Pequod

What is this "infrared deflector"?

Do word pictures count? Seriously, I was surprised by how much maple flavor had permeated the meat. I used Chris Lilly's recipe from Fire & Smoke, in which you pour maple syrup over the belly after rubbing in the cure and black pepper. Between that and the hickory smoke, some really great flavor.

D'oh! Sliced and vac sealed it today without pics. Fried up a couple of slices, though, and it was awesome. Planning to use the end bits this weekend in some spaghetti carbonara with fresh homemade pasta. Will try to remember to get some pics then.

The chook you inspired me to spin today: On a side note, I used a new rub on the chook today and liked it quite a bit. It was Pork Barrel BBQ All-American Rub. Bought a giant container of it at Costco for next to nothing. Had tried it on pork ribs, but didn't care for it. Awesome on chicken, though. Might qualify as my new go-to for chooks.

Have used the cold smoker a few more times since posting this. Some findings: 1) When smoking some cheese with apple chips yesterday, the chips tended to extinguish themselves periodically. I had to zap them with my kitchen torch 2-3 times to get them moving again. 2) When smoking my bacon with hickory today, decided to try a bed of pellets first, and then topped off with chips. That is, I loaded pellets to about the level of the holes on the side of the tube and lit those through the hole until they held a steady flame of their own. I let the flame go (lid off the smoker) for about 10 minutes until there was a nice, glowing bed of embers, then topped it with hickory chips. The chips burned continuously without needing a restart. Only one sample point, but it does seem to help to have a bed of something glowing before adding your smoke wood.

And now the rest of the story. After a week in the cure, Squeaker's other half is smoking with a bit of hickory. Makin' bacon!

Nice chook! You've inspired me to spin a chook tomorrow.

Hmmmm...what's she hinting at? Smores? Something smokey? Something with a woody texture?

Interesting. Dizzy Pig is local and they have a store. Wonder if they're selling these there.

I will if I have time in October. Otherwise, will try it with chicken sometime after.

Beautiful cabinet, Bruce!

I actually have an idea for this challenge, but looking at my work travel and planned cook schedules, don't think I have the time to experiment with it. If anyone wants to take it, feel free. The idea is this: Nashville Hot "Chicken" and Apple-Corn Fritter Waffles The waffles are just that. Belgian waffles with chunks of apple and corn. Probably a bit of cinnamon. Maybe something else too. The chicken -- get this -- it's tofu! Probably take a chunk of extra firm tofu, drain it, smoke it for a bit to add flavor, then tear into chunks, bread it, and fry in a cast iron skillet on the KK at around 400. This part needs some experimenting. The "hot" part is Maple Syrup with sriracha (proportions TBD). Put "chicken" on waffle, then drizzle with the maple-sriracha syrup. Sounds good enough I may actually try this someday with actual chicken.

Polyface has a buyers club that delivers to various locations throughout Virginia. Go to http://polyfaceyum.com to find a location near you and sign up.

I must have been editing in the wink emoji as you were replying.

Thanks! It was super delicious, and gives me an idea of what to do with tofu since tofu and pork Belly are pretty much the same thing.

After 5 hours low and slow we did a quick high heat sear fat side down: Slices onto some Steam Buns and topped with hoisin BBQ sauce, scallions, cucumber, and sesame seeds. Wow! The flavors are incredible. We'll do this again.

My 23 also has two lower dampers. I find that I get a wide range of temps with just one turn of the cap and adjusting the left vent alone, keeping the right vent closed. I use the right vent for more precise control at low and slow temps. For example, I get 250 degrees with just 1/4 turn of the top vent and the largest hole on the lower right open. I get 225 with 1/4 turn and the third hole. Best bet is to spend a day experimenting.

A quick peak one hour in:

Using the smoke pot today with one chunk hickory and a few chunks of apple. Cruising at 225 with thin blue smoke.

We source some of our meat from Polyface Farm in the Shenandoah Valley, so when they ran a rare two for one sale on pork bellies, our future became clear. Polyface was highlighted prominently in Michael Pollan's book, Omnivore's Dilemma, and has since been featured in films like Food, Inc. To many, they are the prototype for how farming should be done. They believe in getting to know your farmer and your food. Meet Squeaker: Squeaker has been parted in two. The first half will be eaten today using Steve Raichlen's recipe for Pork Belly Steam Buns. Here it is rubbed up with Raichlen's 5-4-3-2-1 Asian Rub: Squeaker's other half has been rubbed with cure, black pepper, and maple syrup. This half will become bacon next week. One pork belly. Two futures.

Advise pulling when probe tender, not by temp.

For me the cold smoker was an easy sell because I do like to smoke cheese. But I'm with you on the rest. For low and slow I think the smoke pot covers it very well. For higher temps, if I use smoke I'll often toss a chunk of wood directly on the lump. Yes, the smoke intensity is off the charts, but it isn't on that long. Will take some playing around to see what the advantages are of the cold smoker at these temps.

I've been smoking brisket at 275 for a few years -- pre-dating the Franklin book -- and it works great. A 12 lb brisket will take 6-8 hours at that temp. I wrap in butcher paper once the bark has set (about the same time as the stall), then probe it the first time about an hour later. And every 30 minutes after that until it probes like butter. Works great, and very repeatable.

A thing of beauty! You do pizzas at 475? Can I ask what temp and how you do bread? Cast iron pot Dutch oven or other humidity enhancers?

Hmmm...he could grind it and make a really excellent hamburger...