Hosshess One thing, if you sous vide them the entire time you wont get any drying out of the way and the meat will just cook in the liquid that they expel from the meat. Id recommend starting off for at least 1-2hours in your oven.

this is regarding Meatgistics community site which is knowledge blog and a great learning center.

office.com/setup

YooperDog said in Pulled pork:

Chef ribs and butt looks great! Happy Easter

I on the other hand, I totally disagree, I think you should toss it into your garbage!!

(btw when is pickup?)
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MCURRAN I can’t guarantee this but I’d be pretty shocked if you weren’t happy with the smoke flavor from the PK100

I have had some luck with throttling the propane pressure down at the bottle. Not the best solution but it does aloe you too get a smaller flame on your burner.

Tex_77 will do

Thanks for the help. With all the wedding stuff and Easter this next weekend I need to keep it a simple as possible.
I got 6 shakers coming and a couple of hats:)

Thanks for the information Jonathan, was curious to see if anyone had done jerky. Think I will just do it all in the smoker.

PapaSop Pretty good score there.

ButcherBrown In my opinion the PK100 is about as good as it is possible to get with this size smoker, I have done hams and bacon, ribs and pork butts in it and it the color and smoke flavor are on the same level as the big commercial smokehouse. Now, it is not without issues, the price is pretty high and you can only use sawdust in it but that’s about it, other than that the insulation is amazing, the heat wave is very reasonable compare to other smokers and the vents system adds some good versatlity. Also, we never use the lower watt setting.

So I pulled 15 chubs off of my WSM at 140 and put them in a turkey fryer pot without bagging . Everything worked great , fast and the casings stayed perfect, bottom line I guess is no need to bag. Thanks for all the info

processhead No, I have never done 100 lb in it. I can say after loading it with 25 lb of the 2.9" X 24" casings (or whatever the biggest is) I believe it is possible but it is going to be very crowded in there for sure. Also, you might be able to get more than one row of the shorter in there.

Thanks for the information.

shoprat53 Yes, grinding a 3rd time isnt a bad idea with chicken sausage either. Basically, make it goup before you stuff it and I agree that Sure Gel is better than soy for chicken. Another thing I have used is super bind with chicken and that has worked well. It doesn’t actually have protein in it but it does a very good job in catching all the moisture that the meat expells.

Thanks for the report. Will have to put those two on the list.

You will be asking yourself why you did not try this sooner. Tasty leftovers for days to come. Also, BBQ freezes well.

looks good like a home built pk 100👌

How do briskets and ribs turn out in the PK100? This is what I would use it for most of the time outside of sausage making.

twilliams I use hickory when doing cheese smoke about 2 hrs. depending on the kind of cheese

NDMike I do all my smoking on a stick burner. Best way to control it for low temp is a small fire to start like processhead said. Flue wide open and I usually close the firebox vent all the way. If the temp starts to drop just crack the vent on the fire. When you hit the stall throw in some more wood and give it more air.

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No sugar. Just salt, black pepper, and garlic powder on this one.

spangler2k3 said in Cold smoking brats but not cooking to temp:

Anyone smoke their brats for an hour or two but not bring them to the IT they need? it drops down to 30s in the evening now in PA, so i was considering cold smoking for 2-3 hours then vacuum sealing/freezing to be grilled later.

thoughts?

Thanks in advance

The original poster makes no mention of whether he is adding cure to his brats, or not.

I think it is important to clarify that from a food-safety standpoint, it is considered NOT OK to do this with fresh, uncured sausage since the uncured product is in the danger zone where botulism could grow. It could be unsafe to eat even if fully cooked at a later date.

Midwest_kc sounds fun

Parksider
I have done a lot of custom controls on a variety of smokers and coolers. One thing I do before drilling and cutting any steel is do trial runs with just temporary placement of sensors and heat sources.

After I know something will function correctly, then I start planning the permanent installation.

I never rush the planning phase, because I want to avoid making a big hole only to find out something I can’t see is in the way . Usually a do a lot of measurements on the inside and outside.

On a double walled box, once I know where I think I want an opening, I will drill a tiny pilot hole, maybe 3/32nd" and just through the first layer. Then I use a tiny wire to probe the hole and make sure there are no wires, structures or other obstacles between the inner and outer skin of the cabinet.

