***Official Grilling and Smoking Thread*** (2 Viewers)

[FatMax]

Smoking salmon vs. smoking halibut .....

I've done a ton of salmon over the years. Usually I just dry brine in rubbermade container using with a 50-50 mix of brown sugar and kosher salt. After a few hours in the fridge, rinse and let air dry on a rack, then to the smoker. I like my smoked fish a little on the dry side, so I go to about 225 smoker temp to 175 internal, or whenever the texture seems right to me. I also go skin side down, as I can't keep it from sticking to the grill no matter how much I clean and prep it. When done, I just take a metal spatula and seperate the stuck skin from the rest the meat, then burn the skins off the grill when cleaning up. This also allows me to removed that grey, fatty stuff that salmon gets between the skin and meat. Then, finish with a little garlic powder and lemon pepper.

I've never done smoked halibut, but the internet says it's good, so what could go wrong? My problem is that the fillets are skinless, so I bought a bunch of cedar planks. Figured I could go about halfway, flip, then done ... but without the sticking problem. But ... I've never cooked anything on cedar either, so I'm not even sure this is a good idea. All other methods, including dry brine, temps and seasoning, I was going to do just like I do with salmon.

Any suggestions?

 

[Ron Swanson]

And if you want to make your own teryaki it's super easy:

½ cup Tamari or Low Sodium Soy Sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons fresh grated ginger, or ½ teaspoon ginger powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons mirin
¼ cup water (mixed with 3 teaspoons cornstarch for glaze)

Heat all ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat. And simmer for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Makes about 1 ¼ cups teriyaki sauce.

Omit cornstarch if using as a marinade.

 

[Cowboysfan8]

Smoking a rack of spares today for me and the boss. Trying a new rub I haven’t had before to mix things up a little.
If it’s any good I’ll post it here. First rub I’ve ever made without chili powder I think

 

[The Gator]

my nephew got another hog, so going to be smoking a hind quarter later today.

10# and only cleaned up the fat, didn't trim much of it this time.

 

[Cowboysfan8]

my nephew got another hog, so going to be smoking a hind quarter later today.

10# and only cleaned up the fat, didn't trim much of it this time.

Awesome!

What’s in the other pic, brine?

 

[The Gator]

my nephew got another hog, so going to be smoking a hind quarter later today.

10# and only cleaned up the fat, didn't trim much of it this time.

Awesome!

What’s in the other pic, brine?

Yeah, brined it over night and was putting together my rub in that pic.

 

[The Gator]

Halfway done

 

[Cowboysfan8]

Smoked Bush’s beans with roasted poblanos

https://imgur.com/a/7oH0LgC

 

[Cowboysfan8]

Smoking a rack of spares today for me and the boss. Trying a new rub I haven’t had before to mix things up a little.
If it’s any good I’ll post it here. First rub I’ve ever made without chili powder I think

The rub was great, we enjoyed it. Definitely different from what we are used to

The Best Dry Rub For Ribs - Hey Grill, Hey

This dry rub for ribs will amplify the flavor on any rack of ribs you cook. I've packed classic BBQ flavors into this perfect rib rub recipe.

heygrillhey.com

 

[The Gator]

Smoking a rack of spares today for me and the boss. Trying a new rub I haven’t had before to mix things up a little.
If it’s any good I’ll post it here. First rub I’ve ever made without chili powder I think

The rub was great, we enjoyed it. Definitely different from what we are used to

The Best Dry Rub For Ribs - Hey Grill, Hey

This dry rub for ribs will amplify the flavor on any rack of ribs you cook. I've packed classic BBQ flavors into this perfect rib rub recipe.

heygrillhey.com

huh, that's basically what i make most of my rubs with, minus the cinnamon. I really like using celery salt

 

[Cowboysfan8]

Smoking a rack of spares today for me and the boss. Trying a new rub I haven’t had before to mix things up a little.
If it’s any good I’ll post it here. First rub I’ve ever made without chili powder I think

The rub was great, we enjoyed it. Definitely different from what we are used to

The Best Dry Rub For Ribs - Hey Grill, Hey

This dry rub for ribs will amplify the flavor on any rack of ribs you cook. I've packed classic BBQ flavors into this perfect rib rub recipe.

heygrillhey.com

huh, that's basically what i make most of my rubs with, minus the cinnamon. I really like using celery salt

My first time with celery salt. Good stuff.

