Tri-tip Sliced Tri-tip One of 3 briskets Sliced Brisket Johnny Trig style baby back ribs. Smoked meat loaf. S’mores pie.

I know, this isn’t chili because it doesn’t have beef and/or it has beans. None the less this is a good way to use leftover turkey/chicken and although I haven’t tried it yet I think the spices would work well with pork.

Timothy’s White Chili

Serving Size: 8

1 lb. Dried white beans
6 cups Chicken broth
2 Cloves garlic
2 Medium onions, chopped
1 Tbs Oil
9 oz Canned green chilies
2 tsp. Ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. Oregano
1/4 tsp. Ground cloves
1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper
4 cups Diced cooked chicken breast
3 cups Grated Monterey jack cheese
Salsa
Sour cream

1. Combine beans, broth, garlic & 1/2 the onions in a large pot. Bring to a
   boil, reduce & simmer till beans are soft - 2 hrs or more - adding broth if
   necessary.

2. Sauté remaining onions in oil till tender. Add chilies & seasonings &
   mix thoroughly. Add to bean mixture. Add chicken & simmer 1hr.

3. Serve topped with grated cheese, salsa & sour cream.

Thermoworks sent me a recipe for doing Corned beef. I didn’t have time to actually corn the beef like they did so I used a couple of store bought corned beef. My wife had picked up 2 of these from Costco. They were very well trimmed. I think they were actually too well trimmed as they didn’t have any fat on them. I put them in the smoker with hickory and cherry wood and set the smoker for 225 degrees. When they reached 160 degrees internal temp I pulled them out and put them in a pan with a little water and covered them with foil. They went back in the smoker until they hit 190 degrees internal temp. I really didn’t like the look of them, they sort of looked like 2 lumps of chocolate. I fired up the grill and when it was hot I did a reverse sear on them. They really turned out good with great texture and concentrated flavor.

I just finished my big brisket smoke for the year. This year getting good briskets in my area was difficult. No prime and the choice were small. I did 4 briskets that equaled 52 pounds. I usually have 3 briskets that go close to 60 pounds before trimming.
I trim my briskets out so that most of the hard fat is removed and the fat cap is trimmed to ¼ to ½ inch. I pay attention to the end of the flat when I buy the brisket and when I trim out the brisket. I will trim a thin end off rather than end up with this part of the brisket getting burnt to the point you can’t use it. This is a good video by Franklin BBQ on trimming brisket: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaMgt1Altys .
I get my briskets rubbed at least 2 days before I put them in the smoker. I have used mustard or Worcestershire sauce to wet the surface of the briskets before I hit them with the dry rub but don’t do it this way any more. I will say that should you use the mustard or Worcestershire sauce use just enough to wet the surface You don’t want to end up with the brisket looking like it had been dunked in a vat of mustard. When I do my dry rub now I start with the fat cap down and hit the surfaces of the brisket that are exposed with a liberal coating of dry rub. I then go do something else for 20 or 30 minutes. This lets the salt in the rub work. The salt brings out the surface moisture in the brisket and this soaks into the rub and holds it in place when I turn the brisket fat cap up. I repeat the dry rub and wait on all of the new exposed surfaces and then put the brisket into large zip lock bags. They have 2 and 2 ½ gallon zip locks now. The bagged briskets now go back into the fridge until I am ready to smoke them.
I make the rub using a recipe from “Smoke and Spice” by Cheryl and Bill Jamison. I highly recommend this book. The rub is called Wild Willy’s Number One-derful Rub. This is good basic rub and can be easily modified to suit your taste. This is the recipe I use including notes and changes I have made over the years.
Wild Willy’s Number One-derful rub
¾ cup smoked paprika
¼ cup freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup course salt, either kosher or sea salt
¼ cup sugar (I use Turbanado, or brown sugar)
2 tbls. chili powder
2 tbls. garlic powder
2 tbls. Onion powder
2 tsp. Cayenne
2 tsp. Ground Rosemary
This is a great dry rub for steaks, ribs, brisket, and pork.
I have a CookShack SM066 smoker. I have been using these smokers for going on 20 years. I say this simply to make the point that the following is what works in my smoker and may not work the same way in whatever smoker you are using. These smokers were designed and built as Brisket ovens. They are wood stingy and cook very moist. I do 4 briskets using 8 to 10 oz. of wood. I use wood chunks and will do a mix of whatever I have on hand. Hickory or Pecan mixed with apple or cherry. I figure on a 24 hour smoke time and several hours extra to let the briskets “rest”. I do not worry about the stall and I do not wrap my briskets to get them over the stall. I start out with cold briskets and a cold smoker I want to get as much smoke on the briskets as I can before they hit 160 degrees internal temp. I do my briskets fat cap up. I use a leave in probe style thermometer and set the alarm temp for 190 degrees. I set the smoker temp at 175 degrees and come in the house. I will check the smoker several times over the next couple of hours and if the smoker is not producing good smoke after a couple of hours and I haven’t hit the 160 degrees internal temp I will add another chunk of wood and turn the smoker temp up to 225 degrees. I like my sleep so just before I go to bed I turn the smoker temp down to 195 degrees and go to bed. The next morning I turn the smoker temp back up to 225 degrees and wait for the thermometer alarm to go off. I do not cook brisket by time or internal temperature but by feel. When the alarm goes off I take a toothpick or skewer out to the smoker and probe the brisket. When the probe goes into the brisket and feels like you were probing a warm stick of butter the brisket is done. I have over the years had briskets that probed done at 190 degrees. Most of them probed done at 205 degrees and some big briskets went to 215 degrees before they were done. Since I am doing several briskets they usually get done at different times. I take them out as they get done and put them into disposable aluminum pans and cover them with foil. They then go into a warmed insulated cooler. I warm the cooler with hot water in a pan when I know the briskets are getting close. I will leave the briskets in the cooler for a minimum of 2 hours and they will stay hot up to 8 hours in the cooler. I can’t prove it by any scientific method but I think the time in the cooler actually makes the briskets better. Better flavor and more tender for sure and may enhance the moistness of the meat.

