Christmas Party Smoking 2012 times 2 Smokes

A good smoke does take some planning. You need to buy quality meats and vegetables. You need to get the right spices and sauces for the results that you want. The wood that you use needs to the right wood for the results that you are wanting.

Below are pictures of Gambles Oak. I simply cut 1½ inch thick bocks from a piece of log that was split for the wood heating stoves.  

 

I then split them into chips. I bagged them for future smokes also.

 

Make sure your smoker is level. I use an App on my cell phone. Preheating your smoker takes at least a half hour. If it is windy or very cold you will want to shelter your smoker. Remember the grease tray in the back. You may want to protect the surface under the smoker.

Now let’s go into the kitchen. The menu today for our first smoke is 2 Fillets of Salmon lightly salted to taste with skin on. Leave salmon on the counter to pellicle for 2 hours. 6 Chicken Thighs and 4 COSTCO Pork Spare Ribs. The picture below was before I salted the salmon and smothered Stubbs Original BBQ Sauce on everything else. Remember to do both sides.

 

 

I started the preheat at 225*F ½ hour before the meat was put in. I started the chicken and ribs 5 hours before dinner time (pic below at 12:00 noon). The vent is closed and 2 cups of water are in the pan.

I used Gamble Oak chip at start and at every hour.

The salmon was put in the smoker after 2 hours (2:00pm). Everything was pulled at 5:00pm.

Salmon on platter (picture). The smoker rack was flipped over on a cookie sheet and the skin lifted off. It was then flipped back over onto the platter. It is moist and tender. The oak has a nutty flavored smoke.

As you can see the BBQ sauce on the ribs keeps the moisture in. Also you can see how the meat has shrunken back on the bones and 2 wires narrower on the rack (below).

The chicken thighs shrink about to 2/3rds of the original size.

Now for a second back-to-back smoking.

The menu is 4 small Elk Steaks, 4 Chicken Thighs and 3 more Pork Ribs. I pulled the first smoke at 5:00pm and started the second at 5:05pm. Of course, I added oak chips every hour and the temp at 225*F.

At one hour I pulled the small elk steaks (6:05pm)

I had a trouble call power outage at 9:00pm. Everything else was pulled at 10:30pm by my wife, 5 hour 25 minutes. It was a little overdone and drier than I like. I also forgot to add water to the pan. I think it was a combination of water and 25 minutes too long of smoking. I have pulled rib at 4 hour 45 minutes with great results also.

Elk Sausage Electric Smoking:

 

We finally finished the butchering of the two Cow Elk on Saturday. See my Thanksgiving post for more information.

I don’t like the way butchers rush through meat processing, missing hairs, burning hair off with torches and wasting meat. I de-bone everything, cut it into the common cuts and vacuum seal the meat before freezing it.

I am putting way too much wear on Rhonda’s KitchenAid Pro 6 when grinding the meat so I just bought a Cabela’s Pro Series Grinder  IK-523860.

We used the Cabela’s Snack Stick Kit with 17 pounds of freshly 4.5mm ground Elk. The kit comes with seasonings and cure for two 15 pound batches of sausage. We already used half of the kit before, but only had enough casings for 10 pounds of meat this time. Follow the directions from the kit for casing prep and Sausage mixing.

Elk has no fat in the meat but does have a little on the rump and chest. We mixed 98% meat to 2% fat.

When we ran out of casings I just put the big stuffer tube and extruded sausage rolls.

We just fed the snack links casings through a rack from my Masterbuilt Electric Smoker. Do not put any through the last side holes because they touch the side of the smoker. We did not leave enough air space for equal drying.

I started the pre-heat at 7:00pm with the smoker temp at 140*F with the vent open.

At 7:30pm I put in the meat and added a tray of Mesquite Wood Chips.

I put a cookie sheet under the Sausage Roles because I thought they would fall apart. You can skip the sheet. More air is better.

At 8:30pm I closed the vent to 1/8^th open and added mesquite. The temp is still at 140*F.

I added mesquite wood again at 9:00 and 10:00pm.

At 11:00 I added mesquite and increased the temp to 160*F.

At 12:00 midnight I installed a Wireless Meat Thermometer Probe into the center sausage role. The meat temp was at 130*F. I closed the vent and raised the smoker temp to 170*F.

At 12:30 the probe was at 137*F so I increased the smoker temp to 180*F as per the directions in the Cabela’s kit.

At 1:00am the probe was at 144*F and at 1:30am it was at 146*F so I increased the smoker temp to 190*F.

At 2:00am the probe temp was 144*F. With a drop of 2*F, I jumped the smoker temp to 200*F. I watched the probe temp start up again.

