All Encompassing Whatcha Smoking With

[kevwun 15757]

6 hours ago, luke duke said:

 

200-250 sandwiches?

I think they are planning on there being at least 100 people.  We'll probably have too much meat, but that's not my department.

[kevwun 15757]

So we cooked the 10 pork butts yesterday.  I should have lit my pit about 15 or 30 minutes sooner than I did.  45 minutes isn't enough to get it up to temp.  As a result when we put all those pork butts on, it knocked the shit out of it's temp for awhile.  Once it got hot though, it was great.  Had room for 2 or 3 more butts also.  One of the last times we probed the butts before wrapping, they were all within 5 degrees of each other.  That was pretty damn amazing to me because I've never used a pit that could do that.  I love this pit.

Edited September 9, 2018 by kevwun

[kevwun 15757]

[Anastasis 23454]

Ive found the same with the couple runs I have under my belt on my new smoker, which is basically a carbon copy of yours. Takes some good time to bring it up to temp, but I haven't used the fire starter yet.  That should decrease the warm up time I would think.  How much wood did you go through on that cook and how many hours did you run it?

[kevwun 15757]

I lit the fire at 8:15 and we were done around 6. I always used the gas assist, so it still takes awhile even with it. I still had some short pieces of wood that were cut for my old pit, so it was a mix of foot long pieces and 18” stuff. I used probably 20 pieces all together. It wasn’t bad at all for how much meat we cooked.

 

 

[Anastasis 23454]

https://austin.craigslist.org/for/6806127545.html

 

20x36 Klose with 1/2" firebox @ $1000

[utee94 15797]

Someone around here should snatch that one up.

 

[Anastasis 23454]

Yeah, that will make a nice little backyard pit for someone.  And with the 1/2" firebox, ash tray and heat deflector will last forever.

[hornian 5210]

I have that exact pit, It is awesome, and that's a good price. 

[luke duke 6412]

https://austin.craigslist.org/for/6806127545.html
 
20x36 Klose with 1/2" firebox @ $1000

Are you moving in on my territory?

[utee94 15797]

21 hours ago, luke duke said:

 

Are you moving in on my territory?

 

A good point, but you have to admit you were a little late to the party... 

[Dutch 4465]

On 1/29/2019 at 8:28 AM, Anastasis said:

https://austin.craigslist.org/for/6806127545.html

 

20x36 Klose with 1/2" firebox @ $1000

Listing is deleted, so apparently someone snatched it up quick. 

[Anastasis 23454]

If we had waited for Luke Duke to get around to posting it, nobody on surly would have had a chance at it. 

[luke duke 6412]

1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

If we had waited for Luke Duke to get around to posting it, nobody on surly would have had a chance at it. 

You’re on my list. 

[luke duke 6412]

https://houston.craigslist.org/grd/d/montgomery-klose-bbq-pit/6805272462.html

20" x 40" with upright, 1/2" firebox and custom stack - $2000

Not a steal (unless the stack is exactly what you need), but not a bad price either.

Edited February 1, 2019 by luke duke

[Baboontyme 2809]

I'm smoking with an offset 24x48 trailer. Status check, it's 1 outside, actually it has warmed up, 30 minutes ago it was 0. 2 butts on. The fireboard is interesting. Pretty slick. I put Channel 1 on by itself waiting for the pit to get up to temps. I started the fire at 10:07. I have the ambient probe (Channel 1) in between the two asses. Damper is about halfway open and Butt 1/Channel 2 is about halfway across the pit. I think I'm pretty much just gonna fall asleep now and see where this lands at 7 when I wake up. 

 

imgur

[Baboontyme 2809]

I made 2 butts again last night. 1 for some friends in the hood and 1 for some pulled pork nachos for my family for the game. 

I didn't realize I could post a share link for the cooking session. Pretty cool.

https://share.fireboard.io/C27EBA

You can see I slept in and pulled them off the pit at 9:30. Into the oven. 2nd butt is finishing up about now. 

[Sbbruin 21825]

Ok so best way to intentionally stall a smoke.  We are going to a party tonight and am making my signature baby backs (yes, that seems to be more of a crowd pleaser here than beef ribs or pork spares).  Anyway, I have four racks going but am ahead of schedule.  Can I just cut the temp to say 195 (from 225) and just let them keep going?

