Smoking Meat...

[CosmicBertie]

Fired up the smoker for Xmas... A whole turkey.

Brined overnight (food grade bucket from Bunnings for $10)

I've found breast side down gets the best brining action.

Rubbed with sage and onion


On the smoker

If you put it on the top grill, then place a foil dish beneath, you can collect the juicy runnings. Makes great gravy.

6 hours later

While the smoker was firerd up I decided to cook a rack of lamb on it for dinner that night. Smoked it for 2 hours then finished in on the BBQ. Served with BBQ corn and a potato salad...

Lovely.

 

[Airgead]

I've found breast side down gets the best brining action.



If you put it on the top grill, then place a foil dish beneath, you can collect the juicy runnings. Makes great gravy.



Lovely.

I actually turned it over part way through the brining. It started breast down. Mind you, it was fully submerged the whole time so it shouldn't matter much.,

I did think about putting it on top but I had to leave room for that rack.... The photos don't show it but for about 1 1/2 hours they were both on there. But yes, thay would have mate a great gravy. The bird was for a cold xmas lunch at my sisters though so gravy not required anyway.

Cheers
Dave

 

[CosmicBertie]

I actually turned it over part way through the brining. It started breast down. Mind you, it was fully submerged the whole time so it shouldn't matter much.,

I did think about putting it on top but I had to leave room for that rack.... The photos don't show it but for about 1 1/2 hours they were both on there. But yes, thay would have mate a great gravy. The bird was for a cold xmas lunch at my sisters though so gravy not required anyway.

Cheers
Dave

Heres my turkey that I'd smoke on Christmas morning to have cold in the afternoon.


and heres some ribs just before I put them on. Sorry, no after shots as I couldnt wait to eat them!

 

[Cocko]

and heres some ribs just before I put them on. Sorry, no after shots as I couldnt wait to eat them!

Can I ask what the rack is that the ribs a in? Do you cook them in it?

 

[Malted]

Can I ask what the rack is that the ribs a in? Do you cook them in it?

It appears to be a rib rack. No ****. There's a few available on eBay and other places. Yes you cook them in the rack to save space for smaller smokers. Not so much a problem with yours. I have finally decided, I'm getting a 30" Masterbuilt.

 

[stux]

For the record smoke makes cheap snags about 1,000,000 times better, but if you smoke really good meaty pork snags it is life changing. Man I wish I had regular hours and time to do stuff like make proper sausages and smoke them. I have a sausage stuffing attachment on our Kenwood Chef that I have never used.

Cocko's enthusiasm is contagious; probably other things about him also. Ooooh!

We used our Christmas present to do an Octoberfest NYE party

Main course was Beer Sausage... a form of Chilli wurst (with real chilli), cured, smoked, then later poached in beer

Was delicious...

We ended up making 15KG of wurst for Octoberfest, and I had 10 kegs on hand... I now have a number of triple batches planned to replace losses!

Reber 5KG geared sausage stuffer (its lovely to use, not even enough wastage to make a rissole!)



I didn't have a proper smoke house... so I pulled out the tin foil and modified the BBQ with some re-bar



First of three batches of sausages... smoked at 74C until they reached 67C internal temp.

(those sausages are made out of ox bungs, and are about 5cm thick, that's 5KG of wurst)

That was a major major major PITA to accomplish on a gas bbq... which is why I now have an Aldi smoker!



sealing kit on its way to stop the smoke leaking out the door


And this was the first lamb roast that I chucked in the smoker instead of the oven... just because I can




Planning a Texas BBQ in a few weeks for about 30-50 people... so will be doing 24hr pulled-pork, briskets, ribs, chicken wings, corn, potatoes, etc...

And have to brew some more beer!

 

[kelbygreen]

Of coarse cocko had to start a thread on smoking meat :lol: Man all these look great wish I had a smoker

 

[stux]

Just doing a trial run of ribs and wings on the smoker

Using Last Meal Ribs from AmazingRibs

After over-night dry marinading in memphis dust, loaded and ready to go, just waiting for the first chunk of hickory wood to start smoking (BBQs Galore is carrying it now!)



Half way into the cook, decided to put some wings on too...




judging by the taste of the bonus bits that are already ready... they're gonna be awesome

PS: yes, my oven thermometer died. and my ET732 hasn't arrived yet... flying blind

 

[felten]

That was a major major major PITA to accomplish on a gas bbq... which is why I now have an Aldi smoker!

sealing kit on its way to stop the smoke leaking out the door

I've been looking for a sealing kit for mine as well, where did you find yours?