Wow, at 2:47am the probe finally reached 156*F. The kit said that was the minimum temp needed.

I rinsed the casing snack links under cool water and stacked to air dry and cool a bit more before Ziploc bagging them for the refrigerator.

 

Excellent flavor throughout, but I did have a few dry spots.

The next day, I sealed 2 of the Sausage Roles per 8 inch wide vacuum bags. I put a handful in the 8 inch wide bags for the Snack links. I froze all but a couple of bags.

Thanksgiving Electric Smoking:

It has been a busy few weeks. Stewart and I both harvested Antlerless Elk during the week prior to Thanksgiving. Times are hard in Arizona, but the true American spirit cannot be broken by the White House.

During our hunt we past this camp of fellow hard working Americans who are making the best of things. God Bless America !!!!! 

We were drawn for a muzzleloader hunt and ended up with two young yet mature cow (female) elk. We filled the freezer with organic extremely low fat, low cholesterol meat. As you can see when I field dress an elk the ravens and coyotes don’t even get a meal.

We butcher our own meat and vacuum seal it before freezing it. I did save some good roasts for the smoker. The picture below was Monday before Thanksgiving.

Our old Seal-A-Meal finally died during the first quarter. Rhonda had predicted its demise and had already bought a FoodSaver V3230. I highly recommend both brands and they will pay for themselves even if you don’t hunt.

 

The picture below is of the pies Rhonda baked Wednesday, all from scratch. We buy pie pumpkins to make pumpkin pies. The crusts are all flaky.

Yes we did smoke a 12.95 pound Kroger Frozen Turkey and a 10.34 pound Cook’s Ham Butt Cut.

I started the pre-heat at 5:30am with the temperature set at 225*F with the vent closed on my Masterbuilt Electric Smoker.

I went back in and got the turkey ready. I put it on a small cookie sheet that fits into my smoker. I throw the nasty chemicals marinade packets that come with the bird away. With the vent closed the turkeys get so tender that they fall apart.

I started the Turkey smoking at 6:00am with two loads of cherry wood chips. I added another tray of chips at 7:00am.

At 8:00 I started the Ham and another load of cherry chips. I added cherry chips at 9:00 and 11:00.

I pulled the Turkey and Ham at 12:30 and brought them in to rest before carving. The internal temperature of the Turkey was 175*F. I used a Backyard Grill wireless thermometer.

I cooked another Turkey and Ham in our inside ovens also.

Even with a feast of several side dishes all made from scratch, the meat from the smoker was devoured. Our 31 guests were amazed with the tenderness and flavor of the smoked meats.

I did not have time to take pictures and wash my hands so I never got a picture of the final masterpieces.

 

 

Fourteenth Electric Smoke

This is our first try at an Electric Smoked Turkey. We want to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving in a few weeks. We could only find a frozen salt injected bird. We bought a 12.66 pound Kroger. We put it in the refrigerator on Tuesday to thaw.

We started the Masterbuilt Electric Smoker pre-heat at 7:21am on Saturday 10/27/12. The temperature was set at 225*F with no water in the pan and vent closed.

We started the preparation of the Turkey at 7:30. I put the bird on a cookie sheet to collect some of the juices. The Smoking was started at 8:00am with 2 trays of Cherry Wood Chips.

A tray of Cherry Wood was added at 9:00, 10:00 and 11:00am. I did not baste the Turkey. I let the skin turn to bark.

 

At 2:00pm we started 4 huge Idaho Potatoes. We are talking 1½ pound spuds.

I put the temperature probe in the Turkey. Wow, it is at 164*F. So much for the guy on the net who says that, “it takes 10 to 12 hours to smoke a Turkey at 235*F”.

I checked the temperature at 2:30pm and it was already past well done at 169*F. I pulled the Turkey at 6½ hours smoke time. I did a wiggle test on a Turkey leg to see if it is done.

 

At 4:00pm I put 4 un-shucked ears of Corn, 3 Goose Neck Squash and 4 Zucchini.  Look at those potatoes. They have been in there for 2 hours and are the size of a Nerf Football.

 

 

I pulled the Vegetables at 6:00pm.

Awesome Turkey. The meat is tender and juicy. It is just falling off the bones and the bones are coming apart.

 

 

Thirteenth Electric Smoke

Lucky 13 in the USA. There were 13 colonies and 13 signers of the Declaration of Independence. There are 13 stripes on our flag, 13 steps on the pyramid on the dollar bill, 13 letters in “Annuit Coeptis”, 13 letters in “E Pluribus Unum”. You became a teenager at 13. Jesus was the 13^th person to sit down at the last supper.

