Thread: Sausage and Smoke Cooking

Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

. Any other secret ingredients you guys can think of adding?

]

Most secret recipes I have seen or heard say to add a little LOVE!

Originally Posted by 32t

Most secret recipes I have seen or heard say to add a little LOVE!

AWWWW Love schmove, I like me some MSG,

Originally Posted by spazola

AWWWW Love schmove, I like me some MSG,

Any thing to up the Umami.

Roy, sometimes the probes location makes a huge difference in the readings. My thought is, your chamber is in the 185f range. Looks like your probes are right near the top of your plate. Not the most accurate place in my opinion. But that would explain why they are reading that way. Now their site says +/- 20 so your temps were in their range of "float". Brother, when cooking with wood/pellets, temps will vary and we just do our best to hold the range we want.

Any grill/smoker has many different heat zones, in your seasoning did you notice the probe side cooking hotter?

I haven't 'seasoned' the grill as it's porcelin coated rods.

As I posted I was surprised at how close the factory probe and my ThermoTemp probe were given that the factory probe is much higher up. I'm thinking that due to the fan constantly moving air that's what makes the readings close.

Anyway as I predicted the salmon warmed perfectly was a huge hit. I've got a whole chicken in a brine of 1/4 cup plain salt and 1/4 cup white sugar in a gallon of water and I'll be baking/roasting it later today.

Happy Easter All!

Guess what landed at my buddy Ski's place while I was out of town and I picked up earlier today ---------------------------
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Originally Posted by cudarunner

After a lot of consideration I decided to give my big guy a companion--
https://sharprazorpalace.com/plate-g...ml#post1745750

It ate up 100% of my tax refund plus++$'s $'s----------I did ask around about whether or not it was worth the funds and was told YES. Thanks guys--

Attachment 305779
So it's unpacked and fully assembled. The destructions were quite detailed but one thing really didn't sit right with me--after getting the unit to work and start smoking I was to put the heat diffuser and the drip tray along with the porcelain grate back in and then re-fire it up to High to 'Season it'--well the diffuser and the drip tray were coated with oil so being the anal guy I can be and since the diffuser and drip tray were Stainless Stll--I put the grate, diffuser and the drip tray in the dishwasher to clean them before 'seasoning'.

Here's my new unit a Traeger Eastwood 22--

Attachment 305780

While it has it's own readout for the temp inside it does have an access to put your own probes in so I did. I found them close--very close.

Attachment 305781

I found it surprising as the picture will show you how different the probe locations are--(with that said since it uses a fan it's kind of a 'convection' cooker so that may account for the closeness of the readings.

Attachment 305782

There are things going on in my life that will probably prevent me from test cooking with the new unit for now but I'll be sure to post some pics when I can do a bit of playing with it.

A lot of traditionalists have a problem with electric. I don't. And if you plan on doing cold smoking or any other sausage/charcuterie cooking with it, you need some precision. I wouldn't expect perfection on the temp controls. My Bradley has always been way off. I keep a separate probe inside along with the Bradley probe. Between the two I can tweak the settings to hit the temp I want it at. Nice unit. Now you'll discover how Mother Nature hates smoking. She plans a storm every time I plan to smoke. And electric units don't care much for rain.

Those that know me well know that I like to play--especially with new toys.

I decided to see how the Traeger would work for baking.

I thawed three Rhodes dough balls, then let them warm just a bit then cut them into quarters and once they were pliable I rolled the quarters into balls and placed them into an oiled cast iron muffin pan.



When they were almost done rising I turned the Traeger on to Smoke and once it was smoking I raised the temp to 350 degs. I found that the unit stays much closer to the higher temp than at the Smoke setting. It only fluctuated about 10 degs up and down and that was according to both probes.

Here's the result after about 25-30 minutes:



Ok, I was very pleased with the result of that bit of playing. So I turned the unit to the Shut Down Cycle which stopped the supply of pellets but keeps the heating rod red hot and the fan going to clean out the remaining pellets in the burner. It shuts off automatically after 10 minutes.

I'd picked up a whole chicken to see how it would cook. I brined it in a gallon of water with 1/4 cup plain salt and 1/4 cup white sugar for several hours. Once I had it rinsed and dried I seasoned it inside and out then trussed it so it would hold a nice shape.


Again I got the unit going at the Smoke setting then raised the temp--I cooked it at the 300 deg setting and again it held temp + or - 10 degs. I cooked till the thigh was 165 degs then wrapped the bird in foil and an old towel to rest while I cooked some apple slices in butter and pure maple syrup to go go with some canned baked beans.



I was very pleased with all of the results. The bread didn't taste 'smokey' and the chicken was done throughout, it was very moist and tender.

I'd call this a successful day of playing here at The Boars Nest.

Good on ya, Roy! What "flavor" pellets did you use for the chicken? Same for the rolls?

I've never used anything other than Treager-brand pellets, and it's hard for
me to tell the difference between the various smoke flavors. There are
differences, but they are very subtle.

I'm wondering how to get a more pronounced, say, hickory...or apple...flavor.
Treager insists that we use only their pellets, or the warranty is voided.
Never mind the warranty, I just don't want to damage the thing.

Any suggestions?

We've used our Traeger for 3 years now, and we've cooked just about
everything in it.... burgers, sausages, steaks, fish, chicken, ribs, roasts,
veggies, even a 16lb Thanksgiving turkey, and all the results were delightful.
But we've never tried any sort of bread baking.

I think I'll give cornbread a go next weekend.

By the way, I've found that the temperature regulation fluctuates at the
HIGH end as well as the SMOKE end of the range. Outside air temperature
makes a difference, as well as wind. Mid-range, calm day, and the
temperature is pretty much on the money every time.

Thanks my friend,

I used Apple Pellets for both the rolls and chicken. I'd been using it as a sawdust for my big smoker/I'd tried using it with the pellets intact but that didn't work worth a Tinker's Dam.

I used Bear Mountain pellets. They sell for $9.99 regular price for the 20 lb bag but they run them on sale once in awhile for $1-$2's off. I just double checked and my 3 year warranty doesn't mention anything about the warranty being voided by using non Traeger pellets. I can't imagine how non Traeger pellets could possibly ruin the unit. They all are pretty much the same. Wood a mold to form the pellets and extreme pressure to compress everything. A little water on those Bear Mountain pellets and they start crumbling apart.

While I just got this unit, if it works like other 'smokers' that I've owned and used extensively, I think that by keeping the 'Smoke Setting' for longer periods of time would produce the heavier smoke flavor.

I only tried the Apple on OCD's thoughts about it having a 'sweeter taste' than my go to Hickory that I've used for over 30 years.

About your cornbread. While I couldn't preheat the cast iron muffin pan due to the nature of the bread. If you have a cast iron pan to cook the cornbread batter in be sure to put it in the Traeger when you turn it up to high and let it preheat. Then when you're ready to bake, take the batter outside, remove the pan and quickly spray it well with some oil/OR wipe it with a rag or paper towel with some Crisco or grease of your choice and quickly pour the batter in the pan and put it in the Traeger.

Also make sure that all 'wet' ingredients are at room temp before you make the batter. That will help to keep the heat of the pan up so you get that wonderful crunchy bottom and sides.

I look forward to not only hearing about how it goes but hoping to see some pics also--hint-hint-hint