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We'll see how it turns out. First time actually smoking any meat. The last attempt a couple weeks ago ended with a chunk of loin flying across the creek at the back of the yard.
make sure the surface of the meat is DRY.... form a pellicle..... use very little, thin wispy smoke for about 2-4 hours on this try.... Use a mild fruit wood for smoke.... like apple, peach or maple works too......
Well.... I left it in the fridge for 24 hours uncovered but you really couldn't describe it as dry when I took it out. This is what I got after 7 hours with apple wood and it was wet on the bottom when I took it out.
The smoke isn't carrying much heat into that box at all, it was about 30 in there on the last failed attempt, so I shortened the pipe and put the burner underneath the box so it will see a little rising heat from that. We shall see. The pic blurred a bit but you don't need to read the fine print on the box. It's just a surgeon general's warning not to use it as a smoker anyway.
Cure it in a glass dish... in the refer.... loosely covered... for 4 days.... that meat looks like it is 1" thick... rub cure into both sides of the meat...
I had the butcher cut them to 2". I've seen everything from the 24hours on the TQ box to 14 days on the net. It's hilarious. :) I read that 2" is the max thickness without injection, so I let it go longer. First time was 7 days and after more reading, let the second one go 14.
1TBS TQ per lb rubbed on the outside then a mixture of Dk brown sugar, maple syrup, and kosher salt on top of that. Vac bag in fridge for 7-14 days turning daily. Cold smoke at whatever the box ends up being. This last time it didn't exceed 55 deg and ended up in the mid-30s at the end of the 7 hours, hence the reconfig to get the heat under it instead of out to the side.
Yes, at the end I rinse and dry with paper towels as much as possible. I then put it uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours, but it didn't dry much. The paint can does put out a good amount of smoke, I wouldn't call it thin and wispy, no pic though.