What have you been smoking on bbq?

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Currently have a big lump of pork shoulder and a wee lump of brisket on, with old whisky barrels providing the wood.

Pork maybe not quite up to the internal temp I would like but the brisket is just getting left on up to a maximum of 9 o clock ish, which would give it 11 hours on the smoker. It had a decent bit of fat running through it so hoping for a decent result from that.

Does pork shoulder undergo a stall?
 
struck it lucky with the brisket I got, it had both the muscles and plenty of fat. This time I nailed it, fouled wrapped past the stall and taken off at 92 degrees. It tasted sensational. Proper gelatinous and wobbly. The shoulder was good but too big and didnt reach "pulling" consistency.
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struck it lucky with the brisket I got, it had both the muscles and plenty of fat. This time I nailed it, fouled wrapped past the stall and taken off at 92 degrees. It tasted sensational. Proper gelatinous and wobbly. The shoulder was good but too big and didnt reach "pulling" consistency. View attachment 29715View attachment 29716View attachment 29717
Did you foil wrap it as it started to stall or as soon as it had started to rise up again after the stall?
 
Did you foil wrap it as it started to stall or as soon as it had started to rise up again after the stall?
I had my thermometer in the pork not the brisket so cant say for sure but I wrapped it after about 4 hours maybe. The pork was definitely on the stall
 
Here's my "Go To" for temperature information.

https://wyntk.us/smoking-times-and-temperatures
When cooking two types/styles of meat I try to put the lower temperature/time one on the top layer so that I can remove it without disturbing the bottom one. (e.g. Top Tray - Whole Chicken - End Temp 165*F. Bottom Tray - Pork Shoulder for pulling - End Temp 205*F.) (*)

It's easy to remove the top layer off the ProQ, take the lid off, remove the thermometer from the top meat, replace the thermometer in the lower layer meat and replace the lid.

It then takes only a few minutes for the new "top layer" of the ProQ to heat up and you can carry on with the smoking/cooking of the bottom layer.

Enjoy!



(*) Please note the bit about Time v. Temperature on the bottom of the attachment. It may take a bit longer to cook the chicken at the lower smoker temperature, but as long as it reaches 165*F it will be cooked.

I find it easy to convert the temperature to *C using the formula *F-32/9x5 = *C (i.e. 225*F - 32 = 193 ÷ 9 x 5 = 107*C
or
3. Use this link Fahrenheit to Celsius conversion (°F to °C) :laugh8:
 
Last weekend cold smoked nuts & cheese - the nuts are great. I forced some air through to ensure the oak chips smouldered, it was a little hot for the cheese but good first try.

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Today a pork joint. One refill of coals and cooked at 100-125C for a little over 3 hours (was expecting longer but internal meat temp done). Just put some stuffed swash and pepper on to go with it.

Home made lighting chimney:
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All closed up and cooking with inkbird monitoring:
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Mmmmm, pork:
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Hurry up veg, I'm hungry :D
 
I can smoke in my regular BBQ using tinfoil and water but I don' have any wood.
.....

As long as the wood is a recognised "hard-wood" such as oak, apple, pear, cherry etc, isn't pine or spruce (they apparently produce too much resin) and hasn't been felled or cut up using a chain-saw it can be used.

I often use dried hard-wood kindling from the local garage (mainly birch wood) to smoke with. It's relatively easy to sort out the type of wood on offer by looking at the bark; and it's a damn site cheaper than using the chips and dust provided by the BBQ outlets.
 
I normally smoke a joint like this one, but I'm still too knackered to do much more than make salt-beef.

It started off as a "Tesco Slow Roast Joint" at £6.99 a kilo fourteen days ago. Today it finished being salted and I boiled it for a couple of hours and then sliced it to make 30 slices of ordinary salt-beef (aka Corned Beef).

I got addicted to it at sea as a young lad and I still love it on a sandwich (with a bit of mustard) or as sliced beef in gravy.

The beef joint is very versatile because (when I get a bit more energetic) I finish off the brining process by rinsing the joint, rubbing it down with a pepper, chilli and sugar mixture, hot smoking the joint for 6-8 hours and then slicing it up to make Pastrami.

Enjoy!

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PS I used to make up my own salt brine for all salting requirements.

I used a simple process of dissolving enough salt in hot water until a fresh egg floated in the brine; however, the brine has to be flavoured no matter what you are making, be it bacon or salt beef.

I discovered this short-cut a few years ago and have been using their products since then.

https://www.homecuring.co.uk
Enjoy.
 
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As long as the wood is a recognised "hard-wood" such as oak, apple, pear, cherry etc, isn't pine or spruce
Good to know. I don't have ready access to acquiring my own and was going to take the price hit by purchasing. The fruit smoke seems like it would complement my current recipe of seasoning and sauce the best. Does smoking eliminate the need for seasoning or lessening the amount of seasoning?
 
Good to know. I don't have ready access to acquiring my own and was going to take the price hit by purchasing. The fruit smoke seems like it would complement my current recipe of seasoning and sauce the best. Does smoking eliminate the need for seasoning or lessening the amount of seasoning?

Not really. It depends very much on your available taste-buds.

I'm getting a bit long in the tooth and lived and worked overseas, so I like a lot of chillis powder and pepper in my rubs; on the other hand, I also like sweet tastes, so I generally include black treacle and/or syrup in the sauces I use for Pulled Pork etc.

It's very much a "suck it and see" thing with me. If I like it I try (and often fail) to repeat it and if I don't I try to remember not to do something that way again!

BTW, if you have fruit trees nearby don't forget that a few minutes with a pair of secateurs can snip off enough twigs to give an adequate smoke. They don't have to be dry; just drop them on top of the burning charcoal!

Enjoy!
 
Just firing up the smoker to get some of that good oak flavour into a chilli con carne made from beef shin

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Just polished off a paella - chorizo, chicken, jumbo prawns, fresh clams crevettes, squid. Used the water bowl as a paella pan. Great afternoon - really low effort al fresco cooking.
 
HI Guys

Sorry I'm a little late to the party but wondered if i could reach out for a bit of help.

Im thinking of buying a pellet smoker.

I used to have a Traeger Pro 34, I was looking at replacing it with another Traeger but they are way too expensive.

I then found these guys stocking Pit Boss UK Products BBQ Smoker Experts | Best BBQ Smokers UK

After a lot of shopping round online I cant seem to find any at a better price. I'm adamant that i want another BBQ smoker as I'm now addicted to the low and slow style of cooking.

Couple of quick questions if i may:

How do the Pit Boss smokers compare to whats already on the market?

BBQ Smoker UK models seem to be few and far between is there a champion so to speak that everyone goes for?

Has anyone bought a BBQ smoker from Buff BBQ before & if so are they reputable?

Do pellet smokers deserve the bad rep they seem to be getting sometimes?

Apologies for the mountain of questions, but it's a large investment and want to make sure i buy right. My Traeger has lasted be 4 years and I'd like my next smoker to match that.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.




 

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