BRADLEY SMOKER | "Taste the Great Outdoors"

Bradley Smokers => The Digital Smokers (BTDS76P & BTDS108P) => Topic started by: Monch on February 20, 2009, 11:16:16 AM

Title: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: Monch on February 20, 2009, 11:16:16 AM
All,

Thanks for all the good feedback on this forum.  It pushed me over the edge to order the 4-rack Digital.

After a disappointing bout making Andouille in a Brinkmann Pitmaster (top of barrel too hot; bottom of barrel too cold; stupid Wisconsin winters!) I realized that my expectations of success had exceeded my equipment.

Did a bunch of research and also found an extremely competitive price.

Smoker and about 300 pucks will be on their way later today.

Off to the recipes...oh, and off to alert my wife to the new purchase!
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: canadiansmoker on February 20, 2009, 11:26:05 AM
Welcome aboard. Cook the wife a few good meals with the new machine and she'll wonder why you didn't get it earlier!!
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: FLBentRider on February 20, 2009, 01:00:33 PM
W E L C O M E  to the Forum Monch!

Good luck with your new unit. I would go for some thing easy to start, a chicken or a pork butt.
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: Smoking Duck on February 20, 2009, 01:55:43 PM
Quote from: Monch on February 20, 2009, 11:16:16 AM
All,

Thanks for all the good feedback on this forum.  It pushed me over the edge to order the 4-rack Digital.

After a disappointing bout making Andouille in a Brinkmann Pitmaster (top of barrel too hot; bottom of barrel too cold; stupid Wisconsin winters!) I realized that my expectations of success had exceeded my equipment.

Did a bunch of research and also found an extremely competitive price.

Smoker and about 300 pucks will be on their way later today.

Off to the recipes...oh, and off to alert my wife to the new purchase!

A man after my own heart who knows it is truly easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission  ;D

Welcome aboard!

SD
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: Monch on February 20, 2009, 05:40:22 PM
Thanks for the encouragement.

I broke the news over cocktails at our favorite "date" restaurant....Smooth.

All is well and I'm DAMNED if I'm not going to start with Andouille...I've been doing it on the Pitmaster for eight years. 

I serve my sausage to 75 to 100 guests at a New Orleans party each year.  This year the sausage is going to make their eyes roll back in their sockets!

My "Out of Iowa" pig&corn party is also going to be fantastic this summer.  I will be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed because I won't have been up every two hours checking the smoke/fire level of the BBQ!

Life just got better, baby!
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: nickld on February 20, 2009, 06:37:32 PM
Welcome Monch!  Enjoy your smoker and be sure to post pics if you can!   ;D

~Nick
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: KyNola on February 20, 2009, 08:01:27 PM
Monch,
Welcome to the forum!  Want to share your andouille recipe?  Please?

KyNola
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: Monch on February 21, 2009, 06:55:01 AM
Wow, already getting asked for my recipes!

The andouille recipe I use is by Chef John Folse.  If anyone loves Cajun/Creole cooking, pick up his "Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine".  It's a coffe-table sized "tome" of New Orleans history and fantastic recipes.

This is posted on www.gumbopages.com...The website is worth a look

For our tastes, the only thing I change is that I cut the fresh-ground black pepper in half.

Andouille

5 pounds pork butt
1/2 pound pork fat
1/2 cup chopped garlic
1/4 cup cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dry thyme
4 tablespoons salt
6 feet beef middle casing (see butcher or specialty shop)
Cube pork butt into one and a half inch cubes. Using a meat grinder with four one quarter inch holes in the grinding plate, grind pork and pork fat. If you do not have a grinding plate this size, I suggest hand cutting pork butt into one quarter inch square pieces.
Place ground pork in large mixing bowl and blend in all remaining ingredients. Once well blended, stuff meat into casings in one foot links, using the sausage attachment on your meat grinder. Tie both ends of the sausage securely using a heavy gauge twine.

In your homestyle smoker, smoke andouille at 175-200°F for approximately four to five hours using pecan or hickory wood. The andouille may then be frozen and used for seasoning gumbos, white or red beans, pastas or grilling as an hors d'oeuvre.

Recipe by:
Chef John Folse
Louisiana's Premier Products
2517 South Philippe Avenue
Gonzales, LA 70737
(504) 644-6000

Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: KyNola on February 21, 2009, 07:46:34 AM
Thanks for the recipe!!

KyNola
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: Mr Walleye on February 21, 2009, 08:31:01 AM
Good lookin' recipe Monch... and welcome to the forum!

