What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

***Official Grilling and Smoking Thread*** (1 Viewer)

Americas Test Kitchen has seriously elevated my chicken game. Roll the skin back on bone in chicken legs and thighs and salt the meat then roll the skin over where it was before pellet grilling skin side down at 450 for 20 mins then flip and 10-15 mins more til 180 degrees. So good
While you have the skin rolled back, cut out the tendons in the legs. I do this every time I cook chicken legs and it's a game changer.
Do you french them and then pull them out or some other method?
Nope, just pull the skin back, cut the tendons and slide the skin back on.

Like this: https://youtube.com/shorts/4mR5W_AeYOo?si=TJPxRPerouwxD3t5
Thanks. Will do

Salt that meat while you’re in there 😉
 
any thoughts on electric vs pellet ? I'm kinda liking the east oak pro?
What do electrics use as the smoke source? wood chips? I mean a pellet smoker is basically an electric smoker, in that it uses electricity to light the pellets on fire. I'm assuming that even an "electric" cabinet smoker has to burn some form of wood.

ETA - google tells me it's wood chips. I guess the main difference is that a pellet grill is burning pellets for both smoke AND heat, whereas the electric smoker is heating via electricity and just heating enough wood chips to generate smoke.
 
Americas Test Kitchen has seriously elevated my chicken game. Roll the skin back on bone in chicken legs and thighs and salt the meat then roll the skin over where it was before pellet grilling skin side down at 450 for 20 mins then flip and 10-15 mins more til 180 degrees. So good
Yeah, been doing this for years. Works great.
 
Americas Test Kitchen has seriously elevated my chicken game. Roll the skin back on bone in chicken legs and thighs and salt the meat then roll the skin over where it was before pellet grilling skin side down at 450 for 20 mins then flip and 10-15 mins more til 180 degrees. So good
Yeah, been doing this for years. Works great.
Same. Also works very well in an air fryer. Chicken skin bacon 🤌
 
Americas Test Kitchen has seriously elevated my chicken game. Roll the skin back on bone in chicken legs and thighs and salt the meat then roll the skin over where it was before pellet grilling skin side down at 450 for 20 mins then flip and 10-15 mins more til 180 degrees. So good
Yeah, been doing this for years. Works great.

How much salt are we talking here?
 
Americas Test Kitchen has seriously elevated my chicken game. Roll the skin back on bone in chicken legs and thighs and salt the meat then roll the skin over where it was before pellet grilling skin side down at 450 for 20 mins then flip and 10-15 mins more til 180 degrees. So good
Yeah, been doing this for years. Works great.

How much salt are we talking here?
For me I use some kind of BBQ rub. I also use one that is just salt, pepper, and garlic powder. You can really use just about any combo you like.
 
Americas Test Kitchen has seriously elevated my chicken game. Roll the skin back on bone in chicken legs and thighs and salt the meat then roll the skin over where it was before pellet grilling skin side down at 450 for 20 mins then flip and 10-15 mins more til 180 degrees. So good
Yeah, been doing this for years. Works great.

How much salt are we talking here?
A good rule of thumb for dry brining meats that aren't super thick is to just salt about the maximum amount you would if applying salt to cooked food. I use kosher because I find the larger granules easier to regulate.
 
Americas Test Kitchen has seriously elevated my chicken game. Roll the skin back on bone in chicken legs and thighs and salt the meat then roll the skin over where it was before pellet grilling skin side down at 450 for 20 mins then flip and 10-15 mins more til 180 degrees. So good
Yeah, been doing this for years. Works great.

How much salt are we talking here?
Couple pinches. Like you would season it on your plate
 
Americas Test Kitchen has seriously elevated my chicken game. Roll the skin back on bone in chicken legs and thighs and salt the meat then roll the skin over where it was before pellet grilling skin side down at 450 for 20 mins then flip and 10-15 mins more til 180 degrees. So good
While you have the skin rolled back, cut out the tendons in the legs. I do this every time I cook chicken legs and it's a game changer.
Do you french them and then pull them out or some other method?
Nope, just pull the skin back, cut the tendons and slide the skin back on.

