Smoking Meat Questions and Discussion

[Jer]

You are all reminding me how much I miss the simple task of being able to use thee Traeger now that it's warm out. SOOOOOO want to do another brisket and burnt end. And the BBQ meatloaf recipe I developed overtime for on the smoker just doesn't taste the same when I have my wife help make it in the oven.

 

[BACyclone]

Did the smoked pork chops yesterday. Mostly loin chops and a couple Iowa (bone-in) chops I found in the freezer.

I got them onto the Pit Boss about 12:30pm and left it on "smoke" the whole time, which for me varies between 170-200F. The zoomed pretty quick up to 130F in about 2 hours and I was worried I was going to have to pull them way ahead of meal time, but thankfully they held there all the way to about 5pm...135F on the smaller ones...when I decided it was time to finish.

Brushed with more BBQ sauce and kicked up the heat, 275-300F actual. That only took 20-30min to get to 145F for the small ones. I had 2 big Iowa chops that took ~45min total to finish, but they were kicked to the leftovers group for tonight.

The smoke rings on the loin chops were incredible. Taste: amazing. I don't have pictures to share, but once again a huge hit with the family.

These things are so easy to do, and the meat is so cheap, it's going to be something I do more often.

 

[corwags]

How does everyone do a giant pork loin on the smoker? Inject with some marinade or just dry brine overnight?

Working for a pork company, we do them all the time, both at work and at home. Our preferred method lately has been to just season them with whatever rub you prefer (any type of sweet rib type seems to work best) and let it set for a couple hours, then we smoke it at about 225 for a couple hours until it hits an internal temp of about 120°F. We then pull it off, slice it into chops and sear it on a grill/smoker cranked up to 400°F+, which we then put some Worcestershire sauce on after we flip on both sides. Pull them off at 145°F and you are good to go. Don't take them much above 145.

We have never injected or used a wet marinade.

But it honestly depends on what you have for a loin. A good loin will make good chops. A crap loin will make crap ones (and no, the Hormel ones from HyVee are not what I would call a "good" loin; they pumped them with that much of a solution for a reason). But, often times the price is right and you can still make them taste good if you cook them right.

 

[tm3308]

How does everyone do a giant pork loin on the smoker? Inject with some marinade or just dry brine overnight?

I've done a couple loins on the smoker. I season with whatever rubs I'm in the mood for, though I like using Heath Riles' apple rub and a basic sweet bbq rub together. Don't have to inject it, but I've done it before and it turned out fine. Just smoke at 250 for a few hours and baste or spritz it every 45-60 minutes or as necessary. I usually slice it up fairly thin and use the meat for sandwiches.

 

[dmclone]

You are all reminding me how much I miss the simple task of being able to use thee Traeger now that it's warm out. SOOOOOO want to do another brisket and burnt end. And the BBQ meatloaf recipe I developed overtime for on the smoker just doesn't taste the same when I have my wife help make it in the oven.

Would you be able to do a brisket until the crutch, and then finish it in the oven?

 

[boone7247]

Would you be able to do a brisket until the crutch, and then finish it in the oven?

I think you could. Once you are wrapping it you are just trying to get to temp.

 

[RealisticCy]

Would you be able to do a brisket until the crutch, and then finish it in the oven?

This is what I've started doing, and I love it......once you wrap you arent getting any more smoke flavor in the meat.

Smoke at 225, take the brisket to 165 internal, wrap and put in the oven at 240 degrees. Out at 207 internal, then rewrap and put in a cooler for a couple hours.

 

[BACyclone]

This is what I've started doing, and I love it......once you wrap you arent getting any more smoke flavor in the meat.

Smoke at 225, take the brisket to 165 internal, wrap and put in the oven at 240 degrees. Out at 207 internal, then rewrap and put in a cooler for a couple hours.

I guess I consider 206 internal as pulling temperature.

For a brisket that I am going to slice, I usually pull it at 200F internal.

I guess I am not sure that it makes a difference other than a few minutes at the end.

The rest, I totally agree with. I usually leave it on the smoker after wrapping because it's just easier -- and when I was forced to do this once (flame out? weather?) finishing it in the oven made my whole house smell like the smoker, which is in the eye of the beholder, LOL.

 

[Jer]

Would you be able to do a brisket until the crutch, and then finish it in the oven?

The biggest problem is I cant really carry anything and my cane is cumbersome. I’ve been playing Remy from Ratatouille with my wife to teach her how to cook and I’ve saved all my recipes from memory to Notes for her. I think our next phase will have to be tackling the teaching of the smoker and brisket because we both love the recipe I use, but it’s a long 16+ hr cook for a full packer.

 

[dmclone]

I think our next phase will have to be tackling the teaching of the smoker and brisket because we both love the recipe I use, but it’s a long 16+ hr cook for a full packer.

