jeffshoaf

The bread doesn't look green to me...

I haven't tried with my new Signals probes yet but I doubt it. I had to straighten the 90* angled probes I have for other thermometers; if you're careful, most probes can be straightened enough to snake thru the port. Since Thermoworks has straight probes, it would be nice if they would let you so them out. Before trying to straighten these, I'm going to see if the plug end of the Thermoworks probe cables will fit thru the port; I haven't compared then yet but I think they're a smaller diameter than the plugs on the guru probes.

While there is some merit in what you're saying, it strongly resembles posts on other forums that state they can get just as good results from a BGE as from a KK and use all the money they'll save on meat to cook... 😏 I'd be willing to spend $10 - $25 to see if these do provide some advantage but I'm not willing to spend $50+.

They're having a Veterans Day sale - 30% off. I was going to get some minis too try in the cold smoker while they were on sale but the shipping charge for 4 bags was $25 for a $28 order. You can get free shipping for a $60 or more order but I don't want to drop $60 just to try them out.

I finally managed to build a fire that's not way too big for what i was grilling - a dry aged ribeye and a couple of thick pork chops. The steak was for dinner and the chops for later in the week. I'm really enjoying this grill; it's just a bit overkill for these small cooks.

I think the main concern with this potential technique is botulism. All the references I've come across (so far) about smoking meat and botulism is talking about cold smoking, where botulism is a real concern - that's why the minimum temperature for preparing beef jerky is 160 degrees F (my dehydrator manufacturer specifies 170 degrees to make sure that the on-off swing of the controller keeps the temp above 160). With that in mind, I think a long cook at 180 degrees would be safe. But I'm not an expert - we can't forget this: THE USDA FACT SHEET ON SMOKING UNCURED MEAT, RECOMMENDS SMOKING BETWEEN 225°F AND 300°F. So... Will I try this? I don't know. I've got steak and pork chops lined up for this week so it won't be that soon.

Found some relevant info regarding stuffed turkey: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/slow-roasting-a-turkey-food-safety-haccp-test-study.237911/ I'm still digesting this and need to look up a lot of unfamiliar terms. I've never really considered stuffed turkey; as far as I know, I've never had turkey cooked with stuffing inside. Around here, the stuffing is called "dressing" and is baked in a dish by itself. My initial reaction is that this info supports my assumption that the amount of time spent at appropriate pasteurization temps is more critical than the time outside the "Safe Zone", but the article doesn't address botulism. So more research pending.... One of the comments in the linked thread talks about the relatively recent change in recommended minimum pork temp; my understanding is that the change is more about trichinosis instead of bacteria.

Thermoworks is running regular pre-Black Friday sales with a different deal every week. Their Signals remote thermometer is on sale for 25% off. It features 4 probes and with separate alarms for each displayed and configurable on the main unit as well as Bluetooth and wifi connectivity and configuration and alerts via smartphone app. The unit can be used as a temperature controller with the addition of their Bellows fan. https://www.thermoworks.com/Signals

Actually, I've had the issue with pork butts for as long as I've had the Kk (7 years?), most of which was done with just adding wood chunks to the charcoal. I've had poor weak smoke flavor more often than not; that's what led me to the smoke pot and then the cold smoker now that I'm retired and have more time to spend on stuff like this.

I went back and looked at the Meater graph from my last butt cook; this one was an oddity since it didn't stall. With the pit temp in the 240* -255* range, it hit 140* in about 2.5 hours. My previous butt took 4:20 to hit 140* with a pit temp around 230*. Earlier butt cooks monitored with the CyberQ all had a more normal stall and the butt show hitting 140* around 4 hours with pit temps at 200* and above. Of course, all of these are measuring the internal butt temperature so it's safe to assume the surface temp was higher. I think I'd be safe at 200* and up, maybe as low as 180*; probably ought to do more research for lower temps. As we all know, 225* is pretty much the standard pit temp for "hot" smoking pork. I did do a lot of reading when I first messed with sous vide but I was thinking the concern was cooking at lower than 140* and saw charts showing the required time to achieve pasteurization at lower temps. A quick Google indicates that the pasteurization time at 160* for meat is 0 seconds and 26 seconds for poultry. Of course, even if you kill botulism, it can leave behind toxic stuff but the risk of harmful bacteria is greater in a low oxygen environment like sous vide. When pork is smoked for preservation, I don't think it hits 160*; of course, it's also depending on salt to help preserve. When my dad raised hogs (a long, long time ago but not in a galaxy far away), we sugar cured hams and shoulders without smoking at all, with salt as the primary cure. Since salt features heavily on most rubs, I wonder if it helps with keeping bacteria growth down? Regardless, thanks for the input -- I now have something to research and keep myself busy for several days!

But no charcoal or smoke flavor that way! Thanks for the info though. I have a Boston butt in the freezer -- i had planned on a hot and fast cook on it to see if that helps with the issue I've had getting smoke flavor inn pulled pork but may try this instead.

