A wood and pellet weekend

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wade

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
SMF Premier Member
Apr 12, 2013
3,863
279
Kent, UK
We had a family get together this weekend and so I had a few things in the smoker. Based upon the results of the Top Rump test a couple of weeks ago I decided to do another. I also bought 3 racks of ribs and two large chickens. I was told they were chickens but from the size of them they seemed more like small turkeys.

The ribs had my medium rub applied the night before and then went into the Weber 67cm 


and the Rump had a salt and pepper rub the night before, before going into the Davy Crockett


The ribs were cooked at 110 C (230 F) using 3:2:0.5 and they turned out well. The Rump I also smoked at 110 C (230 F) for 3 hours until it had reached an IT of 57 C (135 F). Both were then left to rest.

Unfortunately both of these had been cut and served (and almost completely eaten) before I remembered that I should have taken some "after" photos.

Now, for the chickens, I decided to smoke each of these differently. Smokewood had kindly send me some samples of his Maple wood chunks and I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to try them out. - Thanks James 
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The chickens were prepared the night before with a lemon and ginger butter with salt and pepper. They are shown here in a full size Gastronorm tray so you can see how big they both were.


Each was put into a 57cm Weber using Heat Beads in the Weber charcoal baskets prepared for reverse minion burning.


One used Smokewood's Maple chunks and the other used mixed Fruit Wood pellets. The temperature in both Webers was kept at approximately 120 C (250 F) until the internal temperatures reached 82 C (180 F). This took about 3.5 hours.


Initially the pellet Weber produced more smoke than the lump wood Weber but after about 20 minutes they both settled down and were producing about the same. 


The chickens were then foil wrapped and turned upside down to rest for 45 minutes before serving. The end result was chicken that was so moist that it simply melted in the mouth.

When serving to the hoards I kept them separately and asked for preferences. Both chickens certainly tasted different and both were nicely smokey. There was no consensus however about which was best as both were enjoyed by all and were rapidly devoured.

Thanks one again to James for sending me the Maple wood sample to try out 
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Gastronorm?? Is that a word?  He gets SO technical!  La la, la la, la la!  Was the food good??  That's what we wanna know!  
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  Just takin tha piss.


Serious now!  Good job my friend.  We need the technical stuff.  What works and what does not work so well.  These things we need to know.  Would you do anything differently?  What you didn't include is personal choice.  Just for fun.  Maple or fruit wood??  Keep Smokin!

Danny
 
Next time I would revert back from the reverse Minion burn to a straight snake burn. I did it this way as I only have one IQ-110 and I wanted to cook them both in similar ways.It was also to try to even out the temperature on both sides of the chicken. Unfortunately, as has happened before, the spacing of the Weber air intakes results in one or other of the charcoal baskets becoming dominant and starving the other. You can see the uneven burn in the last picture. Mind you you can also see how many briquettes were still left after being at temperature for over 4 hours.

Did I prefer one over the other - yes I did. I actually preferred the fruit wood - just. However, as I said there was a pretty even split between people preferring the fruit or the maple. I would certainly cook with both again.
 
Lemon & Ginger Butter sounds amazing.....Mmmmmm

An excellent demonstration.  What was the flavour like on the Maple, I have not tried it yet. 
 
Hi Wade

Are you sure you are not Harry Potters Uncle as you are an absolute WIZARD with the food it looks superb.
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Also keep the tech going as I and no doubt loads of others are gaining so much fantastic knowledge its unbelievable!!!!!!!
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Hi Wade

Are you sure you are not Harry Potters Uncle as you are an absolute WIZARD with the food 
I would show you my lightning scar - but then you would have to marry me 
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 LOL
 
 
Lemon & Ginger Butter sounds amazing.....Mmmmmm

What was the flavour like on the Maple, I have not tried it yet. 
Really simple - half a pack of grated butter (to soften it), the zest and juice of a lemon and about an inch of fresh ginger finely grated (a microplane works well). Mix together and rub it under the skin the night before and cook the next day 
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The Maple and fruit wood chickens were not that different. Both were fairly "sweet". I liked them both but I think the fruit wood chicken was maybe a little more rounded. The difference was quite subtle though.
 