Like this: https://youtube.com/shorts/4mR5W_AeYOo?si=TJPxRPerouwxD3t5
How about a NSFW on that link guy?

actually, that video was perfect. Just the right amount of detail on the un-conventional part of cooking chicken without any lengthy preamble or hyper edited BS that is all the rage on food videos.
 
any thoughts on electric vs pellet ? I'm kinda liking the east oak pro?
Neither.
this was helpful.
To each his own, but I'm glad I moved past thinking pellet and electric smokers were cheating. I got a really good deal on a Traeger but kept my WSM for when I wanted to do more temperature-control smoking. Guess how many times I've used the WSM since then? Hint: it's less than 1.

For me the convenience of a pellet just makes it more enjoyable. But again, to each his own.

My brother-in-law has an vertical electric smoker that I looked down on... that is until I tasted his BBQ from that. The smoke flavor blew me away. Completely changed my opinion on them.

I know the cool thing is to cook with wood logs on a monster smoker like you're Aaron Franklin, and I wish that was me, but the reality is that sometimes convenience is too good to pass up.
 
any thoughts on electric vs pellet ? I'm kinda liking the east oak pro?
Neither.
this was helpful.
To each his own, but I'm glad I moved past thinking pellet and electric smokers were cheating. I got a really good deal on a Traeger but kept my WSM for when I wanted to do more temperature-control smoking. Guess how many times I've used the WSM since then? Hint: it's less than 1.

For me the convenience of a pellet just makes it more enjoyable. But again, to each his own.

My brother-in-law has an vertical electric smoker that I looked down on... that is until I tasted his BBQ from that. The smoke flavor blew me away. Completely changed my opinion on them.

I know the cool thing is to cook with wood logs on a monster smoker like you're Aaron Franklin, and I wish that was me, but the reality is that sometimes convenience is too good to pass up.
Same thing. I bought a pit boss 2 years ago, but much to my wife's disappointment, kept my WSM to "play" with on the weekends when I had more time. I have not used it since. I have done everything including prime rib and brisket on the pit boss. Do I get as good of a smoke ring on the pit boss? No, but it still has plenty flavor and it is so much easier to set the temp, throw the meat on and let it do its thing still putting out a tasty meal. I like my pit boss because I can smoke on it and I can grill on it.
 
Smoking a chuck roast on the Pitboss tomorrow for the first time. I’m going to make “poor man’s burnt ends”.
I’m following Hey Grill Hey’s recipe


I don’t have her rub or sauce, going with s+p+g and have a bottle of Stubbs spicy which I’ve never tried
 
Americas Test Kitchen has seriously elevated my chicken game. Roll the skin back on bone in chicken legs and thighs and salt the meat then roll the skin over where it was before pellet grilling skin side down at 450 for 20 mins then flip and 10-15 mins more til 180 degrees. So good
Yeah, been doing this for years. Works great.

How much salt are we talking here?
For me I use some kind of BBQ rub. I also use one that is just salt, pepper, and garlic powder. You can really use just about any combo you like.
I use this stuff a ton on chicken and veggies
 
I found a sirloin roast in the freezer yesterday from a cow we had butchered. My plan was to do it low and long like a brisket, but the reading I did was doing it to med rare to rare so that is what I did. It took about 3 1/2 hours. It was a little tough (was expecting that because it was very lean), but had a very nice smoke ring and great flavor and was very juicy. Probably wouldn't buy one at the store but it made a great supper and will probably use the leftovers for some beef tacos.
 
Smoking a chuck roast on the Pitboss tomorrow for the first time. I’m going to make “poor man’s burnt ends”.
I’m following Hey Grill Hey’s recipe


I don’t have her rub or sauce, going with s+p+g and have a bottle of Stubbs spicy which I’ve never tried
I was very happy with this. Really tender and delicious. Will definitely make again

I opened the Stubbs this morning to taste it and we both hated it. Went with Jim Beam smoky barrel instead. Really good



Instant pot collard greens with smoked turkey tails

 
So my husband had an electric smoker that died a couple of years ago and our grill is on the way out. His birthday is in a month and I want to get him a nice smoker/grill. I have no idea where to start. Anyone want to share a recommendation? Would like to stay under 800, definitely won't go over 1k.
 
