# Smoked Shrimp & Sausage Corn Chowder: Q-View  Deluxe, Methods, Ingredients (major drool factor)



## forluvofsmoke (Jul 17, 2011)

Baby, it's way too hot in my outdoor kitchen for tending a charcoal fired dutch oven today. I wanted to revisit my DO recipe today (found HERE), but........................hey, wait a minute..................what about smoking it? *DONE!!!*

Let's build some chowder, shall we?
I mentioned _*ingredients*_ in the thread title only because there's so many variables to consider when making a chowder. As long as you have the basic ingredients on hand, toss in whatever else you please to make it suit your liking and/or pantry/fridge/freezer stock items. I strongly dislike making a trip to the store for items called for in a recipe when they are not an absalute necessity. Baking and curing/drying sausages/meats are times when you must follow the recipe to the letter, but this is not the case. That's why it's such a versitile dish. Oh, and did I mention it's very tasty and relatively easy? Well, continue reading and you can be the judge of that yourself...
This is a bit different than my original, but the basic idea remains the same, other than I'll be smoking this batch, and I went for an easier version with dried onion & garlic instead of fresh. And a bit less condensed milk in the liquids for the base...it seemed just a tad heavy the first time around, but very good overall.

***for a double batch with two half size 4" deep steam table pans...serves approx 20-24***

5 lbs gold potatoes (approx 12 cups, large diced)

6 lbs frozen corn

1/2 lb butter

4 cans evaporated milk

4 cups water

3/4 cup chopped dried onion

1/4 cup minced dried garlic

2 cans (small) chopped green chiles

2 lbs pork breakfast sausage

2 lb bag frozen, cooked & peeled, medium/large large shrimp (61-70 count per pound) ***begin fridge thawing the night before***
Onion, garlic and butter into stainless steel 4" deep half-size steam table pans...love these, btw, and need to get a few more:














I quartered the taters lengthwise, then sliced approx 3/8" thick into the measuring cup. I dumped 4 cups of taters into each pan and had two large ones left to cut up, so I split the difference, with one per pan...:













...along with the condensed milk, green chilies...:







...and frozen corn. I folded this altogether, then hit the Smoke Vault 24 @ 275*:






Into the smoke @ 2:00 pm mountain time. After about 20 minutes in @ 275*, the butter has melted and has surfaced, so it's heating through nicely already without stirring. I'll wait until about the first hour (give or take) to let it begin to simmer (I can view through the top vent of the smoker) and turn the temp down to 225-235* for a slow simmer. The, I'll get the sausage crumbled on grill trays and into the Vault shortly after for about an hour of smoke. Then, I'll dropthe sausaget into the pans along with the base ingredients. Shrimp will get a 15-20 minute smoke @ 225* about 30 minutes before chow...er, uh...chowder time, then, added to the mix:













 I was ready to catch a bit a flack from the wife when I carried this outside to teh smoker, cause I already said a dutch oven just was a bit more than I wanted to deal with in the heat today. She didn't give me the "you don't have to smoke everything, you know" line, so I figure I'm safe today...LOL!!!

Just a very, very light pecan/apple smoke going for this one.
Sausage is in @ 90 minutes (3:30 pm) with chamber temp of 225*...one pound per disposable aluminum grill tray (trays were part of a multiple item father's day gift...I guess the family likes my cooking if they're prodding me along with more and more gagets, gizmos and thing-a-ma-bobs. Heh, it's gotten to the point where they buy stuff just thinking "I bet Dad could use this"...anyway, today, I did use two of the 3 of these that came in the package...they wash right up with a nylon brush and hot soapy water for the next round, btw, so I won't toss 'em 'til they're destroyed:



















The pans are almost 2/3 full without the 2lbs each of sausage/shrimp which will be added to finish it all up:







An ever-tantilizing aroma from the pecan/apple smoke woods and slow cooking chowder is venting out the top end already...can't wait to try a bowl (or 3) of this.
2 hours, 15 minutes (45 minutes for the sausage)...color check of the pork...still needs a bit longer for mild browning...gotta have some more color in that chowder:







Chowder base is coming along nice and slow, with a slight bubbling on the surface...may need to give it a gentle stirring here in a bit...hmm, seems as if it's taking on a slightly darker color, possibly from the smoke?:







Left pan:







Right pan:






1 hour, 10 minutes for the sausage, and it looked good enough to eat, so we will...I worked them gently with a spatula, and most lifted off clean with just a cou7ple that wanted to hold on tight to the tray...nice tool for these small items, I will admit:













The chowder, after it's first stirring...gotta wait for a couple hours now to smoke the shrimp and drop 'em into the mix. BTW, the aromas of the chowder base are really coming together already...the corn, garlic, and a bit of onion, with a slight hint of the green chilies, all marrying up for a great meal later when the smoked shrimp hit the mix...going back into the smoke @ 250*:







Oh, I rotated the pans from left to right when I put them back in after stirring in the sausage in case I have uneven grate temps form side to side. Even in the SV24, two of the half size pans fills a grate space rather tightly, with less than an inch of gap from chamber wall to pan on all sides as you've already noticed, so it definitely can change the flow of heat and smoke throughout the smoke chamber. I could place the pans in  a sracked configuration as well, with a 4-8" gap between them, but there's a slight variance from top to bottom grate temps to consider then, too, so rotations would be in order no matter which route I go...it's a vertical smoker niche which I've seen on all three of mine, but is much easier to manage than grate temp variances with a horizontal.
4 hours in, and the weather is turning. Temp dropped from 102* to 92 at the 3 hour mark, and now I'm looking at 84* with a rise of relative humidity from 21% to 35%, so with the clouds moving in, there's got to be a storm getting ready to stomp on my parade. Unless a tornado comes of it, I have no worries, though. Carry on, my trusty smoker.
5 hours, 30 minutes in...it's time to smoke some shrimp...the chowder so far, untouoched since I added the sausage:



















The shrimp de-tailing detailing..(ha-ha!!!) is over, and they went in @ 7:30 pm for a ~8:15 pm dinner tonight. Remember, these are pre-cooked, so I only want to heat them through while they smoke, then drop 'em into the chowder just a few minutes before serving so they don't get too leathery and tough. Pre-cooked isn't the best choice, but it's available to me at an affordable price, by comparison. Hey, why is it that most every raw, frozen seafood is so high priced when you go inland? (fresh is un-thinkable, btw)

Into the Vault @ 225* (dropped it back a pinch again):
























6 hours in (30 for the shrimp), and the rest is history:































Toss it altogether one last time, and it's back in the smoke @ 250* for another 15 minutes to be certain the shrimp is heated through, then, let's dine, shall we?
















































OK, flavor and aromas are great, as you probably already know juast by looking over what went into this dish. A bit stronger garlic than the original DO recipe, and not quite as heavy either, so I pretty much nailed that part down. Smoke was light and a very good match all around. Liquids after the smoke cleared were just about dead on where I like it as well, with just a bit of free liquid among all the taters, sausage, corn and shrimp.

Wife said it's a masterpiece, and she's skeptical about somethings that I smoke (you don't need to smoke everything). Kids were filling their bellies with very little conversation while they ate, so, the absence of vocal cord excersize told me I had another hit for food to be more important than anything else...especially with 4 teens in the house...ha-ha!

Now, here's the part that confused me when I grabbed a tater for atexture check after the shrimp hit the chowder mix for 15 minutes: perfectly done taters...just enough time and temp to make it tender, yet not soft. You could mash them with some effort with a fork, but the chew is the same all the way through, no mush, no tough spots...what the heck did I do right this time??? Well, it's not like the first DO batch was a flop...it wasn't, just a _slight bit _aldente with the taters, if I recall...maybe 15 minutes longer over the fire with the DO would have put it in a picture perfect state. Today, I didn't even bother checking the taters until the time I specified that it would be ready, and nailed it...kind of makes me want to step back and take a breath while I ponder the possibilities of things to come...it can only get better, right? I digressed, but I do that alot...

Anyway, my confusion comes from using a rough guestimate on timing for the overall cooking of this dish today at a given temp...no calculations, no references, just some thought about the weight and depth as I plugged this recipe/method into the computer last night for note keeping. Crap, it can't be sheer luck, but I may need something more difficult to overcome again...I don't find taters that easy to cook for a dish like this...kinda like cooking rice, as there seems to be an art to it...but, that's just me.

It may have looked like I was pretty busy with this smoke, but I had plenty of leasure time to load and post pics and commentary along the way...a few minutes here and there after the taters were cut up and the pans went in, so, a nice, slow paced meal prep, just the way I like it most days. 

