Kurt, gotta admit the Akorn looks really cool. I think the Egg-type smoker/grillers are the only Char-Grill products I'd ever consider. So that I don't have to do the research, what's the difference between the black and the red models?
Here's a couple of pics at $.87/lb. I got from from Shop n' Save instead of the $.69/lb. at Schnuck's, since they're a little closer to home. Schnuck's lower price was if you bought an additional $25 of anything in the store. Otherwise it's $1.19/lb. I just wanted two butts without having to shop for other stuff so I went with $.87/lb. Both places had a two per person limit at these prices unless you kept coming back in. Pork is always on sale around here $1.99/lb. for bacon. $1.57/lb. for boneless pork loin and Spare ribs with tips/flap/brisket bone attached. $2-$3/lb. for BB ribs. Brisket is never on sale. It's over $6/lb. unless it's close to St. Patrick's Day.
Rick,
The elevated rack is like a top rack in the MES (extra space.) Put a butt on the elevated rack and one on the main rack below it. In the pic below I was cold smoking cheese and hard boiled eggs on the top and Canadian bacon on the bottom.
Canadian bacon on top and belly bacon on the bottom
Abt's in a pepper rack with bacon on the top and bottom (bacon doesn't get crispy enough for me when it's wrapped on something even when I precook it a little.) With the MES I hang each strip of bacon over two wires.
I don't eat much butter but I have heard of cold smoked butter and threw on some Kosher salt to keep the four sticks of butter company. I have eaten one stick of smoked butter in six months. It's good with grilled veggies.
-Kurt
I haven't smoked salt in 2 years. I just discovered last week, however, that McCormick is now marketing a bottle of smoked salt. It's probably fine grind instead of kosher but I only use it in some rub recipes anyway. Haven't gotten round to smoking cheeses. I enjoy doing it but then it turns out I'm the only one in the house who eats it unless I use it for making burgers or Panini sandwiches for dinner. I like the idea of smoked butter but I don't think I'd ever use it. The wife likes smoked stuff up to a point.
All those different types of bacon look very cool. I've never smoked any so I've never made ABTs. We buy pre-packaged round Canadian bacon for making breakfast sandwiches and eggs Benedict. I usually buy thick-sliced hickory smoked bacon from Safeway but not all the slices are thick (untruthful product label). Just too lazy to go to the local butcher for some true thick-sliced bacon and smoke it myself. I'm going to do cheeses within the next week or two. Our weather's getting more varied between sunshine and rain.
We have a local Cash & Carry store that I'm told has great meat prices but we already shop three supermarkets as it is. Besides with my small family and small MES buying a complete beef brisket or pork shoulder would just be too much meat. Yeah, I could cut it up but it would be a very expensive cash outlay.
