Smokers Paradise (for all the smokers and BBQ lovers)

Greeting BYC, I am starting this thread because we love our smoker and I figured there are others out there I am sure. We have a pellet brand smoker and have been using our smoker for about 4 years. We have made everything on it besides the usual suspects, stuff life pie's, biscuits, lasagna, muffins, cookies, etc. you get the idea. Of course it makes great eggs and bacon as well.




Here is a shot of some venison Backstrap we cooked on the smoker...I have many food porn pics to share . I am hoping to find some like minded people willing to share smokers tips, recipes and ideas. Please feel free to post.

Venison Backstrap

Slathered in bacon fat, fresh garlic and rosemary, what's not to love about that?!









Whatcha smokin?

COChix said:

Whatcha smokin?

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we pretty much smoke everything you'd normally eat around here.............chicken, turkey, quail, ribs, butt, chops, mac&cheese, peppers, corn, tomatoes, eggs, pizza.. etc......

OK, you guys are making me very very hungry and all I have in a smoker is a cold smoker and a very tiny lodge grill. I have a great campfire but don't have it set up for smoking. What type of smokers is everyone using? I want one bad but not sure what to buy/ build/ create? I was contemplating one of those egg shaped ones. I want something big enough to smoke a turkey.

ideas?

the green eggs are super nice, but $$$, my current one is I think a MasterForge from Lowes, was 99 bucks. before i had a small upright freezer with a smoke box on the side i built but it's too big for most dinner applications.

I'd love to get ideas from you all . We were gifted one of the little chief electric smokers, and so far I've done bone in turkey breast, twice. it came out wonderful! Today I did some chicken split breasts. I pulled them too early, I think, so I'm finishing them in the oven. I need a better meat thermometer. But, I'm having fun with this little thing! My honey has a black round/barrel smoker I've never used, but may have to get comfortable with it. This little electric guy is good, but it's pretty small. The bone in turkey breast about maxes out the space. I would like to try pork chops....any guidelines for time?

We also have a lot of ground pork, and I'd like to play with smoking some sausages. Any tips would be great!

I bought a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker and it is awesome. It is dead easy to use - ANYONE could run this thing. It's a piece of cake. I have three racks in it, so theoretically I could smoke a LOT of stuff, but usually only have one or two racks full at a time. It has a thermometer built right in to the door so I can easily see what the temp is inside just by glancing at it. I got mine at Tractor Supply.

The meat always turns out so moist and tender. I've even used it in freezing temps (it's outside on the porch, so we don't asphyxiate ourselves) and it still works perfect. All of a sudden we are quite popular because when we bring a chicken it's been ***smoked*** and is really tasty!

If you're not brining your turkey/chicken before smoking you don't know what you're missing!!!!



donrae

the best advice i can give is to buy a quality thermometer, and don't rely on the one on the door, have a duel temp that tells you the temp inside on the cooking rack and one in the meat. next is to try different wood for different meats, i like oak and misquote on beef, pecan on poultry and pork.



as you can see in this pic, i have one probe that tells the temp on the rack right next to the turkey and one in the center of the breast.



on the chops, a lite coating of EVOO then a rub of your choice, i use a chipotle mix of my own.


i even smoke whole meals, fresh chipotle, baked tatters, baked beans and ribs!!

I've been brining so I'm doing something right.

My smoker does not have a thermometer, or a thermostat. It has plugged in and unplugged .

I've been thinking about one of the remote thermometers, I have a friend who uses her (much nicer than mine) smoker all the time and she loves her thermometer.

I've been using pecan hulls for the turkey and for the chicken today, but I'm almost out. We have mesquite and hickory, and a good amount of cherry branches from trimming a friend's tree that just need to be hacked down to size.

donrae said:

I've been brining

so I'm doing something right.

My smoker does not have a thermometer, or a thermostat. It has plugged in and unplugged

.

I've been thinking about one of the remote thermometers, I have a friend who uses her (much nicer than mine) smoker all the time and she loves her thermometer.

I've been using pecan hulls for the turkey and for the chicken today, but I'm almost out. We have mesquite and hickory, and a good amount of cherry branches from trimming a friend's tree that just need to be hacked down to size.

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i've tried several and found the maverick remote thermometers to be some of the best for the price, i'm not sure the exact model i have currently but it's good for about 300'

i've never used the pecan hulls, we have tons of pecan trees in this part of the country and they 'self prune' so there's an abundance of the wood to be had most any time of the year.

JetCat said:

we pretty much smoke everything you'd normally eat around here.............chicken, turkey, quail, ribs, butt, chops, mac&cheese, peppers, corn, tomatoes, eggs, pizza.. etc......

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Yea, good looking meats there. Looks like you have a big smoker, you ain't playin around! Yes anything that can be cooked in an oven is fair game for the smoker. Last night made a polenta bake, yummy.

Talithahorse said:

OK, you guys are making me very very hungry and all I have in a smoker is a cold smoker and a very tiny lodge grill. I have a great campfire but don't have it set up for smoking. What type of smokers is everyone using? I want one bad but not sure what to buy/ build/ create? I was contemplating one of those egg shaped ones. I want something big enough to smoke a turkey. ideas?

Click to expand...

We have a Traeger grill, picked ours up from Costco. This is the third one I have owned and can't imagine life without it. It's an electronic pellet feed smoker, works great. It is nice it has several heat setting, a smoke setting and a shut down setting.

JetCat said:

If you're not brining your turkey/chicken before smoking you don't know what you're missing!!!! donrae the best advice i can give is to buy a quality thermometer, and don't rely on the one on the door, have a duel temp that tells you the temp inside on the cooking rack and one in the meat. next is to try different wood for different meats, i like oak and misquote on beef, pecan on poultry and pork. as you can see in this pic, i have one probe that tells the temp on the rack right next to the turkey and one in the center of the breast. on the chops, a lite coating of EVOO then a rub of your choice, i use a chipotle mix of my own. i even smoke whole meals, fresh chipotle, baked tatters, baked beans and ribs!!

Click to expand...

I agree, the brining is essential to a delicious turkey or chicken, although not always necessary. I have made plenty of roasted chickens stuffed with oranges, lemons, garlic, onion, slid some butter under the breast skin along with some onion slices, added a dry rub and smoked it, super moist. Glad there are others here...what's everyone making for Christmas? We are doing a beer brined smoked turkey, scalloped potatoe, and the fixings of course. I am gonna made a smoked apple pie for dessert.