bocephus We do dressing. This is basically stuffing cooked in a pan. The good thing is that you get more dressing than what you can cram into a turkey. I fill the turkey cavity with fresh herbs, onions, celery, and apples or oranges. This is one I did with a rosemary, thym, and sage compound butter. Some of the butter went under the skin and some went over the skin. !

Smoked Meat Loaf.
3 lbs mild Italian Sausage (loose, extracted sausage from casings)
3 lbs ground beef-93% lean (lean cause of sausage)
1 large red onion (coarsely chopped)
2 Tbsp garlic powder
4 eggs
2 Tbsp Canadian Steak seasoning I am sure that any steak seasoning you like will work for this.
4 oz ketchup
4 Tbsp Memphis rub (This is a dry rub, any good dry rub you like should work)
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
8 oz Italian 4 cheese mix
4 oz Big Bob Gibson’s Red Sauce (This is BBQ sauce. Use what you like).

Mix all of the ingredients except the BBQ sauce) thoroughly, form into 2 loaves, and place them on a single broiler/cookie type sheet (Pam or such is a good idea here) with holes in it so the smoke can get to the underside of the meatloaf and fat drippings can escape.
Throw the sheets with the loaves into a 210* preheated smoker (2 oz hickory, 2 oz white oak or your choice) until internal temp hits 150*.
Let the meat loaf rest for 20 minutes and coat the top/sides of the meat loaves with Big Bob Gibson’s Red (or sauce of your choice).
Then throw them into a 250* preheated smoker for apprx. 20 minutes to set the outside of the meatloaves. Let them rest for 10 minutes and slice.

I spatchcock and dry brine the turkey and then smoke it. They turn out really good.

First, a little background on tri tip. It’s primarily a West Coast thing but can be found back east. Tri tip is a wonderful cut of meat, very good flavor and tender. People have described the flavor as bold as “rib eye” but fortunately it’s much cheaper. The Virtual Webber Bullet does a good job of explaining this cut. It is also called “bottom sirloin roast” or “triangle roast”.
I’ve heard Trader Joe carries it back east. So, if you’re near one, go over and see if they have it. If so, buy it. Get on the internet and Google “Santa Maria Tri Tip”. Delicious.

The night before Mother’s day I rubbed and sprinkled the meat with Santa Maria rub. It’s a tasty rub and can be used on other cuts of meat. Here’s the recipe I used:
Santa Maria Rub
1 tablespoon black pepper, fresh-ground
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon salt

I used some multiple of this to have some for future use.

