quick smoking dinner?


 
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Hello,

I just have a hankering to smoke something for dinner after a crummy week. Of course, I have decided this spur of the moment and have not prepared anything.

I am looking for suggestions for a 4 hour cook time (including setting up the fire) so I can eat by 9:00 PM. Does the beer-butt chicken have to be brined or are there "enhanced" chicken that I can get at the grocery store?

Any ideas would be appreciated.
 
I vote for steak. A nice cut from a good butcher, a decent bottle of red wine, and a nice ciger.

I've had worse Friday evenings.
 
Run the temp up to 325 or so with no water in the water pan, and you can do very nice chicken halves or quarters within that length of time. You'd have time to get an hour or so of brining time in, and still meet your 9:00 deadline.

A nice big slab of salmon is very doable within that time frame as well. See the salmon that Chris has posted in the "Cooking" area on this site, as well as the Cooks Illustrated Version that I posted in the recipes section of the bulletin board. For the CI version, just cut the brining time back from 3 hours to 1 1/2 or 2. Run your lid temp to 270-275, and you should be through cooking in about 1 1/2 hours. DON'T use hickory or anything strong on the salmon, though. Alder is recommended, although I use apple or maple with good results.

Keri C
Smokin on Tulsa Time
 
Baby back ribs will be done way before that... With all the cooking time in the smoker @ 225 degrees.

I can do chicken halves in way under 4 hours with the smoker at 225 degrees... I know that this is sacralige but what I sometimes do, especially during the week, is to smoke my chicken for about 2 1/2 hours @ 225 and then pop it in a preheated oven @ 350 degrees until the meat hits 170 degrees. Then I blast it for about 10 minutes @ 450 degrees.

Great skin.. Incredibly moist... Awesome smokey flavor...
 
I like the pre-marinated Hormel pork tenderloins, just blast with smoke at 225-275f until internal temp of around 150, and they are delicious. They generally take me just a couple of hours using a hotter than normal smoker.
 
If you want to do beer can chicken why brine? I don't see the need to do both personally. The liquid inside the can steems the meet from the inside out keeping it very moist. Although IMO brining is better for flavor. Beer can chicken is excellent when you did'nt have time to brine. The next best thing!
 
I know it is a little late but try smoking a meatloaf sometime. Absolutely wonderful.

Use the recipe in the cooking section for starters. We prefer a 2/groung beef(12%fat is best) to 1/ground pork ratio.

I smoke mine in a stainless wire colander vs. a pan. I think it gets a better smoke that way. Apple wood is perfect for meatloaf smoking.
 
Thanks Jay,

I had not considered meatloaf, but I have a great recipe for the oven. I suppose that any recipe will do as long as you cook it correctly. I'll check out the recipe webpage for details and thanks for the advice.

Troy
 
The Eckrich polish sausages I did while smoking my ribs only took a short time and came out AWSOME! I would also like to try and smoke some steaks or chicken breasts!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tom:
[qb] The Eckrich polish sausages I did while smoking my ribs only took a short time and came out AWSOME! I would also like to try and smoke some steaks or chicken breasts! [/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I would'nt smoke a steak low and slow. It will be very very dry! They need to be cooked really hot and fast to get the best results.
I'll throw a few wood chunks on every now and then while cooking steak. Not really sure it does much though. With the top being off while cooking most of the smoke escapes anyway. So I don't believe much of it get's a chance to enhance the flavor of the steak.

I used to cook steaks with the top on for a decent amount of time. But that was before I ever really learned how to cook one. No wonder I never really thought steak was that great. But once you know how to cook them by searing them on each side over extremely hot temps. Then moving to a cooler part of the grill to cook till done. I can't believe I've missed out on it for all these years.

Man I'm getting hungry!
 
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