On the menu: Pork Ribs, Beef Loin Tips, Italian Sausage and Salmon.

I started prepairing at 11:55. I put the COSTCO Salmon Fillet on a small cookie sheet that I bought that fits perfectly in the Masterbuilt Electric Smoker. The fillet is skinless and very tender so I did not want it falling through the wire rack. I salted the fillet to taste and left in on the counter for an hour to pellicle.

I started my preheat at 12:30 at 225*F. While the preheat is going I put all the meats on racks and do prep.

Today I am also smoking 3 Pork Ribs from COSTCO, 4 pounds of Beef Loin Tips also from COSTCO. I smothered both of these in a mix of Guy Fieri’s #6, Bill Johnson’s and Stubbs BBQ sauces.  

Rhonda then reminded me that we have Italian Sausage that needed to be smoked too. Everyone who is a serious backpacker knows how to “Make Sh!t Do”. I grabbed a Cake Cooling Rack and a foot of stainless steel spinning wire. I hung the rack under the top smoker rack and added the sausage.

  

I started the smoke at 1:00 pm at 225*F with the vent closed. We are trying Smokehouse brand Cherry Wood Chips that we bought at CAL Ranch.

I added more wood chips at 2:00 and at 3:20 pm.

At 4:00 pm I pulled the salmon. There were some juices on the cookie sheet from the salmon. It came out very moist and tender. The salmon is not for dinner tonight so it did not matter that it is pulled before everything else.

 

Great Dip: 2 pounds Smoked Salmon, 2 pounds Cream Cheese, 1 pint Sour Cream, 1/2 a Red Onion Diced and 4 Jalapeño’s Diced and Deseeded.  

 

I pulled everything at 5:40 pm.

 

Twelfth Electric Smoke

(8-11-12). I have been working too much overtime to even have time to run the smoker. I work and am successful through my efforts, therefore I am a Republican. Today I was called out to work as soon as I started the smoke.

Rhonda jumped in and saved the day.

I did a ½ hour preheat at 225*F.

On the menu are Safeway Pork Ribs that were extra meaty and Chicken Thighs that I smothered in Stubbs BBQ sauce. I also did a Salmon Fillet that was salted to taste and set on the counter for an hour at 3% humidity. Yes there is more, try a few Brats. Oh yea, Mushrooms on every empty spot on the racks.

At 2:10 pm I started the Ribs and chicken with mesquite wood chips. Then I got called out to restore power to part of Sedona, so off to work I go. I did get John McCain’s power back on back in late August when he was at the convention. I wish I could have met him and told him Thank You for everything he has done for our country. He is a true American.

Hopefully Mitt and Paul replace the current liars and clowns of the Obama administration who have failed the middle class and poor. Get out and Vote.

At 2:56 pm Rhonda added the Salmon and more mesquite wood chips.

At3:30 pm she added the mushrooms with tongs to ever empty spot.

At 4:00 pm she put in more wood chips.

At 5:00 pm our guests arrived.

At 6:00 pm Rhonda and my son, Stewart, pulled everything and I arrived home 10 minutes later to an amazing feast with family and friends.

Yes, they did save me some smoked Mushrooms.

 

BBQ – The Yavapai County Fire Ban 2012 has been lifted.

On 7-17-12 Yavapai County and the USDA Forest Service have lifted the fire bans. We have had 5.36 inches of rain at our home, over the last two weeks, before the fire ban was lifted. The Monsoons did not bring rain to some areas of the county until three days ago. Yavapai County is barely smaller than Massachusetts and larger than New Jersey. Elevations above sea level are from 1900 feet to 7979 feet. We live at 4100 feet. Yavapai has 19 official Wilderness areas.

Boneless elk chops with Cajun seasoning and a small salmon fillet over mesquite coals on the BBQ.

Prop the lid on ‘Ol Reliable. The paint is faded and I made a handle with extension a few years. The trick is to get enough oxygen to keep the coals going but not enough for a flame. This BBQ grill replaced my Brinkman Smoker.

With results like this it is awesome. I have the best of outdoor culinary excellence, a good air control wood BBQ grill and a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker. Yes, I still have my ‘Ol potbelly Weber wood BBQ grill that I use when we have big parties.

Eleventh Electric Smoke – God Bless the USA:

Yavapai County, Arizona is still in another season of severe fire restriction July 4^th 2012. The Monsoons have not arrived. We have had a few sprinkles at our home, but it is still dry as a bone. There is absolutely no moisture in the ground. Not allowed to BBQ, no problem.

I started the pre-heat at 5:00 (17:00) at 275*F no water in the pan and the vent closed.

