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***Official Grilling and Smoking Thread*** (4 Viewers)

Minister of Loneliness‏ @_steamy_mac 5h5 hours ago

She glistens with her own moisture.

I lean into her and moan, collecting her juices on my tongue.

She is sweet. She is salty.

She is a ham.

 
SayWhat? said:
This is ultimately the route I took.  Ordered earlier this week, scheduled to arrive on Tuesday.  Pretty pumped.    :clap:
You are gonna love it.

My #1 favorite is slow rolling steaks (filets, strips, ribeyes) and then reverse searing them.

Close #2 is smoked chicken wings with the reverse sear. Had some wings at the bar the other day and they sucked in comparison. 

 
Lots of people in here sleeping on pecan as a smokewood.... 

@tipsy mcstagger, your thoughts sir? 
When I lived in S. TX, Pecan was my preferred wood, followed by Live Oak.  I had an easy cheap supply of it.  It's not so easy to get in FL and I can't quite force myself to pay the big $$ to have good non-kiln dried stuff shipped in. I pay the premium now for apple but I look at that as an exotic wood in the South.

I still have a ton of chips and chunks in my garage from my kamado days...but they burn up way to quick on the Lang.

 
Soulfly3 said:
Mine's tomorrow :)
I may have to make it a ribeye day too!

My wife doesn’t like the cap part of the ribeye so I profit when grilling them. She typically pushes for strips or filets when she comes with me to the store so I may go now while she is at work. 

 
When I lived in S. TX, Pecan was my preferred wood, followed by Live Oak.  I had an easy cheap supply of it.  It's not so easy to get in FL and I can't quite force myself to pay the big $$ to have good non-kiln dried stuff shipped in. I pay the premium now for apple but I look at that as an exotic wood in the South.

I still have a ton of chips and chunks in my garage from my kamado days...but they burn up way to quick on the Lang.
I love apple wood...cut an apple tree down in my backyard a few years ago and saved a bunch for the smokey mountain. Also a fan of cherry for pork. 

I may order a bag of pecan pellets though. Intrigued. 

 
Two buddies and I are smoking about 120 pounds of butt today for a HS graduation party tomorrow. It may get ugly later, well I’m hoping it does.  :suds:

 
Doing an asian take on pulled pork next weekend, dryrubbing with home made five spice. Need ideas for s sauce to go along with it. Thinking lemongrass, lime some heat. Any suggestions?

 
How long did you season it?  I have a bunch I got freshly cut a few months ago.
I used the thinner chunks first and let the larger pieces sit longer (thinner pieces maybe 4 months after cutting, larger pieces waited ~1 year). I cut some of the thicker limbs (3-5 inches wide) into 1-2 inch thick discs. Worked pretty slick. Based upon some of the comments in this thread, not sure if it matters if it’s seasoned?  

I am cutting down my other apple tree this summer if anyone in the Minneapolis area wants some wood. 

 
When I lived in S. TX, Pecan was my preferred wood, followed by Live Oak.  I had an easy cheap supply of it.  It's not so easy to get in FL and I can't quite force myself to pay the big $$ to have good non-kiln dried stuff shipped in. I pay the premium now for apple but I look at that as an exotic wood in the South.

I still have a ton of chips and chunks in my garage from my kamado days...but they burn up way to quick on the Lang.
This is it. The spirit of BBQ has never been about trying to find wood you have to ship in. It's about using what you have. We swear by Hickory in Tennessee. Because we have a lot of Hickory trees. (and it really is the best ;)   ) Aaron Franklin seems to get by ok using Post Oak. Because that's plentiful in Central Texas. Same story everywhere. In my opinion, the best answer is use a hardwood that is reasonably available. 

 
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How long did you season it?  I have a bunch I got freshly cut a few months ago.
A lot depends on the condition of the tree when it was cut. in general, 6 months is about right. But I've seen it work sooner. You can also help yourself a good bit setting wood on top of the firebox and letting it dry that way. Be careful and safe but that's a good way to cheat a bit with wood that's still a little too green. 

 
I haven't done a shoulder for a few years and can't remember a few things.

What temp do I pull it off the smoker and wrap?  180 or 190?  In the past I've wrapped in foil/towels/cooler.  Have we switched to butcher paper instead of foil?

