Smoking Meat

[goreds2]

Smoking a pork loin today with some baked potatoes.

Also fixing a green bean casserole. Placing it in the Hot Logic warmer which I highly recommend. I use it almost everyday. I have no affiliation. https://hotlogic.com/

[Redhook]

Smoking a pork loin today with some baked potatoes.

Also fixing a green bean casserole. Placing it in the Hot Logic warmer which I highly recommend. I use it almost everyday. I have no affiliation. https://hotlogic.com/

Question for you. I love pork loin and grill it a couple of times a month. I tried smoking it once and it came out tasting kind of like polish sausage. It wasn’t terrible, but not nearly as good as the grilled version. What temp do you smoke it at? Any special rub?

On a similar note, I smoked pork chops the other day and they were fantastic. Thanks in advance.

[goreds2]

Question for you. I love pork loin and grill it a couple of times a month. I tried smoking it once and it came out tasting kind of like polish sausage. It wasn’t terrible, but not nearly as good as the grilled version. What temp do you smoke it at? Any special rub?

On a similar note, I smoked pork chops the other day and they were fantastic. Thanks in advance.

I smoke the pork loin at about 180 degrees for about 4 hours. Used hickory chips. Prepped the pork loin with olive oil then placed Private Selection Kansas City Inspired Seasoning Rub - Sweet and Smokey on it. It was wonderful.

Attachment 18073


Can you give me smoker advice on chicken legs, Breasts or thighs? I seem to have a little bad luck with that.

[Redhook]

I smoke the pork loin at about 180 degrees for about 4 hours. Used hickory chips. Prepped the pork loin with olive oil then placed Private Selection Kansas City Inspired Seasoning Rub - Sweet and Smokey on it. It was wonderful.

Attachment 18073

Can you give me smoker advice on chicken legs, Breasts or thighs? I seem to have a little bad luck with that.

Thank you. Yeah, that looks better than mine. I cooked it too fast. What I've noticed is cooking chicken around 225-250 seems to work best. If it's cooked on a lower temp like 180 the outside seems be rubbery for some reason. Another note is the chicken cooks faster than I think it should most of the time. I try to check it after an hour. Sometimes it's almost done.

So, I wrote these earlier in this thread:

Chicken breasts (super easy and easier than grilling chicken):

Buy a 5 pound package of boneless chicken breast for approximately $10
Buy Paul Prudhomme’s Poultry Magic (his Redfish Magic is great for salmon)

Cover the chicken with olive oil then sprinkle on the Magic
Smoke at 225 for 90 minutes give or take a bit

This will provide a great dinner for your family, a second dinner of chicken tacos, lunch for 3-4 days (chicken in salads or sandwiches). It’s a lot of food, but the bang for buck is fantastic. And, it’s really good chicken seasoned and smoked this way. Give it a try!

Drummies:

So, I accidentally smoked the best drummies of my life the other day. We’re talking world-class tasting chicken. First, I need to say I’m a huge fan of drummies because you feel like a caveman when you’re destroying them. I love wings too, but they’re stupid expensive right now.

After getting the smoker started, I noticed I was low on seasoning. So, I decided to go simple with olive oil, sea salt and pepper. I smoked those badboys for an hour on the smoke setting….around 130 or so. Then, I cranked it up to 225 for another hour. After that I lathered half the wings with BBQ sauce and the other half with hot wing sauce. I put them back on for 30 minutes. During those 2.5 hours, something magical occurred. I’m not sure what or why it happened, but these drummies were off the charts good. Give it a try. I guarantee you’ll love them.

I usually cooked the dummies the same as the chicken breasts and they're really good too. The drummies tend to take a little longer to cook compared to chicken breasts. The meat around the bone takes a while. I hope that helps!

[goreds2]

Thank you,

[WVRed]

On thighs, check out Myron Mixons Cupcake Chicken. It does involve buying a silicone cupcake mold but the payoff is really good. Mixon has a YouTube channel now so maybe that video gets posted.

A seasoning I’d recommend for chicken or even pork is Kosmos Dirty Bird. Used it on chicken breasts. My wife thought it was too hot and I told her they make a hot version of it.

[goreds2]

I smoke the pork loin at about 180 degrees for about 4 hours. Used hickory chips. Prepped the pork loin with olive oil then placed Private Selection Kansas City Inspired Seasoning Rub - Sweet and Smokey on it. It was wonderful.

Attachment 18073

Had the left over pork loin tonight with store bought Rally’s French fries and Bob Evans Mac and cheese. Fantastic

[15fan]

5 lb butt today. Stalled pretty hard at 153. 225 for about 7.5 hours, then let it sit under a towel in a cooler for 2 hours before shredding.

Last few butts I’ve smoked, when wrapping in foil for the stall I’ve poured 4-6 oz of apple juice in the foil. Reserved the jus from the foil when unwrapping and had it available both when time to serve as well as when time to package the leftovers. Definitely compromise some crispy bark, but a good way to keep from drying out.

(Side plug for my Thermoworks Smoke. Eliminates a whole lot of guess work. Money well spent.)

[goreds2]

Lol, Mrs. goreds2 and I had some Friday beers and ordered a Traeger smoker from HSN (Home Shopping Network). Does anyone Else own a Traeger? We are hopping to smoke some food in colder weather etc.

[Redhook]

Lol, Mrs. goreds2 and I had some Friday beers and ordered a Traeger smoker from HSN (Home Shopping Network). Does anyone Else own a Traeger? We are hopping to smoke some food in colder weather etc.

That’s awesome…congrats. You’ll love it. I have a Z Grills which is a poor man’s Traeger. I smoke throughout the winter, in Denver no less. That said, 2-3 times I’ve had to start it indoors to get it “going” when it’s in the 20’s. Takes about 3-5 minutes to get the thermometer high enough. Then, I drag it right back outside and it chugs like normal.