Once I have determined nothing is in the way, I drill all the way through with the pilot bit and then complete the hole to the final dimensions.

The main rule for smoking is that you never want the product making contact in the smoker. For best results, the product needs even flow of heat, smoke and air around the product. Depending on the size of what you are smoking, this makes the spacing distance kind of a moving target.

At a minimum, you probably want your rack system spacing capable of handling the largest product you ever intend to smoke.

Another option is to devise a flexible system that can be adjusted to suit the dimensions of the product you intend to smoke .

marvsBBQ said in More Smoke on an Already Smoked fully cooked ham:

jbeach when we would cook 2 we would use 2 that weighed 10-12 lbs each so we wouldn’t have TOO much left over but always enough to send home with who ever wanted some. I would keep the bones to boil down for turkey soup and turkey enchiladas
ALWAYS gravy with roasted garlic & cream cheese mashed potatoes

Jonathon said in New idea for humidity:

smokinbubba No, it was activated charcoal and it was an enormous failure. I was monitoring it with a dry bulb/wet bulb system I set up and it had exactly 0 effect. Disappointing but I am not 100% done testing yet.

No such thing as an “enormous failure” just a need for further research.

shoprat53 Depends on what you mean by better and what different peoples health requirements are. I am firm believer that it isn’t fat that is making us fat but a combination of things. I myself eat a lot of fat, probably close to double the RDA on many days but I try not to mix it with carbs and I try not to eat junk food.

In general though, yes, I would think for the average person that all chicken brat would be healthier. I’ve brought this up to our old application specialist a few times when I was trying to make a low fat chicken brat and he always told me not to use the word healthier because it is different depending on goals. Sorry, rambled a bit there!

Correction, it was -5° not 15°. We finally broke our cold snap here and I swear people are walking around in t-shirts in 30 weather because it feels so much nicer!

I too just bought a Dyna Glo large off set smoker and seasoned it Monday of this week (2/22/21).
If you fill up the charcoal box/off set fuel box, to the top and use a roofing torch to light it, then you will reach a temperature of 250 degrees. Keeping the charcoal box full will give you a more even heat for a longer time. I also sealed all of the seams with Lavalock RTV450 Black Silicone Sealant. I also installed Fireblack Hi Temp BBQ Gasket High Heat 1/2 x 1/8 gasket around the inside edge of the firebox. Any where you see smoke coming out get some chalk and mark the spot then come back when the smoker is cool and place the silicone to seal.

shoprat53 Yeah, I wouldnt add ECA to a polish or german or anything like that. Maybe use Sodium Erythorbate if you want the cure acceleration without a tang?

Jonstotz1 Yup 225 in the PK works well!

Mschmidt wow, small world…lol

s.a.m If you were asking me about the camp chef that was with a smoke setting of 1. I was more concerned with temp than amount of smoke at this point. I maybe could have upped the smoke settings after the first hour or so.

time and temp. is dependent on when you pull them ,I run my water @ 170 degrease and leave the temp probe in ,i pull mine at 1440-145 and it takes 20-40 min. depending

Sdickey1960 It also depends on how you are planning on cooking them. I recently did a batch of sticks on the Camp Chef we have and that starts at 160. It was too cold to stay out there and work on propping the lid so I just started them at 160 and then bumped them at 175 when they hit 130 IT. The sticks were nice and full, flavorful and had a really strong snap to them. Now, after leaving them in the cooler overnight I feel like the casings took on more moisture than they would had I done a normal smoke schedule in a vertical. That caused them to have not the best bite but the batch was far from “ruined”.

So batch size matters, 5-10 lb on a pellet grill combo is no issue, much more than that though and a vertical is going to make your life simpler and (IMO) will give you a superior finished product.

Jonathon There is just no trade off for time invested… The more you know the luckier you get😎

Jonathon, I do not have any pics. The flavor was not bad, like I say the only problem was when you bite into them you gotta have a couple napkins at the ready because they make a “greasy” mess! I have made brats in the past, never had the issue. I will look into adding carrot fiber or super bind in the future. Thanks for the help everyone.

