I am bored with Boston butts! Now what?

[SmokinMoe]

I want some beef, what would be a good cut to get to smoke and the particulars on that.  I am pretty proud of my Boston Butts, but I think the crowd is looking for something new.
What would you suggest?  No fish right now, I don't have time for the brine, etc.
did I mention that I love my guru today? ha ha

[SMOKEHOUSE ROB]

try a brisket, or a meatloaf, turkey breast but you should brine them, jerky or the list just goes on and on ,  make something new and share with us  LOL[:D]

[nsxbill]

Hi Moe!

Check out this brine....just too easy!

Apple Cider Turkey Brined Turkey

Start with 1   12-14#   Whole Fresh Turkey

The Brine
1-1/2   cups   Kosher salt** **Note below regarding amt
1-1/4   cups   brown sugar
10   each   whole cloves
3   tea   black peppercorns
1-1/2   gallons   (6 quarts) apple juice or cider
1   ea.   peel from one orange(or one tangerine) (colored part only)
3   tea   thyme and/or
3   tea   dried sage

Combine all ingredients in a non-reactive pot, bring mixture to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes (partly covered). Allow brine to cool completely.

Rinse turkey under cool running water, inside and out (remove giblets from body cavity). Pat turkey dry with paper towels, then immerse turkey in cooled brine. Turkey should be completely submerged in liquid (place a plate on top of the bird if necessary to keep it covered with the liquid). Cover the pot and refrigerate for 8-10 hours or up to 24 hours.

Remove turkey, rinse, pat dry, and roast as usual.

*Be sure the container used for brining turkey is non-reactive: use enamel, plastic, glass, crockery or stainless steel - never cast iron or aluminum. The container should be just large enough to contain the turkey (so the brine will be sufficient to cover the bird).

** NOTE REGARDING THE AMOUNT OF SALT IN BRINE: A milder brine may be made, which may have a less flavorful result but if salt is a concern (the entire turkey will absorb only 10-15% of the brine) the amount of salt may be reduced. For the desired chemical effect to take place, however, the proportions cannot be less than 2/3 to 1 cup of salt per gallon (4 quarts) of liquid.

I used the dried thyme and sage (listed as optional) and brined the bird for 22 hours. It wasn't salty.

Brine the turkey in a food-grade plastic bucket. I use a plate, as the recipe says, and a heavy ceramic bowl on top to keep the bird submerged.

Make sure that you rinse the turkey very well once it is out of the brine. I dusted with rub after some drying on the counter.  

The bird has a wonderful, mildly seasoned taste, and the breast meat is very tender and juicy.

When brining a turkey, try to get a fresh, minimally processed bird one that has NOT been pre-basted, if possible. Also, don't brine a kosher bird, as it has already been brined.

Using the Guru, I smoked for 13 hrs in Bradley Smoker "Ramp on" and cabinet set at 205°  Meat set at 165°.  The last hour, I turned ramp off, and the pit temp went to 226°.  Done in 14 hrs.  Wrapped in saran, foil and thick towel in a Coleman cooler post smoking to rest.  The next attempt will have ramp off all the way.

OUCH! It was good!

You really ought to try some flat brisket, especially if you want to shine!

Great for sandwiches for family later.  Same rule applies.....Low and Slow!

Bill

[Chez Bubba]

Mmmmm.....beef.....Mmmmmm.... Prime Rib.[:p][:p][:p]

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

[nsxbill]

Chez,

You are right about Prime Rib.   Was going to try that for Chistmas along with some Turkey Breasts, but wife announced she is doing enchiladas...I don't say no to that.  Wife is famous for her enchiladas...kids asked her to do about 20 dozen!  As always, they are after the leftovers[:D]

I remember you explicit instructions posted up previously on your Prime Rib, and it sure sounded good.

Bill

[SMOKEHOUSE ROB]

HERE is a brine i used
Apple Juice Turkey Brine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
1 gallon apple juice, chilled
1 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
Mix in a non-reactive container until dissolved. Makes 1 gallon of brine. Substitute 3/4 cup Morton Kosher Salt or 1/2 cup table salt for Diamond Crystal.
 

then do this
Air-Dry The Turkey

After brining, rinse the turkey and pat dry with paper towels. If you have the time, place on a rack over a rimmed baking sheet and allow to air-dry 8-12 hours in the refrigerator. This helps create crispy skin during cooking

[MallardWacker]

Moe,

(I could pull a "Chez" here but I won't.)

