SMOKIN-IT SMOKER

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Thanks for the responses.

Smoked the ribs for 5hrs at about 215deg.

I used wood chunks - 2 pecan & 1 hickory & I added 2 pieces of lump charcoal. Pretty much had smoke for the entire time.

Prior to smoking, I did "marinate" the ribs in beer overnight & I used a light coating of rub.

Smoke flavor just wasn't as intense as I remember it in the propane smoker.
 
Had a good weekend with the smoker.  I smoked a small piece of leg of lamb in a foil pan.  Pulled it out at 137 and cooked it over mesquite.  Only took a little over an hour as it was pretty thin and I had it at 225.  Very strong smoke flavor, any more would have been too much.  This tasted as if it just came off a pit in Texas (though I've never been to TX, I assume that's what it'd taste like lol).   I used two small pieces of mesquite which was probably too much for such a small piece of meat.  Not sure if mesquite is stronger than hickory or not.  I do know that I'd really like to smoke some steaks using mesquite and finish them off in a cast iron grill to get a nice crust. I also smoked some almonds along with the lamb.  I gave the almonds a total of two hours and they have just a hint of smoke.  It's fun to learn how different foods interact with the smoke.   This morning I did some wild salmon.  I brined it yesterday for 90 min. and let sit in the fridge overnight to form the pellicle. I then smoked it using alder chips for 4 hours at 150-180.  I really liked the alder with salmon.  As you can see in the pics, my fish had some cracks in it and the pellicle apparently didn't form down in those cracks.  Forming a pellicle with a fan probably works better than overnight in the fridge.   I am VERY happy with the salmon though.   Also made salmon spread with some of the salmon, turned out excellent.   If anyone is looking, Costco has wild salmon sold in 3 pound bags for $28 and this is what I used.  I got eight individually vacuum sealed packages of nice salmon.  Costco also has 30 aluminum pans for $6.50!!!  I'm currently fond of putting a rack on top of the pan and using the pan as a drip tray.  When it's cold and snowing out it's nice to not have to mess with foil lining the smoker.






Looks awesome, love that spread!
 
Well, here's the results of my jerky experiment.  Started with 2.5 lbs of deer, and using my fancy expensive and complicated slicing device, I trimmed and sliced it to about 2 pounds of sliced deer.  I used a table saw to cut the wood slats to act as a jerky slicer, it actually works pretty good.  I put pressure on the meat with a small cutting board while slicing.

I used the hi-mountian sweet and spicy jerky cure as recommended for 24 hours.

Then, I put it in the smoker with 1oz of hickory chips and turned it on.  When the smoke let up in about an hour, I put the fan box on top.  It definitely works, I have finished jerky after about 5 hours (some was done sooner).  

Tastes great, very happy with the results.  It's smoky enough without being overpowering.  Unfortunately, while I was eating one of the pieces I bit into something hard and it was a tiny fragment of lead from the bullet.  I got this deer from my grandpa, but I think I'm going to have to toss this batch of jerky and get some beef to do another batch.  

My brother in law started bow hunting, so maybe next fall he'll have some lead free deer to give me.



What temp did you smoke at?
 
ofrankie, maybe the lump charcoal had some effect?   I see no reason to add lump charcoal to a Smokin-It smoker.  I can't get over how much smoke taste I get from such a small amount of wood in these smokers.  My two big bags of wood chunks should last me a very long time.   My pork butt had a nice smokey flavor with just two of those small rounds of wood that are included with the Smokin-it.     Maybe pecan doesn't produce a real strong flavor?   Mesquite seems to be the strongest to me, maybe throw a chunk of that in next time instead of the hickory. 
 
I don't know if you guys are aware of this, because I just saw it today. But anyway on the Smokin-It web site, they have started a new forum...check it out.
 
I recently purchased the "Smokin-it' #2 ( I also have a Landmann propane unit.

The Smokin-it is very well made, well insulated, lots of smoke with relatively little wood - does seem to take a bit longer than the propane unit.

So far, I've smoked ribs twice on the unit & I have a couple issues:

1. the ribs did not seem to have the same smoke flavor as they did when cooked in the propane unit;

2. could not get the desired "smoke ring".

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks
1&2 have the same answer: There is no flame in an electric smoker. Combustion/flame are what will give you those things you desire. I've read that some people put a charcoal briquette in with their wood to achieve a better smoke ring in an electric smoker. I plan to try that this coming weekend.
 
crvtt, i've only read about it, never done it, but i can't imagine it would do any harm. Also if you are ever interested in some information on wood smoking profiles I copied some info from various places and put it on my site. You can find it here.

Cooked some country style spare ribs over the weekend, used 4 chunks o hickory, also stole crvtt's  idea to roast some nuts at the same time.

 
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Thanks grimm, never thought about doing country style spare ribs!  How long did they take?  Looks like it'd be a nice alternative to pork butt when you don't have a whole day to devote to smoking. 
 
Hi Grimm -

you mention in your post some wood smoking profiles. How can I get to see them?
Thanks
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/guide-for-woods-used-to-smoke-food

Here you go Ofrankie...this should help you out. 
Beer.gif
 
Thanks grimm, never thought about doing country style spare ribs!  How long did they take?  Looks like it'd be a nice alternative to pork butt when you don't have a whole day to devote to smoking. 
They took about 4 hours at 220* They came out pretty good, To be honest I've only had them once before so I'm not sure I'm confident in what to expect.
Hi Grimm -

you mention in your post some wood smoking profiles. How can I get to see them?
Thanks
Here is my link <click the word link>

The smokingmeatforums.com one is certainly more thorough.
 
I suggest you take some time to poke around there and ask questions from other folks using the same fuel source you are interested in.
 
Made some beef jerky with my #2 and the fan box I made.  I used eye of round and cut it across the grain at 1/4 inch.  I used the Hi-Mountain sweet with heat jerky cure again for 24 hours.

Last time I made jerky some of the pieces were dry on the outside but still moist on the inside and I wanted to avoid this this time.  So I used a staggered heating approach and it turned out perfect.

I started with 3 pounds of cut and trimmed beef, and a 1 ounce pecan chunk.  This was my process:

Smoke for 30 minutes at 100 degrees without the fan, then I put the fan on.

At the 1 hour mark I raised the temp by 10 degrees. I did this each hour, and the jerky was done at about the 5 hour mark (150-160 degrees).

After it was done I followed some of the university recommendations I read online to put the jerky in a pre-heated 275 degree oven for 10 minutes.  It didn't really change the jerky in any way but I'm confident now that it is completely safe.

Couple of things to note.  It was -8 Celcius while I was doing this, and with the fan on the temperature on the dial was a good 40 degrees lower than what's in the box.  So I ignored the dial and just used a digital thermometer.  Secondly, I highly recommend cutting eye of round across the grain.  It makes for much more tender jerky.  

I'm very excited about being able to make jerky with this smokin-it.  It's delicious.
 
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