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OT: What is That Delightful Smell? Or, Is Something Burning?

So Mrs. IPSF played me and played me hard. (Get your minds out of the gutter you filthy ally cats.) Anyhow a year ago the bottom of my Green Mountain Grill fell out. It was done. The Mrs. said find a good one and get it. I looked at a couple Yoder smokers and decided that the 640S with the competition cart was plenty adequate. It would smoke plenty of meat for a medium sided group but small enough for a family gathering. All was well or so I thought. Several times over the summer I was asked to cater a wedding party or the like. I was able to batch the tri-tips and it all worked out. Not ideal but it allowed me to put limits on the size of groups I cooked for. Fast forward to November. My birthday coming up. The Mrs.'s says, "You really need to look at the bigger smoker." I'm like you are you and what did you do with my wife? She keeps at it over the next couple days. Then after about 2 weeks she says you need to drive to timbuktu on Saturday to pick up your new smoker. I am like well I guess I got a smoker for my birthday. I get home rig up the skidsteer loader to get it out of the truck the think unloaded. Weighs over 650 lbs and is a beast. No sooner than I get it unloaded and in the garage my wife says, I am in charge of the food for the church Christmas party. Now you have a bigger smoker you can do enough for the party. And that is how my wife played me. I'm not complaining mind you. I now have capacity to smoke 120 lbs of tri-tips in a single smoke. I can do 20 pork butts at a time now. I am not sure how many briskets but I am guessing 10-12 depending on size and trimming.

For Sunday's Christmas Eve meal I have a 12 lb USDA Prime prime rib roast ordered from the local meat shop. I told him I raise beef and I want a good. one. He cuts the ribs off and ties them back on. I'm looking forward to it.
Merry Christmas to you all!
I really want to be your friend….
 
So Mrs. IPSF played me and played me hard. (Get your minds out of the gutter you filthy ally cats.) Anyhow a year ago the bottom of my Green Mountain Grill fell out. It was done. The Mrs. said find a good one and get it. I looked at a couple Yoder smokers and decided that the 640S with the competition cart was plenty adequate. It would smoke plenty of meat for a medium sided group but small enough for a family gathering. All was well or so I thought. Several times over the summer I was asked to cater a wedding party or the like. I was able to batch the tri-tips and it all worked out. Not ideal but it allowed me to put limits on the size of groups I cooked for. Fast forward to November. My birthday coming up. The Mrs.'s says, "You really need to look at the bigger smoker." I'm like you are you and what did you do with my wife? She keeps at it over the next couple days. Then after about 2 weeks she says you need to drive to timbuktu on Saturday to pick up your new smoker. I am like well I guess I got a smoker for my birthday. I get home rig up the skidsteer loader to get it out of the truck the think unloaded. Weighs over 650 lbs and is a beast. No sooner than I get it unloaded and in the garage my wife says, I am in charge of the food for the church Christmas party. Now you have a bigger smoker you can do enough for the party. And that is how my wife played me. I'm not complaining mind you. I now have capacity to smoke 120 lbs of tri-tips in a single smoke. I can do 20 pork butts at a time now. I am not sure how many briskets but I am guessing 10-12 depending on size and trimming.

For Sunday's Christmas Eve meal I have a 12 lb USDA Prime prime rib roast ordered from the local meat shop. I told him I raise beef and I want a good. one. He cuts the ribs off and ties them back on. I'm looking forward to it.
Merry Christmas to you all!
So, it's a Timbuktu Smoker?

Obviously, you can't go wrong with a Yoder. I assume it's pretty good for us mere mortal meat guys?
 
Round 2 with a Christmas prime rib roast. Picked up a 9 pound Prime grade. Only thing I'm not crazy about is the bones aren't there.

Rubbed down with salt, pepper, garlic and onion. I'll be making a mix of fresh herbs, garlic, onion and butter to add tomorrow morning.

Last year, due to the cold and wind, I cooked it in the oven. This year it's going on the smoker.

I plan on catching the drippings. I'm not sure about a smoked au jus but I'll give it a shot. I have beef stock as an alternative or to dilute the smoky flavor.
 
Round 2 with a Christmas prime rib roast. Picked up a 9 pound Prime grade. Only thing I'm not crazy about is the bones aren't there.

