Pellet Grill/Smoker

Chdamn said:
Anyone who doesn’t have one of these things really needs to get one. I am an absolute traditionalist when it comes to smoking. So I wouldn’t define what these do as smoking. I mean they do but the old school way of shoveling hickory coals under a hog all night creates a flavor you cannot replicate with these.

But that said these things are just so damn easy to use. It’s like having a second, outdoor oven that also imparts an adequate Smokey flavor to your choice of meat.

I never smoke this much. Once or twice a year usually. Just because of the time and effort involved.

So on tonight’s menu is beer can chicken. I forgot to get a picture of the “can” before I plopped the chicken on it. But my dad made these up a few years ago. A stainless pipe welded to a stainless plate. Fill it with beer of choice.

Tonight I used the bourbon stout in the picture. Then I made an injection of melted butter, garlic salt, lemon juice, Texas Pete and a little of the beer as well.

Poured what was left of the injection on the outside of the chicken then coated liberally with garlic salt, Cajun and chimichurri seasoning.

Hey, I remembered to get pictures tonight.

View attachment 293664

View attachment 293665

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It looks like senora chicken is giving the thumbs up.

Going to let her smoke for about an hour and a half at 225 and then turn the temp up to 350 for about 20 minutes.
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My girlfriends oven died a couple months ago and we’ve been waiting on the new one. Been using the Traeger pretty much nightly ever since and now that I have the new oven I’ve been putting off installing it since we’ve enjoyed it so much...
 
I cooked a chuck roast on my pit boss yesterday. I have grown tired of eating crock pot roast beef and wanted to try something new. Will definitely do it again. 4A3AA2C6-4A55-4F77-9C28-E59114305DAF.jpeg
 
Chdamn said:
Anyone who doesn’t have one of these things really needs to get one. I am an absolute traditionalist when it comes to smoking. So I wouldn’t define what these do as smoking. I mean they do but the old school way of shoveling hickory coals under a hog all night creates a flavor you cannot replicate with these.

But that said these things are just so damn easy to use. It’s like having a second, outdoor oven that also imparts an adequate Smokey flavor to your choice of meat.

I never smoke this much. Once or twice a year usually. Just because of the time and effort involved.

So on tonight’s menu is beer can chicken. I forgot to get a picture of the “can” before I plopped the chicken on it. But my dad made these up a few years ago. A stainless pipe welded to a stainless plate. Fill it with beer of choice.

Tonight I used the bourbon stout in the picture. Then I made an injection of melted butter, garlic salt, lemon juice, Texas Pete and a little of the beer as well.

Poured what was left of the injection on the outside of the chicken then coated liberally with garlic salt, Cajun and chimichurri seasoning.

Hey, I remembered to get pictures tonight.

View attachment 293664

View attachment 293665

View attachment 293666

It looks like senora chicken is giving the thumbs up.

Going to let her smoke for about an hour and a half at 225 and then turn the temp up to 350 for about 20 minutes.
Click to expand...

How did the skin turn out?
Ive done two on mine but never got a good brown crunchy skin like I used to on the Weber.
 
draco88 said:
How did the skin turn out?
Ive done two on mine but never got a good brown crunchy skin like I used to on the Weber.
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I’m having a hard time getting it right. I can get it to brown and get hard but not crispy if that makes sense. The flavor is still good but the texture isn’t perfect.

I didn’t post a picture of the final result because I also screwed up the timing of the cook. I guess I’ll be buying a meat thermometer soon.
 
Chdamn said:
I’m having a hard time getting it right. I can get it to brown and get hard but not crispy if that makes sense. The flavor is still good but the texture isn’t perfect.

I didn’t post a picture of the final result because I also screwed up the timing of the cook. I guess I’ll be buying a meat thermometer soon.
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Makes sense.
Ive gotten crispy but not brown doing 300* straight through and brown no crisp using temps similar to yours.
Next one I do, Im gonna run at 350 the whole way and see what that does. If I dont get better results, I'll just jump back to the Weber.
BC Chicken is the only thing Im having difficulty getting the way I want off the pellet.
 
Winn10 said:
@Chdamn @draco88

Try spraying the skin with cooking spray and dont cook under 300°

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Someone else told me that and I actually did use cooking spray this last time.
This was the 300* cook I referenced. Hit 165 in the breasts and 175 in the thighs. Super juicy, slightly crisp skin, no real color to it.
 
draco88 said:
Someone else told me that and I actually did use cooking spray this last time.
This was the 300* cook I referenced. Hit 165 in the breasts and 175 in the thighs. Super juicy, slightly crisp skin, no real color to it.
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A good smoked, sweet, or hot paprika should fix that pale color

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Winn10 said:
A good smoked, sweet, or hot paprika should fix that pale color

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I should clarify....the problem is more along the lines of the skin not getting crisp and browning up like a chicken skin is supposed to. Paprika will definitely change the color, but if the skin isnt crisp, noone is going to eat it. It will also change the flavor of my go to rub.