Jonathon , I think I missed tagging you in my reply. In addition to my previous reply, I’ve been thinking of trying to grow in pots this year. We’ll see how that works out 🤞

Jonathan, thanks you for the link and the answer.

Christopher Beach I do not. naked for mine

samspade2519 saw this the other day, I’d like to know more as well.

Tex_77 Yup, nice heavy cast iron, this thing works awesome!

Deepwoodsbutcher Another option might be the camp chef vertical smoker is coming soon and it will be around $600, it wont be of the same quality as a PK100 (few things are!) and it will run off pellets so will be a little more efficient.

taxi So you are saying marinade and then freeze before cooking? Other than the water expanding within the meat and do some minor damage I don’t see a large issue with is but I’ve also never tried it.

shoprat53 Yup, we have cold smoked our high-temp cheese in the past and then added it to sausage. Since we smoke the meat anyway it doesn’t really shine through but still fun to do!

We did more here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQcs-iLAX-w

Cheese is my 2nd favorite food group after meat

smokinbubba I’m with ya no fridge space or patience I always use a accelerator I’ve used both sodium Erythorbate and smoked meat stab. Don’t use ECA much

Thanks Tex will have to reorder some sure gel, so sure gel has cold phosphate in it and what powdered milk?

Thanks for the good advice Jonathan, think that I will give it A try in the near future. With the last chicken summer sausage I used cold phosphate but you recommend to use the sure gel. Will use that next time as my binder.

Johnathon
Yes I did use critic acid and temp was held at a good temp for more than a few hours. I don’t think the fat ran out but maybe it did. The smell is great but texture just not right. I finished in the oven until temp got to 160. I’ll try again later this week. Thanks for your input.

Fractured Fitness Yup, 3-2-1 with the PK is the way to go. With mine it always ends up being 3-2-0.75 of an hour. I get nervous that the last hour is going to dry it all out too much!

Thanks thought so just checking. Will let you know how they turn out.

Andy_9 Are you the person I happened to be in the showroom when you called yesterday? Sounds exactly like what I was helping the showroom out with yesterday. processhead good answer, concise and accurate!

Kainam Yup, Ive done it with goose and then again the other day with Pheasant and it was excellent both time! https://www.pheasantsforever.org/BlogLanding.aspx?categoryid=369 the pheasant pepperoni should be released on that site soon

150 degrees is considered low heat for a pellet grill?

AaronSilves Thank you!

Thanks, I will try it without food and see how it goes. Perhaps a 2 wide snake then increase to 2 wide & 1 on top then 2 stacked over 2 and see what happens. I also have a neighbor that has a 22. I may borrow his mid section and try double stacking. Might need a ladder. :’)

Like the tying and rotating idea.

Thanks!

Bigtwin 165F is too hot for sous vide snack sticks
They will reach that temp in minutes and you may have fat-out
Better to give them an hour at 150-153F this will not over cook the sticks and ground meat at 150 internal will be pasteurized in around a minute

erich52 Thank you for your suggestions. Much appreciated! Only been at it for about 9 months and getting hooked!

I believe the general rule for jerky seasonings is 8oz of water per 5 pounds of meat. As far as tables go, search for conversion charts.

shoprat53
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I think 8 grills is a great start! Just joking, but you do need different grills for different things. Most kitchens have several appliances to cook different ways. Microwaves, ovens, stove, toaster, crock pot, etc. Your outdoor kitchen deserves as much attention as well.

The grills I have collected are vintage and mostly in storage units, garages, sheds, basement, and a few chicken coups. I did have a few dozen in a museum but that exhibit closed last September. I displayed a few of them at bbq contests (Jack Daniels, Memphis May) and trade shows. I’ll dig up a picture and post it. The only time all of them were out was for the Guinness Book of World Records certification. It’s hard to have a favorite because they all are a bit unique and all with different stories. If you go to Meatheads webpage Amazing Ribs and look under the tab of bbq history you can see a few there. Hopefully one day Chris Lilly from Big Bob Gibson BBQ in Decatur AL will house the Barbecue Nation exhibit that was on display in Atlanta History Center last year.

