Help with first time

jayman_1975 · February 13, 2012, 09:23:16 PM

Hi. I have made plenty of jerky with my DBS but nothing else. I have a deer roast marinating in a dry rub now. I need to know how I should smoke it? In a dish with water? Dry? Should I have water in my bowl at the bottom? How long to smoke? Am I correct that internal temp should get to 162? Any other advice would be great! Thanks

KyNola · February 14, 2012, 08:03:38 AM

I would place it directly on a rack and smoke it dry. Definitely put water in the bowl at the bottom. It serves two purposes. Smoke for 2-3 hours depending on how much smoke taste you like. I can't give you advice on the internal temp as it depends on your preference of doneness. 162 is going to be well done.

watchdog56 · February 14, 2012, 02:40:49 PM

You may want to put some bacon on top so the juices run over then deer meat. Venison is real lean so there is not much fat to keep it moist.

jayman_1975 · February 14, 2012, 05:53:07 PM

Quote from: KyNola on February 14, 2012, 08:03:38 AM
I would place it directly on a rack and smoke it dry. Definitely put water in the bowl at the bottom. It serves two purposes. Smoke for 2-3 hours depending on how much smoke taste you like. I can't give you advice on the internal temp as it depends on your preference of doneness. 162 is going to be well done.

Pardon me but could you elaborate on the 2 purposes the bowl of water in the bottom serves? Sorry but I really am new to this. Would you advise having heat on while smoking or not? Once I'm done smoking do I just start pouring the heat to it as it sits on the rack or do I need to put it in a tray with some water in it for using as a juice? Geez I feel I'm in culinary kindergarten. Thanks in advance.

jayman_1975 · February 14, 2012, 05:53:59 PM

Quote from: watchdog56 on February 14, 2012, 02:40:49 PM
You may want to put some bacon on top so the juices run over then deer meat. Venison is real lean so there is not much fat to keep it moist.

Yes I think I will try this. Thanks

Keymaster · February 14, 2012, 06:10:48 PM

The Bowl water at the bottom is to extinguish the pucks and collect greeze and also the moisture evaporating could help keep the meat moist. I would set the Bradley at 260° F and cook the roast to 130° F for Rare to medium rare and 140° for medium. If you want it well done and dry take it to 165°F. I would have the heat on while smoking. Just leave it on the rack after smoking. I like the Bacon Idea. Just trying to help and typing what I would do ;)

KyNola · February 14, 2012, 08:52:19 PM

Quote from: jayman_1975 on February 14, 2012, 05:53:07 PM
Quote from: KyNola on February 14, 2012, 08:03:38 AM
I would place it directly on a rack and smoke it dry. Definitely put water in the bowl at the bottom. It serves two purposes. Smoke for 2-3 hours depending on how much smoke taste you like. I can't give you advice on the internal temp as it depends on your preference of doneness. 162 is going to be well done.

Pardon me but could you elaborate on the 2 purposes the bowl of water in the bottom serves? Sorry but I really am new to this. Would you advise having heat on while smoking or not? Once I'm done smoking do I just start pouring the heat to it as it sits on the rack or do I need to put it in a tray with some water in it for using as a juice? Geez I feel I'm in culinary kindergarten. Thanks in advance.

Keymaster covered your questions. Heat should DEFINITELY be on while smoking. Water in the bowl extinguishes the burnt pucks and collects grease to prevent a grease fire. I'll yield to the others on proper cooking and doneness temps.

TedEbear · February 15, 2012, 01:08:59 AM

Quote from: jayman_1975 on February 14, 2012, 05:53:07 PMPardon me but could you elaborate on the 2 purposes the bowl of water in the bottom serves?

Many of us have replaced that small water bowl with a disposable 8x13" (or whatever size fits) aluminum baking pan filled with water. The water won't evaporate as fast and it holds more spent pucks before you have to dump it in the middle of a marathon cooking session. Always dump the spent pucks after the smoking part of your cook is finished, or sooner if you have a smaller container, and replace it with fresh water.

As far as what temp to cook it to there are many opinions on this. I personally will not eat half-raw food, so I like mine well-done. Plus, much less chance of food poisoning when it is fully cooked.

Here are a couple of good articles on the subject, posted on the www.susanminor.org website. Among other things they say to cook foods to greater than 140*F internally to ensure killing of food poisoning bacteria.

Food Poisoning and Food Hygiene, Part 1

Food Poisoning and Food Hygiene Part 2

fishrman · February 15, 2012, 07:47:22 PM

Quote from: TedEbear on February 15, 2012, 01:08:59 AM
Quote from: jayman_1975 on February 14, 2012, 05:53:07 PMPardon me but could you elaborate on the 2 purposes the bowl of water in the bottom serves?

