Go to the Article: Barbecue Techniques
Just bought an electric smoker and PID from http://smokin-it.com. I am not disappointed, in fact it works better than I could have predicted. Sousvide start + smoked finish = best ribs I have ever had!
I love Sous Vide cooking and I love BBQ. I love the combination of the two. Your Sous Vide Pastrami is a great example of how well the two work together. If you're going to smoke before you sous vide, set up your sous vide outside. Somehow the smoke scent escapes the packaging and will smell up your house for days. As I recall, I think it was discussed in the sous vide pastrami section or the blog. However, if you're sick of losing sleep while smoking because of the variables effecting the temperature of your pit, check out BBQ Guru. They have cool devises that control the pit temperature and help monitor the protein. http://www.thebbqguru.com/products/smoker-grill.html. I do not work for them but have a couple of them (I have a few Big Green Eggs and need more than one controller at times). People claiming to be BBQ purists may balk at this, but I laugh in their face when my finished product is perfect.
Is it possible to develop a crust on meats like goat just by smoking?
I agree with the use of a BBQ guru as a means of imposing some temp control on a wood or charcoal pit. A lot of custom pits will build an adapter to allow use of the Guru. I am surprised to see the long offset smoker as a recommended choice. I have generally heard they are hard to control and have uneven heating due to the one way path the smoke takes.
If you want to spend money on a high quality charcoal smoker, consider something like Backwoods Smokers or Pitmaker in Houston. Of course there are others as well. A weber smoky mountain is a good starter.
For something versatile, consider the Big Green Egg. It regulates temperature well do to excellent oxygen regulation and can achieve high heat for grilling as well. Only downside is that even the large Egg is small.
All that said, I am really looking forward to combining some sous vide and smoking. I think the results will be extraordinary.
Hi Everybody
I fired up my bradley smoker yesterday to throw in a beautifull pork shoulder and smoke it over night. The smoker (Digital) was set to the arround 131°C (270°F) when I put the meat in . When i woke up this morning about 7h later I went to check the meat temperature. Unfortunately in this relatively short time the meat heated up to about 95° C (200° F) making the meat quite dry. Furthermore I have quite a strong/dark bark on that peace. Since I didnt go to high with the temperature (according to this recipe), how is it possible that already after such a short time my meat was far too hot? What did I do wrong?
Any sugestions how I should procede? I now "pulled" the porc and added some olive oil to Keep it moist. Should I Sous-Vide a bit longer when reheating to get the oil and meat together or should I reheat only shortly to avoid even dryer texture?
Thanks for your help
Marc - Zürich Switzerland
I'm building my own wooden smoker. Also i am trying sous vide (stove pot method) and getting serious results. Can't wait too combine sous vide and smoking.
Has anyone here not cooked/smoked with a Weber Smokey Mountain or a Weber kettle with a smokenator? Easy temperature control, humidity and smoke.....and of course, the always amazing Texas Crutch. When the meat is cold and wet/sticky, the bark forms. If you smoke AFTER the sous vide, the bark doesn't happen and man, people want the bark. If you're doing Hoisin ribs or something non-southern or even Texas in nature, sure, who cares. Otherwise, I'd head over to http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/best_BBQ_ribs_ever.html and make the best ribs you can make (and don't listen to Meathead, do the crutch, it's worth it--apple cider/apple vinegar, butter and more rub!).
Marc:
*note: I haven't seen the recipe you are referring to but I own a BBQ catering company so I'll help out as much as I can. I sorry if there is any redundancy in my response*
What was the size of your pork shoulder? If it is pretty small, then it can dry out rather quickly once it hits around 190F. As a result, I try to keep the smoker between 225 and 250F. Also, if possible, try to put a small pan of water inside the smoker to help keep the meat moist. If this isn't a possibility in your smoker, you should baste the meat with water or apple juice regularly.
Best of Luck,
Mike
Hey Mike! Thank you so much. I was refering to the recipe of this class. I worked it out in a second try. seems like the temperatur of 270F was to high. Furthermore I noticed that my bradley smoker likes to add about 20-30F by itself... so I now just set the temperature lower for better results!