You know, it's a different way of putting together a rustic dish (not using a DO where it's due), but man, with the smoke? Oh, yeah...this is a redux, IMHO. I checked the fridge thinking we still had celery after I started putting it all together, but the celery was history, otherwise, we had everything on hand that I wanted for this dich...simple, and easy to do is a big plus for me, 'cuz I seem to find myself buried up to my neck in cooking projects most of the time, and can things can get crazily complicated and hold a frenzied-pace for the majority of the project. I can hold my own just fine in that environment which I create for myself, but it was nice to slow down and take it easy today.

I just finished my second bowl of chowder while reviewing before submitting, and you can stick a fork in me now, 'cause I'm done.

Been fun, all! ENJOY!!!

Eric


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## bmudd14474 (Jul 17, 2011)

Man o Man that is some good looking grub there. Great Job.


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## meateater (Jul 17, 2011)

Looks great ! I love them restaurant pans, easy peasy.


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## teeznuts (Jul 18, 2011)

Im drooling. Looks amazing!


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## SmokinAl (Jul 18, 2011)

That is a great recipe, Eric!

I've printed it & will definitely make it soon.

Thank-you


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## africanmeat (Jul 18, 2011)

Wow this is a great post Eric  thinking out of the box. looks like a great eat . i also printed  it and i will do it thanks


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## SmokinAl (Jul 18, 2011)

Eric, where did you get the grates that the sausage & shrimp are on?


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## Bearcarver (Jul 18, 2011)

Aww Man---Eric, You work entirely too hard, but it sure looks worth it, and we ALL appreciate the great tutorials and awesome pictures!!!

Thanks Buddy!

Bear


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## nwdave (Jul 18, 2011)

Once again, it's outta here, clear out of the park, folks.


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## roller (Jul 18, 2011)

Al you can get them at Walmart in the grilling section. Comes 3 to a pack and they are cheap. I use them all the time. They are great...


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## roller (Jul 18, 2011)

Man that does look great. If I was to eat that I would be dead before night fall...


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## SmokinAl (Jul 18, 2011)

We couldn't wait any longer.

I showed the photo's to Judy & she said lets make it now.  

I went to the store & got the ingredients & it's in the smoker as we speak.

Thanks again for the recipe.


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## fpnmf (Jul 18, 2011)

Awesome!!!!

I can see that getting made here too!!

  Thanks Eric!!

  Craig


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## forluvofsmoke (Jul 18, 2011)

Thanks, everyone!

This is mainly a revisit of the DO recipe, but I had to figure out a way to make it a bit easier, instead of tending the DO fire. The smoked version is definitely a unique dish, with that light, but deep smoky flavor we all love.

Hey Bear, after doing so many lengthy threads like this, it's a snap...not hard work at all for me. I did run into some post image/preview issues along the way...haven't seen that for awhile now, but there were a few tense moments when the gray screen stayed green...LOL!!! I'm using the old tricks just in case so I don't loose much if it does happen.

Overall, the prep and smoke for this dish was one of the easiest I've done for quite awhile, and that in itself will have me wanting to try it this way again soon...well, that, and it the eating is just too good to not want to do it again. I've done more than a few smokes that are great, but were also very labor intensive...not the best route to go if I'm having a lazy day...ha-ha!!!

Al, Roller gotcha covered...these were Mainstays brand, so wally-world's the place. I'm sure there are other retailers who sell them, I just don't get out much to look around. I spend most of my free time here...or cooking...LOL!!! Heck, our departed old smokin' buddy RonP used these trays for wrapping around his unstuffed salami to smoke it...seemed to work great, and now that I have a couple of them, I'll use them for that purpose myself, as well as many others, I'm sure. The possibilities are nearly endless on what they could be used for.

Hey Roller, you can always sub the shrimp with something else...even finned fish. Lots of folks can't eat shell-fish, but take crab salad for example: the imitation crab (can't remember the species, but it's a finned fish) isn't too bad if it's prepared with a good recipe.

Thanks again, all!

Eric


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## SmokinAl (Jul 18, 2011)

Roller said:


> Al you can get them at Walmart in the grilling section. Comes 3 to a pack and they are cheap. I use them all the time. They are great...




Thanks Roller, I checked Walmart today & they didn't have them. I also checked their website & couldn't find them there either. What is the brand name?