Rubbed down with salt, pepper, garlic and onion. I'll be making a mix of fresh herbs, garlic, onion and butter to add tomorrow morning.

Last year, due to the cold and wind, I cooked it in the oven. This year it's going on the smoker.

I plan on catching the drippings. I'm not sure about a smoked au jus but I'll give it a shot. I have beef stock as an alternative or to dilute the smoky flavor.
Got my three bone 9 lb prime on Friday. Roasting it tomorrow. I always use Serious Eats Kenji reverse sear method. And the bones will be my special treat one day next week!
 
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Round 2 with a Christmas prime rib roast. Picked up a 9 pound Prime grade. Only thing I'm not crazy about is the bones aren't there.

Rubbed down with salt, pepper, garlic and onion. I'll be making a mix of fresh herbs, garlic, onion and butter to add tomorrow morning.

Last year, due to the cold and wind, I cooked it in the oven. This year it's going on the smoker.

I plan on catching the drippings. I'm not sure about a smoked au jus but I'll give it a shot. I have beef stock as an alternative or to dilute the smoky flavor.
Perfect. You are going to love it!!
 
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Got my three bone 9 lb prime on Friday. Roasting it tomorrow. I always use Serious Eats Kenji reverse sear method. And the bones will be my special treat one day next week!
Reverse sear is a great way for rookies to roast beef.

P.s. save me some.😇
 
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Don't worry about it being boneless after 15 years and 2,3 prime ribs a year. I can tell you that I now cut or remove the bones and make a stock with them ( for the au jus). For the meat I always use the grill (wife needs both ovens for sides). 350 with a kiss of smoke. Perfect every time
 
Don't worry about it being boneless after 15 years and 2,3 prime ribs a year. I can tell you that I now cut or remove the bones and make a stock with them ( for the au jus). For the meat I always use the grill (wife needs both ovens for sides). 350 with a kiss of smoke. Perfect every time
Well, I need my munchies while I'm carving.
 
My new gal and my mother got me extremely similar sets of knives.

I'm not worried about the duplicate gift... I'm a thankful person. Qhat I'm worried about is that they both used similar logic to explain why they gave me THIS specific set of knives...

How concerned should I be if my gal and mother think alike?
 
Did anyone get any grills, smokers, or accessories?

My family knows me well. I got a instaread thermometer, an infrared thermometer and gloves for the smoker.
Yes. My girl got me a Blackstone griddle. Been wanting one for awhile but too cheap to buy one for myself. Just spent an hour seasoning it. Cant wait to use it this evening.
 
My new gal and my mother got me extremely similar sets of knives.

I'm not worried about the duplicate gift... I'm a thankful person. Qhat I'm worried about is that they both used similar logic to explain why they gave me THIS specific set of knives...

How concerned should I be if my gal and mother think alike?
Run F****r run....


Totally kidding my man. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
 
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I will start with equipment. In my opion the most important feature is temperature control. Which is why I like my Big Green Egg XL. Once you experiment with the air vents you can really dial in the temps. Because of the thick ceramic construction wind and outside temps have little effect. I can light my BGE and 1/2 hour later I have the vents sent for 250 degrees (my preferred smoking temp) and I don't touch them all day. I use a remote probe to moniter the internal meat temps. So I basically pretend I am hard at work barbequing when I am actually relaxing with a cold beverage.😄 There are alot of ceramic cookers out there and many are equal to the BGE. Depends on your preference. The BGE also makes great steaks and burgers. I can dial mine up to 650 degrees for a great sear. Also you must use a good quality lunp charcoal. The big chunks work best for me as they allow better airflow.
I did have a pellet grill but sold it when we moved. I would reccomend that for someone starting out as it easier to control long cooks. Just don't go cheap as there is a big disparirty among them as they have become real popular. Try to find one made in the USA with USA steel. One drawback is (in my opinion) you can't acheive the same sweet smoke with pellets as you can with Hardwood chunks.
Good stuff with this post.
 
Roast came out perfect. Smoked to 135 with hickory and oak splits. Peak at 138 during hour rest. Not much fat left on top, so I skipped searing. Sliced and trimmed some, not all, of the heavy fat. I did open the vents on my smoker to get a crust on it at the end.