Kentucky Fisherman

I have the FEC-100 Fast Eddy by Cookshack set up inside my metal building (garage) and cut a hole in the wall to run my exhaust out then added pipe to run the exhaust up past the roof line for better draft.
When I built the shop (2012) I added double man doors on one side so I could roll it out to use but quickly got tired of doing that.

I have used the a-max-n tube smoke generators for years and they are great for hot or cold smoke gas,electric smoker ,or charcoal grill. Just fill the tube with pellets light with torch and 4 hours great smoke.

AdamCA yeah i used ice water! It sounds like we all have to use ice water and/or pet them in the refrigerator for some time to get the casings to soften. I just wanted to make sure this was the only way of doing it, ie that there wasn’t a way of just bringing them out of the smoker and letting them sit at room temperature for a while. Thanks for the help!

I have had the Thermosorks MK4 (4 of them) for 10+years as I used them in my catering business. I kept one in each catering truck. They are not cheap ($75-$80 ea) so when I sold my business they were among some things I kept. The MK4 is also easily calibrated for accuracy.
I also have their SMOKE unit as it has the meat probe and the ambient probe as well as a unit that you can carry around (I wear it around my neck) with the SMOKE unit I also purchased the 12” meat probe for deep frying.
All of these units I purchased directly from Thermosorks
Oh and as mentioned, their customer service is outstanding to say the least

Randyman, you need to brine the halibut in a water based brine mixed with an acidic juice of your choosing. I use sprite and add real lemons to it for the acid. White fish needs to absorb water before smoking to give it moisture. The acid will help hold the moisture in while smoking. Smoke to a medium rare temp and it will turn out. Pineapples work well also and oranges are ok. depends on what flavor you like. Brine it for at least 8 hours so fish will absorb water. Water absorbtion is the trick for white fish. Good luck

Fat_Bob
Depends on how much smoky flavor you want and what smoker you have and temp. In the pk100 you can get light smoke flavor in around 45 minutes. I went for 2 hours because I like that extra smokiness. A good rule of thumb is. When the cheese starts to sweat you are done

Auber Industries makes an excellent controller. It can be programmed and the programs can be saved. It will control your heating element as well as the smoke generator. Comes with two temperature probes. One mounts in the cabinet to monitor the cabinet temperature and the other can be put into the meat to monitor internal meat temp. I built a smoker using this and it works great.

holysmoke

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barth i think you need 3/8 hog rings. thats what i use and they work well. 1/2 are just to big by a little bit.

The recipe I posted for smoked turkeys is over the TOP, it turns the dark meat to ham and all the meat is SOOO juicy, you will not regret trying this recipe89A79D4B-0165-4AB3-9F55-6572E212DA6B.jpeg

Can I use your dry rub cure to make Buckboard Bacon?

For snack sticks and smaller sausages the water bath method of cutting the cooking time down is dramatic. I use a large steam table pan on a double propane cooker and in a very short time I have the water to 165 degrees and in minutes the internal temp of the product is at 165 degrees and you are sure the whole batch is at the same temp.

I just roll mine out of the garage and go for it

smokin greg A few posts with good information
https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/1207/buckboard-bacon
https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/2042/buckboard-bacon

scott farm I know makes some too. Do you have a recommendation on best cure/smoke schedule? I’d recommend just Blue Ribbon Maple Bacon Cure though.

I know I’m late to this thread; but a lot of great information in this one. Thanks.

winter Awesome looking bird, glad it turned out well!

Tex_77 Ive had more luck posting from my phone recently, seems like android is resizing them automatically maybe?