So my husband had an electric smoker that died a couple of years ago and our grill is on the way out. His birthday is in a month and I want to get him a nice smoker/grill. I have no idea where to start. Anyone want to share a recommendation? Would like to stay under 800, definitely won't go over 1k.
This is what I went with when I Bought my pellet grill: pit boss pro Works great for grilling and smoking. I went with this model because it has a removable burn pot to make emptying ashes a lot easier.
 
So my husband had an electric smoker that died a couple of years ago and our grill is on the way out. His birthday is in a month and I want to get him a nice smoker/grill. I have no idea where to start. Anyone want to share a recommendation? Would like to stay under 800, definitely won't go over 1k.
I'm a big fan of Recteq. Great quality. I have a different model but if I was looking for one grill that could smoke and grill and I didn't need something too huge I would go for this:

 
In my limited research this keeps popping up as the best smoker/grill.


Anyone know anything about it or is anything I should be looking to avoid when buying one? TIA

Not going to lie, but this one looks cheap.
 
In my limited research this keeps popping up as the best smoker/grill.


Anyone know anything about it or is anything I should be looking to avoid when buying one? TIA

Not going to lie, but this one looks cheap.
I’ve had this one for 2-3 yrs. I love it

 
My understanding with pit boss is that the make different price point level units. I have no idea what the difference in quality is though. When I was doing my research, the pro series had great reviews and the size I wanted wasn't a lot more so I went with it.
 
Wife bought me a blackstone grill for my birthday. I haven't done much research on it. I understand you have to season it. Are there any must have accessories that I want to have with the flat top grill. It has a hood if that matters for stuff I should buy for it.
 
Wife bought me a blackstone grill for my birthday. I haven't done much research on it. I understand you have to season it. Are there any must have accessories that I want to have with the flat top grill. It has a hood if that matters for stuff I should buy for it.

Burger press for smash burgers
Other than that I have a bottle for oil and a few tongs and flippers
Scraper if it doesn’t come with it
Foil grease traps
 
Wife bought me a blackstone grill for my birthday. I haven't done much research on it. I understand you have to season it. Are there any must have accessories that I want to have with the flat top grill. It has a hood if that matters for stuff I should buy for it.

Burger press for smash burgers
Other than that I have a bottle for oil and a few tongs and flippers
Scraper if it doesn’t come with it
Foil grease traps
Great advice. I'll add: a bottle of CitruSafe cleaner and disposable scrubbies (I clean it after almost every use). And a propane tank adapter to run off a larger tank instead of bottles. Also, the Costco Oriental Frozen Veggies are great for stir fry and Costco also has the BIG box of Kodiak Pancake Mix.
 
Homemade BBQ Sauce

This is the best sauce I’ve found, so good on pulled pork. Takes 10 minutes to make and you probably have everything you need to make it. Make it a day ahead imo
I'll second that. It's very similar to a recipe I have from an old Steven Raichlen book. Vinegar sauces aren't quite as popular up here in WI, but I've busted this sauce out at parties and urged people try it over the Sweet Baby Rays bottle and it always gets rave reviews.
 
Homemade BBQ Sauce

This is the best sauce I’ve found, so good on pulled pork. Takes 10 minutes to make and you probably have everything you need to make it. Make it a day ahead imo
Vinegar sauces aren't quite as popular up here in WI, but I've busted this sauce out at parties and urged people try it over the Sweet Baby Rays bottle and it always gets rave reviews.
Yep same here. So much better than bottled sauces. Everyone that’s tried it loves it on pork
 
I have read this many times but always thought it sounded disgusting but....1/2 Mayo, 1/2 Dijon with salt, pepper, thyme, on chicken breast for about 20 mins pre-grill is ****ing amazing.

Chicken comes out perfect.
 
Some outstanding grilling and smoking 4th of July week, in a "make it work kitchen" as we call it up in the U.P.