Thanks again for the basting-tip. Will try that aswell
I just cooked a pork shoulder with my new Rec-Tec smoker/grill. Couldnt be easier. I started the shoulder on the smoker and Im going to finish it sous-vide. It uses hardwood pellets and maintains whatever temperature you choose by automatically feeding more pellets into the fire when the temperature drops. Its completely hands-off. Also, it has great quality construction and terrific customer support. Check out the reviews on Amazon. Ive messed around with my big green egg for a couple of years and never mastered low and slow with it. I think its going on Craigslist now. I lived in North Carolina for 5 years and have never found a place in Iowa where I can get good Eastern NC Bbq. Finally, I think Ill be able to make it at home.
Kenneth that is a sexy looking box. How have the results been?
It appears that the Medina River smoker is no longer available, do you have any other similar recommendations instead?
Dustin - I don't know where you're located, but last Fall I was in upstate New York (Ogdensburg, to be exact) at a Tractor Supply Store (also called TSC) and they had Medina River smokers or something that was pretty much the same. www.tractorsupply.com
You couldn't GIVE me a Masterbuilt Smoker. I had one and their customer service was terrible not to mention the smoker. Never again.
Kevin, they don't appear to have anything similar now on their website, Amazon has been sold out since December with no restocking in sight, anywhere else I can google doesn't have their larger models like the 68, and I can't find any mention of the actual company since maybe 2010. All combined, this worries me and makes me wonder what alternatives I should be looking at.
For those asking for another recommendation other than the Medina River, check out the Karubecue. It's phenomenal, designed by a former navy nuclear engineer, and delivers the cleanest smoke I've seen. (http://www.kbq.us/)
I'm having trouble keeping the temp below 200 in a masterbuilt electric smoker. I tried the ice thing. If we set the temp below 200, it won't produce smoke. Any suggestions?
Like the tip about not soaking wood.
I don't soak wood but when I did I noticed a different taste.
There are a lot of people who swear by soaking wood chips.
test
get a amazin tube smoker that burns pellets
first time ive heard not to soak wood..i worked at a bbq joint for 3 years long hours big old home made smoker and we used hickory wood that we soaked in buckets of water over night for the smoking the next day...thats just how we started it and when it was smoking(now realizing gray smoke was bad idea) we added dry cherry wood to finish off the meats with...never really tasted any different than dry wood only in my opinion but now that you have made a point of reference ima definatley try it your way and see what the results are thank you for this info
I use the cold smoker accessory with the masterbuilt. the problem is that the smoker itself can go below 200 easily, but once under 170, it's difficult to produce smoke. a cold smoker attachment makes the smoke and pipes it through into the unit. the dish of ice keeps the temperature good inside the smoker itself. however, you'll need to keep popping new trays of ice.
It'd be nice if it were a more automatic process, but it's food, you should be attentive if you want it to be perfect.
Guess I'm late for the party but I have a few questions. Have two Joules and a CookShack smoker I just seasoned for the first time. I also have two large turkey legs and was wondering if I should brine before sous viding. And after they've cooked 145F/62C for 14 hours, how long should I smoke them? TIA
I just came across this page and developed delicious Franken-Ribs (takes several operations to bring them to life) on my own. I have a NYC apartment and yet I can still make delicious smoked ribs using a Joule sous vide, stove top smoker and hot oven. You can find the recipe at my blog, www.walterthinnes.blog and searching for Franken-Ribs. I love my Joule and working on new ideas all the time.
I'm making short ribs using the pre-smoke technique and following it with a 72-hour sous vide. Despite double vacuum-bagging my meat the sous vide water is still discolored. Is this what others have experienced? I'm using a chamber-style vacuum sealer with professional sous vide bags from Minipack, sous vide set to 141-F.
This is typical. Happens all the time. The smoke breathes through the plastic. No alarm needed, just proceed, its still safe.
Even the photo above shows an amber colored water in the cooking tub.
Superb results - short rib (top) - fork tender and intensely flavored
Good results - brisket (bottom) - slightly dry with good flavor (choice cut and too low temperature?)
Used liquids in the sous vide bag to make an unbelievable sauce with red wine, sweet butter and xanthin gum.
Thanks to Matthew for the sous vide advice.
Peter
