Yep. From my experience, I can’t really tell the difference in pellets. I’ve tried quite a few brands and flavors. Now, I just buy 40 pound bags of Bear Mountain off Amazon. They work out great. The meat, seasoning and how you cook it outweigh the pellets.Originally Posted by WVRed
Last edited by Redhook; 03-28-2022 at 10:47 AM. Reason: Spelling
"....the two players I liked watching the most were Barry Larkin and Eric Davis. I was suitably entertained by their effortless skill that I didn't need them crashing into walls like a squirrel on a coke binge." - dsmith421
How does everyone store the pellets? I have heard you should not leave them in the bag or the smoker bin? Thanks in advance.
* Attended the 1990 and 2010 Reds Division clinchers *
Go 76ers, Go Steelers and Go Bucks
I’ve seen go to PetSmart and get the oxo containers that have suction lids and store them in there.
goreds2 (03-28-2022)
I've seen talk about the Pellet's being stored in air tight dog food containers; how much of a difference does it make?
I usually run thru mine pretty quickly, so I've always just left them in the bag. I usually buy pitboss pellets at Lowes, if I get the big bag of competition blend its too big to fit in my tub until I've used a decent chunk of it. If I buy the smaller bags of single type pellets (apple, hickory, cherry, etc...) I can fit 2 into a bigger tub, just fold over the original bag and put them in side by side. It has a lockable lid, but certainly not air tight. I'll also add, that I usually leave my left over pellets in the smoker, but since I had been using it at least once every 3 weeks since I got it about a year ago thru late last fall, I never worried about them (smoker is covered when not in use, FWIW). I had about half a batch in there back around new years and assumed I'd still be using the smoker off and on over the winter, but then it got really cold, and really snowy and basically went about 2 months, maybe 2.5 months with them just sitting in the hopper or sitting in the bag in my garage. Was getting a little worried about them but a few weeks back when the weather warmed up a bit, I checked out a few in the bag and they all seemed solid as the day I bought them. Pulled a few out of the hopper and they were good as well. Removed the ash tray off the bottom (pit boss) to start cleaning it out a bit and there were a few fresh pellets from the last run on the edge of the fire pot, pulled those out and they were firm as well. Fired it up to get a quick mini clean, then about a week later I smoked some burgers and pellets held up well.
I don't think the dog storage bin hurts anything, but as long as you are using it regularly, I don't know how much it helps. I'll admit, I was a bit worried when I went to check it out a few weeks ago, I was sure I'd use it more this last winter, but it just didn't work out. My smoker sits outside year round, as mentioned covered up when not in use. Maybe I got lucky? If you want to see what happens to pellets when they get wet, just drop a few on the ground. any light rain will pretty much disintegrate them; so perhaps storage methods may have something to do with humidity levels as well.
Posting in the clutch since twenty ought two.
goreds2 (03-28-2022)
As far as smoking things, when Easter right around the corner, something I did for thanksgiving was smoke a ham the night before (or I guess technically since it was already smoked when I bought it, I double smoked it). After smoking it and covering it with the last layer of glaze, I let it cool for an hour, then wrapped it up and put it in the fridge. Freed up room to smoke 2 turkeys the next day. The ham was too big for my croock pot to place in whole, so i sliced it up off the one into wedges and place them in the crock pot on low heat. Heated up to 165 surprisingly quickly. There are a bunch of twice smoked ham recipe's out there, I took a combination of a couple of different sites to figure out my glaze. I've done it twice now and its super delicious.
If you haven't tried spatchcocking a bird yet on your smoker, I'd recommend that. Costco sells 2 5ish pound chickens for like $12 total. I'll smoke 2 at a time so i can have 2 different rubs. Skin can be a little tricky on birds, I'd recommend soaking it in a brine solution for at least 24 hours prior to the smoke help the process. Meat will turn out fantastic every time, and the spatchcock method makes its cook a little quicker and a little more uniformly.
Posting in the clutch since twenty ought two.
You said spatchcocking. Twice….I’ve never heard of that word before, but it made me laugh and I’ll look to try it as well. Thanks for sharing.
