The Smoker Thread - recipes, techniques, ideas

[Kent_Zimmerman]

I agree…I would definitely go with a shoulder. The Weber FAQ that Rich linked to is a good place to start, and keep in mind that it’s pretty hard to screw up a shoulder.

When you are comfortable with how your smoker works, you can try all sorts of things: poultry, fish, prime rib, etc…

[william_partmann]

Do a Boston Butt, they are easy, and great end results.

[Paul_Bacino]

You can smoke some tomatoes, when you get a few extra to play with.

[Bill_Tex_Landreth]

Shoulder is pretty much a no-brainer. Make sure and buy yourself some insurance though, and give it a good injection of Apple Juice with a touch of Tobasco, Worchestershire Sauce and Apple Cider Vinegar.

[Billy_Weiss]

I would do a Boston Butt. Make sure that the bone is in.
This is how we do it in Memphis:

1. Soak butt in Apple cider vingar overnight.
2. Season with Salt and Pepper
3. Cook at 225-250 for 10 hours.

Super easy.
Make sure to buy generic white bread buns and slaw.

[dteng]

Tex,

How do you inject? Never done that.

So, from what I read, smoke until 190…then rest in a cooler like the brisket.
Do you foil wrap too? With the brisket, I foil wrapped at 170 then smoked until 190, then removed.
What about Rub? S&P? Or is it just use whatever?

[Linda_Baehr]

@dteng

Tex,

How do you inject? Never done that.

So, from what I read, smoke until 190…then rest in a cooler like the brisket.
Do you foil wrap too? With the brisket, I foil wrapped at 170 then smoked until 190, then removed.
What about Rub? S&P? Or is it just use whatever?

What, you can’t get your hands on any syringes?

[markjahnke]

@dteng

Tex,

How do you inject? Never done that.

So, from what I read, smoke until 190…then rest in a cooler like the brisket.
Do you foil wrap too? With the brisket, I foil wrapped at 170 then smoked until 190, then removed.
What about Rub? S&P? Or is it just use whatever?

I am not a big fan of foiling anything in the smoker, but I do foil wrap my briskets at 185, then wrap them in a towel, and let sit in the cooler for several hours. Great pics on my Facebook page from my brisket and corned beef brisket over the weekend. Both came out gorgeous! -mJ

[dteng]

@Linda Baehr

@dteng

Tex,

How do you inject? Never done that.

So, from what I read, smoke until 190…then rest in a cooler like the brisket.
Do you foil wrap too? With the brisket, I foil wrapped at 170 then smoked until 190, then removed.
What about Rub? S&P? Or is it just use whatever?

What, you can’t get your hands on any syringes?

I guess I can Botox the damn thing and make it real tender…

[dteng]

@markjahnke

@dteng

Tex,

How do you inject? Never done that.

So, from what I read, smoke until 190…then rest in a cooler like the brisket.
Do you foil wrap too? With the brisket, I foil wrapped at 170 then smoked until 190, then removed.
What about Rub? S&P? Or is it just use whatever?

I am not a big fan of foiling anything in the smoker, but I do foil wrap my briskets at 185, then wrap them in a towel, and let sit in the cooler for several hours. Great pics on my Facebook page from my brisket and corned beef brisket over the weekend. Both came out gorgeous! -mJ

Do you foil wrap the pork butt when it’s done?

[Kent_Zimmerman]

@dteng

Tex,

How do you inject? Never done that.

So, from what I read, smoke until 190…then rest in a cooler like the brisket.
Do you foil wrap too? With the brisket, I foil wrapped at 170 then smoked until 190, then removed.
What about Rub? S&P? Or is it just use whatever?

You can buy injectors specifically made for this sort of thing. BUT, as I’m sure Tex will tell you…you’re not going to end up throwing away your shoulder if you don’t inject. It just helps infuse flavor.

At bare minimum, you can do this:

1. The night before your smoke, slather your shoulder with a thin coat of plain yellow mustard and then liberally apply your basic rub. The mustard is an optional thing, although there are those (like me) that feel that it helps the rub adhere to the meat during the first couple of hours. Wrap the shoulder tight with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight.

2. The day of your cook, prepare your smoker as you normally would and prepare for a fairly long smoke. Place the butt on the smoker cold, and keep the temperature between 225 -250. Certainly no higher.

3. After a couple of hours, feel free to baste or spritz with apple cider vinegar, apple juice, or whatever, but it’s not really necessary. You aren’t going to see the plateaus in temperature that you will with brisket, but you will see it plateau at about 170 for awhile. In general you are looking for about 190-200, but the true test is to simply stick a fork in and turn. If it “gives” quite a bit, then you are most likely done. I typically don’t pull mine until around 190-195, and I don’t foil a shoulder while it cooks.

4. Once you pull it, put it in a foil pan and cover it (not wrap) with foil and throw a towel over it for about 30 minutes. Most likely, you’ll be up around 205-210, which is ideal for me. At this point, you’re ready to pull or chop your shoulder.

Just don’t hung up on the temperature. If your shoulder passes the “fork test”, then just let it rest for about a half and hour and you are good to go!

[william_partmann]

When I smoke butts, I perfer to brine it in a solution of kosher salt, brown sugar, apple juice and cider, bay leaves and garlic.
I just do think injecting the butt adds alot. But that’s just the way I cook. There’s as many variation of cooking butts as there are grains of sand.


Bill

[Linda_Baehr]

@Kent Zimmerman

slather your shoulder with a thin coat of plain yellow mustard

I tried this once, but every time I turned my head, I got mustard in my hair.




Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.

[Kent_Zimmerman]

@Linda Baehr

@Kent Zimmerman

slather your shoulder with a thin coat of plain yellow mustard

I tried this once, but every time I turned my head, I got mustard in my hair.




Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.

We need a smilie for a rim-shot!

[Bill_Tex_Landreth]

Dan,

Get your hands on a 20cc syringe and an 18GA or 16GA needle, and then go to town on the shoulder if you desire. I don’t foil my piggie, but I do shoot for a tad higher temp…around 195 to 200 deg F. But that is just personal preference of course. I also like to make a mop sauce and use a dry rub. I posted them in the ribs thread.

[Bill_Tex_Landreth]

On the Weber Kettle for July 4th…nine pound brisket and a two foot long rope of Kielbasa:

[zachary_l_a_n_g]

Ribs from this weekend in VT -I have better pics on the camera of the whole meal that I’ll download soon. I did these using the 3-2-1 method and they were great. The meat stayed on the bone, but was tender as all hell. Fell off when bitten, but adhered enough to be cut. Just how I like them

[zachary_l_a_n_g]

regarding the kielbasa, where do you get unsmoked kielbasa? seems that everything around here is already smoked and ready to eat?

[Bill_Tex_Landreth]

@zachary l a n g

regarding the kielbasa, where do you get unsmoked kielbasa? seems that everything around here is already smoked and ready to eat?

I get it at Costco from these guys: http://www.kiolbassa.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It is already lightly smoked and indeed ready to eat, but I like to warm it up for an hour to an hour and a half and get some heavier smoke flavor. The casing also crisps up nicely.

[zachary_l_a_n_g]

Anyone mind if I merge this into the smoking thread to have it all in one place. Fine as a stand alone thread if that’s what people want.