Smoking Meat

col klink · July 3, 2003

Guajolote, If you're not throwing the sausage on solo, but after a pork butt has been on for number of hours, 2 hours will be too long. I'd throw 'em on with 90 minutes to an hour left. Don't be afraid to take the meat off in stages, though your guests might get a little ornery, tell them the meat comes first. In the long run, it's better to eat the meat properly prepared than on time, that way they'll come back again and again.

guajolote · July 3, 2003

though your guests might get a little ornery, tell them the meat comes first.

Nightscotsman will be mixing drinks, so I don't expect anyone to get too ornery. :laugh:

I'll shoot for about 90 minutes. Yes, the meat always comes first.

col klink · July 3, 2003

Nightscotsman will be mixing drinks, so I don't expect anyone to get too ornery.

You will soon know the joy of NSM. :wub:

Theakston, the most important thing you can do for your ribs is to brine them. If you'd like to dry rub them, brine 'em first for 4 to 6 hours, dry 'em off and throw in the fridge for another 4 to 6 hours or even better, overnight. It's very important that the temp doesn't get too high on baby back ribs, no higher than 250. These ribs are very delicate and sensitive to heat spikes -- if it gets too hot, it leaches all of the pork juices out and you're left with dry stringy ribs. After the first hour or so, start moping with just a basic sauce, something that won't affect the flavor too much and basically just keeps the meat moist without interfering with smoke absorption. If you need a sauce, wait for the last 15 to 30 minutes to apply. Baby back ribs will take approximately 3 to 5 hours to smoke at 225 depending on how stable the temp is.

maggiethecat · July 3, 2003

that way they'll come back again and again.

LOL!

Last time guajolote served his legendary pork butt Aurora, Lady T. and I barely let it get to the table! We huddled around the poor man and had a do-it-yourself shredding party...the shreds ending up in our mouths immediately!

Edited July 3, 2003 by maggiethecat (log)

theakston · July 4, 2003

Thankyou herr smokemeister. They are brining now as we E-speak. I'll let you know how they work out, but I feel confident now that they are now under the spell of the meat moses.

fifi · July 4, 2003

GRRRRR!!! I think I have been foiled by another eGullet phenomenon. Following up on my previous posts, I had made the decision to get the Weber water smoker for my apartment balconey. (I can adopt it out later or keep it.) I have been to every place in a 10 mile radius that carries Weber: Academy, WalMart, Home Depot, Lowes, Target, and a local shop that carries bbq and grill and fireplace stuff. THERE ARE NO WEBER SMOKERS IN CAPTIVITY! The nice guy at the local shop said he had sold his last one yesterday but he would order me one. I called him and asked him to do that. He was so nice and I like to support local shops so I don't care what it costs at this point. (He will be a big help with the fireplace for the house, too.)

Have all of these threads caused a run on the darn things?

The plan WAS to have some friends in this evening to watch the fireworks then get up in the morning and put something on to cook while we bonk around. So much for that idea. I guess we will just have to go down to my favorite bayside joint and eat boiled shrimp and drink beer all day. :sad:

hollywood · July 4, 2003

GRRRRR!!! I think I have been foiled by another eGullet phenomenon. Following up on my previous posts, I had made the decision to get the Weber water smoker for my apartment balconey. (I can adopt it out later or keep it.) I have been to every place in a 10 mile radius that carries Weber: Academy, WalMart, Home Depot, Lowes, Target, and a local shop that carries bbq and grill and fireplace stuff. THERE ARE NO WEBER SMOKERS IN CAPTIVITY! The nice guy at the local shop said he had sold his last one yesterday but he would order me one. I called him and asked him to do that. He was so nice and I like to support local shops so I don't care what it costs at this point. (He will be a big help with the fireplace for the house, too.)
Have all of these threads caused a run on the darn things?
The plan WAS to have some friends in this evening to watch the fireworks then get up in the morning and put something on to cook while we bonk around. So much for that idea. I guess we will just have to go down to my favorite bayside joint and eat boiled shrimp and drink beer all day.

I don't think all locations that carry Weber carry the Smoky Mountain. You might check Weber's website for a list of locations in your area.

**Dave the Cook** · July 4, 2003

You might try Sears, too. They carry a lot of Weber products under the Craftsman name, or at least they used to. These days they might have come clean as to the branding.

fifi · July 4, 2003

Thanks. I am going to stick with the nice guy at the local shop and just wait, drink beer and eat shrimp. At least he was nice enough to offer to order one. All the other places I got a "DUUH... We're out of those." followed by "No, I don't know when we will get any in." Screw 'em.

**Dave the Cook** · July 4, 2003

...just wait, drink beer and eat shrimp.