I should’ve added that instead of cayenne I used chipotle chili pepper (McCormick). I like that

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Finally stated using my black stone that the wife got me for xmas

So far have done steaks, hotdogs and bacon and eggs

Will do smash burgers sometime soon

Any other must cooks on this? Assume I’ll do cheesesteaks and fried rice at some point as well

As much as I love charcoal I think I’ll definitely enjoy the convenience of this, plus the extra space (36” black stone vs large egg)

 

[Cowboysfan8]

Any other must cooks on this ?

I’d imagine it would be perfect for fajitas

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Any other must cooks on this ?

I’d imagine it would be perfect for fajitas

Yep that’ll be a good one

Probably do pancakes next weekend

 

[FatMax]

Smoking salmon vs. smoking halibut .....

I've done a ton of salmon over the years. Usually I just dry brine in rubbermade container using with a 50-50 mix of brown sugar and kosher salt. After a few hours in the fridge, rinse and let air dry on a rack, then to the smoker. I like my smoked fish a little on the dry side, so I go to about 225 smoker temp to 175 internal, or whenever the texture seems right to me. I also go skin side down, as I can't keep it from sticking to the grill no matter how much I clean and prep it. When done, I just take a metal spatula and seperate the stuck skin from the rest the meat, then burn the skins off the grill when cleaning up. This also allows me to removed that grey, fatty stuff that salmon gets between the skin and meat. Then, finish with a little garlic powder and lemon pepper.

I've never done smoked halibut, but the internet says it's good, so what could go wrong? My problem is that the fillets are skinless, so I bought a bunch of cedar planks. Figured I could go about halfway, flip, then done ... but without the sticking problem. But ... I've never cooked anything on cedar either, so I'm not even sure this is a good idea. All other methods, including dry brine, temps and seasoning, I was going to do just like I do with salmon.

Any suggestions?

Just in case anyone is interested, I did this today. Smoked halibut on cedar planks. It was ... a learning experience, but turned out great in the end. Did about 3.5 hour dry brine, rinsed and air dried. Added lemon pepper, and then laid out on cedar planks that had been soaking in the sink for an hour. Then, on to the smoker at about 225.

I've never cooked on cedar, in the smoker, grill or oven. Here is what I learned. Ready? Cedar planks are not grills. They're more like a heat sink, Seems obvious after the fact, but I'm so used to salmon directly on the grill that this nearly went bad for me. I smoked them until I got an internal of about 145. By this point, the halibut was golden brown (for those who are unfamiliar, it's a white fish). But the internal temp was not going up nearly as quickly as I was used to. Turns out I just need to flip them, as the bottom was still very moist (almost wet) and pearly white. After the flip, temp quickly jumped up to my (newly acquired) target of about 165 and got some color on that side as well.

In the end, they turned out great. Hablibut doesn't seem as dense as salmon, but tastes amazing.

 

[psychobillies]

In case anyone was trying to decide between a pellet cooker and a Kamado, Kamado Joe has you covered.

Konnected Joe

 

[Brony]

In case anyone was trying to decide between a pellet cooker and a Kamado, Kamado Joe has you covered.

Konnected Joe

I'm curious how their automatic fire starter works. I currently use a primitive firestarter (paper towel wad soaked in oil or bacon grease) to light the charcoal in my Kamado. Seems like you would need some fuel to get charcoal lit.
On the other functionality, I use a FlameBoss to control and monitor pit temp (and meat temp). Seems like the new Kamado Joe does effectively the same thing but with better looks.

 

[psychobillies]

In case anyone was trying to decide between a pellet cooker and a Kamado, Kamado Joe has you covered.

Konnected Joe

I'm curious how their automatic fire starter works. I currently use a primitive firestarter (paper towel wad soaked in oil or bacon grease) to light the charcoal in my Kamado. Seems like you would need some fuel to get charcoal lit.
On the other functionality, I use a FlameBoss to control and monitor pit temp (and meat temp). Seems like the new Kamado Joe does effectively the same thing but with better looks.

