Today is First Smoke day!

The chickens are still on the smoker. Family wanted dinner. So... we ate meatloaf.





Thgis was a real basic meatloaf recipe because I wanted to see what the smoke added. It wasn't overly smokey and the smoke taste almost waited until you swallowed it before making itself known. It did leave a little tingle on my lips, but my wife, who is NOT a huge fan of things that are too smokey liked it. Next one won't be 3 pounds. The 3 of us only ate half of the meatloaf and my son can eat. :)

This was :

2 pounds of 90/10 ground beef

1 pound of ground pork

1 fist-sized onion chopped fine

1/2 of a red bell pepper (all I had left) chopped fine

2 eggs

1 cup of milk

1 cup of Panko bread crumbs

1/2 tsp of sage

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup of Worchestershire sauce

I think that's about it. Pretty mild mix.

6 and 3/4 hours at 240-ish smoker temp running smoke about 90% of the time (I let the hickory finish at the end because I was changing to apple for the chickens). Pulled at 160 IT, wrapped in foil and towels and it sat a good hour or so before I sliced it.

The chickens are at 153 IT as I type this. Smoker now running at 325 with apple chunks.

AND.... y'all didn't steer me wrong on how good the meatloaf sammies are the next day. I'll definitely do meatloaf in the smoker from now on. The sandwiches I just ate were to die for. And the half of meatloaf I put in the fridge last night was so firm I could slice it 1/8 inch thick and it held together without crumbling. Amazing.

I'm definitely hooked on this.

sprky said:

30 MPH winds will play heck with a smoker, makes for a challenging smoke. Who cares what the wind break looks like I use 4 sections of insulated duct work around mine. I am pondering the idea of a shack like you are describing but not made the move to make 1 yet.

Click to expand...

Well I have a woodworking shop out back. I was thinking of doing a little shack that would be ... well it would remond you of an outhouse! :)  Simple lean-to type and the door would be the whole front and would swing all the way around and fasten to the side so it stays open. The interior would have cinder blocks laid on their side so the smoker would be raised up about 8 inches off the ground. I might have to use a couple of deep Post-Ups on 2 of the corners to make sure it can't blow over in a strong wind.

The smoker temp is 203 or the meat is? If teh meat is at 203 it's probably over done :)