Interesting video, seein that I've been smokin for the better part of the last decade, I do have one question to pose to the group...typically, my favorite is Boston Butt, which after around 6 hours, a 5-7 pounder turns into nice pulled pork! Most of the stuff I've read, suggests you just burn the wood for a coupla hours, keep the propane around 225-250 degrees and just let it be...not me, I want to keep adding wood until I'm about half an hour out of the meat reaching it's optimal temperature, to keep effusing the smokiness into the meat...Opinions?
These last few years I've been using an electric smoker because my father-in-law gave me his after my wife turned my wood smoker into a planter and no, I'm not fucking kidding.
Anyways, my opinion: I throw some wood chips in at the very beginning so the meat can soak it in, at least one more time but never more than two times spaced out evenly during the cook, and finally about an hour before I pull the meat out. Why? I don't know, that's the way I've always done it.
I can tell you from personal experience: do not throw all the wood chips in at once. The turkey skin was coal black. The wasps vacated the shed (I wanted to smoke, and the wind was 30–40 mph) and never returned. But once skinned, it was some of the best-tasting smoked turkey I've ever had.
For pork lower the temperature to 180-200 degrees. You can keep the wood on it but the exhaust should be the occasional wisp of white smoke. I use apple or hickory and if you are too heavy on the smoke there can be a slight bitter taste. The same process for beef and chicken but up the temperature to 200-225. I smoked for years on kettle electric and wood smokers then again for about 20 years on a offset wood smoker made out of a 250 gallon LP tank. I have also run the church BBQ fundraiser for the men's club. We have 3 built in offset smokers that smoke 75-80 fresh hams and 19 cauldrons of Brunswick stew to produce 1100-1200 chopped BBQ plates. My best results have been with a Rectec pellet smoker that I have been using for about a year.
Everyone does it differently, but yeah, I keep adding wood chips until it's done. Mad smoke flavor, wife loves it for her chicken breasts. The real trick is temperature control and keep the internals of the meat juicy and not dried out. Ignore the BS that the USDA puts out about safe meat temps - that temp they give is way too high - their criteria is that meat at that temp for 1 second is enough to kill all the bugs. Well, damn. When you smoke, you're talking hours, not seconds. There is other info out there that states a lower temp for 10 minutes or more that also ensures the bugs are dead and doesn't dry out the meat.
I swear most of the BBQ joints that cater only smoke for 30 minutes or so and then put it in an oven. No smoke taste and if they didn't have sauce there'd be no reason to eat it. We get that shit at work all the time and people rave over it, I can barely eat it. Like English food - boiled meat and no taste. So yeah, in answer to your question, keep the smoke on it until it gets where you like it.
Gonna get roasted here, (Pun) but been using a pellet smoker for about 3 years now. Brisket at a level I have never had, ribs, pork shoulder, Turkey, etc...Pellet brand makes the difference, prep is important. Check out Malcom Reed on YT, BBQ done right. He is a awesome and entertaining to watch. Serious, check the guy out. Get a high quality pellet smoker and lose the work. Shit is amazing. Imagine cutting into a smoked brisket that looks like a well cooked rib eye.
Pork butt injected with FAB P (until my stash runs out, hopefully they'll get back in business or I finally get the ingredients right), in a propane smoker held between 220/230. I know this is blasphemy to the wood smoker cult, but, in the tray that catches the drippings set way down close to the flame, I use corn. Just plain old shell corn or feed corn or whatever you want to call it. Tractor supply-50# for around $10. You can save your old sweet corn ears that have gone by as well. Six to eight hours and an internal temp of about 165 (I like mine with a little bit of chew) and 175 for pulled pork. Both temps will bump up about 10 degrees after taken out, Keep adding the corn for as long as you want, but I normally only put two handfulls in at the beginning which gives about two hours of smoke. I like corn because it doesn't give the meat that "acrid creasote" taste.
