Quicker Cooks - Your go to?

[illini40]

Like many of you I'm sure, I typically don't have a ton of time to smoke something. Young family and busy schedules means I don't regularly have the opportunity to dedicate entire days/weekends to a cook. I also acknowledge that I need to do a much better job of planning to thaw meat our in advance and ensure I have anything needed.

What are some of your favorites if you only have 4-5 hours?

Taking it further, what about only a couple of hours?

I noticed the Traeger app does have a recipe filter for time, but I haven't fully checked it out.

 

[greg1]

Pork loins are my go to for a short cook. 2-2.5 hours and it's ready. Pretty inexpensive as well. Not a lot of loss to shrinkage. Can be ate sandwich style or knife and for and pairs with about any sides you want.

 

[BKING!]

Sausages, burgers, wings, drums, salmon, meat loaf are shorter cooks.

If you cook hot and fast you can get ribs done in that time frame too but I’m still working on getting that technique down for the different types of meat.

 

[73saint]

Chicken is my go-to for quick cooks. Wings, whole bird, etc.

 

[GaryHibbert]

Pork tendrrloin is my go to for quick smokes, followed by pork loin and burgers.
Gary

 

[dcecil]

If you have acces to Tri Tip, it’s a two hour cook and the taste is awesome. If your not familiar with them I would describe as a mini brisket. You can even cook it like a brisket and the taste is similar. That typically takes about 4 hrs to get it to probe tender roughly 200. I typically cook them to 130 and wrap and you get about a 5+ degree carry over for a perfect medium rare. I usually hover around the 225 -235 Mark with these. No need for higher temps in my opinion.

 

[WaterRat]

Chicken is my go-to for quick cooks. Wings, whole bird, etc.

I'll second that. I love doing quarters, thighs and legs. Half birds if you find a deal. Done in 2hrs. Can do without a brine or marinade but a little better if you do. I did a batch on Monday and didn't need to worry about meal planning the rest of the week (as a single guy I can get away with that) ;)

 

[idahopz]

My all time favorite is doing pork butt in the SRG. About an hour and a half to set a good crust and a bit of smoke, and then wrapped in foil into the house oven (set at 250 degrees) for the duration until an I.T. of about 200 degrees. Never takes more than 4-5 hours. I know it is a bit of a cheat, but the look on the face of the guests as I squish the pork between my fingers like Play dough is priceless.

 

[chilerelleno]

Good stuff that you can smoke and/or grill in four hours or less?

STEAKS! smoke/grill, smoke/cast iron sear or just grill'em up
Chicken, spatchcocked whole or parts, smoke/grill(crisp skin), grill
Pork, Loin, Tenderloin, Country Style Ribs, Chops, smoke/grill, grill
Fish, hot smoked or just grilled
Burgers, smoke/grill or just grill
Sausages
Fatties
Meatloaf

 

[chilerelleno]

My all time favorite is doing pork butt in the SRG.

SRG?

 

[SmokinAl]

Wings here!
Actually I'm about ready to put some in the smoker right now!!
Al

 

[illini40]

Thanks for all of the replies!

Yes, tri tips are great!

I have forgotten about fatties being a great option (same on me). I'll put those on the list.

Just did some pork tenderloins this evening. Great 45 minute cook.

I really need to get some confidence around chicken. It would be a great option. I just haven't tried much chicken.

 

[tallbm]

The simplest and fastest in my mind would be boneless skinless chicken thighs. No need to brine them and they would cook in 2 hours or less or longer if you want to change your cooking temp.

Also you could do small or individual served smoked meatloaf. When done in small loaves they cook quick. Check out my individual serve ones here, you can see next to a 1 liter soda bottle for comparison of size.

DSC_9054[1]

• tallbm
• Feb 18, 2018

DSC_9058[1]

• tallbm
• Feb 18, 2018

DSC_9056[1]

• tallbm
• Feb 18, 2018

If you take the time to brine then boneless skinless chicken breast OR get a pork loin (not tender loin which is the little one) and cut 2 inch chops out of it, brine, and then smoke them! I just did some last weekend and WOW. I intentionally drug the smoke out to 3.5 hours to get more smoke flavor on them but they could have been done in about 2 hours :)

 

[phatbac]

4-5 hours? Ribs...babies are favorite around here. the last st louis i did were 3.5 hours on the smoker at 300 degrees no wrap. came out perfect!

2-2.5 hours chicken ...smoke it for a couple hours and either skin it or throw on hot grill to finish off the skin with some sauce!

actually once i did a huge brisket in 6.5 hours....its a matter of heat. if you don't have as much time but want a bigger meat then crank the heat up on your smoker. the meat doesn't care what temp you cook it at and most meats it doesn't make a real difference in tenderness either.

Happy Smoking,
phatbac (Aaron)

 

[hardcookin]

Chicken is probably my go to smoke. Wings,Thighs, split chicken breasts,quarters and pulled chicken.
Short easy smoke...

 

[The Butt Man]

A couple of my go to quick smokes are boneless chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms and cheese wrapped with bacon or a stuffed meatloaf that I discovered on this forum. They are both quick, easy, and delicious.

 

[The Butt Man]

Oh yeah. This whole chicken hit in your time range and was WONDERFUL!!!! For $6 it was even better.

 

[idahopz]

SRG?

Sorry: Smoke, Roast, Grill, a propane unit that has a side pellet basket for smoke. Charbroil calls it an infrared cooker, and I always use it do pork butt. It also cooks the most succulent juicy chickens. Also does some of the best salted baked potatoes I've tasted.

 

[SlickRockStones]

I’ve been grilling a lot of skewered shrimp lately because they are guuuud. And due to a BOGO sale on 2# bags at Publix. But mostly cause they’re guuuud!

 

[SmokinLogs]

Our quick go to for actual smoking is pork tenderloin. If I have time I like a quick marinade, but it’s been good every way I’ve cooked it. I also love Smokey thick burgers, brats and chops. All can be cooked beautifully in usually less than an hour.