Lots of great folks and food around here!  ;)

Mike
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: josbocc on February 21, 2009, 08:32:16 AM
Monch,

Welcome to the forum.  I see that you found it doesn't take long for us to start picking your brain.  Andouille sounds fantastic, perhaps we might also get you to share a decent gumbo recipe with us.  Speaking for myself, it's hard to find good gumbo way up North here (Northern, NY).

Best of Luck with your Bradley, and keep us posted.

Jeff
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: Monch on February 23, 2009, 09:58:00 AM
Jeff,

Thanks for asking.  I'll dredge up the recipe my wife uses.  It's one of the best I've ever had. 

Mind you, neither of us are from Louisiana, but we have our heart in NOLA.  Been there seven times in the last 11 years.  Threw a party, the weekend after Katrina that earned $3500 for the Red Cross...all because our friends love the food we've learned to love and make.

In the mean time, I'll give some resources:

1)  Advice: Make the best roux you can learn how to make.  We use a 1:1 ratio of regular vegetable oil to AP flour.  We then take it SLOOOOW in getting it done.  My wife has it down.  She sets the heat (heavy bottomed pot only!) to medium, grabs a beer, and starts stirring.  By the time the beer is done, the roux is just about done.  Then, in goes the chopped Trinity. 

2)  www.gumbotrails.com - This is a site maintained by the Southern Foodways Alliance.  The organization is dedicated to preserving the rich food-heritage of the American South.

3)  www.gumbopages.com - The author of this site should be commended for compiling so much wonderful information about NOLA and all the things that make it great.  Of course, food is at the top of that list.

I'll put my nose into my recipes and get our gumbo posted.

If anyone has any questions about Cajun/Creole cookbooks, please ask.  I'm no native or true expert, but I have about (20) of them dating back to the seventies.

Laissez les Bon Temps Roullez!
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: KyNola on February 23, 2009, 10:07:34 AM
Happy Mardi Gras Monch!
Like you, my wife and I love New Orleans.  Have been going regularly for 20 years.  Headed back again for Easter.  Best time in the world to be in NOLA and especially the French Quarter.

KyNola
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: nascarbbq on February 23, 2009, 12:07:57 PM
I love mine. You must try a fatty
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: josbocc on February 23, 2009, 02:05:17 PM
Monch,

Thanks for the tips..., and the resources.  Hard to think of Gumbo right now as the temp outside is a balmy 10F, with the wind whipping at about 30mph.  Someone please remind me why I live up here.

Momma wants to throw a "End of Season" snowmobiling party at camp this weekend.  I'm not quite sure we're at the end of the season yet..., but who am I to argue.  Perhaps a nice big pot of gumbo would help warm the souls of the hearty that will join us.

Jeff
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: Monch on February 23, 2009, 04:23:06 PM
All, here's the gumbo recipe my wife uses.

There are NO spices as the gumbo gets its flavor from the homemade andouille.  If a milder sausage were used, a good Cajun Blend of spices would be a great substitute.

Gumbo – Chicken and sausage
Credit to New Orleans School of Cooking
www.neworleansschoolofcooking.com

Ingredients:
•   1.5 lbs Andouille
•   1 chicken cooked and shredded
•   1 C. vegetable oil
•   1 C. flour
•   Trinity:
o   4 C. chopped onion
o   2 C. chopped celery
o   2 C. chopped green pepper
•   1 Tbsp chopped garlic
•   8 C. chicken stock

Process:
•   Slice into coins and fry up the andouille
•   Remove from pan and reserve desired amount of fat for frying shredded chicken
•   Fry up shredded cooked chicken and reserve with andouille
•   In a heavy bottomed pot (6 qt cast iron dutch oven for example), make roux of the oil and flour.
o   Medium high heat
o   Continuous stirring
o   Timing: About 25 minutes
o   When roux becomes light milk chocolate color, turn off heat and immediately dump in the Trinity and garlic
o   Stir to coat and cook the Trinity
•   Stir in andouille and chicken
•   Turn on heat again
•   Slowly stir in stock and bring to boil
•   Turn down to simmer and simmer for an hour or more
•   While simmering, excess oil/fat may be skimmed from the top of the gumbo
•   Serve with white rice
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: La Quinta on February 23, 2009, 07:46:53 PM
Looks great Monch...and Welcome (sorry didn't see this post earlier) ...I love gumbo...it's like chilli...every recipe is good!!!  ;D

I put seafood, chicken and sausage in my gumbo...probably not a classic what-so-ever...but man it's good!!!

