Anybody here barbeque?

Random, I know.

I lived in KY for 8 years, and developed a taste for barbeque.  Then I moved to New Hampshire, where it's almost always either non-existent or mediocre at best, so for Father's Day this year I got (mistake, I know) the cheapest smoker they had at Lowe's and have been learning how to do it myself.  It's been difficult, frustrating, awesome, a learning experience, and generally a lot of fun.  So far I think I've done about 5 pork shoulders (results vary from delicious but not really right to absolutely incredible), one try for some whole chickens (not that good), and one try for some St Louis style ribs (quite good).  

Anybody else like to smoke meat?

Some day I'll give it a shot. I'm fully Texan, which means I'll be primarily smoking brisket...

Brisket is my favorite and the goal, it's mostly why I started this in the first place.  But after reading up on stuff, it's much harder and easier to screw up than other things, so everybody says to start with pork.  Which has been MUCH better than I expected, so it's been great!  But I've had 3 successes in a row, and started reading about brisket the other day.  I'm not sure if I'll give one a try before it's too late up for the season up here in NH, and I don't want to ruin a $30 mountain of meat, but I'm coming closer.

I have a pellet grill and love it. Use it weekly. 




That was the first time I ever made ribs in my life and they turned out great. 

This pellet grill is awesome, two weeks ago I tried chops and a pork loin.




I also found an A-Maze-N pellet tube which works awesome for even more smoke. I love a smoke taste and never think there is such a thing as too much smoke.

Wow, you have a fancy set-up!  I might use mine every week too, if I had your rig, but since I went cheap it's hours of babysitting.  But awesome when I have the time!

A Pit Boss (or any pellet grill) is pretty much set it and forget it. It stays close to temp. I check it periodically but mostly leave it alone. I've even started a smoke then left for church a couple of times but the more I thought about it I think that was a bad idea to leave home with it going so I don't do that anymore. 

I also picked up a Chugod blutooth thermometer. Just probe it in the meat, select what you are cooking (pork, chicken, beef, etc) and then open the app on your phone. When it hits temp your phone will alert you that it is ready. Pretty cool device.

I've done a full chicken and a boneless turkey breast. Turkey breast turned out awesome but was a bit overpowered by my injection. There was more of a "Cajun" taste than a smoke taste but I wanted to try it well before Thanksgiving because I am going to use it this year for turkey day.




And this guy has some awesome videos, I think it took him 3 tries before he got the brisket just right. I haven't tried brisket yet, I like to keep it easy. Check out his videos here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiKlKC8lLmldslW68r5-qGg

I'm thinking about smoking a turkey breast for Thanksgiving as well.  I don't know if it will happen or not.  I also once put fresh coals in my smoker and left for church, but when I came back it was down to like 180 or something.  As noted, a mistake to get the cheapest one I could find, it doesn't hold the heat well at all.  Since then I actually bought a welder's blanket that I've tried to wrap around to provide some insulation, but it doesn't work all that well, ha ha!

I dont really grill per say but I do like to smoke meats from time to time, I have a charcoal smoker that ive used to do pork and ribs and always comes out so good. Its one of those things I wish I could do more of. Esepcially if i just watched a video from the BBQ Pit Boys  (Check them out)

Wow, and you're in Mass?  So few smoke or understand barbeque at all up here.  Very cool -- I think I'm going to do another pork shoulder this Saturday, and am planning on trying turkey breast for Thanksgiving at this point.  It's embarrassing how often I think about/wish for smoked pork now.  It's pretty close to every day.

I am going to do two boneless turkey breasts this year and follow the same method as in my video above but will use pecan pellets and try those out. Will use 2 different rubs on them. Boneless tastes as good as a regular turkey but smaller so that is why I am going to do 2.

20 degrees in NH this morning, but the smoker's rolling!  I actually almost did 2 butts (had them in my basket and was walking away before changing my mind) because it's so much work I thought getting double the meat would be the way to go, but knowing it was going to be so cold and not knowing how that might change things, I went conservative and only have one on.  But it's doing great and I'm excited!

How much does a boneless turkey breast weigh?  Do you know how they compare to a pork shoulder in size?  My smoker's little, but I feel like I should be able to do two.

Boneless turkey breasts weigh around 3 pounds. I bought 2 today for turkey day and have them in the freezer. The video I posted above is a turkey breast. I wanted to practice way before Thanksgiving. Our church is selling smoked turkeys and while tempting I will just do it myself this year

At 3 lbs I might do three of them!  (I do have an 18 year old. . . .)

This pork is taking forever.  It's going to be awesome, but dang, maybe smoking on the coldest day of the year wasn't the best idea after all.  I thought I maintained good temps though.  Patience, I guess.

Yeah go with 3. The best part about a boneless breast is that they are so easy to slice. They come with a "net" on them and it says to leave it on when you cook. I did that in the video above. I may leave it on one and try the other without. But who knows what I will do.

Was upper 50's yesterday and I did some thick pork chops for about 3 hours and they turned out awesome.

Grindboy wrote:Wow, and you're in Mass?  So few smoke or understand barbeque at all up here.  Very cool -- I think I'm going to do another pork shoulder this Saturday, and am planning on trying turkey breast for Thanksgiving at this point.  It's embarrassing how often I think about/wish for smoked pork now.  It's pretty close to every day.

Yup right at the edge of Mass and almost back into CT (not even 5 mins from stateline)

My boss likes to grill and smoke as does my ex boss who does an awesome brisket. Im still learning but I love doing it, one of those things if i could afford the meat and chips/wood blocks, etc id be doing it more and more. Not many BBQ places here that i've found.  But i saw your post bout being 20 degrees and I was thinking "Perfect smoking/grilling weather" hehe

Did frozen wings a few weeks ago with charcoal pellets.

bet those turned out good

Oh man Mike, those chicken wings look great.  You need an assistant to hold the camera for you while you are filming. 

I dont mean to eat in front of you like this but this is what we call "Pitmaster Privilege"

Yeah it is too hard to make these with one hand, I do the best I can. The wings did turn out great, I have made them from frozen a few times. If you thaw them they get rubbery.

Wings DO look good!  My son's strangely allergic to chicken, so I haven't done much (the whole birds I tried turned out ok but rubbery).  He's graduating this year, so if he goes away to school I'll try more (but miss the dude like ridiculous).

Got a Weber Smokey Mountain for Christmas, trying it out for the first time today.  2 pork shoulders, one for my family and one for a work Christmas party tomorrow.  Done with the cheap Masterbuilt, and pretty stinkin' pumped!!!

Doing a 6 hour smoke today. 2 racks of ribs!

Grindboy wrote:Got a Weber Smokey Mountain for Christmas, trying it out for the first time today.  2 pork shoulders, one for my family and one for a work Christmas party tomorrow.  Done with the cheap Masterbuilt, and pretty stinkin' pumped!!!

How did everything turn out? I did some ribs over the weekend, 3-2-1 method for 6 hours. They turned out awesome. 

Looks Delicious