in many varieties and several varieties of smoking pellets.

 

[GangsterOfLove]

So tomorrow I smoke beef short ribs because they were on sale.

Any tips/tricks/recipes?

 

[jstim]

So tomorrow I smoke beef short ribs because they were on sale.

Any tips/tricks/recipes?

I would do a hickory or mesquite and fruitwood combo. Any rub beef style will work well, and ancho chile always goes well on beef.

 

[00Sebby]

I only use "real wood" lump charcoal. Because lump made from plastic or other artificial wood is awful.[emoji6]

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[octanejunkie]

So tomorrow I smoke beef short ribs because they were on sale.

Any tips/tricks/recipes?

I do short ribs in the pressure cooker. I usually want to braise the to get them really tender. There's a great recipe for them on chowhound.com

What cut did you get, English or Korean?

 

[octanejunkie]

Academy also has the small chips in many varieties and several varieties of smoking pellets.

Just checked Academy.com, they sell Western chips, same as Amazon but 1" x1" (approx size) is too large for my setup. I need chips the size of matchsticks, or there abouts, for my smoker.

This is my smoker

 

[GangsterOfLove]

Just checked Academy.com, they sell Western chips, same as Amazon but 1" x1" (approx size) is too large for my setup. I need chips the size of matchsticks, or there abouts, for my smoker.

This is my smoker

When you say 1" x 1" are you talking about little cubes?

Home Depot has a fair selection of (flat) chips. Will they work?

 

[GangsterOfLove]

I do short ribs in the pressure cooker. I usually want to braise the to get them really tender. There's a great recipe for them on chowhound.com

What cut did you get, English or Korean?

English, but now that I see how long it takes to smoke them I am going to have to wait until next weekend. :crybaby:

 

[octanejunkie]

Pressure cooker in 45 mins

English, but now that I see how long it takes to smoke them I am going to have to wait until next weekend. :crybaby:

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[octanejunkie]

When you say 1" x 1" are you talking about little cubes?

Home Depot has a fair selection of (flat) chips. Will they work?

I would have I shred those down

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[GangsterOfLove]

Pressure cooker in 45 mins

I don't own one. Maybe I should! :thumb:

 

[octanejunkie]

I don't own one. Maybe I should! :thumb:

Pressure cooker is just one tool in my food arsenal

Anything a crock pot can do a pressure cooker does faster. I still use my crock pot for some things though.

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[AKmoney]

Today I tried the "snake method" of arranging coals in my Weber kettle - see the pics of how this works. The coals are arranged as a snake, 2 deep and 2 tall - around the circumference of the kettle. You light about 8 or 9 of them in a chimney and place them at the end of the snake. This causes a slow burn over the course of several hours. Toss a couple chunks of mesquite on top of the snake near the beginning of the burn.

I got this setup going and temps were maintaned from 240-260 for just nearly 4 hours.

Towards the end I took them out and finished them off in foil bathed in apple juice at 250F for 1 hour in my oven. I think this was a mistake because they turned out to be fairly dry. The meat wasn't falling off the bone as they were before. I think they were overdone. The flavor was awesome - it was just the texture and the moisture that needed work.

Anyways, still tweaking/experimenting with this. Hard to go wrong, really

 

[octanejunkie]

Today I tried the "snake method" of arranging coals in my Weber kettle - see the pics of how this works. The coals are arranged as a snake, 2 deep and 2 tall - around the circumference of the kettle. You light about 8 or 9 of them in a chimney and place them at the end of the snake. This causes a slow burn over the course of several hours. Toss a couple chunks of mesquite on top of the snake near the beginning of the burn.

I got this setup going and temps were maintaned from 240-260 for just nearly 4 hours.

Towards the end I took them out and finished them off in foil bathed in apple juice at 250F for 1 hour in my oven. I think this was a mistake because they turned out to be fairly dry. The meat wasn't falling off the bone as they were before. I think they were overdone. The flavor was awesome - it was just the texture and the moisture that needed work.

Anyways, still tweaking/experimenting with this. Hard to go wrong, really

240-260 is pretty hot for ribs, and with no moisture they will dry out.

Try lowering temp to about 225 and adding a water dish under the ribs, or crutch them at the 2 hour mark.

Have fun experimenting :thumb:

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[AKmoney]

240-260 is pretty hot for ribs, and with no moisture they will dry out.

Try lowering temp to about 225 and adding a water dish under the ribs, or crutch them at the 2 hour mark.

Have fun experimenting :thumb:

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I had a water pan under them. Next time I'll try a shorter cook. I've done them before in a similar fashion and they were more moist.. I was thinking maybe I screwed them up in the oven.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

240-260 is too hot, especially if you're not spraying them or basting them with any type of fluid.

 

[Jernik]

I did this chicken last week. Used a Jerk rub, smoked with some walnut I had. Still struggle with chicken... specifically the skin. It looks great, but was tough. Not chewy, not crispy. Really couldn't eat skin. Meat was great though. Made some mashed potatoes and green beans with it. Was good, hated to waste the spices/skin though.

Any thoughts on skin? At this point, I wonder if I should peel back the skin where I can, put rub directly on the meat, then put skin back on and pin it with toothpicks to help keep it moist?

 

[AKmoney]

240-260 is too hot, especially if you're not spraying them or basting them with any type of fluid.

Hmm.. From what I was reading it seemed like anything under 300 would probably be fine. Maybe I just need to take them out an hour sooner. I wasn't spraying/basting them with anything... Just olive oil and a mesquite rub prior to "going in". Maintaining 225 in a Weber is gonna be tricky.. Hmm..

Edit: Come to think, it was around 240F or so for the first hour, then the temps slowly increased to 250-260 as the afternoon went on and the sun started shining on the kettle. When I started, it was in the shade. I'm pretty certain that has an effect.