Smoked Meat
 

I am now an owner of a smoker, and as far as I can tell so far it's the best thing I've ever owned in my entire life. I've only smoked 2 meats so far, but they've both been the best things I've ever eaten.

So far I've smoked a pork shoulder, and a pork loin. Tomorrow I plan on smoking a brisket if I can find one in town, but I'm getting close to the end of meats that I know can be smoked. After brisket I plan on doing ribs obv, and then I'm stuck on what else to do.

I'm convinced that smoking meat is the best thing ever, and I plan on cooking tons of food this way. I just hope that OOT can expand my horizon with smoked food and give me a wider menu.

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<font color="green"> ENVY ENVY ENVY ENVY </font>

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Not really smoked meat, but I've eaten smoked eel a few times while visiting relatives in Eastern Europe.
Beyond amazingly good.

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<font color="green"> ENVY ENVY ENVY ENVY </font>

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I guess I should have posted this in bbv as I know this is a huge brag.

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Is it easy to use? Answer may determine nature of smoker purchasing in next 24 hours.

EDIT: Also please specify smoker used. This smoker from Costco looks pretty badass.

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Is it easy to use? Answer may determine nature of smoker purchasing in next 24 hours.

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The one I have is really really easy to use. I actually got it for free, but all it involves is chopping up a little wood with a hatchet and putting it in the bottom, then fill the tub with water. Plug it in, then 6 hours later you have good food.

edit: don't know anything about gas smokers, I've only smoked food with large wood smokers, and now with this electric one.

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How about turkey? Salmon? Cuttlefish? Pigs feet? Ox tails?

Or really go for it and learn how to make your own sausages and smoke them. I always figured if I ever learned how to make homemade sausages and smoked them, I'd never have to wonder what to get anyone for christmas for the rest of my life.

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Is it easy to use? Answer may determine nature of smoker purchasing in next 24 hours.

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The one I have is really really easy to use. I actually got it for free, but all it involves is chopping up a little wood with a hatchet and putting it in the bottom, then fill the tub with water. Plug it in, then 6 hours later you have good food.

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I got the folks the bullet-shaped one that is very popular around here, but I think they messed it up because they never told me how their projects came out even after I questioned 'em a bunch of times. They said it took a good bit of playing around with the meat, but I think my dad was just being a tard. He's the kind of guy who loves to open pots while they're cooking to look inside, and screw up their cooking time.

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blarg,

A turkey wont fit on the current smoker, but I have smoked turkey before with good results. Salmon is a good suggestion, and something i will have to try soon. WTF is OX tails?

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Salmon is a good suggestion, and something i will have to try soon.

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I love smoked salmon but prefer smoked trout. Yum yum. I need to get me a smoker.

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PM guids if he doesn't show up, he loves his (Weber?) smoker.

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I'd try sausage.

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blarg,

A turkey wont fit on the current smoker, but I have smoked turkey before with good results. Salmon is a good suggestion, and something i will have to try soon. WTF is OX tails?

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Ox tail, the tail of an ox dur.


My dad uses the electric ones, its really easy but I like real charcoal/wood smokers. I have a weber smoky mountain:
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/

Brisket is a bitch to do right, Ive done 3, and they were super super tender, but they were just a tiny bit dry (each smoke was over 12 hours). the trick is to find a good brisket, not one from sams club, one from a real butcher. Ribs are actually the easiest thing imo, make sure you match your wood up with what you are smoking. Mesquite is rarely good for much unless its brisket or some other big side of beef, oak is what I normally use, but for smaller cuts of pork (ribs, sausage, etc) I like apple/cherry or something similar.

what Ive done so far:

crown roast: probably my favorite so far, turned out unbelievably well

turkey: I posted pics etc in teh bbq thread in ELd's forum, turned out really well for my first time, the wood was a little to strong, and the brine was too spicy imo


beer can chicken: always great, and easy, I like to get honey and drizzle it over the bid towards the end



with any bird, I usually baste it with some butter and herbs because you need to crisp the skin up (if you are using electric, just crisp it up at the begining on the gas grill)




oh ya, at our school picnic, I smoked some salsissa, I had random people that I didnt know who drifted over to the house we were cooking at go to teh store to get more becuase we ran out, and I promised them more, it was really that good. I used apple + cherry + oak.