Drippings were too smoky to make au jus with, in combination with the smoky meat. So we simmered stock with fresh herbs and onion for our au jus.

Merry Christmas everyone. Enjoy the remainder of your day.
 
My new gal and my mother got me extremely similar sets of knives.

I'm not worried about the duplicate gift... I'm a thankful person. Qhat I'm worried about is that they both used similar logic to explain why they gave me THIS specific set of knives...

How concerned should I be if my gal and mother think alike?
Hard to say, need pics.

Not of the knives either.
 
My new gal and my mother got me extremely similar sets of knives.

I'm not worried about the duplicate gift... I'm a thankful person. Qhat I'm worried about is that they both used similar logic to explain why they gave me THIS specific set of knives...

How concerned should I be if my gal and mother think alike


Now we would have to hear their logic to determine the level of concern..

You might be marrying your mom
 
I called my go to at the butcher shop. He hooked me up with a 12 lb prime prime with the ribs cut off and tied back on. We had all the kids home on Sunday so that was the magic day. Kids needed to be dispersing by about 3:00 to get home so the little people could have Christmas at their own house. Mrs. said dinner was to be at 1:30. I figured I would need roughly 4 1/2 hours of smoke time with some additional rest and sear time. Night before I rubbed the meat. My dad is on a salt restricted diet so I took it easy on the salt. I would have been a bit more liberal with it. Anyhow lots of garlic, onion and a little salt and thyme with butter as a carrier. Had it on the smoker at 7:00 in the morning at 235 to do it's thing. I place it on a rack with a catch pan below. We all went to church came home and you could smell the goodness. My wife says if heaven doesn't smell like Sunday she doesn't want to go. Anyhow roast was sitting at 125 at 12:00. I pulled it off and covered as I cranked up the heat to 500 on the Yoder. It took about 20 minutes to come up to temperature. I tossed it back on and took it to 132 on the reverse sear. Pulled from the heat, tented and let rest. It carved beautifully. My little 4 year old grand daughter had one bite and said, "Papa I only want meat. No tato's or salad, just meat." Not enough drippings to do anything with. All the juice and flavor stayed in the meat. Made some gravy and aujus as well as a creamy hot horseradish.
And that is how 8 adults and 4 kids under 5 killed off a 12 lb prime complete with rib bones. The 5 year old gnawed on a bone until it was clean as if the pup had been allowed access. My daughter in law was in heaven. She consumed at least 2 lbs but she doesn't like pink meat.
 
in case you missed it, 34 & Counting is currently working through the five stages of grief

 
Flat Irons are a good one to smoke.

Tried a new on. Took some boneless chicken thighs and cut them into 2" or so squares after removing the excess fat. Seasoned them on both sides with my favorite yard bird rub. Added a touch more brown sugar and let them sit about an hour. Took some thick sliced bacon and cut it into 2" pieces. Alternated chicken and bacon on a skewer. On the smoker at 325 for about 45 minutes. I turned a couple times. The last 15 minutes brushed it with Lane's Vinegar sauce. https://lanesbbq.com/products/itsa-vinegar-sauce Unskewered and served. They went over in a big way. These are going to get repeated according to the kids. Sort of a sweet heat.

Also used the bacon and some andouille sausage disks to make a shot glass of sorts. Filled the cup with mixture of cream cheese, extra sharp cheddar, parmesan cheese, and a little of the lanes. Smoked along with the chicken basting the top as they finished. Served with some sauce for dipping.

A couple new options to try.
 
Flat Irons are a good one to smoke.

Tried a new on. Took some boneless chicken thighs and cut them into 2" or so squares after removing the excess fat. Seasoned them on both sides with my favorite yard bird rub. Added a touch more brown sugar and let them sit about an hour. Took some thick sliced bacon and cut it into 2" pieces. Alternated chicken and bacon on a skewer. On the smoker at 325 for about 45 minutes. I turned a couple times. The last 15 minutes brushed it with Lane's Vinegar sauce. https://lanesbbq.com/products/itsa-vinegar-sauce Unskewered and served. They went over in a big way. These are going to get repeated according to the kids. Sort of a sweet heat.

Also used the bacon and some andouille sausage disks to make a shot glass of sorts. Filled the cup with mixture of cream cheese, extra sharp cheddar, parmesan cheese, and a little of the lanes. Smoked along with the chicken basting the top as they finished. Served with some sauce for dipping.