Many of us have replaced that small water bowl with a disposable 8x13" (or whatever size fits) aluminum baking pan filled with water. The water won't evaporate as fast and it holds more spent pucks before you have to dump it in the middle of a marathon cooking session. Always dump the spent pucks after the smoking part of your cook is finished, or sooner if you have a smaller container, and replace it with fresh water.

As far as what temp to cook it to there are many opinions on this. I personally will not eat half-raw food, so I like mine well-done. Plus, much less chance of food poisoning when it is fully cooked.

Here are a couple of good articles on the subject, posted on the www.susanminor.org website. Among other things they say to cook foods to greater than 140*F internally to ensure killing of food poisoning bacteria.

Food Poisoning and Food Hygiene, Part 1

Food Poisoning and Food Hygiene Part 2

Just to take it one step further, when you replace the water in your pan, replace it with boiling water - that'll reduce the recovery time significantly. Be careful though - remember you are dealing with a hot pan and boiling water - wear the appropriate gloves ;)

jayman_1975 · February 16, 2012, 10:40:12 AM

Well I had a colossal blunder with this roast. I assume my choice of temp and duration might be the culprit. The morning I put it in my DBS at roughly 6 am. I set it to smoke for 3 hrs knowing that the wife could come home on her coffee break and dump the pucks and change the water after the smoke was finished. I also knew that nobody would be around again after that for another 6 hours at least, so I set the oven temp at 150 not wanting to over cook it. I figured that a total of 10 ish hours in the smoker at 150 would give me a finished product. After 9 hours of cooking at 150 I got home and realized the int temp only had gotten to 130. So I cranked the temp up to 280 and in an hour It was at 155 inside so I called it good.

The end result was a medium roast that turned to mush in the mouth. After a few bites it literally was like purée deer roast. Yuk. Is it possible 10 hrs cooking made it this way? Would 6 hrs at 250 or 280 given a different result?

I would like to try again and next time I will make sure I do it on a day off lol so I can monitor it better. Any input would be well appreciated.

Habanero Smoker · February 16, 2012, 01:13:55 PM

Cooking whole muscle meat generally will not produce the texture you are describing; especially if the meat is taken no higher then 155°F. What ingredients were in your dry rub, and how long was the rub on prior to placing it in the smoker? Was the meat overly dry?

jayman_1975 · February 16, 2012, 02:54:18 PM

I used the same spices I use for marinating all my steaks (which happen to be fantastic). Garlic, seasoning salt, Midfield spice. 48 hrs in the fridge. I covered the roast in bacon strips while smoking and cooking. The meat was not dry at all in fact it was quite juicy. I just can't figure why in blazes it ended up with a liverwurst type consistency after chewing a couple times. Maybe I'll just stick to Jerky with my deer lol.

Habanero Smoker · February 17, 2012, 01:56:41 AM

I'm not familiar with Midfield spice. I was wondering if your rub had a meat tenderizer in it.

From cooking only, you get that mushy type of texture in tough cuts of meat that have been cook too long, and brought too a higher temperature than necessary. This can occurs when cooking butts, briskets, ribs etc. Though the final texture is much drier than your roast.

One other thought. Meats also have natural enzymes that act as tenderizers; this is what makes aged beef so tender. Depending on which source you use, these enzymes are at their peak activity between 90 - 125°F. Maybe holding the internal temperature of the meat within this range for several hours could have caused the meat to become mushy.

But keep trying, we need more wild game recipes. :)

KyNola · February 17, 2012, 07:41:58 AM

Habs, is there not a safety factor with that meat being in an environment at a setpoint of 150 for 10ish hours and the IT only being 130 at the end of the 9-10 hour period? Unless a PID was attached that means the temp in the tower probably swung from 130-140 to up around 165 and back down over and over again.

I'm not being critical or anything like that. I'm just trying to get my head wrapped around what is safe and what is not.

Habanero Smoker · February 17, 2012, 01:28:11 PM

I been using a DigiQ so long, and didn't consider this is just a digital prone to temperature swings. With the swings, setting it for 150°F, would bring the cabinet temperatures below 140°F. Even with the cabinet temperature at 150°F, the temperature at the meat surface would be lower than 150°F. If it was a steady 150°F, it would be borderline safe; taking into account that smoke has antimicrobial properties, and salt in the rub would add some additional protection (but one should not rely on those two factors for protecting the meat).