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blarg,

A turkey wont fit on the current smoker, but I have smoked turkey before with good results. Salmon is a good suggestion, and something i will have to try soon. WTF is OX tails?

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Could you cut the turkey in half or in pieces maybe?

Ox tails is just what it sounds like. People make stews out of them and probably eat them other ways.

Would rabbit be any good smoked? How about duck? People roast marrow bones. Would smoking them be any good?

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Salmon is a good suggestion, and something i will have to try soon.

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I love smoked salmon but prefer smoked trout. Yum yum. I need to get me a smoker.

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After a trip I'll be making here in a few weeks I hope that I'll be able to try trout out too, but there's no promises on it. A fishing bachelor party is always fun though.

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Well, you can smoke just about any kind of meat. But I would recomend fish (esp salmon), sausage, chicken, goose, pheasant, and finally ribeye steaks. DAMN, now I gotta go get my smoker out and ribs tomorrow. SWEET!!!!!!!

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ribeye steaks? really? how do you do those?



I have yet to do a duck, sooner or later I will, or maybe a turduckin.

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beer can chicken: always great, and easy, I like to get honey and drizzle it over the bid towards the end

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Done this many times in the oven, but was unaware that you could smoke it like this. I will give this a shot though.
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Would rabbit be any good smoked? How about duck? People roast marrow bones. Would smoking them be any good?

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I have rabbit in the freezer, so I could try that although I think it might be too gamy for smoking, but I could be wrong. I don't have any duck, but that would prob be a good one too. What's marrow bone?

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ribeye steaks? really? how do you do those?



I have yet to do a duck, sooner or later I will, or maybe a turduckin.

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a turduckin is a long lasted running joke with me and my friends, I'd almost hate to ruin the joke by actualy buying one and eating it.

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beer can chicken: always great, and easy, I like to get honey and drizzle it over the bid towards the end

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Done this many times in the oven, but was unaware that you could smoke it like this. I will give this a shot though.
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Would rabbit be any good smoked? How about duck? People roast marrow bones. Would smoking them be any good?

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I have rabbit in the freezer, so I could try that although I think it might be too gamy for smoking, but I could be wrong. I don't have any duck, but that would prob be a good one too. What's marrow bone?

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IMO, bone marrow and things like that wouldnt be a good smoke. marrow is basically just a bone, braised, and you suck the meat out of it..it is one of my fav meals. You dont want to smoke meat just because it is meat. Things like steak, marrow, etc, stuff that you want to eat for teh taste of the meat isnt really good smoked imo, too much flavor loss. let me knwo how the rabbit turns out, I think that could go either way.

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It's this big gourmet favorite these days, but used to be common for people to eat in the old days. They chop or saw thick bones, like cow leg bones, up into chunks, so they're kind of like a doughut of bone around a hole of marrow. Then they roast the bones, I think, and may or may not do something to the marrow like spice it. I read chefs raving about it a good bit, but have never had it and don't know much about it.

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It's this big gourmet favorite these days, but used to be common for people to eat in the old days. They chop or saw thick bones, like cow leg bones, up into chunks, so they're kind of like a doughut of bone around a hole of marrow. Then they roast the bones, I think, and may or may not do something to the marrow like spice it. I read chefs raving about it a good bit, but have never had it and don't know much about it.

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What kinds of restaurants serve it (italian, french etc)? Ive never seen it on a menu before, and figured the only person who made it anymore was my dad when I begged him to for easter and stuff.

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Oh, ya, Dinosaur bones (beef ribs), forgot abotu them, they are really good too. I dont like traditional rubs for beef though, i made a paste of garlic, a little basil, a lot of parsley, salt, pepper, olive oil, and rubbed it on and let it sit for a day. Smoke them with oak, and set out a bowl with minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and parsley in it.

