Well...the ol’ Smokefire did me well


 
TimA

TimA

TVWBB All-Star
I’ve not held my tongue in my preference for charcoal over pellets, and while I’m only three, almost four months in to my pellet experience, I doubt I will ever change that.

I’ve also mentioned the few issues I’ve had pop up on my gen 2 unit, some of which Smokefire was panned for upon initial release.

She made me proud today. Did a little brisket point from wally world, just under 5lbs. Tossed it on about 9:30 this morning, pulled it around 3, and let it rest until about 6:30 and ate. She was one of the better briskets I’ve done, not overly juicy but dang it had good flavor.

Suppose I’ll hafta keep her👍C66BC381-9AB0-45D6-AB8A-83FA789FF1CC.jpeg
D317D792-02D8-4184-B22D-A300AA17B5D1.jpeg
 
TimA said:
I’ve not held my tongue in my preference for charcoal over pellets, and while I’m only three, almost four months in to my pellet experience, I doubt I will ever change that.

I’ve also mentioned the few issues I’ve had pop up on my gen 2 unit, some of which Smokefire was panned for upon initial release.

She made me proud today. Did a little brisket point from wally world, just under 5lbs. Tossed it on about 9:30 this morning, pulled it around 3, and let it rest until about 6:30 and ate. She was one of the better briskets I’ve done, not overly juicy but dang it had good flavor.

Suppose I’ll hafta keep her👍View attachment 43120
View attachment 43121
Click to expand...
Looks great, I’m telling ya they should have called it the SmokeRing!!
 
That turned out great, Tim! Sucks you can't build the trust you want in the SF, but that's a beauty of a meal! 👍🏼

Rich
 
I’m sure trust will come. Figure I need to keep telling myself it will take some time to learn it’s quirks.

And yes, it was a killer smoke ring haha. Don’t think I’ve seen one like that on any of my cooks before. First real use of Smokeboost
 
It does look beautiful. A pronounced smoke ring has never been important to me but when I serve folks food off the SF I'm often asked how I achieved the penetrating, colorful ring. I think they are underwhelmed when my reply is:

dumb1.jpg
 
I’m not overly concerned either with smoke ring personally, although it is kind of pretty!

I’ve had almost no ring and amazing, and a decent ring and missing something. Some folks get worked up about ring or no ring. Now in a comp, that may be something you shoot for, I don’t know. I’m looking at trying a couple comps but none really around here. Future list
 
It does seem to me that pellet grills, for whatever reason, are more reliable in turning out very bold smoke rings. My understanding is that smoke rings have NOTHING to do with smoke but rather about temperature effects on cold meat. Maybe that the computer control keeps the temperatures very steady? I don't really know. I did not get near as much smoke ring using a Big Green Egg which also does extremely well in holding temperatures, so my idea may have no merit. Maybe some more experienced bbqers here can chime in.

This is chuck roast from my Recteq RT-700 (before being cut up to make faux burnt ends):
IMG_7010.jpeg

This is hamburger from my Recteq. It may be a bit of a stretch, but if you look close, I think you can see some smoke ring from less than 15 minutes of high temperature grilling:

IMG_0813.jpeg
 
Jon Tofte said:
It does seem to me that pellet grills, for whatever reason, are more reliable in turning out very bold smoke rings. My understanding is that smoke rings have NOTHING to do with smoke but rather about temperature effects on cold meat. Maybe that the computer control keeps the temperatures very steady? I don't really know. I did not get near as much smoke ring using a Big Green Egg which also does extremely well in holding temperatures, so my idea may have no merit. Maybe some more experienced bbqers here can chime in.

This is chuck roast from my Recteq RT-700 (before being cut up to make faux burnt ends):
View attachment 43235

This is hamburger from my Recteq. It may be a bit of a stretch, but if you look close, I think you can see some smoke ring from less than 15 minutes of high temperature grilling:

View attachment 43236
Click to expand...
That chuck roast looks delicious. Here is my attempt from last week - I found it a bit dry, but excellent flavor. Done on my Camp Chef ZG24

1642088652500.png

That was a 2.5 lb chuck roast smoked at 210 for 6 hours until 160, foil wrapped and then kicked up to 225 for the remaining time until probe tender (About 197 if I recall). Do you spray your chuck roast to add moisture or any other tricks, such as using butcher paper?
 
I have not wrapped up until now, because I wasn't cooking all the way since I then cut up into cubes to make faux burnt ends. However, I have had to battle dryness, too, and plan to wrap in butcher paper next time. I think spritzing just adds a little flavor. I do it for ribs. Probably the best plan to increase moisture inside would be to try to use an injector. I have not tried that but maybe will add that to the arsenal!

I more recently made a chuck roast - not for burnt ends but for a Sunday dinner. I was under pressure from family to get it done and brought it in too soon. Not very tender. However, when microwaved on very low for a fair amount of time it was actually a lot better as leftovers! BBQ takes time and doesn't always match up with family expectations 🤨 !
 
While back I had a string of pot roasts, that did not come out perfect. So instead of the usual foil, onion (homemade onion soup, or lipto...) we moved to a stew method.
Involves a boil/simmer. Then a waiting period. Then simmer. Then add ingredients (xxx) simmer a bit longer and voila.

Can also be done with short ribs and asian spices. Awesome.
 
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She just keeps pumping it out.

I’ve made it a point not to clean it out, now working on month two and a range of cooks several times a week. I haven’t even cleaned the grates, although that’s not been purposeful; you walk out with hands full of meat and whatever else, and remember at that particular moment....meh it’s going on haha.

Nary an issue. No fires. No lost cooks. No wild temp swings. And since I now routinely walk out and stick my hand down towards the auger to collapse any possible bridge forming, no issues feeding. I haven’t experienced any technical glitches other than pairing with my phone but, whatever.

Can’t be disappointed with that.
 
Sweet. I have a Packer in the freezer and looking for a good reason. Just have to get through my daughters rib request this weekend. Can't disappoint the birthday girl.
 
Given the couple mentions of smoke rings and comps, thought I'd share this little reminder...
Smoke rings can be created artificially, therefore are not to be considered when judging...
 
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