[Baboontyme 2809]

Too late but yes

[Sbbruin 21825]

So it was a dinner party where everyone brought something.  Prizes given in the appetizer, main course, and dessert categories.  The ribs won handily for the best main.  As I knew they would.

[next2naus 436]

N2N ia pleased to announce that one of these will be delivered to his house next week...

Lang 36 Patio Hybrid. Gonna order up some sticks and get it seasoned and ready for the holidays and summer, life.

[thunderlounge 7812]

2 hours ago, next2naus said:

N2N ia pleased to announce that one of these will be delivered to his house next week...

Lang 36 Patio Hybrid. Gonna order up some sticks and get it seasoned and ready for the holidays and summer, life.

 

[utee94 15797]

So I'm tired of winning our family's annual enchilada cook-off with my brisket enchiladas, it's just gotten too easy.  I want to whip their asses and bury them with something else this year, and I was thinking BBQ duck could be an excellent ingredient.

I've never smoked a duck before, but my plan is to go around 300 degrees with pecan, making sure to prick the skin so the fat can render out.  Seasoning with salt and pepper for sure, but any suggestions on anything else?  I was also going to stuff the cavity with some onion, orange, and garlic cloves.  Cook until the breast internal temp is 165, pull it, let it rest, and chop it to go into the enchiladas.  I'll also reserve the rendered fat and some of it might go into the enchilada gravy, we'll see how it tastes.

Any other ideas/advice from folks that have done this before?

Also, I know there was a recent thread where folks were talking about duck, but I can't recall which one it was.

 

[kevwun 15757]

I have done one.  I trussed the legs to keep it together nice and tight.  It came out fairly well.  It takes forever to render the fat on them.  Give yourself plenty of time.  I did salt and pepper last time and it was a little bland.  I would us something more flavorful if I do another one.  It's gonna be a little bloody in places at 165 I think.  That's fine for the breast, but not sure how that will work for enchiladas.

[utee94 15797]

Thanks Kev.  I accidentally cooked to 170 and the breast was a little overdone but the legs were perfect.  I pulled/chopped it all and mixed it together so it blended really nicely and was absolutely delicious.  It did take almost 3 hours at 275-300 to cook and render the fat, this was about a 5 lb bird.

I used my standard bbq rub of salt/pepper/paprika and spread it liberally inside and out, plus stuffed the cavity with some onion, garlic, and a quartered blood orange.  The flavor was pretty fantastic.

I also pricked the skin all over to allow the rendered fat to escape, and captured it in a pan.  I then reintroduced that delicious smokey duck fat into the red chile enchilada gravy and it might have been my best batch of gravy, ever.

Suffice to say, I destroyed the competition and took home first prize.  Amen.

[kevwun 15757]

I didn't prick the skin.  I'll have to try that next time.  Mind sharing your gravy recipe?  I wasn't blown away by the homesick Texan recipe we tried the last time.

[Smax 3800]

Thanks Kev.  I accidentally cooked to 170 and the breast was a little overdone but the legs were perfect.  I pulled/chopped it all and mixed it together so it blended really nicely and was absolutely delicious.  It did take almost 3 hours at 275-300 to cook and render the fat, this was about a 5 lb bird.
I used my standard bbq rub of salt/pepper/paprika and spread it liberally inside and out, plus stuffed the cavity with some onion, garlic, and a quartered blood orange.  The flavor was pretty fantastic.
I also pricked the skin all over to allow the rendered fat to escape, and captured it in a pan.  I then reintroduced that delicious smokey duck fat into the red chile enchilada gravy and it might have been my best batch of gravy, ever.
Suffice to say, I destroyed the competition and took home first prize.  Amen.

That is how you do it ladies and gentlemen

[Anastasis 23454]

Pics not showing up. 

[Gil Bang 25907]

On 4/3/2019 at 11:58 AM, utee94 said:

So I'm tired of winning our family's annual enchilada cook-off with my brisket enchiladas, it's just gotten too easy.  I want to whip their asses and bury them with something else this year, and I was thinking BBQ duck could be an excellent ingredient.

I've never smoked a duck before, but my plan is to go around 300 degrees with pecan, making sure to prick the skin so the fat can render out.  Seasoning with salt and pepper for sure, but any suggestions on anything else?  I was also going to stuff the cavity with some onion, orange, and garlic cloves.  Cook until the breast internal temp is 165, pull it, let it rest, and chop it to go into the enchiladas.  I'll also reserve the rendered fat and some of it might go into the enchilada gravy, we'll see how it tastes.