Things could be a lot worse, after all...

hollywood · July 6, 2003

Klink, you've made a brining believer/disciple out of me. Did a 5.8 pound pork rib roast and a 5.3 pound brisket with brine. The brisket only had some cracked pepper added as it was on the lower rack of the WSM. The pork on the top was mopped with the vinaigrette. Both came out great. 5 hours on the pork. 5.5 hours on the brisket. Pork is so moist. Nice smoke ring. Not sure how much the mopping helped (given the similarity in flavor to the brisket), but clearly the brining is the answer. Kudos.

snowangel · July 6, 2003

GRRRRR!!! I think I have been foiled by another eGullet phenomenon. Following up on my previous posts, I had made the decision to get the Weber water smoker for my apartment balconey. (I can adopt it out later or keep it.) I have been to every place in a 10 mile radius that carries Weber: Academy, WalMart, Home Depot, Lowes, Target, and a local shop that carries bbq and grill and fireplace stuff. THERE ARE NO WEBER SMOKERS IN CAPTIVITY! The nice guy at the local shop said he had sold his last one yesterday but he would order me one. I called him and asked him to do that. He was so nice and I like to support local shops so I don't care what it costs at this point. (He will be a big help with the fireplace for the house, too.)
Have all of these threads caused a run on the darn things?
The plan WAS to have some friends in this evening to watch the fireworks then get up in the morning and put something on to cook while we bonk around. So much for that idea. I guess we will just have to go down to my favorite bayside joint and eat boiled shrimp and drink beer all day.

I don't know about retail in the rest of the country, but here in Minnesota, the "big" (space-wise) summer items have been on sale/clearance for a couple of weeks now. I was at Target on the evening of the 3rd, and they had just marked all of the other summer down to clearance and were setting up "back to school." July 4 and you can hardly find a bathing suit, but can get school supplies and fall jackets. Go figure.

Yes, support your local hardware store.

fifi · August 29, 2003

I am bumping this one back up 'cause I have a question...

But before that, I have to tell my little story. I ordered the WSM from my local small retailer as I said. It came in, I was traveling and other things happening so it was about 2 weeks before I got to pick it up. I would call the shop. No problem they said. I did get it and we had to unpack it to get it into my little car. I went to the web site to get some pointers on putting it together. I went to the "problems" section of the site. Sure enough, the bottom bowl had a typical "ding" and was chipped pretty badly and out of round. I called the shop. The owner wanted to come by. WHAT? A house call for a smoker??? I said come ahead. He came in, did his best to squeeze it back into round (did pretty good), told me to go ahead and use it while he ordered me a replacement part! Would mega-box-store have done all of that? I DON'T THINK SO!

Anyway, two weekends ago, I christened the little jewel. That was some of the best pork butt I have EVER done. I also did two chickens on chicken sitters and some Chappell Hill sausage. All was wonderful. I used that method of lighting a small amount of charcoal and putting it in the middle of a full basket. That method is the best. The temperature was rock solid and recovered quickly when I opened the thing. (Of course, it was 94 degrees on the balconey. Where was any heat going to go?)

Now (finally you say) to my question...

I may do a hunk of brisket this weekend but I am also eyeing some boneless pork loin that is too cheap to pass up. Here is what I am thinking... Slice it open like a jelly roll and put "something" inside and roll it up and tie it. What should that something be? I plan on smoking that to pork roast temp, not pulled pork temp, so I will probably put the pork on the top rack and the brisket on the bottom. Is the fat on the top of the loin enough? Do I need to wrap it in bacon? As to the "something" I am leaning toward Southwest flavors. What will pork drippings do to the brisket below? I can't imagine that being a bad thing. Any more suggestions out there?

**Dave the Cook** · August 29, 2003

Pork loin is such a dense and homogenous hunk of meat that I doubt that any externally applied fat will penetrate the flesh. Not that I'm against using bacon in any form -- you don't have much to lose, anyway.

There is no marbling to speak of in a loin. The white flecks you see in a cross-section are not fat but connective tissue called elastin, which doesn't melt down the way collagen does. So you're smart not to let it cook to the 190 F or so that you would a butt. There's nothing to be gained from it.

However, if you brine it, then put it on the smoker directly from the fridge, you'll end up with something akin to Canadian back bacon, and how bad could that be? Brines can be modified with almost anything that's water soluble, so you can, in effect, tinker with the internal flavoring of the meat, and match it to whatever stuffing you decide on. For a Southwestern accent, I'd use a combination of salt and soya, lime juice and brown sugar.

fifi · August 29, 2003

Yeah, Dave... I think you are right about the penetration of any bacon fat. The loins I looked at today didn't have a continuous fat cap. That is why I was thinking of adding the bacon. Like you said, can't hurt. I was thinking along the lines of a Central American seasoning mix I have used on other pork roast. That is lots of black pepper, sugar, toasted cumin seed, toasted coriander seed, lots of garlic, and salt, of course.

