My first smoke, Q-view added at no extra charge

[lownslow]

Alright so this is my first ever smoke. Man was this fun. It was done on this little baby:
http://www.sausagemaker.com/index.as...OD&ProdID=1295

nice unit, I will review for people once I have done more that 1 smoke with it

.

On the menu:
4 chicken thighs rubbed and smoked (2 with skin to bald for comparison)


Pork breakfast sausage fatty with eggs, jalapenos, garlic and red bell




jalapeno poppers stuffed with crab, parm. ch., cream ch. and black pepper. You are going to have to cut me some slack but I just cant bring myself to call them turds of any kind. Also on the board are some of the smoked almonds I did.


The fatty was really pretty fun and tasty, everyone who tasted it thought it was great. The almonds were really amazing. Next round I will smoke for longer since the smoke was pretty subtle.

for anyone interested:
beat an egg white until foamy, toss the almonds in the egg then dump on a tray. Mop up any extra egg with a towel so almonds are just coated with egg but not swimming. Sprinkle with salt, smoked paprika and black pepper (2:1:1). I smoked at about 225 for an hour but it could use more. Put in 400 oven for 10-15min. Let cool then devour.

The poppers were really good but really all over the place as far as heat goes. Few were mild as a bell and one almost killed me. Very addictive, I see more in my future.

The chicken was disappointing. Rubbed and smoked at around 225 until 175 internal. The outside was like leather and it was absorbed too much smoke flavor for my taste. I have had insanely good smoked turkey legs (by others) so I will read more from this forum to see what went wrong.

Thanks so much to the members of this great forum. I have learned so much here and have so much more to go

keep up the good posts!

 

[supervman]

I dunno.
Looks pretty darn nice to me.
Love your smoker BTW. That's a nice unit.
SKOL
V

 

[seboke]

Great looking all around! Love the fatty and the almonds idea. Too bad about the bird parts, they looked really good!

 

[pineywoods]

Looks great

Alot of folks either smoke chicken at a higher temp or finish on the grill to crisp the skin

 

[mr porky]

Good stuff for a first time

Ever since I was a kid I was hooked on blue diamond smoked almonds. Curious, how 'smokey' were they? Might wanna try this myself sometime.

 

[low&slow]

Looks good. I like your name too.

 

[lownslow]

Check the text below the last pic and I give a run-down on the almonds. They are really worth doing. I put them in a disposable pie pan with a bunch of knife slits in them.

 

[mr porky]

I had posted a reply before realizing you explained the prep you did

(note to self: reading is fundamental) Didn't edit as quick as I thought.

Recipe noted. Thanks.

 

[lownslow]

thanks Low&Slow

. When I first found this forum I wanted to see some pics so I signed up. I couldn't believe that lownslow wasn't taken...but many similar names are.

I have seen your quite helpful posts on many threads. Thanks for all the good info that got me going. I can't wait till my next smoke. Couple butts for sure. I hope my remote thermometers get here by the weekend.

 

[lownslow]

Update- I chopped up the chicken last night and simmered it in a pot with:
-chicken stock
-garlic
-black beans
-cilantro
-onion
-fresh corn
-one peach chopped up

it was great with some cheese on top and some toast to go with it.

 

[audioxtremes]

Gotta get the temp up on a bird. 350 deg is the way to smoke a normal sized thawed chicken. Chicken doesn't have all the fat intertwined in the meat like pork or beef. I cooked some breasts on 225 for hours till they were done and had chicken jerky. Lol.

 

[lownslow]

thanks for the tip, I'll give the next round a go at a higher temp

 

[smokin out the neighbors]

Good looking Qview lownslow. Sorry about the chicken. Even if it was leathery, it looks great. I have found that spritzing chicken with a high sugar spritz (like apple juice/ brown sugar) cuases the sugars to carmelize and form a glaze that helps hold in juices. I do this often with chicken right next to a pork butt at 225*. Never had a problem with dry meat.

 

[ronp]

I had good luck with chicken at low temps. You can get a Qview here.

http://smokingmeatforums.com/forums/...ad.php?t=17379

Maybe it was the brine, but they were delicious. Even my Turkeys brined and slow cooked were great in the oven. I did start them in a hot oven foiled, and lowered them to about 230 - 250.

Hope this helps.