New toy. This should be fun.

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Nice!

Remember, don't get scammed by the Traeger pellets, buy some real pellets that are actually made from proper hardwoods, not just flavored with oils and chemicals.

Traeger **hickory** pellets are actually Alder wood, flavored with hickory oil. That's a scam.

Get the real deal:
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Do you want 100% Cherry wood, or Alder blended with cherry oil for double the price?

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You REALLY have to read between the lines with scammy wood pellets.

If it says "100% hardwood", "Flavored Hardwood" or "Hardwood Blend" that is always a scam.

You want it to say "100% Cherry"

Even Kingsford is better than expensive Traeger, LOL

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Kamando Joe "Classic Joe" 1/2 off, $399 with free shipping:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kamado-Joe-Classic-Joe-I-18-inch-Charcoal-Grill-in-Blaze-Red/126810886

If you don't have a Egg type ceramic grill/smoker, this is an excellent choice that is currently $799 at Lowes

Uses very little wood or charcoal, great for long cooks

The pallet they drop in your driveway weighs 300 lbs so don't try and move it. Just take each piece off and carry it to the place of assembly.

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WOW! Great price! Thank you vid1900 for the info!

Shows as $749.

Looks like the sale is over, even the Walmart email sale link is now $749....

Probably a Black Friday deal for a few days………….

I took picures, but forgot to post last weekend. I'm so glad to have my BGE's back up and running. Pulled pork on the medium.

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IMG_20211212_202415571 (resized).jpgIMG_20211212_201406357 (resized).jpgThis is my new favorite bbq; Chinese roasted pork.

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That's a hell of a deal.

Nice smoke ring you have there.

Thanks. Who needs to add red food coloring to the char siu when you can get a nice ring.

Oh wow, I didnt know this thread existed. I just got into smoking earlier this year with a Traeger. Ive alwaysn used Traeger pellets but Ill look for real ones. Heres a pick of the small brisket I did for thanksgiving. I used Beef Tallow for the first time in the butcher paper and it was incredible!

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I wish I had some of that right now on an egg sandwich. Great work.

I went for the odd cut; pork hock. I was cooking other stuff and just wanted something weird that I've never done to cook for myself. Taste was better than ribs, but you get so much less etible parts. My dog loved the extra bits though.

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If you guys want a mammoth pellet smoker (1400 inches of cooking surface), Walmart is clearing out the Cuisinart Clermonts for $320 (normally $800)

It's got PID controller, blutooth, 2 temp probes and can use any brand of pellets

Go out and brave the xmas rush omnicron for the love of bbq

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cuisinart-Clermont-Pellet-Grill-Smoker/423913929

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I was at Lowes Sunday and guy was buying the display 24" Kamado Joe. My son and I stuck around to see how the Lowes guys were going to get it in the truck. I started talking to the new owner and learned he paid $500 for it and it's normally $1,200.

I went in to ask the Lowes grill people about it and they confirmed. They were totally surprised it would ring up at that price and they recently got the display. One of the workers wish he knew it was $500 because he would have bought.

I called around and could not find this deal anywhere. Actually, a bit relieved because I do no need another ceramic grill/smoker.

Chicken wings from Sunday night. It was my first attempt at using my smoker.

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Rule #1: NEVER call around asking for clearance prices. The moment an employee on the phone sees the price, they tell you it's OOS, and buy it for themselves or other workers.

Rule #2: Use Brickseek, so you don't tip off the employees.

Rule #3: When you get to the store, again don't ask employees to "check the price". Simply take the item up and buy it. If the item does not scan at the Brickseek price, abandon it at the register - no cashier will match the price you saw online

If a ask an employee to scan a crazy cheap price and it looks like an error, they might refuse to sell it and flag it in the system. Better to self-checkout, and keep it under the radar

https://brickseek.com/lowes-inventory-checker

Rule #5: Sometimes let minimum wage store employees get a win.

Lol, I hear you.

They just buy them and re-sell them on Craigslist.

If they were really going to smoke some food, Id have no problem.

Never heard of it. Unless it’s any good, it’s a waste of money. Who wants to be the “Pioneer”?

I've got it's smaller cousin the Cuisinart Woodcreek, same thing but only 700 square inches of cooking area.

Same PID controller, dual probe, blutooth, halogen lighting, giant screen you can read in sunlight, bla bla bla

3 year warranty on the entire unit. No returning parts for **examination**, they just send you any part you need.

You can use any brand of pellet with it (none of that "Use of any other brand pellets voids your warranty" nonsense).

Works excellently.

My logging probe says that on a 5 hour smoke it holds the temp -4*/+7* so its pretty steady for it's size.

I really like that I can add non pelleted wood to the sear section, so if I am smoking with something like Pearwood, I don't have to search the earth for Pear pellets (I'm not even sure they make them)

We smoked 9 fresh ducks on it the other day using real Cherry pellets. They came out great served with homemade cranberry sauce.

It's a baby compared to the Clermont...

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Another closeout at Lowes is the Pitboss 600 Pro @ $174 (and a few stores have it @ $139)

Not as fancy as the Cuisinarts, but if you want to try out a pellet grill with the least amount of commitment, it could be your gateway grill

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(in the same isle, the Pitboss covers for this are on clearance for $14, get one of those too)

Anybody got a good stuffing recipe? I really like Costco stuffing, but I can only get it during Thanksgiving. I've tried the Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned but it always seems bland when I make it. I figured I'd add some Sage Sausage to spice things up this year, but if anyone has a good recipe, please let me know....

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Neighbor brought 4 little racks of fresh lamb

Seasoned with rosemary, crushed garlic, onion powder, cracked pepper and salt.