1. Smoked pork shoulders

Weber charcoal grill, partially full and stacked heavily to one side, shoulders on the opposite side, vent slightly open...about 5-6 hours to cook. Really make sure they're done because, well, no way to tell temp of grill or the meat lol. All visuals. Every ~45 minutes did my makeshift mop: use a mustard bottle, but dump 3/4 of the mustard in another container. Fill the rest with roughly equal parts apply juice and apple cider vinegar. Add a little mustard back if it tastes too apple-y. Tented shoulders in a foil tray covered with aluminum foil for 2 hours.

Homemade BBQ sauces, both vinegar based.

A. Mustard-base: use whatever mop is left, add a decent amount more mustard. Tons of black pepper, decent amount of brown sugar, salt, garlic. Simmer all that for quite a while, keep tasting as you go, until you get a good viscosity and you like the flavor profile. Use apple cider vinegar and apple juice to adjust and lighten it up a bit as needed.

B. Ketchup base: a bunch of ketchup, half as much cider vinegar, half as much apple juice, a bunch of garlic, some salt, and do the same thing as A. keep the brown sugar, ketchup, and cider vinegar at the ready as you simmer it down and make sure it stays somewhat liquid-y. If you don't have in-laws that are total spice-wusses, steep some sliced jalapenos in it while simmering, and then again use your ingredients and spices and taste it as you go until it's what you want.

Pull that pork, get some fresh onion and some pickles, some great buns, add some cole slaw and rock and roll from there.


2. Steak and shrimp tacos

Skirt steak - marinate it in olive oil and a bunch of spices - cumin, garlic, coriander, salt, and pepper. About 2 hours before cooking, temper the steak by letting it get up to room temp and salting it, then let it sit another hour at least.

Shrimp - bring up to room temp, and marinate about 20 minutes prior to cooking time in olive oil and cayenne and tajin and pepper, lime zest, and after 10 minutes, add some lime juice too.

Need a grill plate or a griddle of some kind to get the shrimp done, and the skirt steak - get a full weber roaring with charcoal, and go about 1.5-2 minutes per side, depending on how good a job you did. Open - no lid. Let each piece of skirt steak rest before slicing against the grain. You may need to cut the slices in half or even thirds depending on how long they are.
 
Last post 2 weeks ago? It’s summer guys…get those smokers smoking!

12 lb bone in butt going on this evening for a party tomorrow afternoon.

Fried chicken
Cold steamed shrimp
Pasta salad
Macaroni salad
Cucumber salad
Deviled eggs
Pickled eggs
Beans on the smoker with poblanos and bacon


:popcorn:
 
smoked turkey breast yesterday for a small group - mesquite on weber kettle - no pics, leftovers almost gone this afternoon

Good smoked Turkey is highly underrated.
So true. I think it works so well because turkey has such a mild flavor that really benefits from the smoke. I also tend to make mine Franklin style which is more like smoked butter with a little turkey flavor...
 
I’ve got smoked turkey breast on the agenda, probably next weekend. I’ve done a full bird but never just the breast
It is my favorite thing to smoke. People are always blown away. Even when I don't do it as well as I'd like.

What's your method? Brine?
I played with injecting overnight, but some A/B tests with my wife and friends found it unnecessary.

Relatively simple:
1. Dry brine (simple BBQ mix of garlic, S&P, smoked paprika) in the morning
2. Reapply same seasoning mix (fwiw, it is very much heavy on pepper and light on the others)
3. 275 - I have found a maple wood is my favorite, but also often use a standard competition mix of pellets - about 2 hours, good crust and color forming/formed
4. Put a piece of foil down with a half stick of butter on it. I usually cut it length wise, and then maybe half that and split it up. Pull the breast off smoke and put it good side down on the butter, then add the other half stick on top (which was the bottom of the breast). Wrap it up, then from the top, wrap it again and flip over, so butter won't spill out during cook.
5. Back on, with the temp thing in, and pull it off when it gets close to 165
6. I let it rest then in a cooler or a microwave for like a half hour
7. pull it out carefully and keep all that delicious smoked melty butter
8. slice it
9. I usually then poor some of that butter back over all the slices right before I serve it


ETA: I've pulled this together over a year of trying a few different YT recipes and kind of winging it a bit and bringing pieces together. I would certainly welcome any tips from the masters on here!!! (including you :) ) I am a novice for sure.

