Got a pit boss too. Bought some pecan shell pellets in hoping to get more smoke into the food. Haven’t used it yet. Otherwise I’ve been using a small firebox and smoke tube. Notice the smoke in your food with your pellets @danotaylor?
What are you cooking today.
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There definitely wasn’t as much smoke as I expected but periodically throughout the cook, it would get smoky and then seem to dissipate again. There was a decent bark w a very slight pink smoke ring in the finished product. I did the first cook at slightly higher temperatures (275°) due to time constraints. I have a friend who used to smoke meat as a business. He said higher temps produce less visible smoke so today I’ll be trying the 3,2,1 method at 225°. Will keep you posted mate!
Venison is notoriously challenging to cook without drying out as it is very lean. For this small bottom round (hamstring muscle) I trimmed all the connective tissue on the outside of the muscle, coated with my sweet bbq dry rub, and then wrapped the whole piece in bacon. The plan is smoke at 225°F with my baby back ribs until the venison hits 165° internal, then transfer to a pan w some unseasoned beef broth til it hits about 200°F or so. I want to pull it, so texture will be the ultimate telltale of its readiness. More to come…
2.25 hours into the initial 3 hour smoke on the ribs. The venison is at 110° internal. Gonna move it to the left hand side of the smoker once I pull the ribs to wrap them. It’s a bit hotter on the left, so hopefully the bacon will crisp up a little…
Okay...reading and seeing this has me doing the Homer Simpson drool thing...
Just pulled them out of the foil. 1 of the 3 the meat had pulled back exposing the end of the bone and feels more done than the other 2. After 2hrs wrapped. Back in now. Heating my sauce w some of the foils drippings Now and will baste & caramelize sauce shortly!
The venison bottom round looked amazing when it hit 160° internal. It’s covered in a pan braising now. Will pull it out when it hits 200°
The venison bottom round looked amazing when it hit 160° internal. It’s covered in a pan braising now. Will pull it out when it hits 200°
Ok, so the venison bottom round didn’t turn out as I had hoped. I took it to 198° internal after covering in a braising tray. It was probably slightly over cooked. It had a decent smoke ring, and did pull, well shred, but the connective tissues were still like elastic, and pulled out of the edible meat easily. Venison seems to shred rather than pull. The flavor is decent but I would season heavier w a salt & pepper based seasoning next time. TBH though, how it looked at 165° internal after smoking is how I would probably try it next time, more of a slow smoked roast.
The ribs, well, they have been a learning curve today as well. The smallest of the 3 racks was definitely ready after the 3,2,1 process. The bigger 2 are not, and are back in the smoker. I didn’t notice that I poked a small hole in the foil I wrapped them in so some of the braising juices drained out. Not sure if that was to total reason, as the other 2 racks were bigger, so prolly a factor as well.
Still learning…
Here’s the venison and the 1 one rack that is done. Tug done, not fall of the bone done.
The ribs, well, they have been a learning curve today as well. The smallest of the 3 racks was definitely ready after the 3,2,1 process. The bigger 2 are not, and are back in the smoker. I didn’t notice that I poked a small hole in the foil I wrapped them in so some of the braising juices drained out. Not sure if that was to total reason, as the other 2 racks were bigger, so prolly a factor as well.
Still learning…
Here’s the venison and the 1 one rack that is done. Tug done, not fall of the bone done.