Looks like it's just an electric heating element/coil. I imagine that you would just put your charcoal on top of that and it will catch fire when it heats up.

 

[PinkydaPimp]

Gents any recs on bbq spots in Houston?

 

[Grahamburn]

Finally stated using my black stone that the wife got me for xmas

So far have done steaks, hotdogs and bacon and eggs

Will do smash burgers sometime soon

Any other must cooks on this? Assume I’ll do cheesesteaks and fried rice at some point as well

As much as I love charcoal I think I’ll definitely enjoy the convenience of this, plus the extra space (36” black stone vs large egg)

We did a catered hibachi party this weekend and the fellas used these. MORE SAKE?!

 

[Cowboysfan8]

Made short ribs last weekend

3 hours on the pitboss with a mix of apple and hickory , then 2.5 hours in oven in the cast iron with beef stock

imgur.com

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users like zmg78.

imgur.com

ETA: 225 the whole way. Super tender, not as much smoke as I’d have liked though

 

[Ron Swanson]

Gents any recs on bbq spots in Houston?

Truth, Killens. Burns is OK for East TX style but is more pork, sweet sauce forward. Truth and Killens are more of the CTX BBQ that is favored today. Gatlins is a decent mix of the two styles and good but not great. If you go slightly outside of Houston, Corkscrew in Spring is solid and Tejas & Chocolates in Tomball is good.

 

[The Gator]

Lots of moms to feed today

 

[PinkydaPimp]

Nice looks good. Smoking some salmon over here.

 

[The Dude]

Anyone have any YouTube trillers they like to get ideas from? Looking for something not extravagant

 

[shuke]

Anyone have any YouTube trillers they like to get ideas from? Looking for something not extravagant

Over The Fire Cooking by Derek Wolf

 

[In The Zone]

Anyone have any YouTube trillers they like to get ideas from? Looking for something not extravagant

T Roy Cooks

 

[The Gator]

Chicken thighs on teh egg tonight.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Chicken thighs on teh egg tonight.

Wish I could get my wife to like thighs. Anytime I make something with them gotta do some breasts too

 

[The Gator]

Chicken thighs on teh egg tonight.

Wish I could get my wife to like thighs. Anytime I make something with them gotta do some breasts too

I hear ya. My wife will eat them, but she eats them like a buzzard. Picks and pulls at the meat and leaves a mutilated carcass behind.

 

[Cowboysfan8]

Chicken thighs on teh egg tonight.

Wish I could get my wife to like thighs. Anytime I make something with them gotta do some breasts too

Chicken thighs on teh egg tonight.

Wish I could get my wife to like thighs. Anytime I make something with them gotta do some breasts too

I hear ya. My wife will eat them, but she eats them like a buzzard. Picks and pulls at the meat and leaves a mutilated carcass behind.

Same

And will NOT touch boneless skinless thighs. “The texture is weird”

 

[heckmanm]

Chicken thighs on teh egg tonight.

Wish I could get my wife to like thighs. Anytime I make something with them gotta do some breasts too

Chicken thighs on teh egg tonight.

Wish I could get my wife to like thighs. Anytime I make something with them gotta do some breasts too

I hear ya. My wife will eat them, but she eats them like a buzzard. Picks and pulls at the meat and leaves a mutilated carcass behind.

Same

And will NOT touch boneless skinless thighs. “The texture is weird”

I guess I'm lucky my wife likes dark meat

 

[beer 30]

Traeger grill owner, did some frozen pizzas the other night but that's not the point of this post. The temperature setting goes up to 400 or 425 but the hottest I've ever been able to get the thing is 325 and that's on an 80+ degree day with no wind. Any thoughts as to what might be holding the heat back or just live with it? Firebox was clean so it's not a build up of ash.

 

[Ron Swanson]

Threw together an afternoon snack yesterday out of bits and pieces from the fridge that turned out really, really good. Wish I'd taken pics,. Red jalapeno's cut in half and stuffed with tomato bacon onion jam and topped with blue cheese crumbles. Baked them in a 400 degree grill for about 10-15 minutes until the jalapeno was just soft and the blue cheese was melted and browned.