Nothing like starting her out on the easy stuff

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

How does everyone do a giant pork loin on the smoker? Inject with some marinade or just dry brine overnight?

Rub it with mustard and then coat it with my rub. Nothing else is needed.

 

[CHim]

How does everyone do a giant pork loin on the smoker? Inject with some marinade or just dry brine overnight?

I have not messed with a wet brine for awhile. Meathead at amazingribs.com told me it doesn't work but I haven't personally tried. I usually cross cut the top and season it 1-2 hours before it goes on if I have that much time. Then leave it sit on the counter for 30 or so minutes of that time to start bringing the temp up. Don't know if it is true or not but it seems like that osmosis from the salt really kicks in during that time on the counter.

Since it is the offseason we can start a fight on the board. Meathead also says fat side up doesn't matter. Says the fat rendering does not change the composition of the meat at all and therefore does not affect the finished product. I think he has a point and is probably right but I also don't tempt the Meat Gods and roll fat side down.

 

[BACyclone]

I have not messed with a wet brine for awhile. Meathead at amazingribs.com told me it doesn't work but I haven't personally tried. I usually cross cut the top and season it 1-2 hours before it goes on if I have that much time. Then leave it sit on the counter for 30 or so minutes of that time to start bringing the temp up. Don't know if it is true or not but it seems like that osmosis from the salt really kicks in during that time on the counter.

Since it is the offseason we can start a fight on the board. Meathead also says fat side up doesn't matter. Says the fat rendering does not change the composition of the meat at all and therefore does not affect the finished product. I think he has a point and is probably right but I also don't tempt the Meat Gods and roll fat side down.

I don't brine pork, just dry rub and rest like you say. I've never tried it to be honest (that I recall) but I get results I'm happy with, without the extra prep work. I do wet brine chicken every time, then use a light-flavor rub after rinsing and drying it. I just don't trust chicken.

Fat cap: with my setup resting on a pan+grate in the smoker, I'm pretty protected from the heat by the tray and grate to begin with. However I still always put fat cap down because:

1) I'm not sure if rub really does much through even a light or trimmed fat cap anyway (I still put a little on that side)
2) I want to be sure the bare meat is as exposed as possible to the airflow of smoke
3) when doing a pork butt, the bottom (fat) sometimes sticks a little bit to my butcher paper -- if it's mostly fat I don't care and it's maybe 5% easier to yank out the meat and pitch out the fat layer
4) I nearly always inject marinade to be 100% certain I have all the liquid I need to end up with a juicy result in the end (plus some savory flavor)
5) there's so much marbling in a typical pork butt in particular, worrying about how the fat cap interacts seems redundant

I probably agree with Meathead that it's a quibble that largely doesn't matter at all. You can get a great result putting the meat in any orientation. It's several other variables that have much greater impact that determine success.

 

[Nader_uggghhh]

Wet brine absolutely does work on pork loin. Temp is always most important but it gives you a little temperature buffer just like turkey or chicken. I start with fat cap down on briskets and butts specifically on the pellet smoker. There's way more direct temp from the bottom than on an offset or kettle. The fat protects the meat on long cooks especially if you don't want to wrap.

 

[RagingCloner]

I start with fat cap down on briskets and butts specifically on the pellet smoker

This is very intriguing for me. I consider myself somewhat of a rookie with smoking, and I did just get a pit boss pellet grill within the last year. Most "experts" say to do fat cap up, so thats what i have always done. What made you decide to try cap down?

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

This is very intriguing for me. I consider myself somewhat of a rookie with smoking, and I did just get a pit boss pellet grill within the last year. Most "experts" say to do fat cap up, so thats what i have always done. What made you decide to try cap down?

Fat cap up doesn't "moisten" the meat like people say. That's all a myth. I always do Brisket fat cap down because then you protect the best side of the meat. If you do it once, you'll never go back.

 

[RagingCloner]

Fat cap up doesn't "moisten" the meat like people say. That's all a myth. I always do Brisket fat cap down because then you protect the best side of the meat. If you do it once, you'll never go back.

Ive done a few butts that turned out great with cap up, but the brisket i had wasnt great. I also think i pulled it off during the stall, and didnt let it cook long enough. Really tempted to try a brisket again this weekend, just dont want to screw it up!

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Damn, that had so much potential with just the tiniest bit of different structure.

LOL that's one way to brine a loin.

 

[Jer]

Rub it with mustard and then coat it with my rub. Nothing else is needed.

Damn, that had so much potential with just the tiniest bit of different structure.

Ive done a few butts that turned out great with cap up, but the brisket i had wasnt great. I also think i pulled it off during the stall, and didnt let it cook long enough. Really tempted to try a brisket again this weekend, just dont want to screw it up!

Much better.

 

[RagingCloner]

Damn, that had so much potential with just the tiniest bit of different structure.


Much better.

Did that just for you lol