I have a real pucker factor with the roux...I tend to go peanut butter color...I get to scared to go dark...that I'll burn it....Any suggestions to alleviate my angst???  :)

Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: Caneyscud on February 24, 2009, 06:37:29 AM
Quote from: La Quinta on February 23, 2009, 07:46:53 PM


I have a real pucker factor with the roux...I tend to go peanut butter color...I get to scared to go dark...that I'll burn it....Any suggestions to alleviate my angst???  :)



LQ, Alton did a show on roux.  On the show he showed how to go dark by doing it in the oven.  Yeh, sacrilegious, but it did not burn and did not have to stand at the stove the entire time.  If I remember

Even amounts of oil and flour
whisk in heavy dutch oven type pot
put in oven at 350 for 90 min. or so
whisk every 30 min. until darkness is achieved.


Shakespeare
The Bard of Hot Aire
Threadkiller extraordinaire'


Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: Monch on February 24, 2009, 11:25:03 AM
LQ,

"Angst"...I love it!  It truly describes where we were when we first started "gumboing".

We watch for the "Hamburger Stage".  That is where the roux is about the color of light milk chocolate and has the appearance of beginning to curdle.  Mind you, this is the stovetop method.  If you take it JUST past hamburger, it will smooth out.  BUT if you go too far beyond this step, it will break and you have garbage.  Throw it out and start over.

Truly, what we've learned is that you have to be aware of heat carryover.  Even if you're on a gas range and can snap off the flame at a moment's notice, your residual heat is continuing to cook the roux.

The solution we've been presented with, and it's in the gumbo recipe, is to have your bowl of chopped Trinity veggies right at hand.  When you are ready to stop the cooking process, snap off the heat and dump the veggies.  The temperature of the veggies will kill the cooking process and the heat of the roux will quick-saute the veggies.

Mind you this is my wife's process.

What I did was to experiment when I WASN'T going to be under the stress of actually making gumbo.  THAT alleviated MY angst!  I played around with the process one long afternoon and made a few different batches of roux.  They all turned out OK.  I then combined the batches that were closest in color, cooled them, put them in Mason jars and now we have homemade roux in the fridge for "emergency thickening"!

Caneyscud:  That oven method is fascinating and I'm going to create an opportunity to try it!  Thanks for the tip!
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: La Quinta on February 24, 2009, 02:48:24 PM
Thanks Monch...the entire thought of throwing the roux out and starting again gives me...(well you know!!!). Just a process I guess you understand the more you do it.

Caney...I'm going to look at the Alton Brown method...thanks!!
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: Monch on February 26, 2009, 08:52:19 AM
The unit has delivered!

Did I hear/read that I should season it with a (4) hour foodless smoke cycle?
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: westexasmoker on February 26, 2009, 09:09:48 AM
Welcome to the forum Monch!

Heres a link to the receipe site which details sesoning your new toy...uh I mean tool!  ;D

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showpost.php?p=760&postcount=3

Lots of other good info there as well,  Good luck and keep us posted!

C
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: KyNola on February 26, 2009, 09:21:05 AM
LQ,
No need to be afraid of taking your roux beyond the peanut butter stage.  If you got it that far without burning it, your heat setting is right and you're about 10 minutes away from having that sought after chocolate brown color.  Keep stirring!!  Two things to remember about a roux, the darker the roux, the less thickening power it has.  The darker the roux, the more flavor you have and THAT'S what the roux in a gumbo is all about.  I have made rouxs by the tons before.  Stop just short of what you want your final "color" to be and immediately throw the chopped veggies in.  You should notice the roux go one stage darker as soon as the veggies hit it.

I have never had a roux to break before but until I learned how to do them, I have burned a few and Monch is correct, all you can do is throw them out and start over again.

Enjoy!
KyNola
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: Monch on February 26, 2009, 11:01:08 AM
Thanks for the link for the seasoning!

It's straight home and into that process immediately, tonight!

Smoked chicken for Saturday dinner, I think!

Appreciate all the advice, everyone.

And nice looking dogs, KYnola!
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: KyNola on February 26, 2009, 11:57:10 AM
Thanks Monch.  Forgot to congratulate you on your unit being delivered.  You are in for lots of fun and good food!

KyNola
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: Caneyscud on February 26, 2009, 01:21:32 PM
Quote from: Monch on February 24, 2009, 11:25:03 AM
I then combined the batches that were closest in color, cooled them, put them in Mason jars and now we have homemade roux in the fridge for "emergency thickening"!


Just noticed this part of your post - now that is what I call being prepared.  I wonder if it will freeze?  Put in a ice tray and have cubes of "emergency thickening"!! 

Shakespeare
The Bard of Hot Aire
Threadkiller Extraordinaire'
Title: Re: Also new and grateful for these forums
Post by: La Quinta on February 26, 2009, 02:34:53 PM
Thanks Ky...very informative... :)