@Michael-Devenney
So I take them out of the sous vide. Let them cook for only about a half hour at room temp. I dry them off with a paper towel. Then into the smoker. I am not looking for a real strong smoke. But more of a mild taste. Once done. Sear them in hot griddle.
Hope this helps. There really is no right or wrong. Whatever gives you the best results. I use a pk100 which imparts a lot of smoke flavor in a short amount of time.

jbkitzy1 Nope, shouldn’t matter, I did this since Parksider always did it without a bag I did a few and had no issue with pre-stuck casings

Blaker25 Tex_77 was right in pointing you to videos/article where we talk about case hardening/protein extraction. I am 90% sure that is what you ran into here. THis is where the outside of the stick cooks/dries too quickly and then it cannot pass heat effectively into the center resulting in long long cooking times. 16 for snack sticks is insane. Couple things can cause case hardening and they are:
Fat out - to prevent this make sure you have at least 20% fat and use a binder (sure gel best one)
Too Hot - if you start out too high in your smoker you will cook or scorch the outside and harden it
Too dry - this is less likely but absolutely can happen. Check out this video for ways to increase humidity https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/1099/cured-sausage-205-advanced-thermal-processing

I’d imagine the second time you had a failure to get a good bind. Was the mixing different or did you use a binder in the 1st and not the second? If you are talking about the sausage falling away from the casing that could also have something to do with casing preparation but I am reading this more as you the sausage was falling apart and not binding to itself.

image.jpg

So first time doing snack sticks and I built this little beauty. I “seasoned” it with a little empty smoke run then just wiped the dowels down with oil on a paper towel.

Tonight after work going to Smoke the sticks I put together yesterday.

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Did about 15lbs.

I’ve helped with cooking whole (juvenile) goats and pigs, but not a sheep or lamb. We’ve done them on a rotating spit, spatchcocked on a La Caja China cooker, and just whole (wrapped in couple layers of chicken wire so that it was easier to turn them, mostly by hooking that chicken wire with a garden rake). We’ve also halved them to make them easier to handle and speed up cooking a bit. The quickest and most consistent method is with that La Caja China, but those things aren’t cheap. The rotating spit is nice and has a good “wow” factor, especially if motorized. The “chicken wire method” doesn’t look very sexy, but it’ll get the job done.

Timing is the real trick, unless you’re using the La Caja China. As I mentioned, it’s fairly consistent. Since you aren’t worried about flipping the animal, you can easily use a leave-in, probe thermometer to monitor internal temperature. If you follow their directions, you should be done in about 3 hours, give or take depending on all the usual factors.

For the other, open methods, the key is to concentrate your fire on the thicker parts of the animal (shoulders and thighs). You need some fire in the center, but not as much. I can’t give you anything precise, because I have to depend on nothing more than my visual memory, but I want to say you want about twice as much fire (coals, of course) under the thick parts as you do under the thin. Start with a good & hot fire and gradually let the temperature go down–add coals as the cook goes on, but just enough so that the temperature goes down gradually. We placed the grill about a foot above the fire, and we had the spit so that the lowest part (the back) was about 8 or 9 inches from the fire, if I recall. If you have an adjustable spit or grill, you can raise that after the first half hour or hour of cooking to help with cooking temperature. It should take several hours, around 6-7 if I recall.

Seasoning was fairly simple for us–salt, pepper, a little garlic powder. I know the Greek Easter lamb gets more more complex with seasoning, but I’ve never helped with anything like that.

I wish I could be more help, but it’s been a long time since I did anything like what you’re asking, and I never led the cook in the first place. The memories started a little foggy (due to a drink or few), and time hasn’t made them any clearer.

Camardelle said in Smoked Polish Kielbasa:

are you speaking of Pink cure #1 when you talk of a cure accelerator?

The Sure Cure (a.k.a., pink salt, cure #1, etc.) is not a cure accelerator. It’s the actual cure. If you’re only using Sure Cure or other pink cure, then you need to let it sit overnight before smoking so that the cure can work.

As YooperDog mentioned, there are a lot of cure accelerators out there that allow you to go straight to the smoker after stuffing. My preferred cure accelerator at the moment is ascorbic acid (1/4 tsp per 5 pounds of meat). The Smoked Meat Stabilizer is a good product, but note that it contains a good deal of salt and dextrose, so you might want to adjust your recipe accordingly. I haven’t used sodium erythorbate, but a lot of folks like it. I think the challenge with sodium erythorbate is that you need so little of it per pound of meat that it can get tricky for the home sausage maker.

Yes, do see if you can get your smoker temp down below 125F or so to get started with your cook. The simplest thing to try is to crack the lid (use a dowel or something to hold the lid open a little). You also can start by poaching the sausage or par-cooking it by sous vide, giving it some time to dry back out, and then finishing it on your smoker. You should still get plenty of smoke in your final product, especially for kielbasa.