Second ETA: My blown away comment was less about my skill and more about how awesome smoked turkey is. Low key I think it's my favorite bbq meat. Although I just did a pork shoulder that was outstanding. Sous Vide 14 hours, cool down overnight, dry and re-season, smoke at 225 for ~3 hours (until it got back up to like 135+ in temp), hitting it with an apple cider/juice mop every 45 mins or so. MMMMMMMM.
 
smoked turkey breast yesterday for a small group - mesquite on weber kettle - no pics, leftovers almost gone this afternoon

smoked turkey breast yesterday for a small group - mesquite on weber kettle - no pics, leftovers almost gone this afternoon

Good smoked Turkey is highly underrated.

smoked turkey breast yesterday for a small group - mesquite on weber kettle - no pics, leftovers almost gone this afternoon

Good smoked Turkey is highly underrated.
So true. I think it works so well because turkey has such a mild flavor that really benefits from the smoke. I also tend to make mine Franklin style which is more like smoked butter with a little turkey flavor...
Never tried it but I’ve been wanting too.

Advice?
 
smoked turkey breast yesterday for a small group - mesquite on weber kettle - no pics, leftovers almost gone this afternoon

smoked turkey breast yesterday for a small group - mesquite on weber kettle - no pics, leftovers almost gone this afternoon

Good smoked Turkey is highly underrated.

smoked turkey breast yesterday for a small group - mesquite on weber kettle - no pics, leftovers almost gone this afternoon

Good smoked Turkey is highly underrated.
So true. I think it works so well because turkey has such a mild flavor that really benefits from the smoke. I also tend to make mine Franklin style which is more like smoked butter with a little turkey flavor...
Never tried it but I’ve been wanting too.

Advice?
You can google Aaron Franklin's recipe, but... It's just heavy salt and pepper for seasoning after taking the skins completely off the breast. Smoke it for a bit (I can't remember exact internal temp right now), pull it off, put a stick of butter against each breast, and wrap in foil until internal temp is hit. Pull. Slice. Incredible stuff every time.
 
Never tried it but I’ve been wanting too.

Advice?
pull the turkey at 155 and add butter before wrapping to let finish - i used 1 stick of butter for each breast ( had removed form bone prior to smoking) - use that turkey butter to dip the slices into
smoked turkey breast yesterday for a small group - mesquite on weber kettle - no pics, leftovers almost gone this afternoon

smoked turkey breast yesterday for a small group - mesquite on weber kettle - no pics, leftovers almost gone this afternoon

Good smoked Turkey is highly underrated.

smoked turkey breast yesterday for a small group - mesquite on weber kettle - no pics, leftovers almost gone this afternoon

Good smoked Turkey is highly underrated.
So true. I think it works so well because turkey has such a mild flavor that really benefits from the smoke. I also tend to make mine Franklin style which is more like smoked butter with a little turkey flavor...
Never tried it but I’ve been wanting too.

Advice?
You can google Aaron Franklin's recipe, but... It's just heavy salt and pepper for seasoning after taking the skins completely off the breast. Smoke it for a bit (I can't remember exact internal temp right now), pull it off, put a stick of butter against each breast, and wrap in foil until internal temp is hit. Pull. Slice. Incredible stuff every time.

Yep. I removed the turkey breasts at 155 to add the butter and wrap then return to the grill - removed them for good when the internal temp hit 162 to let rest before enjoying. Figured carry over would get them to 165 or just above.
 
smoked turkey breast yesterday for a small group - mesquite on weber kettle - no pics, leftovers almost gone this afternoon

smoked turkey breast yesterday for a small group - mesquite on weber kettle - no pics, leftovers almost gone this afternoon

Good smoked Turkey is highly underrated.

smoked turkey breast yesterday for a small group - mesquite on weber kettle - no pics, leftovers almost gone this afternoon

Good smoked Turkey is highly underrated.
So true. I think it works so well because turkey has such a mild flavor that really benefits from the smoke. I also tend to make mine Franklin style which is more like smoked butter with a little turkey flavor...
Never tried it but I’ve been wanting too.

Advice?
I posted a step by step like 1-2 posts above this :)
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top