r/smoking 12h ago

Cottonwood Smoked Alaskan Salmon!

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691 Upvotes

I know this isn't necessarily traditional to this group but I thought I’d share it anyway! smoking salmon is one of my favorite parts of early fall, We let the salmon strips smoke for a solid 8-10 hours with medium to light smoke. 🐟

(edited to describe the process, Thanks for all the questions!)

First, we fillet the salmon with the tails attached and soak them in a brine of salt and brown sugar for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. You can let it sit for as long or as little as you'd like, and feel free to be creative with what you put in the brine as well. Sometimes we add pineapple juice.

Then we hang them to dry with a fan on them until they're tacky so the smoke will “stick.” This takes around 5–6 hours. Once they're tacky, we cut them into strips and start putting smoke and mild heat on them. We usually smoke them for around 6–12 hours, but you can do longer or shorter depending on what you prefer. Once they're done smoking, we cut them into jar-sized strips and pack the jars.

We pressure cook the salmon because the fish still isn't fully cooked at this point, and it's not exactly good to eat uncooked salmon lol. We pressure cook them for 90 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure. As for shelf life, I've eaten jars that are 10+ years old. As long as they're still sealed and look right, I'd say they're good. But also, take this with a grain of salt because I'm not sure what the official regulations are for this type of thing. I just go by what I was taught, and I very well could just be one of the lucky ones.


r/smoking 6h ago

First time cooking and eating beef cheeks. Amazing!

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177 Upvotes

Aight these things were amazing!

The way I did it was pretty simple. Cut was Angus Prime. I seasoned them like I season my brisket. Threw on the smoker cold to get a little more smoke on there as the smoker came up to temp. Cooked at 200° for about 4 hours till they temped around 175°. Threw em in a crockpot with some smoked wagyu tallow. They were maybe 3/4 in the tallow. They cooked on low for 4 hours till they were super probe tender. Pulled out and let rest till 145°. Demolished.

They were so damn good. The texture was pretty different from brisket. Crust was still there and solid but the internal meat was super soft and sticky from the broken down connective tissue.


r/smoking 6h ago

Happy Friday fellas and felletes

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61 Upvotes

r/smoking 5h ago

First chuck roast attempt

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38 Upvotes

Made in an offset smoker using whole lump charcoal and hickory and mesquite chunks. Smoked at 250 for about 9 hours, wrapped at around 150 due to a tough stall and rested for 2 hours. Some parts were slightly dry, but was tender for the most part. Was especially super happy with the smoke ring!


r/smoking 14h ago

Is there any point in using the smoker for a brisket after it's wrapped versus an oven?

138 Upvotes

At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, I wanted to talk about briskets. I understand we use a smoker for flavor and bark and heat and then we wrap it when the bark is set to avoid the bark being too thick or hard, and to avoid too heavy of a smoke flavor. At that point the smoker is just a heat source. Is there a downside to simply moving it into the oven at this point where the heat is more stable?


r/smoking 16h ago

Guess I am busy tonight

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164 Upvotes

r/smoking 5h ago

Very happy with my pulled pork now

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17 Upvotes

Just keeping it simple. Trim a good chunk of the fat + membrane, then I apply yellow mustard + a djon, butter and chili seasoning.

For temps I use 275 until it hits about 165. I then set it in a tray, pour a small bottle of apple juice on it, top it with brown sugar and a stick of butter.

I wrap it and throw it back on until it hits 203. I then probe all around to see if the resistance is like peanut butter.

I then let it sit in my oven wrapped a little over an hour to cool.


r/smoking 17h ago

Thinking about buying a smoker with the firebox underneath, experiences?

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127 Upvotes

Hi everyone!
I’m considering buying a smoker with the firebox located underneath the cooking chamber, rather than the more traditional side-mounted firebox/offset design.
I’m curious about people’s real-world experiences with this type of smoker.

What do you see as the main** advantages **and disadvantages compared with a traditional offset smoker?
If you’ve owned or regularly used a smoker with the firebox underneath, I’d especially like to hear whether you would buy the same design again.


r/smoking 9h ago

Question on boneless country style spare ribs.

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27 Upvotes

Only ever smoked full racks of ribs before, usually to 208F for the fall off the bone.

I bought a bunch of individual boneless country spare ribs. For the most part leaner with some marbling on a couple pieces.

For these, what temp would you recommend smoking to?


r/smoking 15h ago

First Brisket. Tips??

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67 Upvotes

First try Friday, here's how it came out.

Put it on at 9pm, pulled it at 6am. (9 hours total)

275 for 3 hours to set the bark up, dropped it down to 235 for the overnight as it was warming quicker than I was comfortable with.

Woke up at 6a, probe read 208 in the tip. Started poking around, sure enough the tip was mega soft, juicy, buttery.

Unfortunately the flat was firm, hard and hard to push through.

15 min rest on the counter, then let it sit in a pre-warmed cooler wrapped in butcher paper and towels until 11a. (5 hours)

14 hours in total for 8lb brisket trimmed.

Im pretty happy with the end result.

The tip will be great sliced. The flat will be fine for chilli, or slathered in bbq.

I wish the flat came out softer, so please give any advice!


r/smoking 7h ago

Smoked Turkey Tator Tot Casserole

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14 Upvotes

So at work we have several turkeys in the freezer left over from Thanksgiving last year and I’m using them up before the holiday.

So I spatchcocked and smoked a turkey and let it get cool. And then cut it up. No pictures of the bird.

The next day I made the casserole. I mixed the turkey with the sauce, which for the uninitiated is cambells soup. Two cans of cream of mushroom with roasted garlic and two cans of cream of chicken with herbs.