"....the two players I liked watching the most were Barry Larkin and Eric Davis. I was suitably entertained by their effortless skill that I didn't need them crashing into walls like a squirrel on a coke binge." - dsmith421
Essentially just cutting out the backbone so you can lay the bird flat and help it cook a little more evenly.
https://heygrillhey.com/spatchcock-chicken/
the lady that runs this site gives you both a written explanation as well as an embedding youtube clip on how to spatchcock a bird. She grills the bird over charcoal in this video, but she also has recipes and videos on smoking a spatchcocked bird as well (plus a bunch of other types of meat). The spatchcocking method is the same no matter how you cook the bird. Definitely worth a try and if you have people over who have never heard of this method, it opens up a discussion on cooking methods
Posting in the clutch since twenty ought two.
Redhook (03-29-2022)
Found a brisket flat at Costco for a reasonable price (yes it was choice, and not wagyu, but it had nice marbling and was good enough for this boy and his family) and decided to cook it on Sunday. First extended cook of the season for me. Brisket was 7.58 lbs, but needed a little trimming before throwing on. Still, probably ended up at least 7.25 lbs and likely more than that (didn't have that much fat to trim off, sometimes you can buy the flats and have nothing to trim off).
I planned on a roughly 7-8 hour cook plus a 2-3 hour rest period. Threw it on around 8:00 am before church and figured I'd wrap it sometime around 1:00 and let it finish up sometime around 3-4 then throw it in the cooler to let it set. Had 1 prove in the meat, 1 at the grate and 1 old fashioned oven thermometer that I leave in the smoker. Figured the temp at the cooking surface was somewhere around 250.
Well to my surprise when church ended, I checked my phone and the brisket was already up around 180 (the probe attached to the pit boss isn't super accurate, and I figured it was likely somewhere near 170ish in real time. I dialed down the temp on the grill to 225 and at least the probe at the grill said it was down around 218 after that adjustment. Anyhoo, got back home around 11:00 from church, put my pen thermometer in it and it read in the 170ish range (clearly in the stall, but would have liked to have wrapped it a bit sooner) Wrapped it up and let it cook up to 203, which happened right around 1:00, or if you are following along a good 2 hours quicker than I planned. So the question for me, how long was too long to let it rest?
I quickly read up some things on line and figured as long as we aimed for a 6:00 dinner I should be ok. Still nervous but didn't want to slice it up at 4:00 and throw it in the fridge then reheat it. Thankfully, a full 5 hours later, wrapped up in heavy duty foil and 2 towels in the cooler it stayed nice and warm, carved up like butter and worked well. Nothing fancy about the cooler I use (actually it kind of stinks at it was a cheap one, but can be wheeled into/out of the pool pretty easy, I use the Yetti if I actually want to keep something ice cold for a long stretch), brisket on the bottom, 2 towels layered up on top.
Anyhoo, thought I'd share the info for anyone that finds themself in a similar situation with their brisket finishing well ahead of their planned time. No clue why it cooked so fast. I haven't cooked a ton of briskets yet, but in the past the flats have always fallen somewhere in the 60 min+ range per pound. This was more in the 45 min per pound range.
Posting in the clutch since twenty ought two.
goreds2 (04-11-2022),Roy Tucker (05-04-2022),UKWhoDey (05-20-2022)
Fixed some cheap country ribs in the smoker at the campground tonight. So good.
* Attended the 1990 and 2010 Reds Division clinchers *
Go 76ers, Go Steelers and Go Bucks
Just got Tyson Chicken Drum sticks for 99 cents a pound at Kroger. Great deal !
* Attended the 1990 and 2010 Reds Division clinchers *
Go 76ers, Go Steelers and Go Bucks
Well done. Drummies are great. I’d rather have wings, but they’re too darn expensive right now.
"....the two players I liked watching the most were Barry Larkin and Eric Davis. I was suitably entertained by their effortless skill that I didn't need them crashing into walls like a squirrel on a coke binge." - dsmith421
goreds2 (05-21-2022)
Anyone putting any food in the smoker this weekend? We had country ribs (been our go to lately at $2.49 a pound) and baked potatoes last night at the campground. It turned out great as usual.
* Attended the 1990 and 2010 Reds Division clinchers *
Go 76ers, Go Steelers and Go Bucks
Yup, I have two injected pork butts in the WSM right now. They're at the tail end of the stall (the one I'm measuring via a probe thermometer shows it currently at 173 degrees), so I'm hoping at least one is ready to eat dinner at a normal time tonight.
goreds2 (05-29-2022)
5lb butt. At 195 so almost there. Friends coming over at 6:00 so in good shape for dinner 730-ish.
goreds2 (05-29-2022)
Wings, 2 Turkey breast, and brats all in the smoker at the moment.
goreds2 (05-29-2022)
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