Thanksgiving Jump Start

Roget · November 14, 2013, 07:48:18 AM

Thanx Saber.

Skipping the oven part was exactly what I had in mind!

If you have cold smoked the mix, it must not matter too much what temp is used.

I think I will set the smoker for about 250F & just go with whatever temp I get for about 3 hours of Jim Beam.

I love chex mix at Christmas but have never smoked it.
I'm anxious to try the smoke & also the kick up in spices.

Saber 4 · November 14, 2013, 07:45:48 PM

Quote from: Roget on November 14, 2013, 07:48:18 AM
Thanx Saber.

Skipping the oven part was exactly what I had in mind!

If you have cold smoked the mix, it must not matter too much what temp is used.

I think I will set the smoker for about 250F & just go with whatever temp I get for about 3 hours of Jim Beam.

I love chex mix at Christmas but have never smoked it.
I'm anxious to try the smoke & also the kick up in spices.

Throw a small batch in the oven as a control batch and so you know how good it is without the smoke then you can see how it improves with the smoke. We like it straight out of the smoker, but if we can keep our hands out of the bag for 2-3 weeks it's even more awesome. Be sure and let us know how it turns out when you get it finished.

TedEbear · November 16, 2013, 05:18:10 PM

I have a double batch of this Chex mix recipe in the smoker right now. I did the initial 40 minutes in the oven and now everything has been moved to the Bradley for 3 hours of hickory.

I wanted to do this now because I heard it tastes even better after a few weeks and I plan on having a big batch of it for when everyone comes over for Thanksgiving. Of course, I'm saving a small sample to nibble on before then.

Thanks for posting the recipe, Saber.

Gafala · November 16, 2013, 05:35:22 PM

The longer you can wait the better it is. That is true for about every thing you can smoke.

Saber 4 · November 17, 2013, 06:05:32 AM

Quote from: TedEbear on November 16, 2013, 05:18:10 PM
I have a double batch of this Chex mix recipe in the smoker right now. I did the initial 40 minutes in the oven and now everything has been moved to the Bradley for 3 hours of hickory.

I wanted to do this now because I heard it tastes even better after a few weeks and I plan on having a big batch of it for when everyone comes over for Thanksgiving. Of course, I'm saving a small sample to nibble on before then.

Thanks for posting the recipe, Saber.

Let me know how yours turns out, I did a batch on Friday to take to friends and for some reason half of the wheat chex are real soggy but didn't do anything different.

TedEbear · November 17, 2013, 06:18:24 AM

Quote from: Saber 4 on November 17, 2013, 06:05:32 AM
Let me know how yours turns out, I did a batch on Friday to take to friends and for some reason half of the wheat chex are real soggy but didn't do anything different.

Everything turned out nice and crispy. I did 3 hours of hickory and it has a powerful smoky flavor. The next time I make a batch I might try 2 hours of apple and see how that goes. We're going to ziplock most of it until Thanksgiving, so maybe the flavor will calm down by then. Since I made a double batch there's LOTS of it. I hope everyone likes it when they come over. ;D I set aside a small bowl of unsmoked mix and it tastes pretty good, too.

Is there a spicy version of this? I was talking with a co-worker on Friday about my plans for making this. She and I apparently like spicy foods. I'm going to take her a sample to work Monday but I think it would really hit the spot if it had more of a spicy kick. I know my wife wouldn't go for the spicy but I could make two versions the next time.

Saber 4 · November 17, 2013, 08:35:08 AM

Quote from: TedEbear on November 17, 2013, 06:18:24 AM
Quote from: Saber 4 on November 17, 2013, 06:05:32 AM
Let me know how yours turns out, I did a batch on Friday to take to friends and for some reason half of the wheat chex are real soggy but didn't do anything different.

Everything turned out nice and crispy. I did 3 hours of hickory and it has a powerful smoky flavor. The next time I make a batch I might try 2 hours of apple and see how that goes. We're going to ziplock most of it until Thanksgiving, so maybe the flavor will calm down by then. Since I made a double batch there's LOTS of it. I hope everyone likes it when they come over. ;D I set aside a small bowl of unsmoked mix and it tastes pretty good, too.

Is there a spicy version of this? I was talking with a co-worker on Friday about my plans for making this. She and I apparently like spicy foods. I'm going to take her a sample to work Monday but I think it would really hit the spot if it had more of a spicy kick. I know my wife wouldn't go for the spicy but I could make two versions the next time.

Did you do the oven step or skip it?

For the spice I bet you could reduce the Worcestershire sauce some and add an equal amount of your favorite spicy sauce or just add some cayenne pepper to the dry seasoning mixture. I may try a spicy version with some Rodak's chipotle mustard fusion sauce.

TedEbear · November 17, 2013, 10:33:09 AM

Quote from: Saber 4 on November 17, 2013, 08:35:08 AM
Did you do the oven step or skip it?

For the spice I bet you could reduce the Worcestershire sauce some and add an equal amount of your favorite spicy sauce or just add some cayenne pepper to the dry seasoning mixture. I may try a spicy version with some Rodak's chipotle mustard fusion sauce.

Yes, I did the initial oven part at 275*F for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. With the double batch I had 4 baking sheets in 2 ovens. I noticed on the Wheat Chex cereal box there's a Chex mix recipe that says to put it in the oven at 250*F for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. It doesn't say anything about smoking it after that.

I didn't want to experiment with adding any hot spices because I figured I'd mess something up and I wanted to see how this recipe came out before modifying anything the next time.

TedEbear · November 17, 2013, 11:09:10 AM

Here's the batch I made:

And here's a bit of history about the original Chex Mix recipe. My wife works at the retirement center where the creator of the original recipe is a resident. She told my wife how she came up with the recipe. She was married to an executive at Purina, where she also worked as a nutritionist. One day the higher-ups came in and asked her to find something else to do with their products than just cereal. After a bit of tweaking she invented Chex Mix.

She gave my wife one of the recipe cards.

Saber 4 · November 17, 2013, 02:16:51 PM

That is some really cool history, thanks for sharing the story and the card. I will add that to my folder on chex mix recipes.

I think I may need to split my batch up to two sheet pans like you did instead of the one I used.

ragweed · November 17, 2013, 03:41:05 PM

Very cool, TedEbear

UncleAl · November 17, 2013, 03:52:08 PM

Great History lesson tedEbear thanks for sharing.

Saber 4 · November 17, 2013, 04:32:58 PM

Had another thought that you probably already had TedEbear, send some plain and smoked double stuff to work with your wife to let the circle be complete and show her how much we honor her creation by continuing to make it fresh and to try and live up to her original creativity. :)

TedEbear · November 17, 2013, 06:51:56 PM

Quote from: Saber 4 on November 17, 2013, 04:32:58 PM
Had another thought that you probably already had TedEbear, send some plain and smoked double stuff to work with your wife to let the circle be complete and show her how much we honor her creation by continuing to make it fresh and to try and live up to her original creativity. :)

That sounds like a great idea. I'll have to wait for the next time I make a batch. All except for a tiny bit in a bowl got put in the smoker and that tiny bowl is pretty much gone now.