 

[berndog]

Busy day on the WSM yesterday. Started a butt early in the AM, added ribs around 2 and then chicken legs at the end.
Ate the ribs and chicken yesterday and have pulled pork for today.

 

[Al Czervik]

Anyone have a grill brush they love? Trying to stay away from one where the wire bristles might end up in my food.

 

[Galileo]

Anyone have a grill brush they love? Trying to stay away from one where the wire bristles might end up in my food.

Why would this happen with any grill brush?

 

[Al Czervik]

Anyone have a grill brush they love? Trying to stay away from one where the wire bristles might end up in my food.

Why would this happen with any grill brush?

Not sure. It gets talked about online but never experienced it myself. Lots of brushes made in China on Amazon, so figured it could be a problem with cheaply made brushes.

 

[Grahamburn]

Anyone have a grill brush they love? Trying to stay away from one where the wire bristles might end up in my food.

I use this one. He's local and has a booth at our Farmer's Market. Love this brush and meets the standards you're looking for.

GrillaBrush

 

[The Gator]

Anyone have a grill brush they love? Trying to stay away from one where the wire bristles might end up in my food.

I use something like this. Once it molds to your grill, it cleans exceptionally

 

[The Commish]

Anyone have a grill brush they love? Trying to stay away from one where the wire bristles might end up in my food.

Got one of those grill rescue brushes as a gift. It's the best brush I've ever used and you just throw the head in the dishwasher to clean.

 

[SayWhat?]

Traeger grill owner, did some frozen pizzas the other night but that's not the point of this post. The temperature setting goes up to 400 or 425 but the hottest I've ever been able to get the thing is 325 and that's on an 80+ degree day with no wind. Any thoughts as to what might be holding the heat back or just live with it? Firebox was clean so it's not a build up of ash.

I have a Camp Chef, but had a similar situation so figured I would share. My high temp seemed to be in the 425 range, which definitely wasn’t as hot as it had at one time gotten to. Ultimately (a year later?) my grill had an error code at startup which my Google research indicated was most likely a temperature probe failure. It was a $15 part that I replaced myself which not only resolved the error code, but my grill has been consistently at 500 at high temp since then. Maybe you also have a faulty temperature probe that’s simply restricting how hot your grill is getting?

 

[PinkydaPimp]

Traeger grill owner, did some frozen pizzas the other night but that's not the point of this post. The temperature setting goes up to 400 or 425 but the hottest I've ever been able to get the thing is 325 and that's on an 80+ degree day with no wind. Any thoughts as to what might be holding the heat back or just live with it? Firebox was clean so it's not a build up of ash.

I have a Camp Chef, but had a similar situation so figured I would share. My high temp seemed to be in the 425 range, which definitely wasn’t as hot as it had at one time gotten to. Ultimately (a year later?) my grill had an error code at startup which my Google research indicated was most likely a temperature proper failure. It was a $15 part that I replaced myself which not only resolved the error code, but my grill has been consistently at 500 at high temp since then. Maybe you also have a faulty temperature probe that’s simply restricting how hot your grill is getting?

Ive heard also the pellets you use can impact temperature as well. I generally use Lumberjack and some say the Charcoal blend ones go hotter then regular. Ultimately, when i was researching pellet smokers this was one of the biggest issues/challenges. Its why i went with the smoker i bought(mak 1 star). Which can get up to 650 no problem. Still, not as hot as i might want to seer but does the trick to grill and can do open flame.

 

[SayWhat?]

Traeger grill owner, did some frozen pizzas the other night but that's not the point of this post. The temperature setting goes up to 400 or 425 but the hottest I've ever been able to get the thing is 325 and that's on an 80+ degree day with no wind. Any thoughts as to what might be holding the heat back or just live with it? Firebox was clean so it's not a build up of ash.