You want to shoot for an internal temperature anywhere between 152-160F, depending on what you want and who you listen to. Obviously, 160F is the safest way to go, and it also will get you a texture that is most like what you’re used to from commercial outfits. Some of the old sausage sages go for lower temperatures (152-155F) for texture reasons. Personally, I shoot for 160F or just shy.

scott farm It sounds like it got overcooked it in the sous vide and pretty much broke down all the connective tissue to the point that you had that “really tender roast” texture in the flat.

As for the bark, about the only thing I can think of is that it wasn’t in there long enough to evaporate enough from the surface relative to the rest to form that bark. I guess that six hours of ramping up from 175-250, especially if you’re starting with a cold brisket (which I assumed you did).

All that’s good to know. Thanks for checking it out. Hey, you can’t complain too much if you wind up with something good and tasty, even if it’s not the good and tasty you were shooting for.

I have never heard of that.Sounds interesting though!

Well I wound up ramping up 10 degrees and it broke and hit 160. I think your correct that the casings hardened and prevented the heat from exchanging. Still taste amazing too. We used turkey and chicken with cold phosphate to increase moisture. It is seriously some of the best andouille I have had. Thanks for the help

Jonathon just sliced and tried some of the bacon i did with the jerky mix. I did some others the way I normally do with an dry EQ at 2.5 percent salt. The jowls made with jerky mix were less salty than my traditional bacon cure. Pretty sure this will work for fish now. I used habanero lime and pepper garlic. Didn’t take much flavor. Habanero has some late heat come through and the pepper garlic was feint but still there. I used the same rate per pound of meet as instructed with the jerky mix. May try 10% extra next time.

MTArcher
dimensions are mentioned in this review by Johnathon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0soB5ZlztU

Thanks to everyone for the conservative replies. Yes the heats and the product was a success, I used my cold smoke attachment for the smoke input. I believe the element was never on long enough to ignite the chips with the step smoke schedule in the hot ND day. Thanks again for the good input from everyone. Dewey

I have been using newspaper for years, but I would just about bet dollars to doughnuts, Double to nothing, that I have snuck some oil (not auto) or bacon grease in there a time or two maybe thinking I could ramp up everyone’s appetite or something. No Problems.

chippewa.
Hickory is my favorite. But I’ve also done apple and cherry too.

make sure you save enough for hunting season and some sticks or jerky !

100% would love them! Yes I have a bunch of unanswered things and I am really sorry about that guys, I finally managed to carve out an hour to be on meatgistics (I worked both Saturday and Sunday to try to get ahead on the website, I MAYBE got to where I should be) and I am answering posts and will try to get to chats either tonight after a meeting with Pheasants Forever or tomorrow.

Cbeach2 Yeah, I think lkrfletcher is on the right track, it sounds like you have some “fat out” which is just where some of your fat renders out of the meat and drips down. Depending on how much renders out it can range from just a little extra cleanup in the drip pan all the way to a dry and not very tasty snack stick. Sounds like you are probably more on the mild annoyance scale but if you use a binder like Sure Gel or Super Bind, or even Soy Protein Blend and mix your meat a little longer you will fix that. Also, if you go much past 70/30 (lean to fat) you are going to experience some rendering almost no matter what you do.

Does anyone have a specific recipe/time/temperature advice for cold smoked salmon? I want to be prepared when it does turn cold. Last time I did it was when it didn’t get above 36;F for the day. I know it’s hot now, but just want to be ready. Thanks

Lost River Jones Do a search for Alton Brown homemade smoker. He uses an old army crate with a heat plate and some air holes drilled in the top to make his own smoker. Take out the hotplate he uses to generate smoke and you have a low temp oven.
After you get the idea of what he does then research a PID(proportional–integral–derivative) controller. You can purchase one off the web for under $50. That would make his design pretty full proof on maintaining temps.
Now you could buy a cheap electric smoker and modify it with a PID controller to get the desired temp control. I would probably go that route as even a cheap model will have the racks and door etc already in place.