Just for reference, this is my go to rub. We love the flavor and it puts fantastic color on lots of stuff, but will overpower a bird. We have to use it sparingly, so I need the skin to get crispy and browned kinda 'between' the rub particles. Browned is the "no real color" I was referring to earlier. I had hoped the cooking spray would do it, but it didnt.

We have no problem with getting crispy skin and good coloring on my charcoal grill, probably because it runs at about 400*. Im going to try it one more time at 350* straight through on the pellet. If I dont get the results Im loking for, I'll just go back to charcoal for these.


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@draco88 I have been experimenting a lot with this issue. Running a higher temperature will help. I also threw the chicken on as the pellet was warming up and smokey to get more smoke flavor into the chicken. That worked pretty well. I’ve also smoked the chicken at 180 and then cranked to 400 to finish. Haven’t perfected the time and temps on that yet. Last cook I kind of cheated. I smoked the chicken in the pellet grill at 220 and then carted it indoors and threw it in my new Air Fryer oven to crisp up the skin. That worked.
 
Winn10 said:
Ahh......gotcha. i understood it as crispy and pale
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No worries. I misunderstand stuff on here all the time lol

CZfool68 said:
@draco88 I have been experimenting a lot with this issue. Running a higher temperature will help. I also threw the chicken on as the pellet was warming up and smokey to get more smoke flavor into the chicken. That worked pretty well. I’ve also smoked the chicken at 180 and then cranked to 400 to finish. Haven’t perfected the time and temps on that yet. Last cook I kind of cheated. I smoked the chicken in the pellet grill at 220 and then carted it indoors and threw it in my new Air Fryer oven to crisp up the skin. That worked.
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Throw it on during warm up....that sounds like a stellar idea. Should grab a ton of smoke.
If I combine that with upping the temp to 350, I might get what Im after.
 
Chdamn said:
I didn’t post a picture of the final result because I also screwed up the timing of the cook. I guess I’ll be buying a meat thermometer soon.
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The guys on Texas BBQ forum recommend one when I mentioned over coming a beer can chicken. They said best money you'll spend. I don't remember the brand but I'll find out and message you.
 
draco88 said:
No worries. I misunderstand stuff on here all the time lol



Throw it on during warm up....that sounds like a stellar idea. Should grab a ton of smoke.
If I combine that with upping the temp to 350, I might get what Im after.
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Easy when you get smoke on warm up. Be sure the "cup" is clean. Vacuum it out. If there are unburnt pellets that smoldered, it will put out bitter smoke at first.
 
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@Chdamn i checked the TX BBQ forum. What they recommended was a “Therma Pen“, not to be confused with thermo pen like I see on Amazon.

Here’s a link to the real deal: https://www.thermoworks.com/shop/products/Thermapens

Honestly, I’m not sure I’m convinced at about $100. I’d at least expect a Bluetooth app. However, that is what they recommended. I suppose if the difference is between $70 and $100 it may be worth trying.
 
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noway2 said:
@Chdamn i checked the TX BBQ forum. What they recommended was a “Therma Pen“, not to be confused with thermo pen like I see on Amazon.

Here’s a link to the real deal: https://www.thermoworks.com/shop/products/Thermapens

Honestly, I’m not sure I’m convinced at about $100. I’d at least expect a Bluetooth app. However, that is what they recommended. I suppose if the difference is between $70 and $100 it may be worth trying.
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All of Thermoworks stuff is good to go.
If you want a cheaper route to the Thermopen, the ThermoPop or Dash are just as good, just a slightly slower (2-3 seconds longer) read time.
 
NCMedic said:
All of Thermoworks stuff is good to go.
If you want a cheaper route to the Thermopen, the ThermoPop or Dash are just as good, just a slightly slower (2-3 seconds longer) read time.
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Truth. I have a Thermopop for the cabin and home. They work fine. I’ve also got a Javelin that was a gift from my BIL. That works fine too.
 
Ok, I’m just going to go ahead and post this for the geek squad out there : https://www.ti.com/lit/an/sbaa275/sbaa275.pdf

its a write up about platinum RTDs and the A2D conversion, etc. involving the accuracy, etc. I am sure it would be fascinating reading if I were not inebriated and for others, I’m sure you would need to be inebriated to understand it. However, just looking at the charts, you can see the %error in a PT100 which I would assume is the minimum they’d use in a decent sensor and it’s no wonder they’re off.
 
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I have not I use 20210207_154351.jpgbut your just building heat with a little smoke. I'm sure they will turn out great
 
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