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Get a boneless leg of lamb, cut some shallow slits in it and stuff them with sliced garlic. Rub some olive oil and white wine all over the outside and toss it in the smoker. Outstanding.

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Get a boneless leg of lamb, cut some shallow slits in it and stuff them with sliced garlic. Rub some olive oil and white wine all over the outside and toss it in the smoker. Outstanding.

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I like this idea a lot, because I've never even eaten lamb in my life. The problem is that I don't even know where to buy it.

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Get a boneless leg of lamb, cut some shallow slits in it and stuff them with sliced garlic. Rub some olive oil and white wine all over the outside and toss it in the smoker. Outstanding.

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I like this idea a lot, because I've never even eaten lamb in my life. The problem is that I don't even know where to buy it.

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If you are going to really get into bbq/smoking etc, find yourself a godo source for all your stuff, look int eh phone book or shop around for a good butcher, use him exclusively, develop a relationship, they will get you anything, and go the extra mile as far as cutting/tieing etc, its well worth it.

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guids,

I have 2 meat markets in my town, and 2 grocery stores. I'm on good terms with the one meat market, but they failed me by not having any brisket today so I don't know how to treat him anymore. I try and buy all my meats from the local small meat market as they always have much better quality then your grocery store. I went to all 4 today though, and none of them had brisket.

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It's this big gourmet favorite these days, but used to be common for people to eat in the old days. They chop or saw thick bones, like cow leg bones, up into chunks, so they're kind of like a doughut of bone around a hole of marrow. Then they roast the bones, I think, and may or may not do something to the marrow like spice it. I read chefs raving about it a good bit, but have never had it and don't know much about it.

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What kinds of restaurants serve it (italian, french etc)? Ive never seen it on a menu before, and figured the only person who made it anymore was my dad when I begged him to for easter and stuff.

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Anthony Bourdian always writes how much he loves it(I think I may have read him saying it's his favorite dish yesterday). I know he has said it is in French cuisine, and also that Mario Batali makes it, so Italian too.

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If it can do cold smoking, homemade bacon!

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If it can do cold smoking, homemade bacon!

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If anyone here actually knows how to do this I'd be very open to making my own bacon. I eat it just about every morning so it would cut down on cost big time if I could make my own.

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blarg,

A turkey wont fit on the current smoker, but I have smoked turkey before with good results. Salmon is a good suggestion, and something i will have to try soon. WTF is OX tails?

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Welcome to the wonderful world of smoked stuff. You now have a built-in weekend killer and will know more about brines, hardwoods and spices than you ever wanted to know.

Game hens, spiced with smoker-friendly spices (paprika, pepper, cayenne) and covered in fresh rosemary are ridiculous.

Salmon - I've used OJ, Maple Syrup, and Soy sauce in the smoking liquid and all were very successful. Whip up a platter with bagels, cream cheese, a homemade olivade or olive spread similar to a muffaletta topping, and some scallions and you're in heaven. Alternatively, smoked salmon omelettes make me want to believe in a god.

Quartered turkeys are very good but you've got to really vigilant with the liquid. It dries easily.

Seafood smokes are great for parties - putting together a pseudo-clambake in your smoker with lobster, corn, shrimp, clams, crab, fish, potatoes and spices is a great way to kill a saturday and make the neighbors all jealous.

You can also really eliminate the fishy smell and taste in freshwater fish - my father in law is a huge fisherman and we've done trout, perch, walleye and others and people that won't eat freshwater fish normally will eat it smoked.

You've done pork, which is the easiest and the most versatile.

A proper brisket is really hard to do, I've never been able to pull one off.

Experiment with different woods as well. I've used apple, peach, cherry, hickory, plum, and almond and all of them bring different flavors to the meat.

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http://youtube.com/watch?v=V70uzuPoV5w

Here's the Good Eats episode that dealt with bacon, it's one of his more gimmicky episodes but it should give some idea, not that I've tried it.