Now, Santa Maria Tri Tip is primarily grilled, but what the heck, I own a Cookshack. So I smoked the meat first then grilled to finish. I let the meat rest on the counter for 30 minutes then placed it into a 200* preheated smoker until it hit an internal of 95*, roughly an hour. Oak is typically used for Santa Maria but I used mesquite since I didn’t have oak. The meat was 45* when I placed it into the smoker.

Since the meat was going to be on the grill for a shorter length of time, I thought I’d mop it for better bark (nice grill flareups). I used the typical Santa Maria mop.
Santa Maria mop:
1/2 cup of red wine vinegar (I us a combination of red wine and balsamic)
1/4 cup of garlic infused vegetable oil (I use olive oil, and add crushed garlic to the recipe)
1 ½ teaspoons of mustard (I use grey poupon)
1 teaspoon of crushed rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste.
Pulled the meat at 127*.

We had Kaiser rolls dipped in au jus and made tri tip sandwiches. That’s why I sliced it thinner than normal. Some sides. Some merlot. Absolutely delicious. Tender, moist, smokey, grilled flavor.

There are only two tri tips per cow. So the two I cooked represented the product from one cow–not much there. My only concern is if this cut becomes as popular in the rest of the country as it is out west, then the cost of tri tip will soar.

I let it sit under loose foil for 30 minutes then sliced the meat. It was so juicy my cutting board trough overflowed.

We had Kaiser rolls dipped in au jus and made tri tip sandwiches. That’s why I sliced it thinner than normal. Some sides. Some merlot. Absolutely delicious. Tender, moist, smokey, grilled flavor.

There are only two tri tips per cow. So the two I cooked represented the product from one cow–not much there. My only concern is if this cut becomes as popular in the rest of the country as it is out west, then the cost of tri tip will soar.

The Cookshack smokers have a “Cold Smoke” baffle that you can buy. This is a heavy stainless steel plate that you freeze and then slide into the smoker between the heat source and the smoke chamber. You can do basically the same thing with a pan of ice. I have smoked cheese with the outside temps in the high 80’s. I just have to make sure the smoker is in the shade or I get some cheese melt.

Smoked Jalapeno Poppers
Taking the seeds and membranes out of the jalapenos removes about 90 percent of the heat, leaving a really great smoked pepper flavor. This recipe from Colonel Tommy Tompkins of the United States Air Force in San Antonio, Texas, was the winner of the 2000-2001 First Prize Award from Cookshack.

MAKES 24 APPETIZERS

12 Large jalapeno peppers
½ pond crabmeat, picked over for shell fragments
1(8-ounce) package cream cheese
¼ cup finely chopped onion
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon ground celery seed
¼ teaspoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon lime juice
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
Season salt and season pepper to taste
12 strips lean, center-cut bacon

Cut each jalapeno in half lengthwise, wearing rubber gloves if desired. Scoop out the seed and the membranes. Drain the crabmeat well. Combine the crabmeat, cream cheese, onion, and garlic powder, celery seed, lemon juice, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and mix well. Add season salt, and season pepper to taste (for the most part all of the seasonings are done to taste, and you may find some seasonings that you like better). Refrigerate mixture over night, taste, and adjust seasonings. Prepare the smoker with mesquite wood (mesquite wood can get very bitter with just a little too much wood. I use Hickory or my favorite, Jack Daniels Oak) to 200 degrees. Divide the filling equally among each of the pepper halves. Cut the bacon strips in half, wrap around each half pepper, and secure with a toothpick to keep the bacon in place. Place on smoker racks, and smoke until the bacon is cooked, 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Dave in AZ : I have never done just a brisket flat or a whole packer fast and hot. The smoker I do my briskets in is a Cookshack SMO66. This is a cabinet type smoker and it only goes to 300 degrees. The smoker does cook with a very moist environment. I do remember reading about people that cooked flats on the old Cookshack f***m. I just remember that there were complaints about the flats turning out dry. You might want to have a plan ready if you notice that your flat is drying out. Something to spritz it with or a pan you can put it in with a little liquid. I am just guessing on this since I haven’t done brisket the way you are doing them. I can second Midwest-kc on the let it rest for a couple of hours. I use an old ice chest for this. I put a pan of hot water in the chest to get things warm and place the briskets in a pan that will fit into the chest. Cover the pan with foil and put it into the chest to get happy. You can use this method to hold meat in for 4 to 6 hours. Works great if you need to transport something from the smoker or grill to a gathering.

