col klink

As for the oak, it makes for great smoking wood. Just don't use softwood, only hardwood. The smokin' pro can definitely work with coals, but since I already have access to a webber I never bothered grillling with my smokin' pro. You can use the bullet with real firewood but you have to chop it into the chunks becuase of the dimensions so it would be a real pain in the tukhes whereas the side fire box can easily accept 14" to 16" lengths of firewood. Also, real fires put out more heat than briquettes and the side fire box is great for dissipating the extra heat. I haven't tried nor heard of using firewood with a bullet but I imagine you'd have a hard time keeping the fire lit and the bullet cool enough to smoke for long periods. I'm sorry if it sounds like the smokin' pro is too difficult to use. I was able to make some truly outstanding pork the first time and I had never smoked before. I just knew I needed to brine it and keep the temp around 225. That's all you really need to know, the fun is getting it to and keeping it at 225. The previous post was more for letting you know that the smokin' pro does need more attention than the bullet. Personally I hope you go for smokin' pro but I certainly won't knock you for getting the bullet especially if you smoke more with it.

D'oh! Upon further inspection, I do see that you mention roasting. I was a little too hasty, my bad. I first heard about it in the favorite veggie thread where somebody mentioned roasting veggies. It's now my fav method because you get a great concentrated flavor, not only with asparagus, but with cauliflower, broccoli, taters (chopped small) and pretty much any other veggie.

This week is a little busy. Wednesday I'm making pie (yeah! one with a lard crust and one with butter thougth both with crisco for pie Wednesday, oh yeah, probably some fruit too), Thursday afternoon I'm seeing How the West Was Won (the original Cinerama version in one of the original Cinerama theaters (Cinerama), Friday I'm smoking the first batch of corned beef brisket, Saturday the second and on Sunday I'm thinking of resting. If it's good enough for God, it *just* may be good enough for me. Damn, it's tough being unemployed. How about next week? Any day, I'm totally up for it.

Tsk, tsk. You missed the best way! Toss with sea salt or kosher salt and evoo. Roast on a rack at 400F for about 20 minutes and you're in heaven. Every once and a while I'll steam asparagus with balsamic, ground pepper and parmesan JUST to remind me what I'm missing if I don't roast it. edit: Woo hoo! The asparagus season started!!!!!

Horse?

Why God must you mock me!!!!

Do you want help with the next batch? Hell, I'll even try some!

Good thing we recently promoted Jim Dixon as the other Pacific NW Coordinator.

The bullet, despite it's awkwardness, doesn't need as much attention and therefore is easier to use. This plays a far greater roll when you're smoking a hog leg for 16 hours or a whole shoulder for 18 hours. With the smokin' pro and firewood, yes it's true, the side fire box is easier to access and you can adjust for greater air flows than the bullet. But unless you're constantly in front of it (of course with a drink, whiskey for me) you have to check it every 10 to 20 minutes. The smokin' pro also has a tendency to overheat easily if you throw a new log on. There are FAR more variables you have to deal with versus the bullet and that's what makes it more work than the bullet. But the smokin' pro is more along the lines of "purist" smoking since it uses a fire made from real firewood and not briquettes. That's not to say you can't get a good product out of a bullet, but if you want the last 10 to 20%, you need to go with a real wood fire. The smokin' pro is the real deal. All of the best 'que joints use a real fire to smoke their meat and the smokin' pro can do that for you. Granted, a master with a bullet can beat a novice with a smokin' pro but you can utimately get a better product out of the smokin' pro. But this brings up another concern. What do you live in? Do you have a house where you can (ideally) shelter your smoker and its firewood? With the smokin' pro you have to worry about firewood supply and storage. Do you have a yard in which to smoke and neighbors who don't mind? With the bullet you can go to the damn grocery store to pick up briquettes and chips. When I first bought my smoker it cost me nearly $200 for a half cord of split and dried maple. Luckily I now have a friend that has a couple of felled maples on his property and lets me have at them for free but there's still a lot of work involved. The smokin' pro also needs more maintenance. You have to spray the fire box with veggie oil after every use so it doesn't rust or break down or get a heavy duty bbq paint, i.e. no enamel. Although there are replacements for the fire grate, they're useless since they only last for about 15 to 20 fires. Luckily my buddy loves to weld and made me a replacement grate out of rebar. The rebar is spaced about an inch apart and hasn't blinked an eye despite some really hot fires. Also, you'll want to look into getting some split fire bricks, an inch and a quarter thick to line the sides of the firebox as they act as a temp buffer for the fire making it easier to revive a dying fire and give you a cleaner burn to the end. Before I bought my smoker I was lucky in that my buddy already had a bullet. I thought damn, that's some really good meat coming out of there. If that's so good, I bet a real wood fire would be even better! I was right and I was able to tell the difference the first time I lit it up (be careful though, you have to let it go w/o meat for 3 hours before you put meat on to burn off the coating they apply before shipping). Personally I love the challenge of figuring out how to work with different woods and how they each affect different meats, it's a big puzzle that I just revel in figuring out. It takes a lot of effort to figure it all out (I haven't yet) and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Corning beef is brining it with salt (corn refers to the size of salt granules, typically the size of a kernel of corn) and with other spices and herbs. It's a reletively stiff brine, one with enough salt to float an egg. Commercial brines include salt peter as a preservative and it also makes the meat bright pink. The meat is left in the brine for up to two weeks but I know a local butcher that only brines for a week. Most people boil it for three or four hours for two reasons, pulling out excess salt and breaking down the tough meat. Some folks will also substitute half of the cooking water with beer. I prefer my corned beef brisket, like any other tough cut, smoked for long periods of time. It breaks down the brisket better than boiling, simmering or braising yet leaves it whole at the same time. Plus all that smoke flavor and the crisped edge fat as well as the internal fat is really, really damn good. Smoking concentrates meat flavors versus simmering which leaches out flavors. Who the hell wants that?

