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Smoking

Summary

Went down a rabbit whole of smoking meat, started off smoking salmon, then moved to pig and cow. Got a pellet smoker from my grandparents for free. Found out offset smokers are the best for flavor, but require more attention tending to the fire, I might get one later.

None of these recipes are my own, mostly stolen from Mad Scientist BBQ.

With the large meats, they can be frozen for 6-12 months. For every 5lbs, they will need a full day in the freezer to dethaw. After defthawing, red meats will stay for up to 5 days in the fridge.

Salmon

Time: 2 hours: 2 in smoker

Watched this video, got some ideas from the chef. He cures the fish for a lot longer than prescribed by other recipes online.But here’s my recipe. The single biggest problem in smoking salmon is too high heat. If you’ve ever seen salmon “bleed” a white, creamy substance, that’s a protein called albumin. If you see lots of it, you’ve screwed up; a little is normal. After an hour in the smoker, baste the fish with birch or maple syrup, or honey; do this every hour.

  • 1/2 Salt 1/2 Brown Sugar Mixture, coat the salmon in this and cure for 12 hours in fridge
  • Wash the salmon and pat dry and let dry for 12 hours in fridge
  • Smoke at 180°F for 2 hours
  • Finish at internal temp of 130°F to 140°F

Pork Spare Ribs

This video is what got me into this guy. Made these for Christmas dinner, which was a hit.

  • Season 1/2 salt & 1/2 pepper mixture
  • 4 hours in the smoke at 225°F, start spritzing non-fat sides w/ 1/2 vinegar 1/2 water solution every 15-20 minutes after the 3rd hour
  • Put 4 heaping scoops of pig lard in aluminum pan to smoke
  • Increase temp to 275°F for 1 hour to enhance pull-back effect
  • Wrap ribs in smoked lard butcher paper for 30 minutes
  • Put on smoker for ~30 minutes, pull at ~207°F internal or when meat has the probe resistance of softened butter
  • Glaze ribs (if desired) and put back on smoker until sticky
  • Finish at internal temp of 207°F

Baby Back Ribs

alt text

This video is what got me into this guy. Made these for Christmas dinner, which was a hit.

  • Season 1/2 salt & 1/2 pepper mixture or rub
  • 1 hour in the smoke at 225°F, start spritzing non-fat sides w/ 1/2 vinegar 1/2 water solution every 30 minutes after the 1st hour
  • after 3.5 hours, pull and rerub and vinegar spray or put pork lard on it
  • Increase temp to 275°F for 1 hour to enhance pull-back effect
  • Wrap ribs in smoked lard butcher paper for 30 minutes
  • Finish at ~207°F internal or when meat has the probe resistance of softened butter
  • Glaze ribs (if desired)

Pork Butt

Time: 6-7 hours: 3-4 in smoker, 2 in oven, 1 resting Unfreeze: On Wednesday for a Saturday Dinner Recommended Start Time: 7am on for a 6pm Dinner Typical Weight: 7-10 lb Summary: Commonly known as pulled pork, very easy to make and hard to mess up. This video is crucial.

  • Score fat & season w/ rub or just salt & pepper
  • 3 to 4 hours in smoker at 225°F fat side up
  • After 3 to 4 hours spray with apple cider vinegar solution (avoid spraying fat) and continue to spray every 30 - 45 minutes until wrapping
  • Note: at this point Jeremy checked his internal temp which was around 156°F, the target temp before wrapping is around 170°F
  • After 6 hours in the smoker check internal temp, if your temp is close to 170°F and your finger sinks into fat when you poke it, then it is time to wrap
  • If not leave it on the smoker until desired temp is reached and fat is rendered
  • Wrap tightly in 2 layers of heavy duty butcher paper or aluminum foil and place the wrapped meat back on the smoker (still 250°F) or in oven (at 250°F)
  • About 2 hours after wrapping, check temp, the target temp is 203-204°F
  • Note: the internal temp and feel of the meat (i.e. probes like butter) are the most important indicators that your meat is done cooking
  • When meat is done cooking let it rest for at least 1 hour
  • Remove the bone and shred/pull apart pork as you want it to avoid drying it out
  • Finish at internal temp of 204°F

Whole Chicken

Not really much smoke can be applied to chicken, but if you can make it juicy, crispy, and smoking, you win. Here’s the video on that.