At 5:30 I started six ears of Corn with only 1 layer of husk left on.

17 medium Mushrooms and 14 Hebrew National Beef Franks.

I put 2 loads of Mesquite wood chips and left the temperature at 275*F.

I pulled everything after just one hour at 6:30 (18:30).

We served all this with Fresh Sauerkraut, Onions, Ketchup, Mustard, Homemade Pasta Salad and Buns. What a feast!!!!

Tenth Electric Smoke:

Yavapai County, Arizona is still in another season of severe fire restriction 7/1/12. There are no open flames allowed anywhere in Yavapai County. It is so dry that it is illegal to target practice. There is no smoking of cigarettes outside, but Electric Smoking of meat is legal. The Wood Smokers and BBQ grills are off limits also. This is our second smoking during the severe fire restrictions. The monsoon storms will start this week ending the restrictions.

One hour pre-heat, 2 cups water in pan, vent closed and smoker temperature set at 225*F. Time 8:30 am.

I worked this morning restoring electric power to Perkinsville, so Rhonda started this smoke with our son who is at home doing a PhD Rotation at the hospital. They kept the 225*F.

They started the smoke at 9:30 am.

3 @ Pork Ribs from COSTCO (Stubbs Original BBQ sauce)

Family Pack Chicken Thighs from Safeway Foods (Bill Johnson’s BBQ sauce)

Mesquite wood chips were added at the start 9:30 a.m., at 10:45, at 11:10 and at 12:00 noon. Only 2 cups of wood chips create a fabulous smoke flavor.

All the pictures were at 5 hours into the smoke when I pulled all the meat.

I like the looks of the Stubbs BBQ sauce on the ribs. The chicken has the Bill Johnson’s sauce and looks marbled. The taste is excellent with either sauce.

We served this feast for dinner with close friends today. Dan is an Iowa farm boy who is 69 years old. “Wow, Wow, Wow. Incredible, these are the best ribs I have even eaten. Wow, unbelievable.” “You should have John McCain try these ribs. I heard that he cooks COSTCO ribs also.”

Ninth Electric Smoke:

Yavapai County, Arizona is in another severe fire restriction 6/25/12. There are no open flames allowed. It is so dry that you cannot target practice. There is no smoking of cigarettes outside, but Electric Smoking of meat is legal. The Wood Smokers and BBQ grills are off limits also.

½ hour pre-heat, 2cups water in pan, vent closed and smoker temperature set at 200*F. Time 2:30 (14:30).

Yesterday afternoon the 2 Salmon fillets with skin on were salted to taste, put in a Zip-Lock meat-touching-meat and put back in the refrigerator to cure for 24 hours.

Today I put them on the counter to dry the surface to glazy-moist tacky (pellicle). It takes about an hour in Arizona with 8% humidity. It takes longer other places.

I have to cut about 1/3 off of the Pork Rib Racks to fit in the smoker. I mopped the Pork Ribs with Bill Johnson’s BBQ Sauce.

 

At 3:00 (15:00) I started all the meat at 200*F.

2 @ Salmon Fillets (light salt)

3 @ Pork Ribs Racks from COSTCO (Bill Johnson’s BBQ Sauce)

12 @ Italian Sausage from COSTCO

I added the first tray of dead/dry Mesquite wood chips.

I added more mesquite at 4:00, 5:00 and at 5:30.

I pulled the Salmon at 6:00 (18:00). It was done perfectly. I turned the fillets over onto a platter and pulled the skin right off clean. Three hours smoked.

I increased the temperature to 225*F at 6:00.

The salmon was tender and juicy. The mesquite smoke is awesome on salmon. Mesquite can have a strong flavor if too much is used. Four trays of wood chips is perfect (about 2 cups total). Green mesquite bark will add a bitter flavor.

 

 I pulled the rest of the meat at 8:00 (20:00) after 5 hours of smoking.

Notice how the ribs have shrunken. Not only is there some bone showing, but they were at the edge of the racks when raw. This is perfect. They are tender and juicy. The smoke flavor is fabulous.

 

Rhonda made 8 of the Italian sausage sliced up with tortellini and a cheesy Alfredo sauce.

Eighth Electric Smoke:

½ hour pre-heat, NO water in pan, vent closed and smoker temperature set at 200*F.

Start the smoke at 13:00 (1:00) with a 10 pound Wild Merriam’s Turkey Tom coated in Yellow Mustard and Basic Seasoning. Also, I started 10 Hot Italian Sausage. Masterbuilt Digital Electric Smoker set at 200*F. I just set the time for 12 hours so it will be longer than the smoke time needed. I kept the vent closed, left the water pan in the smoker but left it empty and added Mesquite Wood Chips.

