Smoking Meat...

[indica86]

I haven't bought one yet but it is on the shopping list.

 

[seifer]

Hey lads, Ive posted this on the aussie pitmasters forum but I thought I'd share here too... I'm located in Sydney FYI. Id post this in the for sale area but it kinda only applies to smoking so here it is.


Im looking to build a couple of offsets for a business Im setting up. Offsets will be 18"/45cm in diameter and 4.5mm or 6mm in thickness and similar in styling to El Guapo which some of you saw at port Macq at The Smoking Barrels team site.
The pipe im sourcing is 9 metres long and ill probably only need 4 metres of it.
Is anyone interested in buying the remainder of the pipe? It would be sold at $61 a metre for the 4.5mm or $90 for the 6mm, minimum 2 metres. Im easy on which thickness we go with.
If the price is right I would also entertain the idea of building you a smoker/or two but obviously at a greater price than $61 a metre but certainly won't be as exy as the production smokers out there, can happily build to your specifications assuming your happy with the set diameter.
My builds are rustic but they work well and that's how an offset should be.

 

[Bribie G]

Just came home with an Aldi rebadged Hark double door gas fired smoker.
****** if I know why but they say never ever go shopping when you are hungry

My test piece is going to be a slab of pork belly done on apple/cherry/mesquite chips. I'm thinking of a short marinade with garlic, ginger and Belgian Dark Candi Syrup.


Now here's a question with regard to the rubs.
I have a friend who has had most of her liver removed and is not allowed salt, plus I'd like to cut down myself.

Can anyone suggest any nice spice rubs for pork or chicken that are no-salt?

 

[wobbly]

Countin the days until Aldi become operational in Perth Suburbs for stuff like this

Wobbly

 

[CoxR]

Last year and the one before you could find the re-bagged Harks at Aldi for $100 a week or so after. I have often thought of buying one to convert into a wood/charcoal smoker.

 

[Bribie G]

They could be putting less out this year, I got the second last at Lismore and it wasn't even a full pallet by the looks of it, it obviously had just been a stack about six or eight on the end of a pallet of mostly gardening stuff. I'll check at Casino next week.

edit: haven't used mine yet but what's the advantage of charcoal over gas?

 

[CoxR]

Gas V Coal/wood is sort of like extract V all grain, great results from both but slightly better flavor and options in the later.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

edit: haven't used mine yet but what's the advantage of charcoal over gas?

You dont need to worry about running out of gas

 

[peteru]

Cooking with gas is like cooking with farts. Sure, it burns, but the smell!

 

[peteru]

BTW: I have an Aldi gas powered Hark clone. It's only used when I need to do bulk batches - say 8kg of smoked chicken breast. I bought extra shelves for it from UrbanGriller so I can load it to the max. They are a bit of a pain, because if you want to go low and slow, you need to lower the chip pan down to the burner, fiddle with the control to turn it down below minimum setting and then constantly tend to the wood chips to ensure they are smoking.

A much better proposal is a Chargriller Akorn from Bunnings. That one gets a lot more use over here.

And if you ever see a Gasmate R2D2 lookalike charcoal smoker, don't bother. It's impossible to effectively control the temperature on one of those.

 

[peteru]

I have a friend who has had most of her liver removed and is not allowed salt, plus I'd like to cut down myself.

Can anyone suggest any nice spice rubs for pork or chicken that are no-salt?

Make your own. It's not hard.

Try this:

50% thyme
25% marjoram
20% oregano
5% garlic powder

Put all herbs in mortar and break them apart really well to release all the aroma. Use straight away.

If you don't have special dietary restrictions, the above flavour mix can be combined with a "rub base" mix. I usually go with one part salt and two parts brown sugar.

If you want to add some colour, paprika will do the trick.

 

[Bribie G]

Cooking with gas is like cooking with farts. Sure, it burns, but the smell!

What smell would that be? I have a gas stove and a gas room heater, burn clean as. Or is the smell a feature of a gas smoker for some reason?

 

[peteru]

I guess I should have included a smilie. It's one of those things from the Aussie BBQ forums...

 

[Bribie G]

My smoker isn't bubbling.

 

[indica86]

Did you rehydrate it?

 

[barls]

BTW: I have an Aldi gas powered Hark clone. It's only used when I need to do bulk batches - say 8kg of smoked chicken breast. I bought extra shelves for it from UrbanGriller so I can load it to the max. They are a bit of a pain, because if you want to go low and slow, you need to lower the chip pan down to the burner, fiddle with the control to turn it down below minimum setting and then constantly tend to the wood chips to ensure they are smoking.

A much better proposal is a Chargriller Akorn from Bunnings. That one gets a lot more use over here.

And if you ever see a Gasmate R2D2 lookalike charcoal smoker, don't bother. It's impossible to effectively control the temperature on one of those.

i got rid of the chip tray and have a smokii fitted so i can do as low as i want with no fiddling at all.
mines taken a fair beating.

 

[Bribie G]

So do I moisten the wood chips before putting in the tray or just put them in dry?

ed: no worries, just downloaded the Hark PDF.

 

[jyo]

Always wet your wood, Bribie.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Yes, dry wood can be a bit rough

 

[seifer]

Pfft maybe if your using sawdust or chips but if Ur in a proper smoker, ie a uds and up, and using chunks as you should, then soaking does f/a