Who here owns a smoker?

outofyourmind said:
I always wondered why you guys who want to start and forget, don't just find a good BBQ place and buy it already done.
Kind of a lot of money for something you don't really want to do.
Click to expand...

last brisket I did was started at 9pm to finish around lunch the next day. I prefer starting early early morning with a nap on the deck with a finish around dinner.

With low and slow there's the saying... if you're looking, you're not cooking... so usually it's just drinking and monitoring thermometer readings and smoke stack output.
 
SU Nittany Tide said:
Another thing is we split a whole beef with family and that comes with brisket, beef short ribs, and some other things that are only going to be great with a smoker. Local grass fed (corn fattened at the end) beef is the best.
Click to expand...

I still need to do beef ribs on my smoker. Have only done different pork ribs on there so far.
 
outofyourmind said:
Never have cared for them.
Why would waste your time with beef ribs when pork ribs are the ultimate.
Click to expand...
Just like pork/beef barbecue.... Both are good. Just depends on which one you feel like at the time.
 
outofyourmind said:
Never have cared for them.
Why would waste your time with beef ribs when pork ribs are the ultimate.
Click to expand...
Yes, pork ribs are generally superior. But beef ribs can be amazing too. Try the short ribs the next time you're at one of your restaurants, or maybe even Korean-style BBQ.
 
outofyourmind said:
Not for me it isn't
If Beef Ribs are on my list, it's at the bottom.
Click to expand...

based on previous experiences with beef ribs, I'd have to agree, but still worth throwing on the smoker for a few hours to see how I do with them.
 
RoyMunson said:
based on previous experiences with beef ribs, I'd have to agree, but still worth throwing on the smoker for a few hours to see how I do with them.
Click to expand...
It's too costly a cut for me to try. I hate screwing up an ruining good meat- now that my brisket is, at its worst, at least good in a sandwich, I finally feel confident shelling out $50 for a 15-lb. Short ribs are usually twice that.
 
Mofo said:
It's too costly a cut for me to try. I hate screwing up an ruining good meat- now that my brisket is, at its worst, at least good in a sandwich, I finally feel confident shelling out $50 for a 15-lb. Short ribs are usually twice that.
Click to expand...

like I said... hobby money. I'll try anything on there once.
 
Short ribs have to be cooked at low temps so the connective tissue and fat can melt, and the protein doesn’t knot up and get even tougher. And they must be cooked well past well-done, waaaaay past well-done in order to tenderize them, just like beef brisket and pork ribs. Low and slow is the only way to go.
 
The mistake most novice cooks make while smoking meat is looking. As someone said before, if you looking you ain't cooking...but the second mistake I find they make is pulling the meat before it's ready.

They get impatient or mismanage their time.

I always time the finished cook at least two hours before I want to serve it by keeping it wrapped in heat blanket and thrown in an ice chest. It will hold temps and finish cooking as it rests.

If you follow those simple rules every time, you'll be successful every time. Cook by temp and not by time.
 
Bayou Tiger said:
Short ribs have to be cooked at low temps so the connective tissue and fat can melt, and the protein doesn’t knot up and get even tougher. And they must be cooked well past well-done, waaaaay past well-done in order to tenderize them, just like beef brisket and pork ribs. Low and slow is the only way to go.
Click to expand...
This is the part that's stung me. There's plenty of meat, but the meat-to-bone ratio is so high, that even with a water pan and low and slow, the meat looks like it's so dried out that I remove it early. Then, I inevitably check the interior and it's underdone. So I screw it up by putting it in the oven, all the while thinking that it must've had something to do with my prep.
 
Mofo said:
This is the part that's stung me. There's plenty of meat, but the meat-to-bone ratio is so high, that even with a water pan and low and slow, the meat looks like it's so dried out that I remove it early. Then, I inevitably check the interior and it's underdone. So I screw it up by putting it in the oven, all the while thinking that it must've had something to do with my prep.
Click to expand...


A decent meat thermometer that you can put in the biggest muscle and plug into the digital readout is what I go by. Many come with an "alarm" that you can set to a desired temp. Place it prior to cooking and go by temps for doneness, not expected time or "look/feel", unless you're an expert.

Depending on the product, BBQ may look "dried out", but is likely the crust/bark, while the interior is still juicy or not at temp. The biggest thing to remember for impatient cookers is that while beef/pork may be considered "done" at a particular temp, BBQ needs temps higher to break down the connective tissue to make a "tough" meat "melt in your mouth" . Dryness on the outside may just be the bark forming.
 
Mofo said:
This is the part that's stung me. There's plenty of meat, but the meat-to-bone ratio is so high, that even with a water pan and low and slow, the meat looks like it's so dried out that I remove it early. Then, I inevitably check the interior and it's underdone. So I screw it up by putting it in the oven, all the while thinking that it must've had something to do with my prep.
Click to expand...


I would try to get cuts with a lot more fat in them.
A little lower and slower, just might take care of the drying out.

Never cut your fat the off. We always cooked our brisket with the fat side up, and it just marinaded itself all night.
But you are always going to have some dry parts. If you chop your Brisket, you can add that back into the moist meat and still use it up and be perfectly fine.
 
Did some chicken breasts...big thick mothers.

36 hr soak in Roasted Red Pepper/Bold Italian Dressing/Garlic Aoili Mustard/Honey.

uuuuhhhhnnnnnnggggghhhhhh....................
 
Bayou Tiger said:
The mistake most novice cooks make while smoking meat is looking. As someone said before, if you looking you ain't cooking...but the second mistake I find they make is pulling the meat before it's ready.

They get impatient or mismanage their time.

I always time the finished cook at least two hours before I want to serve it by keeping it wrapped in heat blanket and thrown in an ice chest. It will hold temps and finish cooking as it rests.

If you follow those simple rules every time, you'll be successful every time. Cook by temp and not by time.
Click to expand...

This conversation happens every weekend.

Me sitting on the deck... beer in hand.

Wife: When is the <whatever I'm smoking> going to be ready.
Me: I don't know, it's currently at <some temp less than done>
Wife: When will it be done.
Me: When it gets to <done temp> ... then I whisper, then I take it off and it rests for 30 minutes to an hour.
Wife: fuck it, I'm ordering a pizza

That's usually the point where I wrap whatever is on there and turn up the heat to finish rendering the fat. But yeah, you can't smoke on a timer... the meat is done when the fat is rendered. Take it off before and you fuck everything up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top