Let sit in the fridge to marinate for 6 hours

Set aside all the fat trimmings to render

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I put them on the top rack of WoodCreek smoker @200*F until the internal temp hit 95*F, using hickory for wood

Wanted to give plenty of time for smoke to soak in at low temperature

Meanwhile, I put all the fat trimmings in the microwave with Rosemary, paprika and crushed garlic, rendered for 5 minutes. Fished out all the "pork rinds" and gave them to Murder Hornet.

When ribs hit 95*, I took them off the grill, then cranked the grill up to 375*F

Once the grill got up to temp, I put the ribs back on, but this time directly over the sear area.

I basted both sides with the renderings, and did the fat side a second time after the flip

I pulled the ribs when they hit 122*F internal, rested them for 10 minutes before slicing

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The racks were small, so I was crazy careful not to overcook them.

Rack of lamb cooks fast anyway, so small ones are even harder to get perfect.

These were as good as I've ever had. Juicy, pink, earthy.

Served them with homemade cranberry sauce and risotto for a great Christmas eve dinner

Remember if you make them, there's a membrane you have to peel off, and it's a son o bltch to get started if they have never been frozen

beautiful

.

Double post, so here is picture of kabob from a few days ago

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nice and I like how the veggies are cooked but not burned.

I haven't smoked a ham in many years, and certainly never did it properly. This was the best hame I have ever had in my life. Here's the recipe I followed with a 7lb and change ham, but in addition injected the ham with maple syrup. I started at 250 dome temp and let it sit on the grate. When I was ready to glaze I moved the ham to a tray, so I could collect all the juices for gravy. I got in three swabs of the glaze.

Ingredients
7-12 lb. ham, not spiral sliced

Instructions

Set the EGG for indirect cooking with the convEGGtor at 275°F/135°C with Big Green Egg smoking chips. We recommend the apple smoking chips.

Score the fat portion of the ham in a checkerboard pattern, making cuts approximately 1 inch apart, and 1 inch deep.

Cook for approximately 1 hour for 2 lbs. of weight. During the last hour of cooking, brush ham with the glaze. Remove when the ham has reached the internal temperature of 155- 160°F/68 – 70°C.

Let the ham rest before serving

Glaze for Ham Ingredients
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp black pepper
¼ cup of bourbon
¼ cup of syrup
2 tbsp of brown mustard

Glaze for Ham Instructions

For the glaze mix all the ingredients together and let sit for 2-3 hours.

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Got a late start this morning due to some unforeseen delays… might be a morning brisket for breakfast or possibly a midnight snack, but gonna be good either way!!

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Did this on Sunday for the wife and I.

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looks perfect to me,My wife would want to cremate it.

There are always a few people who like it like that.

I leave the grill hot with a cast iron pan while the meat rests, then cook a few slices for whoever needs it Medium, with a splash of drippings.

Restaurants do the same thing for that occasional Medium or Well request

Remember: don't slice the meat until it is fully rested!

It’s a smaller brisket (10lbs before trimming), so it’s already working it’s way into the stall. Won’t be too long now before I’m wrapping and still might get to have some before turning in for the night.

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Excellent tip. And for those of you that don’t do larger pieces of meat a lot, it will stay warm a LOT longer than you think it will. I pulled that at 118 degrees, put it on a tray and let it rest for 45 minutes. It peaked at 126 and after the 45 minutes it was at 114.

You need to give the muscles time to relax and reabsorb the juice.

I’ve kept pork shoulders in a cooler covered in a towel for 4+ hours and they are still hot when you pull them.

I bought a 1/4 cow for the first time. Supposed to be grass fed and no juice. I'm pretty happy with what I got. I weighed everything and it all came out to $5.88/lb and it's 178 lbs of finished product. It started out as 242 hanging.

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Sage was what I was missing. I made Pepperidge Farms Herbed Stuffing and added a pound of Sage Sausage. That did the trick. I suppose you could just add some sage spice, but I think the sausage gave it some extra kick.

My Christmas travels didn’t go as planned the ham was smoked tonight. Happy New Year everyone!!

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I worked my way through college being a cook. When we got a steak ordered well done, we would stab it and drop it in the au jus. Then wait until it turned brown and then put it on the grill for marks. It probably went out more medium but the patrons loved it. It was just not red when they cut into it.

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A couple of you guys asked how exactly do you smoke a duck.

The reason some people think it's difficult is that it is different how you cook a domestic duck to one that you went out and shot in the wild.

If it's your first time, definitely get a domestic duck.

Domestic ducks are super juicy with a ton of fat under the skin. Self-basting, so you have about a zero chance of getting a dry duck

To dry brine, poke 10,000 holes through the skin to allow the salt and smoke to enter.

Coat with a generous layer of sea salt, cover, put in fridge overnight. This will brine it and draw out all the excess moisture so you can get a crisp skin

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Slice up an orange, and stuff the cavity

(If you had a wild duck, you would put 4 strips of bacon under the skin over the breasts, to keep it moist)

Blot off any moisture or excess salt, you want it dry

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Duck fat is valuable for many uses, so use a drip pan

Set smoker to 275f. I used Apple wood here, but Cherry is also popular

Put temp probe into thickest part of breast, legs towards the heat source

Set temp alarm to signal @ 150*f

When you hit 150, crank heat to 400*f (no shame in using the broiler on your stove)

This will crisp the skin

When you hit 165*f, pull from heat.

(If you have a wild duck, don't go this high or the breasts could be dry.)

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10 minutes of rest before you carve

(All that juice ran out when I pulled the temp probe)

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Because duck meat is so rich, it goes twice as far as chicken

Serve with orange or cranberry sauce

It doesn't need any other seasoning than salt, really