Cooking with a countertop indoor smoker

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 minute ago, rotuts said:

@JoNorvelleWalker

 

that's a shame.   you might iPot them for stock ?  adding the tough spare ribs ?

 

I wonder why our results were so different?

 

[rotuts]

@JoNorvelleWalker

 

Thinking about this :  the legs I used were mostly covered by skin.

 

that skin was inedible , but MC found it , sliced up , quite tasty.

 

the exposed meat's surface , did have a bit of a chew to it , and some of that got trimmed

 

for MC .

 

so , try it again w a thigh w skin.  and if you get that extra skin flap , tie it around the any thigh

 

thats exposed.  that might work.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

35 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@JoNorvelleWalker

 

Thinking about this :  the legs I used were mostly covered by skin.

 

that skin was inedible , but MC found it , sliced up , quite tasty.

 

the exposed meat's surface , did have a bit of a chew to it , and some of that got trimmed

 

for MC .

 

so , try it again w a thigh w skin.  and if you get that extra skin flap , tie it around the any thigh

 

thats exposed.  that might work.

 

Do you think six hours is necessary?

 

[rotuts]

@JoNorvelleWalker

 

not necessarily.    it was an experiment .

 

I know you get most of your groceries  ' on line '

 

but consider looking into generic bacon , the full 1 lbs version

 

that version has  ' fat cap ' ends , which are trimmed off  for the 12 0z versioons.

 

you want those .   then , if you can , de-salt the whole lbs , 24 hrs , very cold water

 

to keep the fat firm ,  in the refig.  changing the water once or twice .

 

then use that ' pork belly ' to shield longer term IDS meats.

 

tie them up .  stretch  the bacon !

 

something to think about.

 

works vey well .  does not need to be thick at all .

 

or use chicken skin that comes w the ckicken // turkey .

 

Edited August 5 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

@JoNorvelleWalker

 

Id say if you get ' skinless ' :

 

dont air dry , you are drying the meat .

 

season w your favorite's , but try a wet seasoning

 

then IDS  on a much higher heat :  like CSO'ing , w smoke  and heat 

 

pull for juicyness , rather than low and slow smoking.

 

have not done that yet.

Edited August 5 by rotuts (log)

[TdeV]

On 8/5/2025 at 10:34 AM, weinoo said:

Nor would I.

 

I will have chicken dry brined for 24 hours tomorrow morning. An hour or so later, I'll be having a medical procedure in my mouth, so I'm unlikely to be interested in roasted chicken tomorrow night.

 

Can I dry brine chicken in the fridge for 48 hours, or should I plan on cooking it tomorrow?

 

If I must cook the dry brined chicken, can I sous vide it? I have some remaining clarified butter which I could put in the sous vide bag, in case that's a good idea.

 

Thoughts?

 

@rotuts @JoNorvelleWalker

[weinoo]

8 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Can I dry brine chicken in the fridge for 48 hours, or should I plan on cooking it tomorrow?

 

You can dry brine it for 72 hours, if need be.

 

8 minutes ago, TdeV said:

If I must cook the dry brined chicken, can I sous vide it?

 

No.

 

9 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Thoughts?

 

Cook it via a traditional method (roast, pan sauté, braise, etc.); Judy Rogers wasn't sous-viding!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, TdeV said:

 

I will have chicken dry brined for 24 hours tomorrow morning. An hour or so later, I'll be having a medical procedure in my mouth, so I'm unlikely to be interested in roasted chicken tomorrow night.

 

Can I dry brine chicken in the fridge for 48 hours, or should I plan on cooking it tomorrow?

 

If I must cook the dry brined chicken, can I sous vide it? I have some remaining clarified butter which I could put in the sous vide bag, in case that's a good idea.

 

Thoughts?

 

@rotuts @JoNorvelleWalker

 

I'd say it depends on how much salt you used.  Unless you went overboard on the salt, 48 hours should be fine.

[rotuts]

@TdeV

 

you could SV that chicken.   but w a brine like that , it will taste better roasted.

Edited August 7 by rotuts (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Once again I am attempting spareribs.  This time 93C, Smoke level 5, sweetwood blend.  Rubbed with mustard, salt, allspice, and Penzeys Florida rub.  I have no particular time in mind.  I plan to check periodically and pull when the meat looks done.  Couldn't be any worse than last time.

 

I've been afraid of burning my arm on the door of the smoker, so I got a pair of long barbecue gloves.  They are comfortable, fit pretty well, and are easy to wash.  They do show blood stains though.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Success.  Three hours at 93C.  Final temperature 87C.  Meat could be cut with a table knife.  Juicy.  Still difficult to chew, but that is a reflection on the condition of my teeth, not the fault of the spareribs.

 

For next time I think I'd skip the rub and just use a little salt and garlic powder.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Ribs again, pork spareribs.  Temperature 93C, as last time, with sweetwood blend.  I salted for two hours and used a rub recipe from Meathead.  Wish me luck.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

 

Five hours.  Overdone but not inedible.  The ribs did not look done when I checked at three hours.  Also there was a problem that I neglected to replenish the pellets when they ran out.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

No picture, but tonight's beef rib was a success.  Two and a half hours at 107C.  Final temperature 94C.  Lovely.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Oh, I neglected to report back!  The spareribs were pretty good.  Unfortunately I neglected to write down how long I smoked them for.

 

Last night was beef ribs.  Temperature 107C for four hours fifty minutes.  Final meat temperature 96C.  Texture was lovely.  Ribs were almost inedible due to an extreme amount of salt.  For the leftovers I plan to wash off the bark and soak the meat in water before reheating.

 

[rotuts]

I needed to ' move ' some skinless , boneless , CkThighs  from the refrig  into something else for later.

 

I was not impressed w the one I added to the rice in the FTRC.

 

I sauted them , got some color and fond.  chilled them .  was going to Fz them

 

then got the IDS going again , as is cooler now .  as they were cooked , I tried 170 F , as low as the IDS goes

 

did not seem to be getting much smoke, so went to 180 F  .  got the usual expected smoke @ 180 .

 

they are going top be turned into something creamy , w poblanos I roasted for the first time , later today

 

a sort of creamy Ck-Poblano-creamy filling going into something to be determjined.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

The beef ribs that were far too salty I washed and soaked in water.  I did not bother to reheat.  Salinity was reduced to tolerable levels.  Next time be more careful with the salt.