First day my lips didn’t freeze together when I walked outside, so I decided to fire up the smoker and make some beef jerky for the Eagles game.View attachment IMG_2215.jpeg
Home Made Beef Jerkey
- Thread starter RJG
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I believe this is the same attachment problem we discussed here. That image is just too big to insert into a post (5712x4284 pixels and 6.4MB). There's no reason to post images that large, aside from the fact that they don't display, they take up a lot of disk space on the server. We discussed some ways of reducing image size here. For posting in the forums, I'd suggest 600 to 800 pixels wide, up to about 1000 pixels wide if there are important details.
Looks very good. Nothing like running a real smoker for the best results. In a pinch, I will occasionally use Liquid Smoke in my brine and then use the home oven at 170 to dehydrate, but it's just not the same.
I wore out a Masterbuilt 7 in 1 smoker over a period of 12 years and had to retire it since there aren't any replacement parts available. I still use the base as a pot boiler for canning. I recently won a Cuisinart charcoal smoker at a Chinese auction at my gun club but I haven't even opened it yet. I really want to get something that I don't have to babysit the entire time. The propane-fired Masterbuilt was hard to keep at 170 on a windy day and you had to check it continuously.
What are you running?
I have a Smokin Brothers premiere pellet smoker. It‘s a small family business in Missouri. I bought the smallest model they make @24” which works fine. I can cook six racks of ribs on it, which is enough. The firebox is in the middle, so there’s no hot spots. It couldn’t be easier. I just fill the pellet hopper, set the temperature and walk away. It holds the temperature +/- 2 degrees and I can monitor it on my phone. They are a bit pricey. I paid around $1,600 with shipping, but the quality blows away Traeger.
I used to cook ribs and pork shoulder on my Weber grill and was able to turn out pretty decent tasting smoked meat. I would put wood chips in a small aluminum pan to get smoke, but it was a pain trying to smoke meat on a grill. I had to constantly adjust the temperature swings and continually feed more wood chips. I was literally checking it every 15 minutes.
I agree on how the quality of Traeger has dropped since production has moved overseas. I have a twenty year old Traeger Lil Tex that is built like a tank and well engineered. I probably have smoked several tons of food on it over the years. Last summer I finally had to replace the main board in it, so I upgraded to a dual thermometer unit. I love the little grill. That being said, I did upgrade to a Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 36 and I would say the quality is comparable to the older Tragers but that comes with a price. But, you get what you pay for these days.
My neighbor's know when the stacks are smoking that they will be getting a plate of delicious barbeque! There is nothing better than great food and a great bourbon to bring friends together!
My favorites are ribs, turkey, sausage and quail. Meatloaf and macaroni with cheese have been found on them time to time!
My neighbor's know when the stacks are smoking that they will be getting a plate of delicious barbeque! There is nothing better than great food and a great bourbon to bring friends together!
My favorites are ribs, turkey, sausage and quail. Meatloaf and macaroni with cheese have been found on them time to time!
I did a turkey breast for the first time a few weeks ago. Put some brisket rub on it and smoked it to 140 degrees. Then I wrapped it in foil and puts several pats of butter on it. Pulled it at 165 degrees and rested it for 20 minutes. It was good! Nice and juicy with a hint of smoke flavor on the meat. I’ll be doing that cook again.
It depends on what I’m cooking. For chicken I tend to use fruitwood like apple and cherry. For ribs I’ll use almost anything. For brisket and pork butt I’ll usually go with post oak, hickory or mesquite. I used pecan for the first time with the beef jerky. It imparted a really heavy smoke flavor. Almost too much!
E, I use whatever wood pellets I have on hand.The smoke flavor from a pellet stove isn't as strong or as intense of flavor as you would get from lump or chunk wood. It is mild. It is hard for me to tell the difference between wood species on my grill, with the exception of hickory and mesquite. Those two seem to provide the strongest smoke flavor. Hickory would be the stronger of the two if I had to split hairs. If I want that burnt smokey flavor I go to one of those two.
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I'm currently waiting on a Lone Star Grillz 20x36 pellet smoker to get here, but it will be a few more months before it arrives. They are individually built by hand in Texas. Everything on it made in the US, down to the controller board. Designed to replicate the consistent smoke of a stick burner with the convenience of a pellet loader.
Not a small purchase by any means, but I did an enormous amount of research over the last several years, as well as trying models from other brands that friends own, before finally settling on this smoker. I drove multiple hours to check out a Yoder in person and almost went with one of those, but the controller, burn pot design, and ease of cleaning on the Lone Star just seem to be the best in the biz, based on reviews. It can also burn wood chips, which is really unique.
The wait for that first brisket is going to be really tough!
Not a small purchase by any means, but I did an enormous amount of research over the last several years, as well as trying models from other brands that friends own, before finally settling on this smoker. I drove multiple hours to check out a Yoder in person and almost went with one of those, but the controller, burn pot design, and ease of cleaning on the Lone Star just seem to be the best in the biz, based on reviews. It can also burn wood chips, which is really unique.
The wait for that first brisket is going to be really tough!
Wow. I'm sure it will be great - congratulations! Me... I'll stick with my $59.99 Home Depot POS. This place is way above my pay grade, my computer didn't even cost as much as the cheapest one! 
Not into all this fancy smoking but have been slow-cooking ribs and chicken recently, very happy with the results. And I have a system... I manually turn the meat every 15 or 20 minutes and during the interim, I wander around out back on my little trails. Three hours later, I've racked up some mileage and feel like I've "earned" my dinner.
Not into all this fancy smoking but have been slow-cooking ribs and chicken recently, very happy with the results. And I have a system... I manually turn the meat every 15 or 20 minutes and during the interim, I wander around out back on my little trails. Three hours later, I've racked up some mileage and feel like I've "earned" my dinner.
Wow, that’s nice! You’ll love it. You’re going to be the most popular guy in the neighborhood.
Unless you can run your smoker as low as 145 degrees, which is usually not the case with most smokers, you might consider buying a warning cabinet. I use a Rovsun. Good size and function, and it only cost me $260. You can rest a brisket in it for 15 - 20 hours if you want to. Way-way better than messing with coolers and towels. I like the warmer because if you invite a bunch of people over for barbecue it removes that fear of trying to time everything to be ready for dinner. It doesn’t matter what I’m cooking, ribs, pork shoulder, brisket, sausage, chicken, etc., I get it completed an hour or two before everybody arrives, then just hold it in the warmer until dinner time.
Costco has good prices on choice grade brisket. If I want to treat my family and guests, I’ll pick up a 16-18lb premium wagu brisket from Snake River when they’re on sale. The “sale” price is around $225. Yes, that’s still a lot of money, but I cut it down into three pieces, which comes out $75 a meal, which is not too bad. You might want to hide your credit card bill from your wife that month. LOL