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Malsua

Pellet smoker suggestions wanted

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I have been smoking on my gas grill with a smoke tube for a while now.

A few weeks back, I bought a Pellet smoker.  Z grill.   7002b.   Works great.

I smoked a 9lb Brisket last weekend.  12.5 hour cook, 2.5 hour rest.  Came out great.

I've smoked ribs recently on the conventional propane with a smoke tube.

I've never smoked chicken or turkey on a pellet smoker.  

Maybe some steaks?   Never did those on this pellet smoker.  I realize it may take much longer.  Not an issue.

You know the old saying?  When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail? 

Suggestions on what I should do next?

 

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Pork shoulder is easy and awesome, did one last weekend. (Tom beat me to it)

If you do chicken or turkey make sure you finish on higher heat to get the skin right.

I think I am gonna try beef ribs this weekend.

Did a rib-eye reverse sear 2 week ago, came out incredible. (start with a thick cut, 2" or so)

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The biggest issue is arraigning to have it finish about 6pm.  

That tells me temps, it doesn't mention how long those temps take.

The recipe looks strikingly similar to a brisket.  

I guess I could put it on 11pm.   The issue is turning up the heat a few hours later.    Oof, man, what a shitty first world problem.  I have to get up to turn the heat up. heh.

 

 

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Go with the amazing ribs recipe, the second link I posted.

Quote

At 225F, plan on about 1 hour 15 minutes per pound.

Pork butt does not take nearly as long as brisket.  Plan on having it finish around 4-5 pm and follow their advice about wrapping it in a "faux cambro" for an hour or so before pulling/serving. 

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2 minutes ago, tomk62 said:

Go with the amazing ribs recipe, the second link I posted.

Pork butt does not take nearly as long as brisket.  Plan on having it finish around 4-5 pm and follow their advice about wrapping it in a "faux cambro" for an hour or so before pulling/serving. 

I normally get up at 5, that gives me about 12 hours. Should be doable.  I'll try to keep it to a 5 pounder or so.  It depends on what they have.

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Some more ideas that are awesome on the smoker:

leg of lamb

prime rib

duck

pork loin or tenderloin

assorted sausages

and don’t forget the appetizers:

ABTs, pig candy, pig shots, smoked nuts, Moink balls, etc

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On the pork butt/shoulder- I’ve done three on the pellet smoker. First one 10 am start, not ready until 830pm. Next one midnight start right on time for 4pm dinner. 
Last one started at 11 pm aiming for 4pm dinner with mom- was done by 11am. (Pound and 1/2 heavier than last one, thought it would be longer?) let it rest wrapped in cooler for 5 hours, came out hot. Everyone loved it, I thought the bark got a little mushy, but came out very moist with great flavor. 
 

With most BBQ it’s done when it’s done. If I’m trying to hit a dinner time I will start early and let it rest if a larger cut of meat. 
 

Doing smoked meatloaf tonight (no fruit). Picked up beef ribs for slow smoke tomorrow. 

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Pork Shoulders/Butts can vary on time: bone-in or boneless and some pigs just cook differently. I avg 2 hr/pound and find 6-9 pounders cook the best. Smallest I've done was 3.5#, 19.1# the largest. Don't be concerned about having it ready at a set time. Start early and hold it. Briskets & Pork I cook until meat is fork/probe tender, meat temp is only a guide. When done, they get wrapped in 2-3 layers of foil, then 3-4 beach blankets and into a cooler. I've held both that way for three hours and trips to my brother's place and they're still burn-your-hands-hot when removed.

I spatchcock all of my chickens now, I've done a few turkeys. I prefer the flavor of steaks over charcoal, I have not experimented with different pellets though. Beef ribs have humbled me the two times I've attempted them. I've done a few appetizers, including eggs and beans. Jerky is awesome, but very space & time consuming with all of the prep and finishing required. I struggle getting the temp I'm after as well; my smoker doesn't like to run that low. I've got some time off so I hope to be making a couple of batches.

I'll be putting a couple of racks of pork ribs on later today.

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If you have a large group to cook for and want to splurge a bit, try smoking a whole strip loin.  They are about 9 to 12 lbs and holy crap they taste good. 
 

I use a hickory / oak / apple blend for the smoke, get it up to about 114 degrees and then sear it on all sides on the grill or if your smoker has a sear burner, even better. 
 

For a rub I use a Roman pepper style blend  (Basil, rosemary, black pepper, plenty of salt, little bit of red pepper)

Make some horseradish cream for the side (horseradish + salt + mayo)

Have been told was the best steak people ever had, and they’ve had some great steak.

 

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I'll peruse the meats at Acme today, but I doubt they will have anything I want.   Ah well, next week perhaps.

