Thread: Sausage and Smoke Cooking

It's a deal, Roy. I have one cast iron wedge pan and another flat cake pan.
I'll try both formats and see how it goes. Cornbread is a favorite around here.

So is cornmeal mush. I made a big batch the other morning, but everyone
dashed out without breakfast, so there was a pot full of left-over. So, I tried one
of my grandmother's tricks:

Make a roll (about 4" thick) with waxed paper and twist the ends shut. Put the
roll in the refrigerator. Next morning, open up the roll (the mush holds together),
and cut into 1" slices. Fry the slices in butter, and serve with maple syrup.

A little bacon on the side never hurts, either.

Looking forward to hearing and seeing how it goes.

Your grandmother must have either been Italian or knew some Italian's as that's exactly how I've been served 'Polenta' but after frying it was served with a red sauce with meat and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

I have also made my regular recipe for cornbread but thinned it out a bit and made 'Corncakes' instead of serving 'Pancakes' and served as you did.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Looking forward to hearing and seeing how it goes.

Your grandmother must have either been Italian or knew some Italian's as that's exactly how I've been served 'Polenta' but after frying it was served with a red sauce with meat and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

I have also made my regular recipe for cornbread but thinned it out a bit and made 'Corncakes' instead of serving 'Pancakes' and served as you did.

I always keep a roll of polenta in the fridge as a quick go-to base to replace pasta when I don’t feel like steaming up the kitchen boiling water. It also tastes great coated with good olive oil and grilled on the bbq. Crispy on the outside and creamy in the centre.

First and Foremost, I know that this Will Not be the Real Deal. But I want to play a bit before committing to an actual brisket. What I'm trying to simulate is the 'Burnt Ends'.

I failed to take pictures before I put the rub on to show the marbling in the boneless chuck roast. However here's the chuck with the rub on it.



I'll try to take some pics as it goes along.

Well, it looks good for the start Roy.


Bit 15+ hours after the picture and either the stall was epically long...............or you got done, ate and well, that was that

Originally Posted by Dieseld

Well, it looks good for the start Roy.


Bit 15+ hours after the picture and either the stall was epically long...............or you got done, ate and well, that was that

God's honest truth is that after I got the dish done and ate, it was all I could do to get the leftovers put away, the unit covered and get between the sheets before I went to sleep.

I did get some more pics taken but not after they'd simmered in the BBQ sauce--

Quick peek after about an hour--



After about 4-5 hours and the internal temp was 185 degs:



Well Dave/Tc--whatcha tink?

Damn, would you look at that smoke ring?! I can taste it from here! Roy, I've been working up to a brisket for a while now; long overdue-one of these weekends here real soon; takes about an hour a pound on my Arkorn the way I do it. Enjoy that Traeger. I'm kinda interested to know how the food compares to a more old-school smoker?

looking good, like dave said temps vary as the fan kicks in and pellets are fed. and as you know the temp gauge does not read in small increments,, its 25 degrees between ,, if i want 250 then i use 250,, but if im looking for 210 i,m going to be at 225. what matters the most is watch that meats internal,, 185 is good,, myself i would have got her off the grill at 170, if you were making burn ins they go back on, so i stop around 150=160 they cut up and sauce in the pan and back on the grill the smoke ring is looking great. also, seasoning a grill is not all about the grates its the whole inside of the grill, the grill we have out on the location is so well seasoned and never over cooked that it imparts flavor that hard to match, if the works go well buy parts and keep the drum. my Traeger i bought had several packages of bacon smoke on it, its the fat and i doused them in lots of seasoning, it wasnt for eating, just getting the grill right

as to the chicken its a great seasoner too, cause of the grease sweat going on in the grill. and if you havent noticed no more flare ups! cook chicken with no worries, same thing for burgers, this grill really woke me up, and by the way its not an elctric grill, its still using wood, only electric feeds the pellets and runs the fan after it ignites the pellets, the smoke is so consistent you just cant knock it. and remember i,m a traditionalist, ive been in the world championship bbq in memphis several times, but i love it, plus they let you use pellet cookers now cause its still wood fire

So far and the best I can tell, the food is very comparable as far as flavor, tenderness and moistness.

With that said, I've never cooked a roast in any of the smokers that I've had so this was virgin territory.

My neighbor across the street recently had a problem with his car and was going to take it to a shop. I saw he was home and I went over to see what the shop had said it was and low and behold he'd bought the Craftsman copycat of the Traeger so I helped him get it put together and going. While there were a few differences in things like the wheels, smokestack location and such it was damn near like the Traeger Pro as it had the two plug ins for probes, an evacuation door to change out pellets etc.

Even the instructions for the first firing and break in were almost word for word with what came with mine.

He stumbled upon it when he'd gone in to see if they had belts for his lawn tractor. It was about $500 regular price but they had them marked down 50%. While it was burning off the manufacturing oil I had a couple of beers while he enjoyed some Rum and Coke.

My only concern with the copy cat would be with replacement parts and customer service---------------

My only complaint about our Traeger is that we have to dismantle
the "Hot section" and vacuum out the ashes quite frequently. It's
good for about 2 cooking sessions, but after that the fan starts
blowing ashes all over everything.

Small price to pay, I suppose, but it is a nuisance.