Same thing here, the Hen Mallard and I "just got tired" of pulled pork.  Don't get me wrong, it was good.  We started doing two things.  First was brisket, holy~~~shlamolie, we are kind of stuck on beef right know and I don't know if I will ever go back to pork, a couple of weeks ago I did a butt for the office and found out I am still tired of it.  Had two briskets for thanks giving with apple wood, YUM!.  They are somewhat easy and they don't need alot of "spicing up" to make them taste good.

Another thing you might try is BACON[:p].  At this point everyone else on the forum is going "Oh NO, not again". When I bought my BS, making my own bacon was not even in the picture.  It is one of those things that is easy and really makes you look good, to say the least about the end product.  There is a ton of stuff under the curing section.

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know.  But...

[BigSmoker]

How 'bout trying some ribs?  They can be a good challenge to get just right.  Give it a try but you will need to make written notes so you can make adjustments and tweaks the next time.

Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

[capt.mike]

Moe
I agree with the duck slayer,try the bacon you can't go wrong.
Mike

[Oldman]

Where to start with this LOL!

Buckboard beacon:


Ham. This ham was pre-smoked (semi-cold smoked)in the Bradley before it was baked:


Chicken. This was smoked/ cooked in the Bradley using my T-shirt method:


Boston Butts but cooked for slicing in your favorite sandwich. Again smoked/ cooked using the T-Shirt method:


Next no pictures, but things I've done in the Bradley

Beacon. The thick sliced stuff that is packaged where the beacon is standing vertical instead of at an angle. Run several tooth picks through it to hold the slices together side by side. Cold smoke 1-2 hours. Wrap in plastic after smoking and wait a week before cooking with your eggs.

Fish. Hot smoked.

Sauage..

I could go on, but I think you got the idea. So grab a favorite item and try something. The worse you can do is having to throw it out~~! Which in years past I've had much-O practice doing LOL!!

Olds


http://rminor.com

[Chez Bubba]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by MallardWacker</i>
<br />(I could pull a "Chez" here but I won't.)<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Thought crossed my mind, but I too, chose to pass. Hey, even I have standards![:D][:D][:D]

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

[nsxbill]

DoW,

Ordered some cotton ham bags from Butcher-Packer.com today along with a couple of bacon hooks and 4 or 5 other hooks.  I want to try out the rack I have to hang meat instead of using the shelves.  Thinking about your wrap-up and thought I would try these.  When I do a ham I will post up a picture.

Bill

[Sam Cade]

You hard core smokers....need to start thinking outside the box.

Beef, pork, and poultry...of course ...all good on the Bradley.

Be brave, experiment....you have yet  to choose the cadillac of "meats"

That being LAMB[^][^][^][^]

It is far superior to the other...and so bloody simple...and taste wonderful.  Yes there is a stigma....that goes way back.  I am talking "lamb" not "mutton".[xx(]

Go back and look at some of my links around lamb...for some suggestions..cannot go wrong...[;)][;)][;)]

Trust me....try leg of lamb...don't tell your guest....they will be friends for life[;)][;)][;)]
Regards,
Sam

[BigSmoker]

I had a boneless leg this week already and I do love lamb chops.  Some chops rubbed with Dizzy Pig Red Eye Express(coffee theme) can compete with any steak in my book.

Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

[Oldman]

nsxbill,

When you do a ham, if it still has the skin on it the smoke flavor will not be as strong in the meat. I've always like eating that skin so I leave mine on.

If you use something like a Hamilton ham most of the skin has been already removed. I've picked up a 21 pound Gwaltney ham and because it is so big I'm going to remove the skin, but I will bake it later when I bake the ham. After that Mother and I will fight to see who get to eat the most of it~~~ [:D]

EDIT I just looked at the bags you are talking about. When you look at the picture's addy it says: http://butcher-packer.com/images/cpic_netting3.jpg  The key word here is netting. If it is a netting I don't think you will get the same result as I do. What I like about T-shirts is they are porous/ absorbent  and are not too thick. The whole idea is to capture the oils from the smoke and give the flavor time to "cure" to the bone without direct meat-smoke contact.

On this 21 pound ham I'm doing if I allowed 8 hours of cold smoking to directly come into contact with the meat the first couple of inches would be way to smokey to eat.

I have tried white bed sheet before. The results were lacking. I believe this is due to the lack of porous/ absorbent nature you have in a T-shirt material. Soda towels have to be the EL-Cheap-O ones to the point you can almost see through them. Regular Soda towels will not work as they are too thick.
Olds

http://rminor.com