Oakville Ontario Calling

[oakville smoker]

Hello all

Another newbie.  From Oakville, Ontario.  God bless those guys at "crappy tire" putting a digital Bradley on sale right when I wanted to buy one.  The thing that sold me on the Bradley was this board and the information and support available on these smokers.

After teeing it up at the golf course on Saturday morning at 6 AM, I stopped at crappy tire on the way home and picked up my smoker.  Thankfully they had briquettes in stock and I picked up a variety pack along with the smoker.  Get home at 11 AM.  Yes I am a kid in a candy store with my new smoker.  I know I have to season it so I start right away.  12 30 and my smoker is seasoned and I am scouring through the web site trying to figure out what I can smoke in 4 hours for dinner.  What good is a new toy if you can't play with it?

The answer to my question lies in the land of poultry.  2 frozen chickens find their way to the radioactive blast furnace know as a microwave for thawing.  Of course I have no idea about this "brine" thing, find a simple one with salt and brown sugar and brine the birds for 2.5 hours.  I brine but I have no idea why I am doing it.  If someone can help me understand the purpose of brining, that would be appreciated.  Then its off to the smoker for my "used to be feathered friends".  Its 2 30 now, dinner seems possible at 6 30.  Oops.  Did not pre heat the smoker, lose some time.  Experience is everything but I am not dead yet.  I will know better next time.  6 30 comes, chicken is only at 130 degrees.  Panic sets in.  Ahhh.  Out the smoker into the fire, the birds go.  Dinner is served at 7.  But what will it taste like?

So...  2 so so quality birds from Costco.  I usually get free range grain fed birds from a market in Kitchener which is a touch west of here.  A trip to the blast furnace for de frost.  A trip to the brine solution.  Another one to the smoker and then the BBQ.  All that in an afternoon while I wash the car and paint the front railings on the house.  And then a trip to cluk cluk heaven.  Even with my impatience, lack of preparation, inexperience, I still have phenomenal results.  I don't care for white meat and I find myself attacking the white meat like a rabid dog.  OMG   my wife just ate half a chicken !  I cant believe how good this tastes, how moist and juicy.  Imagine the possibilities when time is on your side!  that will be this weekend. 

Now I have to find a cover for my smoker and slum it with my gas grill for the rest of the week.  I am addicted to smoke now.  Where there's smoke, you will find my jealous neighbours sniffing the air like a dog sniffs a fire hydrant !  maybe some day I will throw them a bone !  Cant wait to hang out here and dream of what I will smoke next.

[minnowfisher]

Welcome Oakville Smoker,
Sounds like u done ok for the first time, just like the rest of us newbies, u can't wait to play with the new thing, best advice i can give u is read and listen to experts on this site, they will do the utmost to help u out with anything u want to know.
                                                                                                                                                   Once again welcome and enjoy the forum.

Minnowfisher.

[Carter]

Good stuff Oakville,

Welcome to the forum.  A digital at CT?  I don't know how you found that.  It's tough enough finding a decent selection of bisquettes let along a digital BS.  Well done.

Sounds like your first weekend went great.  It just keeps getting better.

Carter

[Wildcat]

Nice write-up.  Welcome to the forum.

[OU812]

Welcome to the fun

Not bad for first try.
I was the same way when I first got my new toy.
You got that right about the so so birds in the store. We raise our own chickens and the flavor is so much more.

[Caneyscud]

Another one hooked!!

Welcome Oakville, looks like you are well into your new life as the expert smoker of the neighborhood!  It's sometimes hard to keep the neighbors away. 

I won't go into a long explanation of what is happening (osmotic pressures, semipermeable membranes and the like) to the cells of the chicken while bringing, so I'll keep it short.  Brining is the soaking of meat in a solution of water and salt. Additional flavorings like sugar and spices can also me added, but salt is what makes a brine a brine (just like acid makes a marinade a marinade). This soaking causes the meat to gain some saltiness and flavoring while plumping it up with water so that after cooking it still contains a lot of juices.

