Smokin Fool

[jeff_smoke]

I've had the smoker for less than a week and I've made smoked spaghetti,
rib roast and last night a combo two fresh cornish hens and a chicken.
     I just ate one of the chicken breasts from the large chicken
and it was soooo good; really moist and tender even after abusing
it with a microwave. I didn't even eat the skin which I guess might
be a smoking crime or something, but it does cut down on the cholesterol
from what I hear. I used five alder bisquettes for the chickens and that
was perfect. Nice mild flavor. I used a standard rub that is really good on
pork but probably not the best choice for chicken.
     Next time with chicken I'll try one of the olive oil and garlic/herb rubs.
Anyway...just really enjoying my new smoker and had to give you all
the latest update.  ;D

[Mr Walleye]

Jeff... Sounds like your hooked!  ;)

The best part is all the experimenting you can do! It's all good!  ;)

Mike

[Smokin Soon]

Good job Jeff! Get us some pics. We love to drool here! We all get creative here and sometimes do some dumb things, [ME!] but there are no bad smokes!  ;D

[iceman]

Glad to hear your having fun jeff. Your in for some real fun with the new smoker. Like smokin Soon says, get some pics so we can all drool!  ;D

[firerescueman]

glad you are enjoying your new toy.... (errr...  manly cooking appliance) !!

stick around,  these guys are the greatest!  They will answer any future questions you might have.

Take care and have a Merry Christmas!

Jeff

[jeff_smoke]

Yep, I think I'll be using this smoker quite a bit due to ease of setup and operation.
That of course was the design intent and was why I bought it.
     I'll try to be more vigilant about taking photos. But, sometimes the belly comes first.  :)
     I really like the cornish hens for both the flavor and size. I didn't know much about
buying them. I happened to find two fresh ones and since then I did some reading that frozen are
much less flavorful. Also read some about the "poussons" which I guess are the filet of
tiny chickens. I probably don't need to hunt those down due to the cost. But, I'm hoping
I can find some place that sells a bunch of fresh cornish hens so that maybe I can do
ten or twelve at a time and freeze some.
     At some point, I'll have to put this unit to the ultimate test in an overnight pork butt smoke.
I was wondering if the alarms on the ET-73 would wake me if temps got too low or high.
That brings up a question ... while cooking the chickens, the unit chirped a couple times.
Just a single little beep a couple times that were not related to any temperature threshold I
had set. Any idea what that was? They weren't the same as the alarm.

[firerescueman]

while cooking the chickens, the unit chirped a couple times

That was the ghost of one of those poor chickens........    ::)  ::)

[sherlock]

while cooking the chickens, the unit chirped a couple times

That was the ghost of one of those poor chickens........    ::)  ::)

You have it figured out already  ;D

[jeff_smoke]

Ok, chicken ghosts. Just had to know. Thanks guys.  ;D

[Tenpoint5]

Jeff here is the Chicken rub that I use and everyone loves it. Sometimes I drop the cayenne so Momma and the Yardapes dont complain it too hot.

Chicken Rub Recipe

Mix together thoroughly the following:
•   1/4 cup dark brown sugar (packed). Use "turbinado" sugar for ease of use, but either works fine.
•   1/4 cup sweet paprika (Hungarian, if you can get it)
•   3 tblsp kosher (or sea) salt
•   1 tblsp ground pepper (fresh peppercorns recently ground!)
•   1 tblsp garlic powder or 2 tblsp granulated (not garlic salt)
•   1 tblsp onion powder
•   1 tblsp chile powder (no, it will not be "hot")
•   1 tblsp cayenne pepper
Store in a tightly sealed container, and refrigerate, to maintain freshness, for up to 4 months.

[FLBentRider]

That sounds good 10.5, I like KYNolas' Jans' Rub on Chicken, and a lot of other stuff:

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?p=718#post718

[jeff_smoke]

Thanks 10.5 and FLBentRider,
    good rub recipes and techniques are exactly where I'm at right now...smokin successfully
and now officially dangerous (sometimes I come up with some really bad ideas....cooking wise) ;D
Thanks for the rub referrals. I'll try them out.
    I decided also to try fresh turkey breast at some point. Since the chicken breasts on this
whole chicken came out so unbelieavably good, I'll bet turkey breast is going
to be equally as good. I had asked the local butcher why we don't see any
small turkeys like 5 to 7 pounds. After all, they had to be small at some point.
Interestingly, he did not know the reason, but said he could get ones maybe
8 to 10 pounds. I'm a white meat turkey guy anyway, so maybe just the turkey
breat will solve this dilemma.
    My wife marinated chicken wings last night in about half cup of Louisiana
hot sauce. I intend to cold smoke them for an hour or two, then we're going to
use my wife's new George Foreman spin fryer to finish them off. No idea how they'll
come out, but I suspect they'll be good.
     I read one smokng recipe somewhere here that said to cold smoke the wings
for two hours, then store in the frige overnight and fry the next day. I don't think
we'll do the overnight thing this time around, but I was wondering about food safety with cold
smoking the chicken for two hours. Seems that might be a long time to have chicken
sitting out at around maybe 80 to 120 degrees. I'm not sure what the smoker temperature
will be exactly with just the smoker on. Temps today are supposed to be high of around 65.
Thoughts ?

[deb415611]

and now officially dangerous (sometimes I come up with some really bad ideas....cooking wise) ;D

that's how we get better!  I have actually had my son look at me at dinner and say "don't make this again".  I'm sure he finished whatever it was though :)

I have done a few turkey breasts in the last few months.  We have been doing the herb brined smoked turkey breast out of Charcuterie.  It's brined with cure,salt, sugar & herbs, then smoked.  I have been using thyme, rosemary & sage for the herbs then smoking with Cherry.  Really, Really good.

[jeff_smoke]

Thanks for the tip Deb; I'll give that a try.
Well, I'm going to start cold smoking the wings now. Not sure how long
to leave them in, but I won't bring the wings to room temp before cooking.

[Oldman]

that's how we get better!

Many years ago I created something so bad I dug a hole and buried it. RIP~~!