I am smoking this morning though.   2 hunks of mild cheddar and 1 hunk of medium.   If you're going to smoke cheddar, you'll find the sharper it gets, the more crumbly it gets when smoked, so we prefer mild and medium.  I think medium is perfect, the wife likes the mild. Shrug.

Applewood chips, smoke tube, 2-3 hours then vacuum seal for two weeks.   It's an awesome snack.

smokingcheese.jpg

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Pork tenderloins are one of my favorites. I usually do several of them at a time, and vacuum seal/freeze them for quick meals during the week. 
 

We do my version of tacos al pastor once or twice a month using these smoked tenderloins. Easy...and so damn tasty! 

Make a quick chipotle slaw with some coleslaw mix. I use 1/4 cup Hellman’s mayo, 1/4 cup sour cream, and a little smoked chipotle pepper. A little of the pepper goes a long way...

Pickle some shallots...simple, slice up a shallot and soak in some fresh lime juice and a pinch of kosher salt for about 10 mins. 
 

Grill a little pineapple. I use fresh pineapple and skewer it, and give it some grill marks on the gas grill (to make it easy and quick). 

Cube up the pork and the pineapple. Fill warm flour tortillas with the pork, and pineapple, top with the slaw and pickled shallots. Garnish with a little chopped cilantro (Mrs Tex prefers Italian parsley..but whatever). 
 

Easy...tasty..quick weeknight meal! 


 

 

21ABAD7B-6544-41B4-AA83-C53DC9BFD56C.jpeg

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I'm smoking a brisket (flat only) tomorrow.  I've not previously used the Texas crutch to get over the stall, but plan to give it a try on this one.  I'm also planning to try for the first time the multi-hour rest, with the brisket wrapped in towels in an insulated cooler.   Both techniques are more useful on a whole (packer) brisket, but I'll experiment on a small scale first.

I'm planning on two smoked appetizers, but both use essentially the same filling.

ABTs are my all-time favorite appetizer.  ABTs

And I recently found a recipe for Pig Shots, so they are going on as well. Pig Shots

 

Last night, I made beer brats following this process--they were excellent!  BBQ Pit Boys Beer Brats

 

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19 minutes ago, 10X said:

I'm smoking a brisket (flat only) tomorrow.  I've not previously used the Texas crutch to get over the stall, but plan to give it a try on this one.  I'm also planning to try for the first time the multi-hour rest, with the brisket wrapped in towels in an insulated cooler.   Both techniques are more useful on a whole (packer) brisket, but I'll experiment on a small scale first.

I'm planning on two smoked appetizers, but both use essentially the same filling.

ABTs are my all-time favorite appetizer.  ABTs

And I recently found a recipe for Pig Shots, so they are going on as well. Pig Shots

 

Last night, I made beer brats following this process--they were excellent!  BBQ Pit Boys Beer Brats

 

I usually use the ‘Texas Crutch’ method if I’m time limited, using some butcher paper lightly sprayed with beef broth. It works well, however, if you like a crispy bark, it tends to soften it a little. 
 

You can power through the stall. Trust your thermometer. The stall is caused by the moisture evaporating off the meat surface...sometimes it takes awhile to power through...but it WILL! 
 

Wrapping it when it reaches 200° IS the key, I think. I wrap in butcher paper, and then in an old beach towel, and stick it in an empty ice chest for a few hours. This allows the juices to settle back into the meat, and leaves you with a nice, flavorful brisket. 
 

My personal preference on a whole packer brisket is to trim the hard fat to about 1/4” thick, rub it (use your preferred rib recipe here), and allow it to sit in the refrigerator overnight before throwing it on the smoker. That’s what works for me, your mileage may vary. 
 

I smoke on a pit barrel cooker, with a mix of mesquite and hickory mixed in with the charcoal. 

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I've tried wrapped and not wrapped.  I definitely prefer wrapped with butcher paper, it's more moist.  I usually do it in the 155-165 range when it looks like it's stalled or when it's shrunk up tight and the juice has come to the surface.

If Aaron Franklin does it this way, and he does, that's good enough for me.

I have both stuffed it in a cooler and let it rest outside.  The only difference I saw was meat temp.  The cooler meat held temp until I took it out.  I'm sure one way is better, but I've not done enough brisket to make that determination for myself.

 

 

 

 

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On 8/15/2020 at 8:06 AM, Malsua said:

 

I'll peruse the meats at Acme today, but I doubt they will have anything I want.   Ah well, next week peehaps.

Do you have a Restaurant Depot near you? Usually only open to restaurants & businesses but have opened up to the public during the pandemic as their customer base has been mostly closed for months.  Probabky have much wider selection of larger cuts of meat.

Costco also has some nice larger cuts of meat.

Good luck!

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On 8/15/2020 at 10:51 AM, Zeke said:

Try the meatloaf! It’s way better then @gleninjersey bland ass casserole!