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## alaskanbear (Jul 18, 2011)

OH MY F--n Gawd!!  I am speechless!!







Rich


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## forluvofsmoke (Jul 18, 2011)

Al, the one's I used here are Mainstays brand, which is a walmart exclusive, I think.

There should be something similar at HD or hardware stores that sell grills, Hmm, I just checked HD's site...nothing like it listed.

Here's one at Ace Hardware...it's different though, a single chrome plated steel grill topper, instead of 3 count of aluminum : HERE

I'm not sure what's up with Hardware Hanks site...searched for grill topper...nothing...web catalog doesn/t show up for me to look at their listed items...

Hope you can find some of these. Now that I have them, I don't how I would have managed some of my smokes without them, other than with the jerky grate for my smoke vault.

Eric


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## SmokinAl (Jul 18, 2011)

forluvofsmoke said:


> Al, the one's I used here are Mainstays brand, which is a walmart exclusive, I think.
> 
> There should be something similar at HD or hardware stores that sell grills, Hmm, I just checked HD's site...nothing like it listed.
> 
> ...


Thanks Eric, I have been all over the internet & can't find them. If I do I will buy a gross of them.


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## SmokinAl (Jul 18, 2011)

Update I found them at the Avon Park Walmart ( according to the internet ) & will check it out tomorrow. Thanks again Eric!


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## masterofmymeat (Jul 18, 2011)

My wife is crazy over corn chowder, thanks Eric, I see myself being a hero

later on with this recipe, Thank you, awesome post.


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## gros cochon (Jul 18, 2011)

It looks very good. Thanks for sharing the recipe, I will try it for sure.


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## boykjo (Jul 18, 2011)

awesome............................


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## bigeyedavid (Jul 19, 2011)

Great Q-VIEW that looks amazing i cant stop drooling


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## austinl (Jul 27, 2011)

Great minds smoke outside the box.


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## theory (Jul 27, 2011)

Looks great, and I'm going to try this one!


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## grohl4pres (Sep 4, 2011)

Looks outstanding.  This is something I will be trying shortly.


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## thebarbequeen (Sep 4, 2011)

hadn't seen this post earlier - Who woulda thought you could make this recipe even better???  Incredible!!


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## forluvofsmoke (Sep 5, 2011)

TheBarbeQueen said:


> hadn't seen this post earlier - Who woulda thought you could make this recipe even better???  Incredible!!



Ha-ha!!! I thought you'd like this one.

Thanks, everyone! You really do owe it to yourself (and your family/friends) to try this. Just remember, there are a ton of extra personal touches you can put into this dish...just use what you like and it will be great eats.

If you prefer a stove-top/dutch oven method without smoke, I posted that in the DO forum.

Enjoy! We sure did!

Eric


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## ejbreeze (Sep 9, 2011)

This recipe is over the top.  Do you think something close would work for a seafood chowder?


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## forluvofsmoke (Sep 9, 2011)

Ejbreeze said:


> This recipe is over the top.  Do you think something close would work for a seafood chowder?


Thanks,

yeah, this is, for the most part, a base recipe. It would be great wih any seafood, with or without the sausage. The sausage does add a bit of salt and that pork flavor and chew. Add some celery, scallions, chives, pieces of lobster, crab, clam, maybe some firm-fleshed finned fish (don't know which would be best), whole oysters, whole scallops, or whatever else you're into. If you wanted to move away from the emphasis of the corn chowder to more of a seafood chowder, omit the corn, add additional potatoes, and take up the rest of the volume with seafood. That would make for a very rich and delicious dish, indeed.
 

I would consider some additional seasonings if alot of seafood is used, especially with some of the stronger flavored items which may not sit the best among milder flavored items...hmm, I'd have to think it over for a minute, but parsley would definitely come to mind, a bit of thyme, possibly rosemary...just thinking of the basics here, and keeping the flavor simple...oh, crumbled bacon...don't forget the bacon! Ha-ha-ha!

With a little imagination, you can take chowders to soaring heights regarding flavors, varying textures and colors, so, have fun with it!

Enjoy!

Eric


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## ejbreeze (Sep 9, 2011)

Okay my mind will be thinking about this all night.  Clam juice is a must.


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## moikel (Sep 9, 2011)

Great looking meal,hotel pans a stroke of genius .


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