Knowing how salt 'attracts' water, one would think that because of the high salt concentration that water will be drawn from the low salt concentration meat to the high salt concentration salt water. At the same time, if the salt can enter the meat (which it can), then salt will be moving from salt water to meat. Won't that result in a salty, dry piece of poultry or pork?

Obviously, there's more going on - when water flows out of the meat, salt flows in and begins to break down some of the proteins in the cells. In the broken down state, the molecules become more concentrated and the juciness levels rise within the meat.  What has happened is that through brining, we've caused a state change in the cells so that they will draw and hold more water than before. As we cook the meat, the heated proteins will begin to draw in tighter and squeeze out water, but, hopefully, enough water will remain to produce a juicy, tender piece of meat.

Peace

[Mr Walleye]

Hi OS and welcome to the forum.

Congrats on gettin' the first smoke under you belt!  :D  8)

Mike

[lumpy]

Hey there Oakviller

Next time you go the the market, drop by Chicopee............thats were I live.

Welcome to the forum!

Lumpy

[oakville smoker]

Thanks all for the warm welcome.

I can see this is going to become a bit of an obsession.  I will just have to learn to manage it somehow.
Thanks Caneyscud for the brining info.  I had no idea about brining.  Now I will have to step up and buy some higher quality sea salt.

Lumpy:  I usually take a drive out to St Jacobs and empty my bank account at Hilltop Acres at the market.  It seems to be the best place around for picking up birds.  If you know of anyone else, let me know.  I now have to find a place to buy brisket and butt.  I am dying to attempt Montreal Smoked meat.  I taught my kids to ski at Chicopee.  Now I teach disabled kids to ski at a private club in Collingwood.  Next time I drive through town, I will crank my windows down, sniff out the smoke and track you down.

Thanks again for the welcome.  Its only Tuesday and I am already thinking about what I am going to smoke this weekend.  Its kind of ironic though.  30 years ago I was thinking about what I was going to smoke on the weekend but it had nothing to do with meat !

[lumpy]

There is a place called Southern Pride on Hwy. #24 between Cambridge and Brantford. They have as close to free range chicken as possible. I buy all my poultry from them. They also have a booth set-up at the Galt market on Saturdays.
Southern Pride Poultry
176 Brant Rd R R 1
St George Brant, ON  N0E 1N0
519-448-1329

As far as brisket: Kitchener Meat Market on Victoria street in Kitchener. They are on the far end of Kitchener, on the way to Guelph. Just call them and they will get you a cryo-vac brisket in a few days. If I remember correctly they charge $ 2.99 a LB. I also buy alot of other meat from them.
Kitchener Farmers Meat Mkt Ltd  www.farmersmeat.ca

1575 Victoria Street North
Kitchener, ON N2B 3E6
(519) 743-6481

Enjoy your smoker!
Lumpy

[Smokin Soon]

That's pretty good, a season and a smoke right out of the box! Do some reading here and on the recipe sight and your good to go!

[DaBeef2112]

Welcome Oakville!

I bought my DBS at Crappy Tire as well. It seems that this is now a regular stock item for them. Word to the wise here for any of my fellow Canadians NEVER pay full price for a Bradley. CT puts them on sale about every 2-3 weeks! I got mine for $389 CDN, $110 off regular price.

If only they had a better variety of pucks! Most stores have only the Variety Pack, Hickory and Apple, every so often I find a store with Mesquite.

Ontario Gas BBS (www.bbqs.com) carries every flavour in 48 packs and Bass Pro has a decent selection as well and they have 120 packs for some of them.

[seemore]

Welcome Oakville!

[dilly]

Hey OAK...I got mine at Crappy Tire too.  The stores in Kitchener have a good puck selection.  I am gonna check out the place on Victoria St too for beef. Thx for the tip.  There is a new place in St Agatha called Hogtails BBQ that has stuff too if you are ever up for a drive when at the Waterloo market.

[lumpy]

Talk to Dave at Natural Sports and he will match Crappy tire prices. They also carry a nice assortment of pucks.

Lumpy