I’ve smoked a couple things here in Idaho, and learned that it doesn’t really matter where you’re making the meat, as long as you have a good starting point. Costco, in MD, and Sam’s Club here, have both provided excellent canvases on which to add smoke. Here in Idaho, though, I haven’t done pulled pork yet. Sam’s had a 10.8 lbs’er, $1.98 per pound.
Well, it’s time. We’ve got a baby coming any day now, and it’ll be nice to have a ton of extra meat in the freezer.
… Read more »Alright! It’s Christmas! I meant to do this a week ago, but the turkey was still frozen, so we’re doing it today. If it turns out terrible we’ll be eating Chinese for dinner.
I got a pre-brined 12 lbs turkey for less than $1 per pound, put olive oil on the skin, then sprinkled on the rub I use on pork butt because it’s similar to what this person recommends anyway. We’ll smoke it at 225℉, and it should take about 6 hours at that temperature. We’ve got temperature probes in the turkey, so we should know when it’s done.
… Read more »15.5 pound brisket, $3.78 per pound, Sam’s in Idaho Falls, 4 Tbsp salt, 4 Tbsp pepper, 2 Tbsp garlic powder. Gonna put them on at 225℉ to start.
1810, 9 Nov: brisket on the smoker.
1830: sourdough is fermenting.
2200: flat is at 160℉, point at 142℉.
0210, 10 Nov: flat is 166℉, point 164℉. Crutched it!
0730: flat is 186℉, point 187℉. Turned temperature up to 250℉.
0845: put the rest of the ingredients in the bread. I’ve continued doing the 1 tsp regular yeast along with the sourdough starter, and doubling sourdough starter over the Josie Baker recommendation.
… Read more »Well, we’re still unpacking things, but we’ve been here for a bit. One of the things I was most excited to have arrive is the smoker - not gonna lie, that was a top priority. I’ve been looking forward to having some smoked Salmon again, and Sarah has mentioned it a couple times too.
There’s a Sam’s Club more convenient these days, so I picked up some salmon there. They had Sockeye for about $12 a pound, and “Atlantic” for about $9. I went with the Atlantic to see how it’d go. This looks like the same fish I was buying back at Costco in MD. I’ve heard the Sockeye is amazing - maybe next time. At that price though, I’ll probably smoke some other fish to see how it goes. Trout? This time I picked up two fillets totaling about 5.5 lbs.
… Read more »2120: pre-ferment done, by weight, except 2 Tbsp starter (40g).
For the jerky marinade, I followed the original foodie recipe but skipped the brown sugar (we were out), and subbed coconut aminos for soy sauce, left out liquid smoke, used regular paprika, and added slightly more cayenne then called for. I sliced the 2.5 lbs of top round with the grain mostly.
9:50: meat is in marinade.
0815, next day: I added the remainder of an old packet of regular yeast to the sourdough, about 5g. Then the rest of the ingredients.
… Read more »This is lamb weekend. Some folks call it Easter weekend. I’m doing two legs of lamb - right leg and left leg. Both are about 4.7 lbs, $5.99 per pound. Today, Saturday, I’m going to smoke one based on this recipe, and tomorrow I’m going to Sous Vide one based on the same recipe I’ve used in the past. Sarah likes meat more well-done than I do, and with lamb I don’t mind that much, so my target is medium-well.
… Read more »We’ve got some of Sarah’s best friends in town, and some of their family is coming over Sunday, so I’m busting out the smoker to feed everybody. Time for some pulled pork!
2030, Friday: salted the 15 lbs butt with 2.5 Tbsp salt. It’s in the fridge now until Saturday night, when I’ll put 1 cup rub on and start it smoking at 225℉.
2215, Saturday: put the butt on the smoker at 225℉, after putting the rub on.
… Read more »One of my best buddies got us some steaks for our wedding, and now it’s time to smoke a couple of them! Four of the steaks are half pound fillet mignons, so I’m smoking two. I’m wrapping two slices of applewood bacon around each steak, putting 1/4 tsp salt on each, and smoking them at 225℉. I’ll use the thermometers, smoking them to 130℉, then searing top and bottom on cast iron.
… Read more »Alright, time for more beef jerky. This time I found top round roast for $3.99 per pound. I’m using the same recipe as last time, but it’s 3.5 lbs so I multiplied the marinade by about 1.5. I sliced the meat more along the grain than last time, and also slightly thicker.
1530: Meat is in the marinade.
1020 Sunday: Meat is on the smoker, 175℉, vents half open this time cause why not, that’s what I normally do.
… Read more »Smoked salmon is one of my favorite foods. A luxury, truly. But, it’s much more reasonable when you can smoke it yourself. Salmon prices are at $8.99 a pound at Costco right now, which is a couple bucks more than I’m used to. Still worth it.
I’m using the same recipe I always use, with a bit over 5 lbs of salmon. This salmon was packed a couple days ago, unusually. Normally the Costco salmon on display is all packed the same day. It must sell out quickly, it is always beautiful. This fish still had a sell by day 4 days in the future, though. And it still looked beautiful. There was little liquid in the tray, the fillets were spotless… And they were $1 less per pound than the same day-packed stuff. Unpackaging the salmon, I sniffed for any unexpected scents, and looked for any defects with the fish. I found none.
… Read more »