ronnie_suburban wrote:Maybe a large coffee can with vent holes cut in its bottom would be a good way to isolate your heat source and minimize its size. Instead of filling up the charcoal pan of the WSM as you normally would, you use the can as your firebox instead. I'm guessing this would bring the temperature inside the cooker to the desired level without allowing it to get out of control. You'd also have the additional flexibility of removing the can or partially covering it, which could be really helpful. I've done this before in a Weber kettle (placing the can all the way over to one side of the bottom chamber) but never in a WSM.

=R=

Well, I tried it just using a lot less charcoal and kept the vents nearly all the way closed. It was definitely cooler than my normal set-up, which runs 225-250, but it wasn't quite cool enough. Finished product is very good, but not exactly what I was going for. Will try the coffee can tip next time.

This is the only time since I got a smoker that I wish I had an electric one.

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:Has anyone managed to run a Weber Smoky Mountain at really low temperatures? I'm going to try to smoke some fish starting at around 100 degrees and then move it up a little after a couple of hours. I don't think I've ever gotten it to run below 200 degrees before. I assume that it could be done with some combination like having two bottom vents closed entirely and one open just a third or so, and by using less charcoal, but it'd just be guesswork at this point. Would love tips from anyone who's actually done it.

I would be concerned about fish that was at 100 for a couple of hours. That sounds like dangerous temperature territory to me.

If it's cured/brined, it will be fine. Cold-smoking can take from a few hours to days, but is done with cured meat. (At least all the cold smoking recipes I've seen started with salted or brined meat.)

How "dangerous" can it be?

A little stomach duress?

We've all been there.

kenji wrote:How "dangerous" can it be?

A little stomach duress?

We've all been there.

LOL, agreed. I'm certainly not advising anyone else to do this but I've done it before and would have no problem doing it again.

=R=

My first attempt at BBQ ribs on the BGE
I did do some reading but I need to do more grilling practice!



going on to the BGE

2 hours in to the smoke

4 hours in to the smoke (225˚ with applewood for smoke)

testing doneness

coloring up the ribs

[/img]
at service

I still play around with bbq:

fresh, locally raised butt(a fair price for some kind pork):





rubbed and on the WSM:



closing in on the finish:



pulled nice @ 11.5 hours on the WSM & then 3 hours foiled and wrapped in the cooler before pulling:



Martucky Style(PP, Dill chips, Open Pit, homemade slaw):

Nice pics mhill and jim...looks great.
Man I am jonesin' for some kind smoked pork right now. I have not fired up and cooked anything in months now.

cherry wood smoked rack of pork that will get a maple bourbon glaze

two hours in


at service

I'd destroy that rack of pork...looks great

Smoking a couple of cured wagyu briskets (into pastrami) and a cured belly (into bacon) today . . .



=R=

Nice! Love the God rays.

Pastrami turned out pretty good . . .


Wagyu Pastrami

=R=

Ronnie, that is magnificent. I thought I was bold using grass fed beef. Wagyu? Trying to wrap my mind around how good that could be.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Pastrami turned out pretty good . . .

If that's pretty good, I'd sure like to see great.

Mamagotcha got me an 18.5" WSM and a copy of Low & Slow for Christmas this year, and the first three batches of BBQ have all turned out to be very tasty.

The only problem I've had is that the grate temperature just won't get above 225° (which I am attributing to the cold ambient temperature... the coals certainly seem to be burning properly) so all three cooks have required about an hour longer than the longest time listed in the recipe.

Chouxfly wrote:Mamagotcha got me an 18.5" WSM and a copy of Low & Slow for Christmas this year, and the first three batches of BBQ have all turned out to be very tasty.

The only problem I've had is that the grate temperature just won't get above 225° (which I am attributing to the cold ambient temperature... the coals certainly seem to be burning properly) so all three cooks have required about an hour longer than the longest time listed in the recipe.

Often wind creates this issue more than low temperature. Trying moving the WSM to a spot where the wind is blocked, or create some sort of wind-break for it and see if your results differ.

=R=

I just noticed this thread.

Ronnie that looks fantastic!!

Chouxfly wrote:Mamagotcha got me an 18.5" WSM and a copy of Low & Slow for Christmas this year, and the first three batches of BBQ have all turned out to be very tasty.

The only problem I've had is that the grate temperature just won't get above 225° (which I am attributing to the cold ambient temperature... the coals certainly seem to be burning properly) so all three cooks have required about an hour longer than the longest time listed in the recipe.

HI,

During cold weather, Gary has recommended using sand covered with foil and no water in the reservoir. It helps to maintain heat.