( sorry widdle buddy)

It's a little bland but try using different cheeses, adding garlic powder, etc.

Try making it as a Taco Casserole.  Brown the meat with Taco Seasoning, add jalapenos, top with Mexican blend cheese and after cooked top with guacamole, salsa, sour cream, etc.

I started doing low carb last Monday.  The meat casseroles are quick, easy cooks when doing low carb.  And if you make two at once you can freeze one for an ever quicker meal.

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1 minute ago, gleninjersey said:

Do you have a Restaurant Depot near you? Usually only open to restaurants & businesses but have opened up to the public during the pandemic as their customer base has been mostly closed for months.  Probabky have much wider selection of larger cuts of meat.

Costco also has some nice larger cuts of meat.

Good luck!

There is a restaurant depot near where I work, but last I checked, want you to be a member and to be a member you have to own a restaurant.  I didn't see any indication otherwise.  I'll check it out again.

I am a member of Sam's Club, but that's because there's one very close to where my FL house is.   There are no Sam's around where I live.  There is that one kinda near where I work at 3 and 95, never been there though.  Costco is a long ways off too.

I have bought brisket at Cogman's Country on 23, but it's only convenient if I'm on my way home from work.  They may have had a shoulder.  I will probably just do one next weekend.

I ended up smoking one of those Chicken roasters.   It was $1.15/lb for a 7.5lb bird.   The package says "3 hours 15 minutes for 7+  pounds".  At 2 hours and 30 minutes it was done.  I let it rest for about an hour in the oven on warm as we had to finish a project before eating.  It came out GREAT!  So juicy, nice and smokey too.

 

 

 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Malsua said:

There is a restaurant depot near where I work, but last I checked, want you to be a member and to be a member you have to own a restaurant.  I didn't see any indication otherwise.  I'll check it out again.

Hopefully they are still open to the public.  Back in April or May my wife went there and they were giving "day passes" to non-restaurant owners.  She purchased a few hundred dollars worth of food at that time including a HUGE slab of beef ribs. I cut some into steaks and a few 3-5 pound roasts.

Give them a call and inquire if still allowing non- restaurant owners to shop there.  If so, load up!

Good luck!

I have to look into this smoke tube thing.  Or maybe even a smoker.  

This thread is making me hungry!

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20 minutes ago, gleninjersey said:

I have to look into this smoke tube thing.  Or maybe even a smoker.  

 

The smoke tube was my gateway drug.  

I still use it IN the pellet smoker for extra smoke.   The pellet smoker doesn't produce a lot of smoke at the higher heats, so the tube is there to kick it up a notch.

If nothing else, the smoke tube is $13, a 20lb bag of pellets is $19 at home depot.  That's enough to fill that tube 50 times.  For under $35 you can smoke cheese and smoke up anything else you do on your regular grill.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06ZZRR7XD?pf_rd_r=ZJA0R91BEDYHAYVEK9K7&pf_rd_p=edaba0ee-c2fe-4124-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee

If you look closely, you can see the smoke tube to the lower left.  All this smoke is from the tube, the grill is unplugged.

 

cheese.jpg

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On 8/16/2020 at 11:04 AM, Malsua said:

There is a restaurant depot near where I work, but last I checked, want you to be a member and to be a member you have to own a restaurant.  I didn't see any indication otherwise.  I'll check it out again.

I am a member of Sam's Club, but that's because there's one very close to where my FL house is.   There are no Sam's around where I live.  There is that one kinda near where I work at 3 and 95, never been there though.  Costco is a long ways off too.

I have bought brisket at Cogman's Country on 23, but it's only convenient if I'm on my way home from work.  They may have had a shoulder.  I will probably just do one next weekend.

I ended up smoking one of those Chicken roasters.   It was $1.15/lb for a 7.5lb bird.   The package says "3 hours 15 minutes for 7+  pounds".  At 2 hours and 30 minutes it was done.  I let it rest for about an hour in the oven on warm as we had to finish a project before eating.  It came out GREAT!  So juicy, nice and smokey too.

 

 

 

 

 

As far as I know they waived the business requirements due to the China flu

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I'm smoking 6lb of beef short ribs.

First shot at these.  I'll probably do a variant of 3-2-1 pork ribs.

3 hours in the smoker on smoke setting with additional smoke tube. I'll use my Salt pepper and onion.  This runs about 170 degrees.

3 hours wrapped at 225(or until it hits temp) .  In the foil I'll be adding brown sugar, BBQ sauce and maple syrup.(We make Maple syrup and always have bottles of it).  I think it's going to take longer than 3 hours to hit temp, these are some real bronto bones I picked up.  Fred Flintstone would be proud.

Finish on the grill or maybe in the broiler just to crisp it up a little.

 

 

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