Smoked Cheese, how much smoke is too much?

I love smoked cheese, and was now running low. I decided to smoke some more. My favorite is white cheddar, and I also added some sharp cheddar, Colby jack and a wedge of un-smoked Gouda and Swiss. I decided to use Hickory pellets in my pellet smoking tube this time. It was cold out so…

Smoked NY Strip Roast

My Kroger had a deal on whole/half NY strips this week. A bargain at $4.99 / lb. I purchased a 7 lb slab and cut 6 steaks off and vacuum packed them and froze them. I took the remaining portion about 3 1/2 lb and covered it in olive oil and then seasoned with garlic…

4 Smoke Sunday

Decided to smoke several different things today. I had a 3 lb pork loin and a couple of small turkey breast that I smoked first. I did not plan to do these low and slow, so I started a fill chimney of charcoal, and spread it on top of some additional charcoal. I gave it…

Breakfast burrito

This is my daily go to breakfast during the work week. It is made with two of the recipes that I have detailed here.  Ingredients are 1 jumbo egg = 2 SP fat free cheese = 1SP turkey sausage = 1 SP salsa = 0 SP Extreme Tortilla = 1 SP I start with the egg and scramble…

Easy smoked chicken thighs

I have been down for a while fighting bronchitis, and have not smoked in two weeks. Even though it was cold, in the 20’s, I decided I needed to smoke something. Chicken thighs have become my go to easy smoke lately. The price is right, only $6 for 10 thighs. I seasoned with garlic powder,…

Smoke-free Turkey Sausage

While in diet mode, I have been making turkey sausage patties that we eat for breakfast on a daily basis. It is a an easy way to add protein the diet. I purchase the Italian ground turkey and then jazz it up. The product is cheap, under $3.00 for a pound, and I measure out…

Smoked, a Smoked Ham

I decided to mix it up this year for Thanksgiving. I have smoked a turkey for the last several years but decided to smoke a Sam’s brand Honey Baked Ham. The price was right it was only $16 and it is was close to 9 lbs. I used apple wood ( a light smoke wood)…

Smoked Tri-Tip

Some of the smoking sites that I follow are always posting about cooking Tri-Tip, which is something that I have never seen the stores in TN. This is popular on the West Coast and also goes by the name of Santa Maria cut of beef.  Much to my surprise, I found Sams was now selling…

Cracker Barrel Cold Smoked Cheddar – for the Holidays

Cold smoking cheese is a pretty easy process, but some planning is needed depending on when you plan to eat it. I have found that it requires at least 3 weeks of rest time after the smoke. So, since we are a little over 1 month away from the holidays, I decided to smoke some…

Smoked Salmon

I was all beefed out, after my trip to Austin, so I decided to mix it up and smoke some salmon. I was concerned about keeping it together on the smoker, so I purchased some cedar planks to cook it on. I purchased a 2 lb fillet, which in hindsight was too much. I started…

Smoked Chili

It was time to make chili for a church event. I decided to smoke the jalapenos and the ground chuck. I wanted a strong smoke flavor so I used mesquite. I had a 4 1/2 pound package of beef and I used a cast iron pan that would barely fit on the Weber.  I was…

Trip to Austin – Beef Barbecue Holy Land

I had to go to Austin for a week of training for work, and planned to try to sample some local barbecue. I would  have loved to have been able to go to the World famous Franklin Barbecue, but being in class from 8-5 for Monday through Friday it was impossible. They only open for…

Smoked Prime Rib

My local Kroger has Rib Roasts on sale for $5.99/lb. I decided it was nice price point to try one smoked. I purchased this one that was just under 5 lbs.         I decide to not do a heavy seasoning and only seasoned it with pepper, garlic and salt. The smoker was…

Reverse Seared Strip Steaks

I purchased some nice looking steaks at Sams and decided to do a reverse sear. To accomplish this you really need good thick pieces of beef and then you cook or smoke at low temp to a specific internal temp. Once you reach that desired temp you then allow the meat to rest and then…

Teriyaki Smoked Chicken

Another Saturday, time to smoke something. I decided not to tackle anything too tough today so purchased some chicken thighs and some Italian sausages. This time I marinated for 4 hours in Teriyaki, Soy sauce, lime juice and garlic. I then hit if with my standard seasonings, (garlic powder, pepper, onion powder, paprika and oregano)….