If your side door is facing the wind, you will want to rotate the WSM away from it.

All cooks differ from each other due to shifting ambient conditions. You already doing well to rely on your observations of the cook's progress than on time. When you get to the pork butt, times can really vary wildly from one piece of meat to the other. While temperature is one piece of information. Observing whether the meat is slumping on itself is a more important indicator.

I do believe you are doing very well. Of course, I can understand the pressures of hungry family while the meat is not yet cooked to your satisfaction. The wait can be painful.

Regards,

Ronnie,

That pastrami looks superb! Have you ever tried making Montréal Smoked Meat? Not much of a stretch from your pastrami.

I've never seen a smoker like that—what is it? and from whence?

Geo

Geo wrote:Ronnie,

That pastrami looks superb! Have you ever tried making Montréal Smoked Meat? Not much of a stretch from your pastrami.

I've never seen a smoker like that—what is it? and from whence?

Geo

Thanks, Geo. I've never tried making Montreal Smoked Meat. Can you point me to a tried and true recipe/method?

The smoker is a Horizon 20" Ranger offset cooker. They're made, mostly to order, in Oklahoma. They also make other models that are sold at some 3rd-party retail outlets. I originally got to mess around with a similar Horizon cooker during my time at BBQ University back in 2010, and I really liked it. So, I eventually ordered one. I've had it for less than a year and I'm still learning it.

It's an easy-to-manage unit and it's very well-built. This particular model weighs about 800 pounds (it took 4 of us to get it onto my deck). Because of the thick steel from which it's made, it holds temperature very well. It has a large cooking capacity and the fire box is relatively easy to regulate, though it's not perfect. My cooks have been very good so far. And I love the flexibility of the vertical cooking chamber for doing cold-smoking. The bacon in the pics above was the best I've ever turned out.

On the downside, I ordered this cooker in March of 2012 and was told that it'd be 4-6 weeks until it shipped. It finally shipped over 5 months later. I received it during the second week of August. And I waited a couple more months beyond that for some accessories I also ordered in March. So if you ordered one now, you might have it by the 4th of July! In all seriousness, I found the delay to be immensely frustrating, especially because there were several times during the wait that I was told it would ship -- and then it didn't. If I'm ever in the market again for another serious offset cooker, I'd definitely consider some other makes before ordering another Horizon.

=R=

Ronnie,

Sorry about your tale of woe re: the smoker, but it sure is a pretty thing! I've just got a simple offset Texas-style device, looks like a 19thCentury locomotive. But it does the job for me.

In the "Homemade bacon and pastrami" thread I revealed the following protocol. As I note, there's a group of us working on it, and our goal is to duplicate Schwartz's own. We're getting close, in part with some help from the folks at Schwartz's. Here's the info:

++++++++

It's still a work-in-progress, but this is where we're at, courtesy of Howie, Jean, and Elam (with a bit o' aide from me).

Geo

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Finding the Holy Grail of Schwartz’s Smoked Meat
1. Brine for 4-5 days in a concoction derived from Michael Ruhlman’s Corned Beef recipe in Charcuterie as amended by Jean Houle.

a. The pickling spice: (Either crushed or coarsely ground in blender after the seeds were first lightly toasted):
• 2 TBL black peppercorns
• 2 TBL mustard seeds
• 2 TBL coriander seeds
• 1 TBL hot red pepper flakes
• 2 TBL allspice berries
• 1 TBL ground mace
• 4 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1 TBL whole cloves

b. The brine (Simmer until sugar and salts are dissolved; then refrigerate. Add brisket, and keep submerged under a plate):
• 3 quarts water
• 1 ½ cups Morton kosher salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 5 TSP Morton’s Tender Quick
• 3 TSP minced garlic
• 1 ½ TBL smoked hickory salt
• 2 TBL of pickling spice as per above
• 4-5 lb well-marbled brisket

2. Desalted in 4 changes of cold water, each one hour apart

3. Applied pastrami rub and refrigerated for 2 additional days in airtight bag. (Seeds were coarsely ground but not heated)
• 1 TBL paprika
• 2 TBL coriander seeds
• 4 TBL black peppercorns
• 2 TBL yellow mustard seeds
• 2 TSP Penzey’s dehydrated garlic
4. Smoked with applewood in water smoker at 210 ℉ for 4 hours
5. Steamed for 5 hours at 240 ℉ under foil on rack in oven.

http://leitesculinaria.com/5912/recipes ... -beef.html
http://www.mrbbq.ca/2010/01/smoked-meat ... isket.html

Geo wrote:In the "Homemade bacon and pastrami" thread I revealed the following protocol. As I note, there's a group of us working on it, and our goal is to duplicate Schwartz's own. We're getting close, in part with some help from the folks at Schwartz's. Here's the info: . . .