I apologize for throwing a bunch of ideas out lately without having tried them myself but I don't seem to have time to try everything I think of, but here's another one... Anytime tried a long slow cook with the temperature at or near the target meat temperature, sort of like sous vide but entirely on the KK? Or even a long cook at a temp below target meat temp followed by a relatively short time at a higher temp to get to the final target meat temp? I would assume a risk off drying out the meat but since KKs hold moisture so well it might not be an issue or could be remediated by using a water pan. There are two things driving this question: Curiosity as to what the effect would be Meal timing - say you have a huge hunk of meat that normally would take a 10 or 12 hour at a usual low and slow temp like 125* with a target temp of 200* or so and you want to serve it 6 pm or so. I'd normally just do an overnight cook and put it on around 8 or 9 pm, then foil and cooler it until serving time. Since I just can't bring myself to get the KK heat soaked and get the meat on at 5 am (to give time to let it rest and provide a little buffer in case of a long stall), my normal alternative would be to do a relatively hot and fast cook, but that would still require an early morning effort. So instead of having an extended cooler time or doing a hot and fast session, maybe do an overnight session with a KK temp between 180* and 200*, and then crank the temp up to 225* to 250* around 2 or 3 pm until internal temp hits the desired 200*. While this might work on a pork butt, I'm really thinking about a large beef shoulder or clod, with maybe a reverse sear at the end. A large 25+ lb hunk of meat could be painful to foil and cooler by myself, so I could see even closing off the KK vents and letting the meat rest in situ. This would also hopefully give a good buffer for things you have no experience with or with unpredictable cook times (like the turbo butt I had a few weeks ago that required me to get up at 4:30 am when it was done after 8 hours instead of the predicted 12 hours).

My bread machine is over 20 years old and still gets regular use. Bread and pizza dough are the only things I make on a regular basis that I always follow a recipe when making -- i just don't have a feel for how the individual ingredients affect the result. I went thru a period a few years ago when I made bread without using the machine but I didn't really enjoy doing it so I almost always used the machine. I don't use the machine for pizza dough though; I use PizzaApp+ to calculate ingredient proportions and a stand mixer to do most of the kneading. I make pizza almost once a week but I don't think I've posted pics here since I don't bake them in the KK. I have a relatively small electric pizza oven that will hit 750* F and an outdoor gas pizza oven that will go even higher.

Hickory-smoked pig ribs, molasses/honey bbq sauce, roasted potatoes, and bread fresh out of the bread machine. Good eating!

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/149004/scientific-questions-arrive-in-ports

That's the double pan.

As posted in the Misc. Cooks thread, I used the B&B hickory pellets in the cold smoker on a pork loin cook. This was a relatively fast cook (1 hour @ 325*); smoke pumped out the whole time and the loin has a nice smokey flavor. I had filled the cold smoker almost to its top; I'm sure there is plenty left in the cold smoker but I was hungry and a storm was rolling in so I didn't verify. After testing chips, chunks, and pellets, I agree that pellets seem to work best and they're definitely cheap - 20 lbs for $10 at academy sports.

If you notice my cooks, i tend to favor simple preparations but decided to complicate things a bit by attempting a variation on a porchetta. I thought my pork loin was too small to attempt a spiraling cut so i just made two slices into the side and filled with onions, yellow sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes, kale, shredded Italian cheese blend, fresh basil, SPG, and sprayed with olive oil. Roasted at 325* F with taters and asparagus underneath and used hickory pellets in the cold smoker. The loin needed a bit more cheese and the asparagus was a bit over-charred but everything was still very tasty! Yeah, i know i could do a more attractive plating but i was hungry!

I've put my research on this on hold -- I ran my last overnight cook without the guru, just made sure the kk was heat soaked and stable, used an old remote Maverick thermometer to check the grate temp, and used the Meater block to monitor the food and kk temp. I set Meater alerts for over/under temps; I like the alerts from the phone app much better than the text/email alerts from my CyberQ. The kk temp was rock steady and the Meater alert woke me up around 4:30 am when the Boston butt didn't stall and was done hours before expected.

I'm planning on doing more research. I stumbled across a mention of these early in a trip down another rabbit hole and made a mental note to follow-up on them. The aforementioned rabbit hole is an expensive one that I'm trying to climb out but I keep finding justification to keep pushing further in....

Anyone tried these? They're supposed to easily give long lasting clean smoke: https://www.mojobricks.com/ Looks like densely compressed sawdust; the minis might be good for the cold smoker, larger chunks for general use. I haven't looked very hard but they don't seem to be widely distributed.

I'm planning on picking some B&B pellets up today unless my back gets too complainy - weather changes are hard on my old joints and bones. Thinking I'll get a bag of hickory for pork and maybe a bag of mesquite for beef. Looks like B&B uses an oak base for all their pellets but so does the brand you recommended, and B&B is available locally at Academy Sports.

Did you forget what forum you're on?

it was only available direct from Vermicular after introduction but Williams-Sonoma (and maybe others) is carrying it now. I tend to use mine several times a week.

I think Greenville is too far East. I grew up in Winston-Salem and now I'm just north of there in King - just south of Pilot Mountain. Yes, that's "Mount Pilot" as mentioned on the Andy Griffith Show. Andy grew up in Mount Airy which is just north of Pilot Mountain and considered to be the basis of Mayberry. Mount Airy is way too proud of Andy, especially since he rarely returned after leaving. Some places call this dish "mull" instead of "stew", but they're obviously confused. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_mull Most folks who've never had it think it would be bland, but I've never found it so. Lots of volunteer fire departments around here make it for fund raisers and usually have multiple pots, some cooked over wood and some cooked over gas - there are folks who think coming over wood is dirty!