zbigjeff I just did a search for cooking with cottage cheese. There are a ton of recipes using cottage cheese in things like lasagna and cheese cake. That reminded me of a lemon blue berry cheese cake recipe that I made for my Mom years ago. She was diabetic and the cake didn’t use any sugar but did use cottage cheese. Now I am wondering how that would taste with smoked cottage cheese. I may just have to give it a try.

Smoked Swiss like Jarlsberg is really good on a slice of fresh crisp apple. I used to be able to get blocks of Jalapeno or habanero pepper and cheddar cheese here but can’t find them anymore. They were really good. I have been doing around 50 pounds of cheese a year. The softer cheeses tend to take on more smoke than the harder type cheese. I have smoked fresh mozzarella but it is sort of a PITA. You have to wrap it in wet cheese cloth and really keep an eye on the smoker temp. It is good on home made pizza. I have heard that people have successfully smoked cottage cheese but really don’t know why you would want smoked cottage cheese.

You can make all of your bacon using the equilibrium process. You can do it as a dry brine or a wet brine. The wet brine does take more cure because you are figuring both the weight of the meat and the water instead of just the weight of the meat. I have been using this process for a number of years and have made regular bacon or “Side bacon” using pork belly, Canadian bacon or “Back bacon” using pork loin, and “Buckboard bacon” using pork butt. There is a calculator that many people use at: http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html . I have a program that works in Excel that does basically the same thing as the diggingdog farm calculator but is printable. I found it on another f***m years ago. I can’t remember which f***m or who came up with it. I can’t post it here, I have tried. I can send it to anyone that wants it via email ([email protected]). The great thing about these calculators is that you can change the amount of salt and sugar you use in the cure. JUST DO NOT CHANGE THE AMOUNT OR CURE #1. We found that the 2% salt used in the diggingdog calculator wasn’t salty enough for us and the 3% salt used in the Excel program was too salty. Through trial and error we hit on 2.125% salt and have been using since. Once you find the amount of salt and sugar you like you can repeat your results every time. You can add other flavorings to your bacon, just remember that any flavor they add will be subtle. I do my bacon using Black Rifle coffee as an added flavor. I also do one with a Sweet Heat rub. Most of these rubs do contain salt and or sugar so they can effect how salty or sweet your bacon turns out. Making bacon isn’t that hard and your end results will be better than anything you can get in the store.

calldoctoday : I get recipes from several different sources. This one came from Thermoworks. The article is really good about the hows and whys of doing corned beef. They actually go from the beef brisket through the curing process and then cooking. https://blog.thermoworks.com/beef/thermal-tips-st-patricks-day-corned-beef/ .

Thermoworks sent me a recipe for doing Corned beef. I didn’t have time to actually corn the beef like they did so I used a couple of store bought corned beef. My wife had picked up 2 of these from Costco. They were very well trimmed. I think they were actually too well trimmed as they didn’t have any fat on them. I put them in the smoker with hickory and cherry wood and set the smoker for 225 degrees. When they reached 160 degrees internal temp I pulled them out and put them in a pan with a little water and covered them with foil. They went back in the smoker until they hit 190 degrees internal temp. I really didn’t like the look of them, they sort of looked like 2 lumps of chocolate. I fired up the grill and when it was hot I did a reverse sear on them. They really turned out good with great texture and concentrated flavor.

I build fishing rods and always test them before handing them off to the customer. I was at the local lake and was test casting a new fly rod. I had a white cork bass popper tied on just to have something on the line. The popper ran into a foam line and I hooked up solid with a large ( for here) carp. Took a good long time to get it played to the point I could release it. There are a lot of people fly fishing for carp now I am sure that if you do a search for this you will get a lot of information. They are a hoot to catch.

GWG8541 I turn the cheese so that all 4 sides get good smoke.

johnsbrewhouse I have a chef store about a mile away from me here in Nampa, Idaho. I haven’t seen the oak pellets at this store. I have used the bear mountain pellets.

gus4416 Yoshi copper grill mats.