I can't remember if I wrapped before pulling off the smoker.  If I do, I'm assuming I use the paper for that step.

 
I haven't done a shoulder for a few years and can't remember a few things.

What temp do I pull it off the smoker and wrap?  180 or 190?  In the past I've wrapped in foil/towels/cooler.  Have we switched to butcher paper instead of foil?
I dont wrap but usually people wrap when they are satisfied with the bark.

 
Why am I thinking it was common practice to pull short of target temp and let it finish itself wrapped in a cooler?  Is that outdated 

 
I think it's common to foil near the stall around 155, but I don't do this anymore. It's supposed to speed things up a little. 

Shoot for 195 on temp to take off smoker. I've done 180 before and it's edible but a little underdone. 

I just plop the shoulder on there and let it cook. I'll spritz mid cook a few times but otherwise just cook it up to 195. 

 
What is "done"?  195?  200?  205?
I pull at 190. 

Now listen... Since I was given some amazing advice by a top end chef of mine, my pork has been insane..

He suggested keeping the pork at the 195 mark for an hour or two if possible, for the most tender pork you can imagine...Using the snake method, it's quite easy, as you remove all the charcoat briquettes except for a single row... 

Wrap it, and it maintains the temp at around the 195-205 mark in the smoker, but the pork comes out INSANELY tender. I wrap with foil, but Im sure butcher paper would be even better

So.. pull at 190... wrap... put back in the smoker w MUCH less heat... let it go for an extra 1-2hrs... INSANITY

 
What is "done"?  195?  200?  205?
“It’s done when it’s done” as they say.  Really it’s done when you can stick a probe or toothpick in and it feels like butter.  That internal temp could be 195 or it could be 207.  This all depends I’m told on how you cook it and the type of meat.

use temp as a guide but generally that isn’t always an indicator of when it’s done.

 
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So.. pull at 190... wrap... put back in the smoker w MUCH less heat... let it go for an extra 1-2hrs... INSANITY
Do this but wrap in towels in a small cooler for the same time. Even better effect (tighter quarters / moister), and less effort (trying to balance a pit at ~200 for 2 hours to avoid drying) Trust me. 

 
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Do this but wrap in towels in a small cooler for the same time. Even better effect (tighter quarters / moister), and less effort (trying to balance a pit at ~200 for 2 hours to avoid drying) Trust me. 
Just like a regular coleman cooler?

Interesting

 
For 6 lb shoulders or smaller, I wrap in foil, then one old dishtowel, then I put in one of those lunch-box size soft collapsible coolers.  I used to nerd out on pork shoulder, but I've cut back on how much time/attention I devote and I still get the same result. 

 
[icon] said:
Do this but wrap in towels in a small cooler for the same time. Even better effect (tighter quarters / moister), and less effort (trying to balance a pit at ~200 for 2 hours to avoid drying) Trust me. 
That's what I did last time but I couldn't remember the temp.  You're saying 190?

 
What will it show?
I wet brined ribs once. At the suggestion of the folks here. Didn't feel like there was a flavor difference from my regular ribs. Didn't do it again for a couple years. The next time I did a side by side of brine (apple juice, salt, pepper, garlic) and marinade (apple juice, pepper, garlic) and ribs salted and rubbed. Chilled them for 12 hours. The next day, I removed the two sets of ribs from the liquid and applied the exact same rub as the third set of ribs and some salt to the marinated ribs. Cooked all three identically. The results:

Brined ribs

Marinated ribs

Dry brined ribs

I've done this blind taste test now four times for various groups of people. The results are the same every time. 

 
Had the day off today.

Marinated boneless skinless chicken breasts in Italian dressing this morning, marinated about 18 16/20s in olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic and a lil Frank's about half an hour ago.

Grill is preheating 

:)

 
This is it. The spirit of BBQ has never been about trying to find wood you have to ship in. It's about using what you have. We swear by Hickory in Tennessee. Because we have a lot of Hickory trees. (and it really is the best ;)   ) Aaron Franklin seems to get by ok using Post Oak. Because that's plentiful in Central Texas. Same story everywhere. In my opinion, the best answer is use a hardwood that is reasonably available. 
The spirit of BBQ was developed long before modern shipping methods. I just got some orange in. Smelled GREAT. It also allows me to score pecan on a regular basis as that and oak are my go to for beef. Part of BBQ is also experimenting with rubs, sauces, cuts of meat and smoke wood and even cookers. 

 
shuke said:
What is "done"?  195?  200?  205?
It'll vary. Main thing is be consistent and get what you like.