Sunday – smoked wings and brats

It was a short week coming back from vacation and decided I need to smoke something, since it has been two weeks since I have fired up the smoker. I continued on the garlic, tequila, lime theme. I thawed about 30 wings and gave them the drunken bath for 4 hours. I then sprinkled, oregano,…

Smoke free Pico / Salsa

I have been making my own fresh Pico / Salsa for a couple of years at this point and figured I would share the recipe. I typically make it once a week and we eat it with chips or on eggs or vegetables. I prefer Roma tomatoes as the base. I typically use 6 decent…

Drunken chicken

I decided to re-try my recipe from last week with a few modifications.  I purchased a package of 10 chicken thighs from Sams for $5. I rinsed them then threw them in a zip-lock bag with some fresh lime juice, several shots of tequila, and squeeze bottle minced garlic and  fresh cilantro. I let it marinate for approx…

tequila, lime, garlic and cilantro….

I decided to try something new today, I planned to smoke a pork loin and some chicken thighs. Normally I just season with paprika, garlic powder and onion powder and pepper. This time I did a marinade consisting of tequila, lime juice, garlic, and cilantro and I let it marinade for 5 hours in separate containers….

Turkey – fowl or fail?

I decided to smoke a turkey on Sunday. I have smoked whole turkeys 5 or 6 times in the past and they always turned out good. This time, I decided to smoke just the breast. I purchased the frozen product a couple of days in advance, and thought it had thawed completely, but when I…

Smoke em if you got em…..

I completed a 4 pork butt smoke this week while on stay-cation on my 18″ Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker. For me this is a long low and slow process, and if I am going to spend up to 19 hours smoking the meat, I need to load up the smoker and take advantage of it….

Winter is coming….

Traditional sales for charcoal take place on the standard holidays of Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor day. During that time Home Depot and Lowes will always have similar sales and sell 2 packs of charcoal for under $10. Since “Winter is coming” it will be a long time before the next sale, so…

I’m a joker…I’m a midnight smoker…..

Brisket used to scare me, the cost of the product and the amount of time needed to cook one was a risk/reward proposition. I have recently conquered my fear, after the price dropped for the product and with experience of cooking a few. I have completed a few recently with the hot and fast method,…

The waiting is the hardest part

I completed a cold smoke today even though it was a very hot day. I started early and filled the water pan with ice. I used the pellet smoking tube and smoked white cheddar, sharp cheddar and Colby-jack. I smoked it for 3 1/2 hours using cherry pellets. Here is the beginning product    …

Sunday – Fun Day

Spent the day completing a three meat trio on the two smokers.  Completed 4 racks of baby back ribs on the 18″ and then completed some SPAM and three types of sausages on the 14″. Ribs were completed with modified 3-2-1 which ended up being 3 -1.5 and .5. They were good and stayed on…

Closeout cherry chicken

It has become my routine on the weekend to play golf first thing in the morning and then stop by Walmart to look for deals on something to smoke. Today I was able to get 12 pieces of chicken for $5.50. Seasoned them up with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper….

There’s a new kid in town….

Broke down and purchased the 14.5″ Weber Smokey Mountain from Walmart.  Finally decided to fire the little guy up. Got a nice hot fire burning to heat it up, let it run for a while and then smoked 10 Italian Sausages. Smoked like a champ,, good results, and this will come in handy when attempting…

Presto changeo Corned Beef becomes Pastrami

Pastrami can be completed a couple of different ways. The easiest way to that I have found is to purchase a packaged Corn Beef. In the normal cooking process for corned beef, the product is boiled, so the extra added salt in the product is removed. Since we will be smoking the product, it is…

Misc.

Trolling the internet and Facebook, I found many interesting things to try and most turned out good. The first I tried was smoke eggs. I used raw eggs and smoked at 225 for 2 hours and rotated the eggs during the cook. The smoke does penetrate the shell and they turned out well when used…

Smoked Nuts

When the smoker is still hot, you can snuff it out, or do an additional cook. I have smoked almonds several times I use a small amount of olive oil and to coat them and then add cinnamon. I then smoke them for about 90 minutes between 250-275, using cherry wood. I use a Weber…