Anybody cooking this weekend ?

[Winterrider]

Planning on cold smoking salmon for the first time using a smoke tube and pellets. If anyone has any great ideas about what smoke flavor to use or anything else I would just love to hear it. Have fun all!

As others stated, Apple is a very good choice. Have also used Pecan and Alder with good results on basically any fish.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Just got done prepping a PB for an overnight smoke tonight.
We're in the upper 70's and lower 80's for highs and in the low 50's overnight down here. A lot of the neighbors have their doors and windows open during the day so I don't want to smoke them out.

 

[Steve H]

Tomorrow I'm putting two homemade corned beef roast in the smoker for pastrami. Using eye of round so they , I hope, come out like lunch meat.

 

[Smokin' in AZ]

Yep, Ray definitely smokin' weather now in southern Arizona, Fire'em up!!!

Just marinated a couple of pork tenderloins (Pecan Honey Cabelas Rub and Rosemary and Cracked Pepper) for the smoker tomorrow for diner and leftovers for sammies. Now what to do for sides.....

John

 

[thesmokindogs]

Yes I am! We had 65 mph wind gusts, torrential rains with flooding and a 30° temperature drop. But I'm braving the cold and smoking away.

My last batch of ABTs went like proverbial hotcakes and my wife found a farmers market in Erie PA that had an 8 quart basket of jalapeños for $9. 107 whole peppers! Most of them are huge!

I'm trying something a little different with the smaller ones. I left them whole. We had forgotten about a tool my wife bought some time ago. It's a "popper" maker. (I really don't recommend it unless you have absolutely perfectly shaped peppers) It cores and sort of cleans out the insides but it really doesn't work that well.

Anyway I have 41 whole peppers that I have on the smoker now. I'm letting them get a head start for an hour before I put on the halves.

This is going to be a two stage cook because the rain is moving back in later. We'll finish prepping tonight and I'll cook the others Monday or Tuesday.

 

[Hawging It]

The first weekend that I haven't smoked anything in weeks. The weather is currently awesome. Low 38 high 65. Blue bird skies. Wanted to take a little break and do some scouting for deer. I'm out of pulled pork. I pull, vac pack and freeze. None left. I will most likely cure that situation in the next few days.

 

[ofelles]

just posted a chicken salad here
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/hatch-chile-chicken-salad.291959/

 

[thesmokindogs]

And here's the first round! Two dozen disappeared before I could even get them in the house! I used mostly cherry wood and alternated a little bit of mesquite and maple.

They taste great but not as spicy as the first ones I did a couple weeks ago.

 

[thesmokindogs]

Tomorrow I'm putting two homemade corned beef roast in the smoker for pastrami. Using eye of round so they , I hope, come out like lunch meat.

Man that sounds scrumptious!

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

We had 65 mph wind gusts, torrential rains with flooding and a 30° temperature drop.

The things we endure for our passion.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

 

[fivetricks]

Wow, those look like they caught a thick blanket of smoke. Yum.

that's the problem with fresh grown peppers. Every so often you get a cropped that may look and taste phenomenal, but doesn't always pack the expected heat.

 

[mushroomboots]

"WSM" is a Weber Smokey Mountain. Mine is the 22.5" version.

Got it. Thanks for the education. Sounds like a great piece of equipment; I am a Weber fan.

 

[mushroomboots]

M mushroomboots - stands for Weber Smokey Mountain. It’s a vertical bullet style smoker. Very nice smokers.

No cooking for me this week end. Refurbishing a lodge sportsman cast iron grilled that I have neglected.

Tuesday I’ll be smoking 8 turkeys for our local food bank.

Johnny Ray

Thanks for taking the time to explain Johnny Ray. I appreciate it. I also appreciate you taking care of your cast iron. Have fun!

 

[martin1950]

Nothing for me this weekend. Did a "give away" butt the other day and got a little zap off the shelf bracket. Checked all the hardware and tracked it back to
bad underground cable from house to garage. It's gotta stop raining and blowing so this old man can get out there and make repairs.

 

[atomicsmoke]

18h SV pork hocks with cooked saurkraut

Smoked peri peri chicken wings and and legs

 

[mushroomboots]

Tomorrow I'm putting two homemade corned beef roast in the smoker for pastrami. Using eye of round so they , I hope, come out like lunch meat.

Sounds good! I've been meaning to try pastrami with some venison meat from my husband's deer. Don't know if it would be any good but dang I love pastrami. I hope yours turns out terrific! Can I ask where you got your recipe?

 

[Steve H]

Sounds good! I've been meaning to try pastrami with some venison meat from my husband's deer. Don't know if it would be any good but dang I love pastrami. I hope yours turns out terrific! Can I ask where you got your recipe?

I followed this:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/eye-of-round-pastrami-mucho-q-view.242696/
I followed this recipe until you coat with mustard.
Then for the rub for the Pastrami I used:
2 tbs course ground pepper
2 tbs Coriander
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp onion powder
Mix well. And apply liberally. You want a nice bark of this when done.
Then into the smoker at around 250-275 with hickory until you get to 150-155 IT. The end result:

 

[thesmokindogs]

OMG! That looks simply awesome! Great job!

 

[Steve H]

OMG! That looks simply awesome! Great job!

Thank you!

 

[thesmokindogs]

And here's the first round! Two dozen disappeared before I could even get them in the house! I used mostly cherry wood and alternated a little bit of mesquite and maple.

They taste great but not as spicy as the first ones I did a couple weeks ago.

View attachment 410122

Just finished prepping the last 7 dozen ABTs and got them in the smoker.

GO BILLS!! Sorry, just had to say that....

A lesson learned I thought I'd share about these two batches. I'll preface it by saying that I'm on disability so money's always tight. My wife makes a decent income but we're always looking for bargains.

But in the area of ABTs in particular we both made the mistake of letting price get the best of us on bacon. Since everyone's favorite meat is nearing $8 per 12 oz package and I had 214 ABTs to make, seeing a name brand (initials are JD) for $2.99 per pack pretty much sealed the deal. MISTAKE!

Those had to be irregulars or whatever the term is. First off, there were only 9 or 10 slices per package. The thickness of the slices from one pack to the next was radically different. Even worse, the thickness also varied within the same package! And I don't mean by a little either. One slice could be 3/16" thick but the next one was so thin it fell apart trying to separate it. It dramatically slowed my prep time.

Yes, $30 for enough bacon definitely beats nearly $100 but having dealt with the aggravation I just don't know if it was worth the savings.

But there's a happy ending because the finished product came out fantastic!

I think next spring I'm going to make a concerted effort to find pork bellies on sale and make my own! It's got to be a little cheaper and I can definitely control the thickness!

Thanks for reading my mini-rant!!