 

[stux]

Chris @ Urbangriller.com carries them, and extra shelves


I just emailed him and he added them to his ebay listings

http://stores.ebay.com.au/urbangriller

shelf + gasket kit :
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Smoker-Shelf-and-Door-Gasket-Kit-suits-ALDI-HARK-GAS-SMOKERS-/130586615339?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item1e67919e2b

If you want more than one extra shelf, just email him

 

[stux]

Just finishing the ribs off on the grill... just a couple of minutes on each side on high heat.



and then... a simple bbq meal



(pint of DSGA not shown )

 

[felten]

Thanks mate.

 

[donburke]

have you guys tried using a handful of spent grain in your smokers ? any good ?

 

[CosmicBertie]

It appears to be a rib rack. No ****. There's a few available on eBay and other places. Yes you cook them in the rack to save space for smaller smokers. Not so much a problem with yours. I have finally decided, I'm getting a 30" Masterbuilt.

Thats right, its a rib rack. On my Smokey Mountain, I can get two Mephis-style racks of pork ribs side-by-side. These are big racks. The rib rack allows you to get 4 racks on either grill. Plus, you dont have to turn them over. Worked a treat.

 

[browndog]

I tried some bacon rashers in the smoker the other day. I was surprised how nice they turned out.

 

[Cocko]

have you guys tried using a handful of spent grain in your smokers ? any good ?

Interesting... Next brew day, I will bang some in the chip try and see what is smells like. Will report back.

I tried some bacon rashers in the smoker the other day. I was surprised how nice they turned out.

So you just put already made bacon in the smoker? explain?

 

[barls]

i used those pellets but didnt get much from them.
if your going to use spent grain make sure its dry.

 

[Kingbrownbrewing]

Cocko,

I have recently purchased a Hark electric like you, heres a couple of things I learnt.

- Always soak you chips, the manual says to, but the instructions say not to??? Makes no sense. When you soak you dont get flare ups and a massive temperature spike.
- Buy a mop!!!! My basting brush just wasn't cutting it, when I bought the mop, the meat wasn't dry as before and SOOOOO tasty
- Pellets are good and don't need soaking, urbnan griller in WA does really cheap prices on all the above mentioned gear
- Its all about rubs, brines, marinades and glazes, there are numerous books on Amazon that have fantastic recipes
- the internal temp is a little wonky I think, use the remote themometer provided and make sure its just the tip that is in the meat you want measured (like ribs and thin meats)
- you will need to set it higher than specified in recipes due to above point


Good luck, I would love to hear any feedback about any little quirks you may find with yours.

 

[browndog]

Yeah Cocko, I was watching the BBQ Pit Boys (get to that site ASAP if you have not been there yet) and they were making Smokey Bacon Cheese Burgers and they smoked rashers of bacon. I gave the rack a spray with some oil and laid the ready made rashers out, turned the smoker on and set the temp to 100C. it takes mine about 15 mins to get to 100C and I removed them after 1/2 hr so they had 15min at 100C. They were cooked perfectly and had an awesome smokey flavour, they went really well on our burgers. I am going to do this one day http://bbqpitboys.com/recipes/bacon-cheeseburger-deluxe#.UPZ8hGcR98E

 

[kenlock]

Yeah Cocko, I was watching the BBQ Pit Boys (get to that site ASAP if you have not been there yet) and they were making Smokey Bacon Cheese Burgers and they smoked rashers of bacon. I gave the rack a spray with some oil and laid the ready made rashers out, turned the smoker on and set the temp to 100C. it takes mine about 15 mins to get to 100C and I removed them after 1/2 hr so they had 15min at 100C. They were cooked perfectly and had an awesome smokey flavour, they went really well on our burgers. I am going to do this one day http://bbqpitboys.com/recipes/bacon-cheeseburger-deluxe#.UPZ8hGcR98E

Awesome Link
:beer:

 

[Cocko]

- Buy a mop!!!! My basting brush just wasn't cutting it, when I bought the mop, the meat wasn't dry as before and SOOOOO tasty

Good luck, I would love to hear any feedback about any little quirks you may find with yours.

All the same points learnt here so far also, well said.

Only thing I haven't done is move to a mop, cheers heaps for the tip! - Will buy one ASAP! Never heard of them before now.

I have done ribs about 7-9 times now and am nailing them with the 3,2,1 method. Over xmas we had people through for dinner most nights and the main request was - "Will you have your Pale Ale and can we have your ribs?" Who am I to deny...