I have a Camp Chef, but had a similar situation so figured I would share. My high temp seemed to be in the 425 range, which definitely wasn’t as hot as it had at one time gotten to. Ultimately (a year later?) my grill had an error code at startup which my Google research indicated was most likely a temperature proper failure. It was a $15 part that I replaced myself which not only resolved the error code, but my grill has been consistently at 500 at high temp since then. Maybe you also have a faulty temperature probe that’s simply restricting how hot your grill is getting?

Ive heard also the pellets you use can impact temperature as well. I generally use Lumberjack and some say the Charcoal blend ones go hotter then regular. Ultimately, when i was researching pellet smokers this was one of the biggest issues/challenges. Its why i went with the smoker i bought(mak 1 star). Which can get up to 650 no problem. Still, not as hot as i might want to seer but does the trick to grill and can do open flame.

Pellet type could certainly impact temp (to a certain degree), but when you’re talking about a high of 325 degrees then I can’t imagine a scenario where there isn’t an underlying issue with the grill itself.

 

[PinkydaPimp]

Traeger grill owner, did some frozen pizzas the other night but that's not the point of this post. The temperature setting goes up to 400 or 425 but the hottest I've ever been able to get the thing is 325 and that's on an 80+ degree day with no wind. Any thoughts as to what might be holding the heat back or just live with it? Firebox was clean so it's not a build up of ash.

I have a Camp Chef, but had a similar situation so figured I would share. My high temp seemed to be in the 425 range, which definitely wasn’t as hot as it had at one time gotten to. Ultimately (a year later?) my grill had an error code at startup which my Google research indicated was most likely a temperature proper failure. It was a $15 part that I replaced myself which not only resolved the error code, but my grill has been consistently at 500 at high temp since then. Maybe you also have a faulty temperature probe that’s simply restricting how hot your grill is getting?

Ive heard also the pellets you use can impact temperature as well. I generally use Lumberjack and some say the Charcoal blend ones go hotter then regular. Ultimately, when i was researching pellet smokers this was one of the biggest issues/challenges. Its why i went with the smoker i bought(mak 1 star). Which can get up to 650 no problem. Still, not as hot as i might want to seer but does the trick to grill and can do open flame.

Pellet type could certainly impact temp (to a certain degree), but when you’re talking about a high of 325 degrees then I can’t imagine a scenario where there isn’t an underlying issue with the grill itself.

Agreed. Thats pretty low but i have heard of lower quality smokers inherently having that issue.

 

[FatMax]

Traeger grill owner, did some frozen pizzas the other night but that's not the point of this post. The temperature setting goes up to 400 or 425 but the hottest I've ever been able to get the thing is 325 and that's on an 80+ degree day with no wind. Any thoughts as to what might be holding the heat back or just live with it? Firebox was clean so it's not a build up of ash.

I have a Camp Chef, but had a similar situation so figured I would share. My high temp seemed to be in the 425 range, which definitely wasn’t as hot as it had at one time gotten to. Ultimately (a year later?) my grill had an error code at startup which my Google research indicated was most likely a temperature proper failure. It was a $15 part that I replaced myself which not only resolved the error code, but my grill has been consistently at 500 at high temp since then. Maybe you also have a faulty temperature probe that’s simply restricting how hot your grill is getting?

Ive heard also the pellets you use can impact temperature as well. I generally use Lumberjack and some say the Charcoal blend ones go hotter then regular. Ultimately, when i was researching pellet smokers this was one of the biggest issues/challenges. Its why i went with the smoker i bought(mak 1 star). Which can get up to 650 no problem. Still, not as hot as i might want to seer but does the trick to grill and can do open flame.

Full disclosure, I've never used a pellet stove, and haven't really been around one up close while operating, so I could be way off here. But do the pellets actually provide any heat? I figured that it was an electric heating element for the heat (like a conventional oven), with some pellets added in for the smoke flavor.

 

[beer 30]

Thanks guys for the responses. I don't think it's the pellets but who knows, they aren't Traeger pellet so I'm guessing Traeger would say they are inferior. I've been using Pit Boss hardwood apple blend. I tend to think it might be what @SayWhat? mentioned, the heat probe or the hot rod on the fire box. The rod begins to degrade after a couple of years and I've had this grill for probably 3-4 so could be that. I'll take a look over the 4th, I have some time off and can get into it a bit.