A couple new options to try.
I'll be getting my Kamado Joe pretty soon, so I've filed this away. And thanks for the link to the atbbq site--will be getting a free rotisserie kit for free w/ it, which seems perfect for this kinda thing.
 
I have been wanting to try a Kamado Joe or Green Egg smoker. I think small batch stuff they are a great option. Look forward to you sharing your adventures with us.
 
I wanted to share an observation that I had recently. I do think you need some amount of heat when smoking cheese. Obviously you don't want the cheese to melt. But I think some warmth is needed to get the smoky flavor into the cheese.

I made my latest batch when it was really cold outside. I set it up in my smoker and smoked the cheese using a pellet smoke tube for 3 hours (the whole tube). It is lacking any smoky flavor.
 
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I wanted to share an observation that I had recently. I do think you need some amount of heat when smoking cheese. Obviously you don't want the cheese to melt. But I think some warmth is needed to get the smoky flavor into the cheese.

I made my latest batch when it was really cold outside. I set it up in my smoker and smoked the cheese using a pellet smoke tube for 3 hours (the whole tube). It is lacking any smoky flavor.
My father in law smokes quite a bit of cheese. He'll only smoke when it's really cold out because he's melted down more than he likes to admit. He uses a Bradley Biscuit Smoker with the offset cold smoke attachment to keep as much of the heat away as possible.
When he does it for me I always request to remove it after a few hours because it really takes the smoke and I don't like the ashtray flavor.
 
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I’ve seen the trick of putting a tray of ice under the cheese to keep the temp down.
 
Set up my brand new Kamado Joe today, and gave a rotisserie chicken a go. Tasted great, but I am still on the learning curve about dialing in temps. I'll do better next time.

Question about the rotisserie: is there a way I'm not seeing to use a wired probe thermometer in your meat on the spit? Or do I have to go with one of the wireless ones? I just used my thermopen, and it worked fine, so no big deal. I Figured a bird would be pretty forgiving and it was. Thinking I'll maybe try tacos Al Pastor a go next, or possibly Cochinita Pibil (I've been totally hooked on Mexican cooking of late, which is the main reason I sprung for this bad boy).
 
I wanted to share an observation that I had recently. I do think you need some amount of heat when smoking cheese. Obviously you don't want the cheese to melt. But I think some warmth is needed to get the smoky flavor into the cheese.

I made my latest batch when it was really cold outside. I set it up in my smoker and smoked the cheese using a pellet smoke tube for 3 hours (the whole tube). It is lacking any smoky flavor.
You are correct. Cheese needs some heat to “hold the smoke”. When the temp is about right, the cheese will get a little softer and oily. That def helps to hold the smoke. I set my PID temp to 92 when smoking cheese, and do not let it get over 95. I cut it into about 1 pound blocks and rotate the blocks 90 degrees approx every 30-45 min, smoking for about 4 hours. Different cheeses will handle more heat than others. I’m getting ready to smoke about a hundred pounds and that will include: baby Swiss, yellow cooper, horseradish and smokehouse onion.
 
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Remember the rib roast discussion back in December? Well, today is the day. I put a seven rib roast in a specialty dry-aging bag on about the 18th of December, and stuck it in my outside fridge.

This morning, I pulled it out, and trimmed off the hard stuff on the outside, removed the ribs, and cut the steaks to an inch thick. I'll be grilling in a few hours.

I was expecting some real funk when I cut open the dry aging bag, but didn't get any. Maybe due to very careful handling from grocery packaging to the bag?

I know I should have left the bone in, but the steaks were going to be 2" thick.
 
I know I should have left the bone in, but the steaks were going to be 2" thick.
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Made some St Louis ribs on the Kamado Joe today. Nails! Did the hot and fast 3hr at 300deg with a little apple wood, overnight dry brine, and last hour in a foil boat. Not perfect but close enough to keep trying! Flavor was phenomenal, and got a beautiful smoke ring and bark.
 
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Question, I am planning on smoking cooper sharp cheese. Should I vac pack after smoking or let it sit in a fridge for a day before vac packing? I read one online recipe that said to let it sit. Thoughts from any experts?
 
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