Thanks, Geo. I knew I'd seen it somewhere but I didn't search for it properly. I included the word "Montreal" in my search

This looks pretty straightforward. Is there a brand of smoked hickory salt that you'd recommend? That's not an ingredient I've ever used before.

=R=

There's also a great recipe here (a few posts down, look for porker's post) that I discovered after returning from Montreal and jonesing for their smoked meat. I confess, I like Montreal smoked meat more than pastrami. That recipe is not trying to be a clone of Schwartz's, but it's pretty freaking awesome, if not a bit time consuming in prep.

Binko wrote:There's also a great recipe here (a few posts down, look for porker's post) that I discovered after returning from Montreal and jonesing for their smoked meat. I confess, I like Montreal smoked meat more than pastrami. That recipe is not trying to be a clone of Schwartz's, but it's pretty freaking awesome, if not a bit time consuming in prep.

Thanks, Binko, for the link. I've always been intrigued by the notion of dry-curing a pastrami (or Montreal-syle smoked meat) but I've never tried it. I've always done them in a liquid cure. Otoh, I've always cured my bacons dry.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Binko wrote:There's also a great recipe here (a few posts down, look for porker's post) that I discovered after returning from Montreal and jonesing for their smoked meat. I confess, I like Montreal smoked meat more than pastrami. That recipe is not trying to be a clone of Schwartz's, but it's pretty freaking awesome, if not a bit time consuming in prep.

Thanks, Binko, for the link. I've always been intrigued by the notion of dry-curing a pastrami (or Montreal-syle smoked meat) but I've never tried it. I've always done them in a liquid cure. Otoh, I've always cured my bacons dry.

=R=

Yeah, that's part of what intrigued me, too. From what I've read, there seems to be some debate over whether it should be dry- or wet-cured. If you read through the thread, you'll see some interesting discussion on it. From what I can tell, it seems that dry curing is the traditional way, but many are switching over to wet curing/brines, as it's faster and a bit more predictable.

Binko wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Binko wrote:There's also a great recipe here (a few posts down, look for porker's post) that I discovered after returning from Montreal and jonesing for their smoked meat. I confess, I like Montreal smoked meat more than pastrami. That recipe is not trying to be a clone of Schwartz's, but it's pretty freaking awesome, if not a bit time consuming in prep.

Thanks, Binko, for the link. I've always been intrigued by the notion of dry-curing a pastrami (or Montreal-syle smoked meat) but I've never tried it. I've always done them in a liquid cure. Otoh, I've always cured my bacons dry.

=R=

Yeah, that's part of what intrigued me, too. From what I've read, there seems to be some debate over whether it should be dry- or wet-cured. If you read through the thread, you'll see some interesting discussion on it. From what I can tell, it seems that dry curing is the traditional way, but many are switching over to wet curing/brines, as it's faster and a bit more predictable.

One practical advantage to dry-curing that I can already foresee is that it'll take up less space. I generally use 5-gallon pails for wet-curing pastramis and I can only fit 2 of them in my basement fridge. I'm guessing that if I dry-cure briskets in those gray foodservice tubs, I can probably fit at least 4 in that fridge (take out all the shelves, cross-stack the tubs vertically). I make pastrami for a big Christmas-time event every year and 2 whole briskets is never enough. I'll definitely have to give the dry-cure method a shot sometime soon and see how I feel about the results.

=R=

A well-researched recipe for Montreal smoked meat is in "The Mile End Cookbook", from the deli in Brooklyn with the same name. 12 day wet cure, then smoking, then resting overnight in the fridge, then steaming, if you want to follow the recipe to the letter. I've had their smoked meat in Brooklyn and it is as good as it gets, anywhere.

The book also has recipes for beef salami, corned beef, duck and maple sausage, and the best latkes and borscht (no beef stock, just beet stock) I've ever made...

Mile-end is the name of the former main Jewish neighborhood in Montréal, from whence the owners of the deli in NYC. Folks in MTL claim that the best Jewish deli in Montréal is the Mile End deli in NYC.

Geo

mchodera wrote:A well-researched recipe for Montreal smoked meat is in "The Mile End Cookbook", from the deli in Brooklyn with the same name . . .

Good to know. Every person I know who's been there has raved about the place. Just carted it at Amazon.

Thanks!

=R=