Thanks for the recipe for the lemon & ginger butter, that little nugget of information will go in my recipe book.  If the Maple gets the Wade seal of approval I will try and procure a larger quantity.

Mmmm Lemon & Ginger Butter...
 
Kiska.  Please don't encourage him.  His head starts to swell and you can't live with him for a week or so.  We try SO hard to keep him in check.  
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YEP!  He can cook.  As we say in the States: "tha boy got skills"!  Just when you think you have heard it all he pulls another rabbit out of his A.  I mean he comes up with another great recipe from somewhere.

As always; Well done my friend!  I can't wait to taste that Rhinoceros joint you are bringing to the smoking weekend.  
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HEY!  I know we take tha piss, BUT. We have smoked together and we chat now and then here and on the phone.  I respect the man's skills.  I am REALLY old school.  Yeah I have some old Tx. style recipes that you have not tried but my style is pretty simple.  That's how I like it.  Wade pushes to boat out.  And so do MANY other U.K. members.  They are trying new flavours and unconventional styles.  Just to pick out 2: MarkUK is making pulled pork with a smoker and a slow cooker.  Smoking Monkey showed up last year at the Smoking Weekend with one of the round halogen electric fan "ovens".  Did some FINE lamb ( getting old, I think he did lamb.  But I remember it tasted good!. ).  Who would have thought?  Give Wade time to work on it and I have NO doubt he will come up with a Rhinoceros joint that tastes GREAT!  These guys are ding some fine Que and are willing to help anyone!

Long story short; Darn PROUD of all of them!

Danny
 
Hi Wade

Are you sure you are not Harry Potters Uncle as you are an absolute WIZARD with the food it looks superb.:Looks-Great: Also keep the tech going as I and no doubt loads of others are gaining so much fantastic knowledge its unbelievable!!!!!!!:drool:

He's more like the Mad Hatter [emoji]128515[/emoji]

No, serious good looking food as ever Wade, looks like the Webers will be taking a back seat, as The Davy Crockett takes over!!!!
 
...looks like the Webers will be taking a back seat, as The Davy Crockett takes over!!!!
No both have their places. I cannot see myself not using the Webers too. The DC is very handy for the "quick" smoke though - where you just want to get it up to cooking temperature quickly. Capacity is more the problem with the DC when cooking for numbers.

I am cooking for a private BBQ party this weekend - about 45 people. The Webers and the DC will all be taken there - as will a gas BBQ and my half oil drum. The pulled pork is being cooked in advance today and the ribs early tomorrow morning. The DC will mainly be used for baking the corn bread and rosemary biscuits fresh at the event.
 
Wade, I thought you had become a fully fledge member of the Pellet Heads!


No seriously, Pellets are good for set and leave, and I know you would not leave your Webers, that would be like losing your right arm.
Good luck with the BBQ, I am sure you will not need it.

Smokin Monkey
 
Good luck with the BBQ, I am sure you will not need it.
Thanks Steve - It went well. The FEC-120 cannot arrive fast enough though as it would have saved me a lot of time tending smokers the day before. I had enquiries for future events from the people there so it must have gone well. The pulled pork and ribs were loved but the most comments came from the American biscuits and fresh corn bread that kept being produced from the Davy Crockett. Being able to see the temperature in it so accurately makes the DC an extremely versatile smoker
 
Glad it went well. Already looking for the easier method!!!

Anything you can do to make the Events easier is good by me.

I did a 10 kG Pork Shoulder yesterday, Sous Vide for 48 Hours then on to the GMG for 5 hours at 105'C for smoke flavour and crisp the outside, oops no pictures as it was Jill birthday and we had familiy round, could not get it to the table quick enough!

Steve
 
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