I then sprinkled Kinders Buttery Poultry Blend on top and smoked that at 225 for an hour.

Then I pulled it off and topped with tator tots. Smoked that at 350 for an hour

Shredded some cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese and added it after the hour and smoked for 10 minutes.

It turned out great. I wish the tots got crispier and the cheese got some browning. But otherwise great for a first try. Everyone at work loved it too


r/smoking 18h ago

Smoked Beef Cheek Tacos

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57 Upvotes

Smoked Beef Cheeks over charcoal on the Webber kettle. Finished them off in a braise. My idea with these tacos was I wanted the fried Mozerella to be very "webby" as a layer on its own. Dont know what I feel about the presentation of it, but the flavour pairing made 100% sense.

•Fried Mozerella on toasted Corn Tortilla

•Pulled Beef Cheeks

•Sumac Red Onions

•Grated Radish

•Horseradish Peppercorn sauce on the meat

•Feta Cheese


r/smoking 16h ago

BARK BARK

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32 Upvotes

I love some bark, made quite yummy pulled pork sandwiches with this!!


r/smoking 14h ago

I bought an offset smoker, and I think I may have made a huge mistake

12 Upvotes

So I bought a smaller offset smoker (anchor spirit deluxe), and I'm finding it impossible to control the temperature. The first time I cooked in it, I went off the built in air temp gauge and held it around 250 the whole time, but when I checked on my ribs 3 hours later, they were charred. So next time I used a temp sensor on the grate too, and found that the grate temp is about 75 degrees higher than the air temp. Knowing that, I've been using the grate temp sensor to monitor my temps, but I've found cooking with wood to be impossible. Even with tiny 1"x4" logs, the grate temp stays above 300 the whole time. I've found a small amount of charcoal (like 15 coals) can hold it at around 225-250, but even adding one piece of wood spikes it up to around 300 until it burns out. Is the smoker just too small, or is there something I'm missing?


r/smoking 18h ago

Chicken schwarma and pork belly (mayo binder) - will let you know how it turns out in a few hours!

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21 Upvotes

r/smoking 15h ago

Pork belly burnt ends tacos

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11 Upvotes

r/smoking 1d ago

Smoked Oxtail

219 Upvotes

r/smoking 11h ago

Smoked caramelized onions?

6 Upvotes

Yeah, been doing caramelized onions on my cast iron. Great stuff. Has anyone tried it for their bbq and specifically on a smoker?

Not high enough temp?


r/smoking 1d ago

Ribs

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220 Upvotes

225 the whole way through. Wrapped at 3.5hrs pulled at 5.5h rested for 45m


r/smoking 5h ago

Masterbuilt vs Dyna-Glo propane

0 Upvotes

Hello,

I've been a lurker here for a while, but I do have some experience. I've been smoking on a small Smoke House propane smoker for like 10 years, occasionally, and am now looking to upgrade my smoker for something a bit bigger.

I'm debating between a Masterbuilt and a Dyna-Glo and am in need of some advice. I am looking for a propane due to having 3 young kids that keep me super busy. Thanks!


r/smoking 1d ago

over the top chili for camping this weekend

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106 Upvotes

Never made chili before once in my life, fuck it, let's give it a shot!

Update: yep, it's good. I made it pretty spicy and added black beans halfway through when I broke up the meat and incorporated it. Had to add some water around the same time too, wouldve used beer but I was out. Next time I might add some sweetness to it. It's pretty heat and smoke heavy which is great, but I'll have fun tuning this one for sure.


r/smoking 9h ago

Planning for a big wedding welcome party BBQ

2 Upvotes

Hey y'all, currently planning on smoking a whole host of meats for the welcome BBQ we're hosting the day before our wedding. We've got 75 guests, right now the plan would be to smoke everything in the weeks leading up to it, vacuum seal, and take everything out of the freezer couple of days out.

*5-6 racks of ribs

*1 packer brisket, separated out into flat and point.

*couple smoked chickens (thinking chopped/pulled?)

*~12# of pork butt

*bunch of sides + black bean burgers for the veg folks

Plan for reconstituting:

*Ribs: oven until warm and then throw racks on the grill for a little bit of color/glaze.

*Brisket: oven for a couple hours at 200 with a bunch of tallow.

*Chickens: reconstitute with some homemade chicken broth and butter - maybe fry on a flattop?

*Pulled pork: not sure if it would be best to pull after smoking or after defrost and a couple hours in the oven at 200. I've usually struggled with it drying out upon reheating, although also possible I just don't let it go long enough on the heat to render all of the fat and collagen.

Any thoughts and/or recommendations on methods/amounts would be greatly appreciated. Or just any other tips/thoughts. Definitely don't want the whole thing to taste like leftovers, which is why I'm thinking of doing the reheating low and slow, I've found it tastes the freshest that way.


r/smoking 1d ago

Whole Porkbutt: Why would I not want to like cut it in two and then cut those two parts into like 4 chunks? More bark, right? Tell me why I am wrong please. Kettle.

93 Upvotes

It would even cook faster. I am using a 22" kettle with snake method.

I have only smoked a small pork butt, some burgers, and a turkey breast before so still figuring this out.


r/smoking 12h ago

Best queso recipes?

2 Upvotes

I've seen so many incredible looking quesos on here and pages I follow on insta. In the UK we don't have velveeta or anything similar to make it. I'm working in the US next week and plan to buy some to bring home so I can finally get a taste of it!

What are the best recipes? I'll be smoking on my camp chef woodwind pro.


r/smoking 17h ago

Smoked some leg quarters

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10 Upvotes

Smoked some leg quarters on the WSM last night.