I will definitely brine it. Brining rules!

Soooo... What happens to the brisket beneath this masterpiece?

Stone · August 29, 2003

I'm not sure of your strategy for putting the loin on top. The top grill will be about 30-40 degrees hotter than the bottom. You probably want the loin on the bottom so it gets more smoke-time before it's done. The brisket will cook faster on the top, so they may get done closer to the same time.

On the other hand, you may want the brisket to cook longer for increased smoke flavor.

fifi · August 29, 2003

Yeah... I am aiming to cook the brisket for a LOOONG time and I am not trying to get them done at the same time. I am content to do the "pork roast" thing and then have the brisket the next day. But you make a good point and have made me think about this. Thanks.

theakston · August 29, 2003

Here is what I am thinking... Slice it open like a jelly roll and put "something" inside and roll it up and tie it. What should that something be?

works well with any dried fruit (prunes, apricots, SD tomatoes etc)

Don't need to slice it open. just push a boning knife in at each end then shove a steel through if the hole doesn't go all the way through. Then push the stuffing in using the steel at first to make sure it goes all the way in.

Obviously you stuff it after the brining. Using dried fruit as a stuffing means that it will swell up, absorb the juices and make a nice round pattern in each slice.

fifi · August 29, 2003

hmmm... I have that big bag of apricots I got at Sam's. I have done the "poke a hole" thing on these before. It works well. I never thought of using the steel, though. That is a really good idea.

I need to add a cleaning tip...

I was dreading cleaning up, especially since I don't have a yard and a hose and I have this damn useless double sink. I bought a bottle of Dawn Power Dissolver to see if the ad hype was true. I can report that IT IS! I was not out to get the grates like new but they are damn near. You spray it on, let it sit about 20 minutes, brush off the big pieces of grunge and into the dishwasher. (You have to lay them on the top rack.) The water pan was really easy. It wouldn't fit in the DW but it didn't need to. Knock off the big stuff with hot water then do the Dawn thing. A quick swish with the plastic scrubber and it was like new. (No... I didn't line it with foil. I forgot to buy the wide stuff. I will next time.) If my sink were big enough to put the grates in, clean up would have been nothing. I don't know what is in that Dawn stuff but it is magic. (Maybe I don't want to know.)

Edited August 29, 2003 by fifi (log)

guajolote · August 29, 2003

Fifi,

Matthew and I made a pork roast stuffed with Apricots, Sausage, and Rosemary last weekend. Soba suggested the recipe and it was great. We grilled it but I think smoked would have been very good.

MatthewB · August 29, 2003

Fifi,
Matthew and I made a pork roast stuffed with Apricots, Sausage, and Rosemary last weekend. Soba suggested the recipe and it was great. We grilled it but I think smoked would have been very good.

And it's an understatement to refer to that pork as divine. :wub:

Stone · August 29, 2003

I bought a shoulder in cryovac from Smart & Final. When I opened it, I noticed that the bone had been removed (this was not listed on the label) and that it was a little ripe. The label says good to Sept. 15, however. (It was the last shoulder available -- the sign at the store said they were changing their meat supplier.) I figure that on one hand, cryovac should keep this thing pretty fresh; on the other, god knows what contamination got in when they took the bone out. I've had it brining overnight. How concerned should I be about a strong odor? I'm thinking I should pick up another shoulder at Costco and smoke it tonight without brining.

MatthewB · August 29, 2003

Strong odor?

I wouldn't chance it. I doubt that I'd die but one would probably end up with the shits for a day or two. Not a fun holiday weekend.

guajolote · August 29, 2003

I bought a shoulder in cryovac from Smart & Final. When I opened it, I noticed that the bone had been removed (this was not listed on the label) and that it was a little ripe. The label says good to Sept. 15, however. (It was the last shoulder available -- the sign at the store said they were changing their meat supplier.) I figure that on one hand, cryovac should keep this thing pretty fresh; on the other, god knows what contamination got in when they took the bone out. I've had it brining overnight. How concerned should I be about a strong odor? I'm thinking I should pick up another shoulder at Costco and smoke it tonight without brining.

I'd chuck it, especially if you're having people over. Consider yourself lucky it wasn't a prime rib.

You could probably return it and get your money back.

fifi · August 29, 2003

YUM!

What cut did you use? I have been thinking about the sausage. If I jelly roll the loin, that would add some fat on the inside. That combination of flavors sounds just wonderful. What kind of sausage did you use.

Stone... Definitely toss it.

Sign In

Smoking Meat

Recommended Posts

Similar Content

Recently Browsing 0 members