  • Cut around neck and butt
  • Season with 1/2 salt and pepper
  • 200°F/225°F for 2 hours
  • 325°F for 15 minutes
  • Finish at internal temp of 165°F

Brisket

The king of BBQ. 15lb briskets are normal, good ones being Prime. Can be bought at Sam’s Club or Costco. The brisket side with the fat cap will be considered the top. Brisket contains two peck muscles from a cow, pectoralis major and pectouralis minor, which requires different cuts based on which side you’re on. You must trim the thick fat on the fat cap and flabs hanging off (you can resuse them) because the fat won’t render and the flabs you don’t want them to get burnt during the long cook. Glean as much from these videos 1, 2, 3. And 4 if you’re using a pellet grill.

Ingredients:

  • Brisket from Sam’s Club

  • Wagyu Beef Lard from Amazon

  • Trim the flabby parts off
  • Trim some of the flat cap down to a quarter inch, don’t worry if you get some bald spots
  • Flip the brisket over and trim the chunk of fat at an angle
  • Trim the fat if needed on the bottom as well
  • Cut off the meat that is flat that is thinner than the width of your thumb, cut at an angle
  • Trim an angle at the end to know which side it is
  • Season with 1/2 salt and pepper
  • 225°F/250°F with pecan, oak, or hickory fat side up
  • Scoop Wagyu Beef into aluminum pan
  • Put fat trimmings in aluminum pan and flabs in
  • At hour 3 increase heat to 250°F/275°F and begin spraying every 30 minutes with 1/2 apple cider vinegar and water, spray parts of brisket without fat (sides, not top.)
  • At hour 6, check fat Rendering on top, Check tallow from fat trimmings, check flab trimmings, they may be done
  • 5 ordered of importance things to check before wrapping: Water evaporation, color to be dark color, bark to be crusty that will get softened after wrapping in fat, fat render should be able to poke and see a translucent yellow color instead of a cloudy color, which means the fat has been properly rendered and won’t be chewy, last is temperature.
  • At hour 8, take out wagyu tallow, trimmings, fat tallow, and pans.
  • Wrap at internal temp 165°F with butcher paper and wagyu beef tallow. Put tallow on paper, put brisket on meat side down on top of tallow. Three ladle full, and spread around like a pizza sauce on pizza.
  • Put back on smoker or in oven, checking every 15-30 minutes for internal temp of 203°F
  • Take out and let it cool rapidly to about 180°F left in butcher paper, then re-wrap using the same method above.
  • Let it rest for 12 hours by putting it in a well insulated cooler or in an oven at 150°F.
  • Serve at 135°F/140°F

Burgers

Ezpz!

Time: 1 hour

  • Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder.
  • Smoke at 225°F for an hour or until 135°F
  • Bump up heat to 300°F for like 10-20 minutes
  • Finish at internal temp of 165°F

Precooked Bone-In Sliced Ham

Time: 3 hours est. 10-15 per lb Weight: 7-10lbs

a good video.

  • Put in a pan with a grate
  • Brush Dijon Mustard on, then put sweet rub on
  • Smoke at 250°F
  • Glaze ham at 130°F for another 30 minutes
  • Finish at internal temp of 140°F
  • Rest for 30 minutes

Pork Loin

Use this for reference

Time: 5 hours est. Weight: 8-10lbs

  • Season
  • Put in @ 180°F for around 3 1/2 hours.
  • At internal of 120°F Dial up to 500°F to get a good crisp on the outside (around 1/2 hour)
  • Pull out at 145°F
  • Let rest for 2 minutea

Turkey

alt text Use this for reference

Time: 4 hours est. Weight: 15-20lbs, ideally you want a 15lb one

  • Season with salt and pepper
  • Inject with a mix of butter, chile, and chipotle powder
  • Put in @ 225°F for around 2 hours
  • Change temp to 325°F
  • Pull out at 165°F
  • Let rest for 30 minutes
  • Cut breast and cut across the grain
  • Drizzle a mix of butter, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, garlic & onion powder on top.