Re: Smoked Meat
 

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It's this big gourmet favorite these days, but used to be common for people to eat in the old days. They chop or saw thick bones, like cow leg bones, up into chunks, so they're kind of like a doughut of bone around a hole of marrow. Then they roast the bones, I think, and may or may not do something to the marrow like spice it. I read chefs raving about it a good bit, but have never had it and don't know much about it.

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What kind of Italian are you?!?!?!?! Please do not come into my neighborhood. If you do, pretend you are greek.

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If it can do cold smoking, homemade bacon!

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If anyone here actually knows how to do this I'd be very open to making my own bacon. I eat it just about every morning so it would cut down on cost big time if I could make my own.

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It's actually not that difficult, just time-consuming.

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If it can do cold smoking, homemade bacon!

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If anyone here actually knows how to do this I'd be very open to making my own bacon. I eat it just about every morning so it would cut down on cost big time if I could make my own.

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It's actually not that difficult, just time-consuming.

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Is it something you can do with a normal electric smoker?

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If it can do cold smoking, homemade bacon!

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If anyone here actually knows how to do this I'd be very open to making my own bacon. I eat it just about every morning so it would cut down on cost big time if I could make my own.

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It's actually not that difficult, just time-consuming.

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Is it something you can do with a normal electric smoker?

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PM sent

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It's this big gourmet favorite these days, but used to be common for people to eat in the old days. They chop or saw thick bones, like cow leg bones, up into chunks, so they're kind of like a doughut of bone around a hole of marrow. Then they roast the bones, I think, and may or may not do something to the marrow like spice it. I read chefs raving about it a good bit, but have never had it and don't know much about it.

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What kind of Italian are you?!?!?!?! Please do not come into my neighborhood. If you do, pretend you are greek.

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Guids is the Italian. I'm just a guy who reads food porn and chef memoirs and watches some cooking shows sometimes.

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It's this big gourmet favorite these days, but used to be common for people to eat in the old days. They chop or saw thick bones, like cow leg bones, up into chunks, so they're kind of like a doughut of bone around a hole of marrow. Then they roast the bones, I think, and may or may not do something to the marrow like spice it. I read chefs raving about it a good bit, but have never had it and don't know much about it.

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What kind of Italian are you?!?!?!?! Please do not come into my neighborhood. If you do, pretend you are greek.

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Guids is the Italian. I'm just a guy who reads food porn and chef memoirs and watches some cooking shows sometimes.

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I meant to quote guids begging his dad.

Dammit.

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brisket is by far the hardest thing to smoke.

smoking meats is all about very slowly cooking meats exactly to the point that they start to break down and fall apart, but before you dry them out too much. brisket's "tender point" is the hardest to hit.

Halibut is by far the best fish to smoke. Eel is also amazing. Portabella mushrooms are great.

I brined and smoked a turkey last year for t-giving. (Brag: I also deep fried and baked turkeys for a 3 turk thanksgiving) and the smoked turkey was amazing. Be careful if you use Hickory on poultry - it tastes really good but you can easily over-flavor poultry with Hickory, and then it'll be ass.

Use Hickory for pork, mesquite for beef. if you are doing both, i'd stick with hickory.

I've heard of smoking lamb, but have never tasted or smoked it myself, so I don't know if it's any good.

have fun with your smoker!

if you only cooked your pork shoulder for 6 hours, you were cooking too fast at too high of a temp, unless it was REALLY small.

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brisket is by far the hardest thing to smoke.

smoking meats is all about very slowly cooking meats exactly to the point that they start to break down and fall apart, but before you dry them out too much. brisket's "tender point" is the hardest to hit.

Halibut is by far the best fish to smoke. Eel is also amazing. Portabella mushrooms are great.

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Oh yeah! I forgot about mushrooms. I normally throw them on top of a number of different things to act as a cover and trap moisture. There are a number of veggies that will smoke well -- I mentioned Corn and Potatoes from the clambake above, Artichokes, Onions, Jicama, Peppers of almost any kind, same with Squash.

Oh - and Pineapple is tasty as hell.