 

[Don Quixote]

Anyone have a grill brush they love? Trying to stay away from one where the wire bristles might end up in my food.

Got one of those grill rescue brushes as a gift. It's the best brush I've ever used and you just throw the head in the dishwasher to clean.

Wife just bought one of the grill rescue brushes for us a week or two ago when it was on sale. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, but it may still be on sale if that is route that AC is going.

 

[PinkydaPimp]

Traeger grill owner, did some frozen pizzas the other night but that's not the point of this post. The temperature setting goes up to 400 or 425 but the hottest I've ever been able to get the thing is 325 and that's on an 80+ degree day with no wind. Any thoughts as to what might be holding the heat back or just live with it? Firebox was clean so it's not a build up of ash.

I have a Camp Chef, but had a similar situation so figured I would share. My high temp seemed to be in the 425 range, which definitely wasn’t as hot as it had at one time gotten to. Ultimately (a year later?) my grill had an error code at startup which my Google research indicated was most likely a temperature proper failure. It was a $15 part that I replaced myself which not only resolved the error code, but my grill has been consistently at 500 at high temp since then. Maybe you also have a faulty temperature probe that’s simply restricting how hot your grill is getting?

Ive heard also the pellets you use can impact temperature as well. I generally use Lumberjack and some say the Charcoal blend ones go hotter then regular. Ultimately, when i was researching pellet smokers this was one of the biggest issues/challenges. Its why i went with the smoker i bought(mak 1 star). Which can get up to 650 no problem. Still, not as hot as i might want to seer but does the trick to grill and can do open flame.

Full disclosure, I've never used a pellet stove, and haven't really been around one up close while operating, so I could be way off here. But do the pellets actually provide any heat? I figured that it was an electric heating element for the heat (like a conventional oven), with some pellets added in for the smoke flavor.

at least in mine, the heat is all from the pellets. They are pushed into the chamber to burn at a certain speed which lines up with the temperature needed. But the heat is indeed coming from wood pellets. Some smokers can even have it produce direct flame via the pellets as well.

There are electric smokers that do use an electric element and have an area to add pellets or wood chips etc as well.

 

[FatMax]

Traeger grill owner, did some frozen pizzas the other night but that's not the point of this post. The temperature setting goes up to 400 or 425 but the hottest I've ever been able to get the thing is 325 and that's on an 80+ degree day with no wind. Any thoughts as to what might be holding the heat back or just live with it? Firebox was clean so it's not a build up of ash.

I have a Camp Chef, but had a similar situation so figured I would share. My high temp seemed to be in the 425 range, which definitely wasn’t as hot as it had at one time gotten to. Ultimately (a year later?) my grill had an error code at startup which my Google research indicated was most likely a temperature proper failure. It was a $15 part that I replaced myself which not only resolved the error code, but my grill has been consistently at 500 at high temp since then. Maybe you also have a faulty temperature probe that’s simply restricting how hot your grill is getting?

Ive heard also the pellets you use can impact temperature as well. I generally use Lumberjack and some say the Charcoal blend ones go hotter then regular. Ultimately, when i was researching pellet smokers this was one of the biggest issues/challenges. Its why i went with the smoker i bought(mak 1 star). Which can get up to 650 no problem. Still, not as hot as i might want to seer but does the trick to grill and can do open flame.

Full disclosure, I've never used a pellet stove, and haven't really been around one up close while operating, so I could be way off here. But do the pellets actually provide any heat? I figured that it was an electric heating element for the heat (like a conventional oven), with some pellets added in for the smoke flavor.

at least in mine, the heat is all from the pellets. They are pushed into the chamber to burn at a certain speed which lines up with the temperature needed. But the heat is indeed coming from wood pellets. Some smokers can even have it produce direct flame via the pellets as well.

There are electric smokers that do use an electric element and have an area to add pellets or wood chips etc as well.

That makes sense. Thinking about it now, I should have realized that. It's take a 220V circuit to get 400 on a conventional oven. Might be tough to do on on a 110V power supply in a rig with less insulation.