Basic Seasoning is Garlic Powder, Onion Powder and Black Pepper. Wild Turkey is older and therefore has firmer meat than the store bought young Commercial Turkeys. Wild Turkey is also completely fat free, very low in cholesterol and obviously free range. My son harvested this turkey with Non-Toxic Ammo. 

Notice there is no need to put the turkey on a special rack because the meat is being held off the walls of the smoker by the shelf rack rails.

At 14:00 (2:00) and at 15:00 (3:00) I added more Mesquite Wood.

At 5 hours into the smoke, at 18:00, both probes were at 166*F. I had one in the turkey and the other in the sausage. The sausage looked like they needed a little more time. The temp probes stayed at 166*F.

I checked the smoker at 19:00 (7:00) and pulled the sausage after smoking for 6 hours.

There is a fine line between cooking to tenderized and cooking to dry out non-fat meats. It is like bread rising. It is a little different every time based on environmental factors. A skinless wild turkey is still hard in an electric smoker and even harder a wood smoker.

I pulled the turkey at 20:45 (8:45pm) after 7 hours 45 minutes. The temp probes have been at 166*F for 2 hours 45 minutes.

The turkey meat is moist and tender. The mustard acted as a glaze to hold the moisture in, but did not stop the smoke flavor. 1 ½ cups of mesquite chips made the flavor was perfect.

The flavor of wild turkey is not gamey and has no strange aftertaste like domestic birds.

Seventh Electric Smoke:

½ hour pre-heat, NO water in pan, vent closed and smoker temperature set at 200*F

At 11:15 I started the 9.57 pounds Pork Tender Loin (cut in half) mopped in Bill Johnson’s BBQ sauce. I added one and a half trays of dead scrub oak chips and left the temp at 200*F and opened the vent. I am trying a quick hot dry sear to seal in the juices with extra smoke before I drop the heat. I did leave the pan in the smoker as a diffuser heat shield from the heating element.

30 minutes later I dropped the temperature to 180*F and closed the vent.

At one hour and again at two hours I added a tray of oak.

Also at two hours I lightly salted to taste the Salmon and set on the counter to dry the surface to glazy-moist tacky (pellicle). At 8% humidity it only takes about an hour in Arizona.

 

 

At 14:30 (3 hours 15 minutes) I started thin cut small Elk Steaks layered in a bread loaf pan and seasoned with Basic Seasoning at each layer. I saw a thread on forum where a guy is making meatloaf in the smoker. To save room I thought it was worth putting the Elk in a pan. They are going to be cut smaller and added to dishes.

Also 14:30 I put the Salmon in the smoker and added one tray of oak wood chips.

At 15:30 (4 hours 15 minutes into smoke) I added 4 Potatoes, 3 Zucchini, 3 Yellow Goose Neck Summer Squash and two skewers of Mushrooms. I kept the potatoes separated, but just crammed all the other vegies on a rack together. I added a tray of Scrub Oak Chips.

At 16:45 I added another tray of oak.

At 18:45 I pulled the Salmon when the probe thermometer read 170*F for over ½ hour. It was in the smoker at 200*F for 3 hours 15 minutes. I also pulled the Mushrooms.

With so much in the smoker I never needed water in the pan, but did leave the pan in the smoker as a diffuser heat shield from the heating element. I went more on what the salmon looked like than the temp. I never had a temp probe for my wood smoker so I had to rely on looks. The lower smoker temp kept the salmon from developing fat beads. Two trays of Scrub Oak Wood Chips were perfect for the flavor.

At 20:00 I pulled the Vegie Rack. It was in for 4 ½ hours. I left the Potatoes in on another rack.  

At 21:00 I pulled the pork, potatoes and the elk. The internal temp was 170*F on both meats. I bought a second probe thermometer. The pork was in for 10 hours 15 minutes. The elk was in for six hours 30 minutes.

The elk in the loaf pan came out great. I saved the au Jus to add to whatever Rhonda makes it into. It was well done and very tender. We are going to have to try meat loaf.

The potatoes were not tender yet but did have good smoke flavor. 5 ½ hours with the smoker set at 200*F was not long enough. It would have been at 225*F. They made fantastic refried potatoes with onions. We made smoked salmon cream cheese omelets with them. Wow was that good.

We also made pork green chili with homemade flour tortillas. The BBQ sauce glaze on the tenderloin keeps the juices of the meat in and allows the smoke to enter. The sauce flavor does not soak into the meat. Trim the sauce meat off and save for dishes that you want that flavor.