Recent content by Scooter B

I have done a few batches of bacon and I tend to think that the flavours people add are often masked by the amount of smoke you put on your bacon. This holds true for most smoked meat. Subtle flavours will be overwhelmed very easy by the powerful taste of the smoke and only very strong...

From my own experience, uneven burns like that are usually related to wind/airflow. If the fire starts in the middle and only works in one direction its likely that you have air passing through one side of the bottom vent and through the other. Try to keep your smoker in a protected area and...

Well as much as I love sharing sucesses, I thought i would share a bit of a failure to hopefully prevent others from my oversight. Biggest mistake was thermometer placement.. i forgot to put in thermometer when first loading so about an hour in I had to open up and quickly get it in... the...

Just don't forget that "smoke" is accumulated on the surface of the meat and doesn't penetrate the meat. Based on that, the only variable is the amount of smoke wood you add. Same amounts should yeild same flavor. From my experience and reading others on this board I think the results are the...

Personally I find the side burner on my gas grill to be perfect. Especially with lump charcoal I can usually get going in only a few minutes. When I don't have that option i find papertowel soaked with a bit of vegetable oil.

Just be careful if your rub has a lot of salt. I'm sure it's a matter of personal taste but some people say it can make it taste more like ham (which makes sense as you might be curing the outside).

As someone much wiser than I told me a while ago, smoke it's ABSORBED by the meat... it's ADSORBED. This means that whether you add all your wood at the start or feed it over the cook the result should be the same. Honestly I suggest adding at the start for simplicity. I tend to put about...

I have also found that the flavour is lost when using for bbq or grilling. Personally I say save the sugar for desserts or something more subtle where you can detect the maple flavour.

My family had a couple fried chicken restaurants for years and "redness" was a huge deal. Much like any animal there are some large veins/arteries that can hold blood. Typically this is found in the thighs but I have seen redness near the breast bone as well. One of the things we did was to...

Looks great... Was a bit concerned about the lack of pants as well! As for the rind, if you take if off BEFORE you smoke (which I would recommend) really all you can do is make pork rinds. Not everyone's cup of tea but great salty snack with a couple dozen cold ones. I'm likely doing some...

Chicken looks great. Its surprising how often I use my WSM for this type of cooking. Obviously after work I don't often have 4 hrs to slow cook something so doing chicken or even small roasts is great. On a side note... I sure hope that isn't the terrible "Grace" brand rice and beans you...

I have found the "Ready Cure" product in our local Loblaws chain (Zehr's). Usually it's around the pre-cooked hams.... where there is also sausage casings. Normally a couple times a year when they have their big sale on pork leg and shoulder you will find these products around for the sausage...

My only tip is to watch the 1-2 times a year that the Loblaws chain sells whole and split shoulders. I can usually get the whole shoulders around 0.99/lb and butts for like 1.30/lb Brisket is hard to find reasonably priced. If you know a few people it might we worth your while to look up a...

Good to see another Canuck on board! I'm a lump user and I haven't had any issues with using it for overnighters. I can easily get 12-14 hrs on a well packed ring. The key is just that... WELL PACKED. I also don't use water which helps get more out of your charcoal. I have the old model so...

by request I have done a couple.... Its really not that good but I can make a few suggestions. First of all don't make the sausage layer too thick. If it's a thinner you stand a chance of actually sweating some of the fat out of the sausage. Second, I suggest cooking a bit higher. I prefer...