Recent content by ryan y

Thanks all for the tips, can definitely stand to tweak my methods a bit. I ended up picking up another three butts on sale, so will have plenty of practice. Next time I believe I'll keep more fat on, and see how that goes. The original plan was to go to 200, but after being four hours late the...

13 hours later and it hit 188, so I pulled it and figured the carryover would be enough for 190. We were supposed to eat four hours ago (woops). I messed up and put my temp probe in way too early, a fountain of juice came out. It was a bit dry but everyone said flavor was spot on. I kept the...

Haven't had a chance to post, but finally pulled the trigger on the 40" bluetooth MES at Sams club last weekend. Had some people over, smoked some Johnsonville brats, baked beans, and some boneless skinless chicken breasts. No pics due to the amount of suds flowing and all the company, but the...

Thanks for the responses guys, very helpful information. I ended up not pulling the trigger on it, started looking at the 40" electric model, but it's nearly double the price, so I'll probably stick with a 30 for now, that way I can still have room left in the budget for some qmatz, amnps, and...

I rested them for a few days in the fridge, they did soften up quite a bit. Took some to work and they didn't last long. Used the rest for dip, flavor was great, consistency was a bit off, still great with crackers and cheese.

Pulled the fillets after five hours. It got dark on me and the flashlight ran out of batteries, they ended up cooking for about an hour too long. Still pretty tasty, not quite like jerky. Rib sections got way overdone, almost crunchy, so I'll trim them off for dog treats. Had a few hot off the...

Going on 3hrs now and getting close to done, The tilapia I purchased were frozen, will definitely cook thoroughly. I'm not a fan of using any type of fish I don't catch myself, but my fishing buddies have either moved off or been way to busy to go. Trout season's almost over here now, and I've...

My chief has smoked loads of jerky and whole trout. First time trying fillets, really looking forward to some fish dip. Sprayed racks with pam, arranged fillets with rib section farthest from the outside to hopefully balance cooking out a bit. Took two hours to get a pellicle, slightly tacky...

Picked up some tilapia fillets from the store today. They're on the smaller side, 1/2" thick at most but we'll see how it goes. I'm giving bearcarver's recipe a try, with a few tweaks: -Double the cayenne, I enjoy some spice on anything I smoke. -I only had dark brown sugar, so that's what I...

Was at Lowe's this morning amd they had MES 30", digital display. The plain black one, no glass door. Clearance price was $170. Pretty close to Amazon pricing, but no shipping would make it significantly less. My only real concerns are the display and size. I will be storing outside, and plan...

MES reviews look good, also checked out the amazen products and they look interesting. Grills and smokers should start popping up at Lowes soon, will have to keep an eye out. Thanks for all the help!

Thanks for the fast reply! I've heard good things about the MES so will definitely look into it. I debated the dehydrator route as well, but think I'd get a more use out of a more substantial smoker. The little chief has put out a load of jerky and trout so I'd definitely still keep it around...

Hello everyone, long time since I've posted. Just got done with a batch of jerky in my Little Chief and I realized I need an upgrade. Had the jerky in there for over 10 hrs (it was very cold out) and still had to throw it in the oven for a few. Ideal price range would be around $200 or so, and...

Tried smoking them but after less than two hrs they were hard as a rock. Next time going to use a wet brine and reduce the time.

Took a dozen trout out of the freezer and thawed them out. Dry brine: 4 cups dark brown sugar, 1 cup salt, 2 tbsp black pepper 12 hrs later (pretty sure this was way too long) Are they supposed to look like that after coming out of the brine? I know I left them in too long...are they...