Any other ideas/advice from folks that have done this before?

Also, I know there was a recent thread where folks were talking about duck, but I can't recall which one it was.

 

I pricked your mom's skin last night

[baboso 6054]

N2N, how long was it from order until they said it was out for delivery?

Edited April 8, 2019 by baboso

[utee94 15797]

On 4/7/2019 at 4:24 PM, kevwun said:

I didn't prick the skin.  I'll have to try that next time.  Mind sharing your gravy recipe?  I wasn't blown away by the homesick Texan recipe we tried the last time.

Don't mind at all.  I believe homesick Texan uses flour for thickening?  I don't really like to do that.  Since I start from whole, dried chile peppers, there's really no need for additional thickening agents.  The skins of the chiles thicken everything quite a bit as they cook along.

I tweak my gravy every time I make it and don't necessarily measure, which I realize is super-frustrating to hear when you just want to know the recipe, so I'll do my best here to include steps and measurements.

Step 1) The dried chiles. It varies a little depending on what I have around, but the basics are always the same, and for this batch I used 5-6 anchos, 5-6 dried New Mexican red chiles, 5-6 Guajillo, and 5-6 chile de arbol.  This is enough dried chile to make a large batch, enough for 2 pans of enchiladas.  Remove stems and seeds on all of them, then toast on a comal (if you're super-cool and have one) or in a hot dry skillet, or a 225 oven (which is what I use because I'm typically processing a bunch of chiles and don't want to wait and I'm also not cool).  Toast them just until fragrant, a couple minutes in an oven and less than that on the range top, flipping them to get both sides.  I also toast about a teaspoon of ground comino and 1/2 tsp of Mexican oregano and set them aside.  While you're toasting, heat up a pot of water to near-boiling, and then steep the dried chiles in the hot water for maybe 20 minutes.

Step 2) Char some onion, garlic, and tomato.  I quartered two roma tomatores, about 1/2 of a medium white onion, and smashed 4 cloves of garlic.  Then heated them in a skillet and flip them, until they charred on all sides.

Step 3) Blend.  Take your chiles, charred tomatoes, onion, and garlic, and toasted oregano and comino, and around 2 cups of the delicious chile-flavored steeping water, and blend until smooth.  Make sure to use a strainer spoon to transfer the reconstituted chiles, and ensure that none of the seeds make it through.  I also add maybe 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of black pepper at this step, so it gets thoroughly mixed in.

I'll admit that this step is about 1000000% easier now that I have a Viatmix.  Previously I used our house blender (a standard old-school beehive Osterizer) and blended for... well, forever.  I got it as smooth as possible, and then pushed that mixture through a fine mesh  tea strainer to make sure that little bits of skin don't make it through.  But now, I just blend with the Vitamix until it's really, really smooth, maybe 60-90 seconds.  That might even be too long but why rush it? 

Step 4) Fry.  I usually use around 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, but this time I had the rendered duck fat, so I used about 3T of duck fat and 1T of vegetable oil. Get it good and hot, so that as soon as you pour the blended mixture into it, it starts to fry.  Let it fry as-is for a minute or so, stirring a little bit to make sure all of the blended mixture gets a chance to fry.  Then stir it up thoroughly and simmer for around 20 minutes.

Step 5) Taste, adjust, and thin if necessary.  After about 20 minutes, go ahead and taste the sauce.  It might need a little more salt, since I only added 1/2 tsp in the blend I might add another 1/2 tsp here. Salt wakes up food but I definitely want the chile peppers to star here, not salt.  Also check for thickness, it should be pretty silky and smooth but if it's too thick, you have some choices.  You could add some plain water, or some of the steeping water that you reserved, or you could also add some chicken stock or beef stock if you feel like it needs that.  This bit is definitely to taste.  I usually go with more of the steeping water, but at times when I've felt it needed a little more depth of flavor, I've used chicken stock and it helped round out the flavor profile. 

Step 6) Don't eat it.  Yeah, that's what I said.   This one's tough and I rarely have the time to do it, but like Texas Red Chili or many stews, it's better the next day.  Refrigerate and re-heat the next day if possible.  If that's not possible, then letting it cool and refrigerate for a few hours, still helps.  It also tends to thicken up though, so be ready to add more water or stock to loosen up the mixture.  Just not too much, because you don't want to dilute the flavor of the gravy too much.