Interesting video, seein that I've been smokin for the better part of the last decade, I do have one question to pose to the group...typically, my favorite is Boston Butt, which after around 6 hours, a 5-7 pounder turns into nice pulled pork! Most of the stuff I've read, suggests you just burn the wood for a coupla hours, keep the propane around 225-250 degrees and just let it be...not me, I want to keep adding wood until I'm about half an hour out of the meat reaching it's optimal temperature, to keep effusing the smokiness into the meat...Opinions?
ReplyDeleteThese last few years I've been using an electric smoker because my father-in-law gave me his after my wife turned my wood smoker into a planter and no, I'm not fucking kidding.
DeleteAnyways, my opinion:
I throw some wood chips in at the very beginning so the meat can soak it in, at least one more time but never more than two times spaced out evenly during the cook, and finally about an hour before I pull the meat out.
Why? I don't know, that's the way I've always done it.
I can tell you from personal experience: do not throw all the wood chips in at once. The turkey skin was coal black. The wasps vacated the shed (I wanted to smoke, and the wind was 30–40 mph) and never returned. But once skinned, it was some of the best-tasting smoked turkey I've ever had.
Delete"...about an hour before I pull the meat out."
DeleteWatch your language, young man.
For pork lower the temperature to 180-200 degrees. You can keep the wood on it but the exhaust should be the occasional wisp of white smoke. I use apple or hickory and if you are too heavy on the smoke there can be a slight bitter taste. The same process for beef and chicken but up the temperature to 200-225. I smoked for years on kettle electric and wood smokers then again for about 20 years on a offset wood smoker made out of a 250 gallon LP tank. I have also run the church BBQ fundraiser for the men's club. We have 3 built in offset smokers that smoke 75-80 fresh hams and 19 cauldrons of Brunswick stew to produce 1100-1200 chopped BBQ plates. My best results have been with a Rectec pellet smoker that I have been using for about a year.
DeleteEveryone does it differently, but yeah, I keep adding wood chips until it's done. Mad smoke flavor, wife loves it for her chicken breasts. The real trick is temperature control and keep the internals of the meat juicy and not dried out. Ignore the BS that the USDA puts out about safe meat temps - that temp they give is way too high - their criteria is that meat at that temp for 1 second is enough to kill all the bugs. Well, damn. When you smoke, you're talking hours, not seconds. There is other info out there that states a lower temp for 10 minutes or more that also ensures the bugs are dead and doesn't dry out the meat.
DeleteI swear most of the BBQ joints that cater only smoke for 30 minutes or so and then put it in an oven. No smoke taste and if they didn't have sauce there'd be no reason to eat it. We get that shit at work all the time and people rave over it, I can barely eat it. Like English food - boiled meat and no taste. So yeah, in answer to your question, keep the smoke on it until it gets where you like it.
Gonna get roasted here, (Pun) but been using a pellet smoker for about 3 years now. Brisket at a level I have never had, ribs, pork shoulder, Turkey, etc...Pellet brand makes the difference, prep is important. Check out Malcom Reed on YT, BBQ done right. He is a awesome and entertaining to watch. Serious, check the guy out. Get a high quality pellet smoker and lose the work. Shit is amazing. Imagine cutting into a smoked brisket that looks like a well cooked rib eye.
ReplyDeletePork butt injected with FAB P (until my stash runs out, hopefully they'll get back in business or I finally get the ingredients right), in a propane smoker held between 220/230.
ReplyDeleteI know this is blasphemy to the wood smoker cult, but, in the tray that catches the drippings set way down close to the flame, I use corn.
Just plain old shell corn or feed corn or whatever you want to call it.
Tractor supply-50# for around $10.
You can save your old sweet corn ears that have gone by as well.
Six to eight hours and an internal temp of about 165 (I like mine with a little bit of chew) and 175 for pulled pork. Both temps will bump up about 10 degrees after taken out,
Keep adding the corn for as long as you want, but I normally only put two handfulls in at the beginning which gives about two hours of smoke.
I like corn because it doesn't give the meat that "acrid creasote" taste.