Oh you!

The bullet is strictly a smoker but the smokin' pro can be used as both though I've never used my smokin' pro to grill. As you can see, the smokin' pro can hold a lot of meat as well: That's three racks of back ribs, a 3.5lb leg of lamb, 4lbs of short ribs and a 4 or 5 lb brisket. I've smoked with both the bullet and of course my smokin' pro and I love the ease of use of the bullet but I prefer the taste of the smokin' pro. When you use real wood there's a noticable improvement, something you just can't get with coals and chips. This does come at a HUGE increase in work and attention though. As for the turkey Irish, I've smoked a whole bunch of 'em. Brine them first, smoke at 225 for 2 to 3 hours until the temp of the breast is 160F to 165F. It sounds like your turkies are also a little too close to the fire, get them as far away as possible and rotate every 15 to 20 minutes. edit: hours, not hourse. Awbrig, you edited out my u!

Heron, I'd be happy to smoke you up a small portion. Jinmyo, tomorrow morning I'm dropping in on the post office to see how much it is to ship to Ontario for another user. I'll let everyone know the results.

Coals from a camp fire, geesh, didn't you watch Frontier House? After watching that I wanted to raise a couple of chickens for eggs and food. Anyway, you put the whole thing in a dying fire (with food I suppose) and the lid is raised and cupped to hold hot coals. That way you can cook from every direction. I don't do much camping but that's going to change soon with the warming weather. Since not much hiking will be involved, I don't mind taking an 8lb skillet and a 19lb dutch oven. edit: ahh here's one: You can buy it here.

Just a little update (and to bring the thread up to the top), I so far have 8 people signed up for smoked corned beef brisket. Keep 'em coming folks! At this rate I'll actually smoke on two days, next Friday as well as Saturday!

Egads, that's less than I paid for my unseasoned skillet. Arghhh, the dutch oven they have isn't a true one. You can't put coals on the lid!! But I want one anyway!

I bet the oven wins. Ever since my SO's analog thermometer read a full 30 degrees under, I haven't trusted analog since. Thermocouples are well defined and if they read correctly in boiling water w/o pinched wires, you have nothing to worry about. In theory.

You can do salmon cakes, like crab cakes but with salmon. After frying you should easily be able to refreeze them and when ready, reheat in the oven. edit: Jon pretty much said the same thing.

Now you're starting to sound like a seasoned smoker. I'm surprised that a 5 lb butt after 9 hours didn't reach over 200 degrees, really surprised. Unless your smoker temp was hovering at 200, there isn't any reason given that much time for the roast to come to temp. Maybe if the shoulder bone was still in, but the thermodynamics side of me is still confused. As for your slight chemical flavor it probably is your rub. If you smoke with briquettes and you use commercial wood chips you shouldn't have a problem, regardless if you soak your chips or not.

Marc what kind of cell phone do you have? I would love to have that feature in a phone. I almost bought a digital voice recorder specifically for restaurant reviews but wasn't happy with price to feature ratio.

After hearing Schielke drool over his roast suckling pig at West, I'm awlfully intrigued. Mmmm, pork.

I've had excellent service at Morton's Steakhouse. We probably had at least a dozen different servers that night. At the last sip of wine, they were there with more, likewise water. When my steak was medium in stead of the medium rare I had asked for, it was gratis. That paid for the $35, 25 year old glass of Macallan. Damn that was good. The service anticipated everything, they even brought out a new creamed spinach when they brought out the properly prepared steak.

With cuts like the butt and ribs where you want slow and low cooking, dropping to 215 isn't anything to worry about. I personally like to smoke my ribs between 200 and 225. I smoke by feel and 250 is a little high for me, reason being the longer the ribs are in the smoker, the better they'll taste.

I loved the bit with the 24 hr liquor store that delivers, it brought a tear to my eye. What made me even more proud is when Tony asked for a bottle of their cheapest bourbon it happened to be Evan Williams, exactly what I was drinking right then.

That's right, we haven't made smoked pudding pops. When was it that your were coming over for that? Don't make me challenge your dedication.