[goreds2]

That’s awesome…congrats. You’ll love it. I have a Z Grills which is a poor man’s Traeger. I smoke throughout the winter, in Denver no less. That said, 2-3 times I’ve had to start it indoors to get it “going” when it’s in the 20’s. Takes about 3-5 minutes to get the thermometer high enough. Then, I drag it right back outside and it chugs like normal.

Thank you,

[WVRed]

Lol, Mrs. goreds2 and I had some Friday beers and ordered a Traeger smoker from HSN (Home Shopping Network). Does anyone Else own a Traeger? We are hopping to smoke some food in colder weather etc.

Was split between getting a pellet grill or a Blackstone before breaking my ankle last week. Going to have to wait now.

Traegers are nice in terms of set it and forget it. Depending on how cold it gets you might want to look into an insulation blanket.

[goreds2]

Was split between getting a pellet grill or a Blackstone before breaking my ankle last week. Going to have to wait now.

Traegers are nice in terms of set it and forget it. Depending on how cold it gets you might want to look into an insulation blanket.

Thanks for the information. Hope for speedy recovery of your broken ankle.

[goreds2]

From 3/11/22

Lol, Mrs. goreds2 and I had some Friday beers and ordered a Traeger smoker from HSN (Home Shopping Network). Does anyone Else own a Traeger? We are hopping to smoke some food in colder weather etc.

We have used the Traeger twice so far. Pork Loin first in 70 degree weather. It turned out great. Second time was Friday when the weather was mid 40 degrees. Fixed a turkey breast which turned out great and temperature held pretty good.

What I did not know (which I should have) is the cost of ownership of this Traeger. It is expensive to start out with. It was $599 with free shipping. It came with some dents that won't harm the performance. I called HSN (Home Shopping Network). I explained to them that is basically a scratch and dent and we came to agreement to take $100 off the price. This will be a good story to tell my buddies while gathering around the Traeger drinking a beer(s).

The second item via cost of ownership are the Traeger Pellets. It is basically $20 for a 20 pound bag. Depending what you smoke, according to my results you will use 1/3 of the bag or more for one event of using the Traeger. So that will be about 6 or so dollars each time you use the smoker. Maybe I am doing something wrong. I will gladly take some suggestions!

The electric Traeger will not heat without burning the pellets so you cannot use it just to keep the food at a warm setting unless you want to use pellets. My strategy is when the meat gets to temperature, take it off the Traeger to reduce pellet usage and place in crock pot if we are not ready to eat yet. I love the Trager but am not IN Love with it yet.

Anyone starting out in the smoking meat world in my opinion should get the Master Built Analog electric smoker (Ranges from $99 to $149 pending being on sale). It will not perform well in 49 degrees or less weather but I had great success with it otherwise. Cost of use was very inexpensive. A 4 pound bag of smoking chips (not pellets) will last be four to five smoking meat occasions. And these bags are only 4 or 5 bucks. The cost is only about a dollar each time you smoke some meat on the Master Built compared to about six or so dollars on the Traeger. We will use the Master Built Smoker while going camping. This inexpensive Master Built is a good way to start out to see if you like the experience of smoking meat.

As said earlier, any suggestions will be gladly suggested. Thanks,

[WVRed]

From 3/11/22

We have used the Traeger twice so far. Pork Loin first in 70 degree weather. It turned out great. Second time was Friday when the weather was mid 40 degrees. Fixed a turkey breast which turned out great and temperature held pretty good.

What I did not know (which I should have) is the cost of ownership of this Traeger. It is expensive to start out with. It was $599 with free shipping. It came with some dents that won't harm the performance. I called HSN (Home Shopping Network). I explained to them that is basically a scratch and dent and we came to agreement to take $100 off the price. This will be a good story to tell my buddies while gathering around the Traeger drinking a beer(s).

The second item via cost of ownership are the Traeger Pellets. It is basically $20 for a 20 pound bag. Depending what you smoke, according to my results you will use 1/3 of the bag or more for one event of using the Traeger. So that will be about 6 or so dollars each time you use the smoker. Maybe I am doing something wrong. I will gladly take some suggestions!

The electric Traeger will not heat without burning the pellets so you cannot use it just to keep the food at a warm setting unless you want to use pellets. My strategy is when the meat gets to temperature, take it off the Traeger to reduce pellet usage and place in crock pot if we are not ready to eat yet. I love the Trager but am not IN Love with it yet.

Anyone starting out in the smoking meat world in my opinion should get the Master Built Analog electric smoker (Ranges from $99 to $149 pending being on sale). It will not perform well in 49 degrees or less weather but I had great success with it otherwise. Cost of use was very inexpensive. A 4 pound bag of smoking chips (not pellets) will last be four to five smoking meat occasions. And these bags are only 4 or 5 bucks. The cost is only about a dollar each time you smoke some meat on the Master Built compared to about six or so dollars on the Traeger. We will use the Master Built Smoker while going camping. This inexpensive Master Built is a good way to start out to see if you like the experience of smoking meat.

As said earlier, any suggestions will be gladly suggested. Thanks,

I’m pretty sure you don’t have to exclusively use Traeger pellets. Pit Boss is cheaper and you can find them at Walmart. Kingsford has pellets as well as some odd flavored ones (smoked onion garlic and paprika for example).

Bear Mountain pellets I’ve heard are pretty good and I think Lowes is starting to carry them. Royal Oak is getting into the pellet game with charcoal pellets but I haven’t seen them anywhere.

I go Thursday and hopefully get into a boot so ill be getting back into grilling as it warms up before I go back to work.