Another thing to remember, a pork shoulder is complicated cut of meat. Several different muscles. The same shoulder might be 190 in one place, 195 in another and 200 in another. 

I like to go for 200 in the center. You "can" tell by feel but 10 years in, I still go by temp on my Thermopen. I just find it to be most consistent that way. I know some people are proud of never using a temp gauge or measuring ingredients. I'm not one. 

 
It'll vary. Main thing is be consistent and get what you like.

Another thing to remember, a pork shoulder is complicated cut of meat. Several different muscles. The same shoulder might be 190 in one place, 195 in another and 200 in another. 

I like to go for 200 in the center. You "can" tell by feel but 10 years in, I still go by temp on my Thermopen. I just find it to be most consistent that way. I know some people are proud of never using a temp gauge or measuring ingredients. I'm not one. 
I run into those guys all the time. All of them swear that they never screw up a cook. All of them lie. 

 
So wound up going with a Louisiana Grill C900 from Costco for my pellet smoker. It's a 36" barrel style with a Yoder style fire box, plus it has a large cold smoke box that's attached. It was 700 bucks including a cover, built really well and it's from Costco so if it sucks it goes back and I get the RT 700 :)

It can get really hot, I did my initial start-up and then burn in. It doesn't have a high on the controller, just 600. From start up to 600 on the controller and 650ish on the lid thermometer it took about 30 minutes.  I closed the butterfly valve to the cold smoke box and it got up to 700 on the lid temp. The cold smoke box ran around 200 when the smoker was at 350 (startup temp) and almost 300 when I had it up to 600.

Pics of it post build

ETA will be doing a few fatties Thu or Friday and brisket and a pork shoulder I think this weekend. Brisket for sure. Beans and mac n cheese too.

 
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I run into those guys all the time. All of them swear that they never screw up a cook. All of them lie. 
Yes. I really don't get it. It's the same thing with the server that wants to show off and not right any of the order down. I'm "I'm not impressed. I just want you not to screw up my order and trying to be cool not writing stuff down increases the chance of a screw up exponentially"

 
Also going to throw a pot of beans on the smoker.  I've never done it before.  Just going to throw some stuff together.  Don't give me a recipe, but give me one secret ingredient.

 
Also going to throw a pot of beans on the smoker.  I've never done it before.  Just going to throw some stuff together.  Don't give me a recipe, but give me one secret ingredient.
Not really all that secret but add a can Can of apple pie filling to a half pan of beans. They will break apart and render down while cooking 

diced bell pepper 

diced Vidalia onion 

 
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Also going to throw a pot of beans on the smoker.  I've never done it before.  Just going to throw some stuff together.  Don't give me a recipe, but give me one secret ingredient.
Tons of BBQ people add Apple Sauce (that's what i do) or Apple Pie filling as icon said. It's basically some sweetness. I balance that with some heat from cayenne. If you really want a secret ingredient for baked bean, break out the Cheerwine. Basically you want stuff to break up the boringness that beans are. Onion, Bell Pepper, Mustard, Cayenne, Brown Sugar, Applesauce. That kind of thing.

 
If I'm already planning on adding brown sugar and maybe some maple syrup, would the applesauce be overdoing it?

 
Also going to throw a pot of beans on the smoker.  I've never done it before.  Just going to throw some stuff together.  Don't give me a recipe, but give me one secret ingredient.
Giving you one ingredient is dangerous because it comes from an involved family recipe passed down from my Aunt Gwen, an amazing Texas bean cooker. It almost seems entirely secret ingredients after reading the replies. But, five spice. Either that or balsamic. I don't know which one's best to share. Or maybe pumpkin puree. No then you'd have to know about the pumpkin pie spice. I know you don't want a recipe but Kahlua is a secret that works in some recipes and it's nice have with a little vodka and coffee while putting things together and spilling a few drops in the pot. Molasses and maple syrup aren't secret so no need to mention them. A nice fatty hunk of honey ham isn't a secret but it's super flavorful and kinda  works in a smooshy potato bun after removal much better than soggy bacon (with a little slaw maybe).

 

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