That's it. If you try it out, please let me know how you like it and if you made any changes that you though would work better.  I'm always tweaking and changing things and am happy to try new things in the name of science.  And, you know, eating.

Edited April 9, 2019 by utee94

[kevwun 15757]

Awesome, thank for taking the time to type it all out.  Will report back when we try it.

[futureman 22439]

I have not posted in or followed this thread.  there’s a shit smoker in my complex and I wanna try to smoke a pork butt.  where’s the best place to get some post oak?  or whatever works. 

[next2naus 436]

On 4/7/2019 at 9:59 PM, baboso said:

N2N, how long was it from order until they said it was out for delivery?

I'll let you know, so far I'm in Week 2 and I'm hoping to have it before Easter. Their a bunch of gold ole boys in Georgia

[RMac5 1551]

23 hours ago, futureman said:

I have not posted in or followed this thread.  there’s a shit smoker in my complex and I wanna try to smoke a pork butt.  where’s the best place to get some post oak?  or whatever works. 

If you need smaller chunks, Academy sells the small bag of oak chunks. HEB probably does too, if they are open.

[luke duke 6412]

I have not posted in or followed this thread.  there’s a shit smoker in my complex and I wanna try to smoke a pork butt.  where’s the best place to get some post oak?  or whatever works. 

A brisket or butt are the last things that I would want to cook on a shit smoker. You’ll be fighting that thing all day.

[futureman 22439]

6 minutes ago, luke duke said:

 

A brisket or butt are the last things that I would want to cook on a shit smoker. You’ll be fighting that thing all day.

 

you’re probably right.  I think it’s made out of aluminum. 

[AustinMT 952]

10 hours ago, RMac5 said:

If you need smaller chunks, Academy sells the small bag of oak chunks. HEB probably does too, if they are open.

HEB does sell them.  They also have the lump charcoal for a starter.

[baboso 6054]

Academy also usually has bags of split oak that are about 18 inches long also.

[kevwun 15757]

4 hours ago, luke duke said:

 

A brisket or butt are the last things that I would want to cook on a shit smoker. You’ll be fighting that thing all day.

Will end up tasting smokey too because it probably won't draw worth a shit.

[NBMisha 224]

To original question:  glass pipe

[Baboontyme 2809]

Learn me on fans. Just kind of curious. How do they fit? Do you have to do some custom fab'ing? This is what the intake looks like on my trailer. Does not seem very compatible with a fan. 

[Anastasis 23454]

That’s gonna need either a custom adapter (like a bowl) to go over the inlet or have a nipple welded onto the firebox. 

[Gil Bang 25907]

so I picked up some of the kingsford competition briquettes at costco, on sale.'

Mofos burn a lot hotter than the kingsford blue.  A lot.  

I won't buy them again.  I will stick with the blue (when they're on sale at lowes/HD or my go-to, Stubbs.

[Napoleon 8657]

On 9/9/2018 at 9:45 AM, kevwun said:

So we cooked the 10 pork butts yesterday... Had room for 2 or 3 more butts also...

 

On 9/9/2018 at 9:50 AM, kevwun said:

 

[Napoleon 8657]

On 5/4/2018 at 8:06 AM, kevwun said:

Got my lonestar grillz 48x24 in December. I am a big fan.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Napoleon

[Gil Bang 25907]

I will offer the following and accept any suggestions: 

my biggest weakness with my WSM is not knowing how much fuel to add.  I always fear running out too soon, so my smoker always stays at temp for several hours after the cook is done.  

My attitude is "charcoal is cheap", but I hate to be wasteful.  

Suggestions?

[Anastasis 23454]

Throw on some chickens. 

[Paco 1934]

luke duke uses one like this.

[Baboontyme 2809]

35 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

I will offer the following and accept any suggestions: 

my biggest weakness with my WSM is not knowing how much fuel to add.  I always fear running out too soon, so my smoker always stays at temp for several hours after the cook is done.  

My attitude is "charcoal is cheap", but I hate to be wasteful.  

Suggestions?

Umm. Don't worry about it? Shut the vents when you're done and live with the results? Always overplan? Especially if you're using that vile Kingsford shit.