Smoked Sloppy Joe

[NoobNoob]

Alright everyone,
I'm looking for help here because I want to attempt smoking bbqs. For some reason in Minnesota, or maybe other parts of the midwest are plagued by this as well, we don't really have sloppy joes, we call them bbqs. It's a weird thing. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out how I go about smoking the ground chuck. Do I leave it as a log and smoke it plain without seasoning, do I season it, so I break it apart and smoke it in a pan, do I fry it in a pan and add all the ingredients and then smoke it? What's the best route to go here? I'm leaning toward adding the dry ingredients, logging it up, and then smoking it and adding wet ingredients afterward. Just not sure how that will affect the smoke flavor? Any ideas would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

That's a tough one. I'm afraid once you add in the sloppy joe sauce you aren't going to taste much smoke flavor either way but I could be wrong.

Thought about maybe cold smoking it? Or maybe smoking it in a log somewhat like a meat loaf until its to you desired temp them tossing it in the pan with the other ingredients. Just a couple ideas anyways.

 

[Sowsage]

I think I would do the whole cook in the smoker. Smoke the log of beef then break it up and add the other ingredients all together in a cast iron pot and back into the smoker. Maybe keep the mix a little thinned out. That way it has time to thicken up on the smoker while getting some more smoke into it.

 

[xray]

Sounds interesting.

I guess you could go a bunch of ways here. If I was looking for more of a smoked flavor, here’s what I would do if it were me.

Season your meat with your dry ingredients.

Sautee onions and peppers( If using)

Combine them together into your log.

Once you place the meat into the smoker, I would place the sauce in a aluminum pan underneath your meat. Whether it’s homemade or Manwich...that’s up to you. This way the sauce is picking up smoke and catching the drippings.

Once the meat is done, break it apart and add to the sloppy joe sauce. (I’m assuming it would crumble since there’s no binders like eggs or bread crumbs)

Taste and add more dry seasoning to your desired taste.

 

[Smokin' in AZ]

What he said....like the idea of doing the sauce.

 

[PolishDeli]

What type of smoker are you using?

Using my electric smoker: I’d smoke the ingredients, rather than the meat. Then I’d make the sloppy joe as usual. Veggies smoke up nicely. And here is a recent post about smoking salt:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/smoked-some-salt.290032/

Using my webber kettle: I’d use an iron skillet and make the sloppy joe in the usually way. Just toss wood chips on the charcoals and keep the lid closed while everything is simmering/reducing.

 

[smokerjim]

I think I would mix everything including sauce, and heat in smoker at low temp, stir every 1/2 hour or so, just like I do with wicked baked beans

 

[NoobNoob]

Sounds interesting.

I guess you could go a bunch of ways here. If I was looking for more of a smoked flavor, here’s what I would do if it were me.

Season your meat with your dry ingredients.

Sautee onions and peppers( If using)

Combine them together into your log.

Once you place the meat into the smoker, I would place the sauce in a aluminum pan underneath your meat. Whether it’s homemade or Manwich...that’s up to you. This way the sauce is picking up smoke and catching the drippings.

Once the meat is done, break it apart and add to the sloppy joe sauce. (I’m assuming it would crumble since there’s no binders like eggs or bread crumbs)

Taste and add more dry seasoning to your desired taste.

Manwich?!?!? Sorry you just about killed me there... who the heck even buys manwich?! Sorry don’t mean to be a jerk lol. BBQs around here are the simplest food you can find. My grandma stuffed me with plenty as a kid. It’s ground beef browned up with SPG and minced onion then after browning add in ketchup mustard and brown sugar. Finished product should be some delicious shade of orange lol. More seriously I think this is the method I might try just to try and make sure the flavor gets through. Worst case scenario I still got edible sandwiches most likely.

 

[phathead69]

Smoke the chuck till tender then pull it. Add to cast iron over open flame that you sauteed other ingredients in and add sauce. Slow simmer. Pic was of a chuck I did but added taters and beef stock to.

 

[xray]

Manwich?!?!? Sorry you just about killed me there... who the heck even buys manwich?! Sorry don’t mean to be a jerk lol. BBQs around here are the simplest food you can find. My grandma stuffed me with plenty as a kid. It’s ground beef browned up with SPG and minced onion then after browning add in ketchup mustard and brown sugar. Finished product should be some delicious shade of orange lol. More seriously I think this is the method I might try just to try and make sure the flavor gets through. Worst case scenario I still got edible sandwiches most likely.

No offense taken. I don’t eat the stuff. I will eat it when someone makes it for a party, but it is something I will never cook myself...so I’m entirely sure how people make it.

My thinking on the method described was that you would get a strong smoke flavor, and it seems that’s what you were looking for. I figured if you combined everything together and throw it in the smoker the flavor would be more subtle.

But there’s plenty of ways to skin a cat, so hopefully you find something that works for you.