Also done Jerky - was good but cut it to thick [Malted will know this]. Cherry tomatoes - awesome. Lamb shanks - not smoked just low for 14 hours. Beef ribs - seem to be a different beast than pork. Sausages - fark yes!

But yeah main tip for people following this and new to smoking would be - soak those chips!

Yeah Cocko, I was watching the BBQ Pit Boys (get to that site ASAP if you have not been there yet) and they were making Smokey Bacon Cheese Burgers and they smoked rashers of bacon. I gave the rack a spray with some oil and laid the ready made rashers out, turned the smoker on and set the temp to 100C. it takes mine about 15 mins to get to 100C and I removed them after 1/2 hr so they had 15min at 100C. They were cooked perfectly and had an awesome smokey flavour, they went really well on our burgers. I am going to do this one day http://bbqpitboys.com/recipes/bacon-cheeseburger-deluxe#.UPZ8hGcR98E

Sounds amazing mate, so smoke at it for whole time?

And yeah, BBQ Pit boys = awesome. Great recipes for sauces and rubs etc, also pretty funny commentary on the vids... I look forward to smoking some rashes for a saturday morning heart attack brekkie this weekend! Cheers Mate!

@ Barls - Surely wet grain will smoke/smolder better than dry? Whats your reasoning to that thought?

 

[barls]

you want to smoke rather than steam, was my thoughts. give it a go both ways and let us know.
personally ive just scored a pile of cherry wood and will be trimming back my peach and plum again shortly so im good.

 

[browndog]

All the same points learnt here so far also, well said.

Only thing I haven't done is move to a mop, cheers heaps for the tip! - Will buy one ASAP! Never heard of them before now.

I have done ribs about 7-9 times now and am nailing them with the 3,2,1 method. Over xmas we had people through for dinner most nights and the main request was - "Will you have your Pale Ale and can we have your ribs?" Who am I to deny...

Also done Jerky - was good but cut it to thick [Malted will know this]. Cherry tomatoes - awesome. Lamb shanks - not smoked just low for 14 hours. Beef ribs - seem to be a different beast than pork. Sausages - fark yes!

But yeah main tip for people following this and new to smoking would be - soak those chips!





Sounds amazing mate, so smoke at it for whole time?

And yeah, BBQ Pit boys = awesome. Great recipes for sauces and rubs etc, also pretty funny commentary on the vids... I look forward to smoking some rashes for a saturday morning heart attack brekkie this weekend! Cheers Mate!

@ Barls - Surely wet grain will smoke/smolder better than dry? Whats your reasoning to that thought?

They would have ended up with about 15 mins of smoke mate.

 

[Cocko]

personally ive just scored a pile of cherry wood and will be trimming back my peach and plum again shortly so im good.

You are so out of the gang! you c... ha Send me some plum!


I will let the grain dry a for a day and 2 and see how it goes..... will report back.

 

[Cocko]

They would have ended up with about 15 mins of smoke mate.

Cheers mate, I am going in!!

Will report back.

 

[barls]

You are so out of the gang! you c... ha Send me some plum!


I will let the grain dry a for a day and 2 and see how it goes..... will report back.

maybe i will. or should i just put up a pic of the huge bag of shavings and sawdust i have off the wood lathe i have,
ill see how much i get off the plum this year.

 

[Benn]

Dad built a smoker out in the shed a couple of years ago, all he smoked in it was eels & mullet that he caught from the creek next to the house. He thought it tasted "**** hot" I thought I tasted like **** but I didn't want to hurt his feelings so it was easier just to not go & visit for a while.
He pulled it to bits after a couple of weeks... Happy days.

 

[Cocko]

Dad built a smoker out in the shed a couple of years ago, all he smoked in it was eels & mullet that he caught from the creek next to the house. He thought it tasted "**** hot" I thought I tasted like **** but I didn't want to hurt his feelings so it was easier just to not go & visit for a while. He pulled it to bits after a couple of weeks... Happy days.

Are you serious? That is incredible.

So what is he going to do now? Please answer ASAP!

 

[twizt1d]

looking at getting the hark electric, whats the go with chips/chunks/shavings.. what can you jam in there and how long will the smoke last?
id probably be doing a lot of fish/seafood so how do-able is cold smoking with something like this?

 

[Benn]

Yep, I think he converted an old wardrobe if I remember correctly, I don't know how the whole thing didn't go up in flames.
He's always experimenting with food, last thing he tried was pickling salmon fillets (fresh caught)
Now that was crook! Cold,chewy, still with the skin on but at least he scaled them. Once again a winner according to him & once again I'm standing there just trying to smile & nod.