Time to get a smoker...

[eddiememphis]

Yeah, I've seen the various different setups; the pellet tubes seem to be very reasonably priced; any idea how well they work?

When you smoked the salmon, did you do the whole process where you pack it in sugar and leave it in the fridge for a day or so beforehand?

Traeger has a video on Youtube that shows the cheese smoking method you describe, and I'm glad to hear that it works well.

Also, what about smoking vegetables? Last time I went over to a buddy's house, after we were done smoking turkey, I threw some olive oil-covered garlic cloves on the smoker just to see what would happen, and they turned out incredible. Did I get lucky, or is smoking vegetables a fairly straightforward thing?

I skin the filet that place it in a plastic container. add kosher salt and white sugar in about equal parts. The salt will draw moisture out of the meat and will dissolve both the salt and sugar. The muscle fibers will then draw the mixture back into the meat. I do it for about six hours. Any longer and it gets too salty for me, but I don't cook with a lot of salt so I find a little to be a lot.

This is called a dry brine. It works great on chicken as well but I only do it for a couple hours before grilling.

The most important step with salmon is to then rinse it and pat it dry. Then let it sit uncovered for a few hours. This forms a sticky film called a pellicle which does two things. It hold the albumen in, which is the white protein that you see when you grill salmon. It is also a nice sticky surface for the smoke particles to adhere to.

I love grilled veggies especially asparagus. A little oil and some jerk seasoning, toss them on the grill until the ends are crispy and pull 'em. I don't smoke them since I prefer them al dente and leaving them in the smoker long enough to get smoky usually overcooks them. But every grill and smoker, and palette is different. But you are right, smoked garlic is awesome, as is smoked salt.

My two go-to sites for smoking and grilling info. The first one has great insight about how smoke and food work together and why a lot of the techniques you will encounter are nonsense. The second has a lot of great recipes.

https://amazingribs.com/
https://www.smoking-meat.com/

[Gman]

I skin the filet that place it in a plastic container. add kosher salt and white sugar in about equal parts. The salt will draw moisture out of the meat and will dissolve both the salt and sugar. The muscle fibers will then draw the mixture back into the meat. I do it for about six hours. Any longer and it gets too salty for me, but I don't cook with a lot of salt so I find a little to be a lot.

This is called a dry brine. It works great on chicken as well but I only do it for a couple hours before grilling.

It's essentially a 'cured salmon': https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/ho...to-cure-salmon

[Great-Kazoo]

How are they for grilling? From what I see, a lot of the hardcore bbq guys don't care for using smokers because they don't get hot enough to get a good sear.

The Pit Boss does have a sliding cover that allows you to apply direct heat for searing, but I'm wondering how well it works, and what the pellet consumption looks like.

That's really the only thing that seems questionable, and why I like the Camp Chef setup with the propane-powered Sidekick.

Also, any idea on how it does for cold smoking? I'd like to try my hand at smoking fish and cheese, and based on what I'm seeing, a lot of smokers, even pellet smokers, aren't capable of doing those sorts of low temperatures.

Yes I have an idea. Don't bother using the smoker, except as a place to place the cheese. Buy one of these, or something similar, that can expand, as needed.
https://www.amazon.com/Trojan-Grill-...114179&sr=8-15


light it, then place under the drip tray, on top of where the pellets come out of the auger. I started out "cold smoking" using the low smoke setting on the CC DLX. The procedure required suspending (for lack of a better word) the sections of cheese over a turkey pan loaded with ice.
If you decide to do it that way, you better keep an eye on the grease bucket hanging off the side. It fills with water from the ice melting / condensation and can overflow if not paying attention

Buy the smoker tube and make it as easy as possibly. I've cold smoked enough cheese, to really simplify the process. if you have any ?? pm me.

[Justin]

I've taken a look at those, and wasn't sure how well they worked.

Seems like it might be an easy and cheap way to dip my toe in cold smoking, and I can use my current piece of garbage grill, too.

[Great-Kazoo]

I've taken a look at those, and wasn't sure how well they worked.

Seems like it might be an easy and cheap way to dip my toe in cold smoking, and I can use my current piece of garbage grill, too.

In the long run better all around. This way there's o concerns about smoker getting too hot, etc

[Gman]

I've taken a look at those, and wasn't sure how well they worked.

Seems like it might be an easy and cheap way to dip my toe in cold smoking, and I can use my current piece of garbage grill, too.

That's what I was thinking. Why take apart the pellet grill to put in a pellet tube? I could just put the tube in my Weber kettle grill to contain the smoke.

[00tec]

Just ordered one of the Sam's Masterbuilt pellet grills. $150 plus tax local pickup (Thornton).

[Gman]

That's a great deal. Let us know what you think of the quality and usability. Happy smokin'!

[00tec]

That's a great deal. Let us know what you think of the quality and usability. Happy smokin'!

A buddy picked one up a few weeks ago. We did a brisket and a couple slabs of ribs last weekend, some chicken a couple weeks ago, and another couple weeks ago was a pair of pork butts.

It would be nice if the hopper was a bit larger, but for the price, it cant be beat.

[00tec]

For pellet grill/smoker owners: is there any issue with switching the thing on at a set temperature that is not in the "smoke" range?
I have a thermometer on the way that I can read from anywhere. If the cook is done, I could kill power using a smart switch. If I needed to turn it back on (if it was cooling too fast due to weather, and it was set at something like 225, is it going to be bad for something to startup there instead of the smoke range?

This would be handy if I was at work or something when the cook finished.