SMOKED BOLOGNA BABY

The label is scary and a little bit creepy. Is this bologna made for babies or just called baby for its size? We are not sure and there is not a whole lot of information about this product. Bologna is only a distant memory from grade school sandwiches. If memory serves me correctly I was not a big fan back then. This will be a challenge because I am not sure what good bologna tastes like. Today, we are going to season and smoke our 'Bologna Baby' on the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. Is there such thing as a good tasting bologna? We shall see.

The scary wrapper was removed. The meat tube revealed was as pale as a babies behind. (So sorry, I could not resist.) We scored the sausage and applied a spicy rub. The smoker was fueled with hickory wood for flavor. The bologna was smoked for about an hour and one half. This allowed enough time for the smoke to gently kiss the surface and heat the bologna through. You may notice in the image we also made some bacon wrapped cream cheese filled jalapeno poppers. (ABT's). The rendering bacon added a little extra love to our Bologna Baby. Well, here comes the million dollar question; how did it taste?

This tasted like a very mild hot dog. The rub added a spicy element that was a welcome addition to this bland meat. Smoke was present coaxing some much needed flavor. The texture was soft like the bologna I remember. Was it good? Let's just say it was not bad. If you are a fan of bologna maybe this is for you. This was a one time adventure that we wanted to share with you. I have a lot of smoked balogna leftover and really have no desire for a sandwich. Oh well.

SPRING CLEANING

The weather has been unusually warm for these winter months. The bright skies and warm sunshine has motivated me to do a periodical maintenance to one of my favorite smokers. This beauty is made of heavy gauge steel. It is painted with heat resistant paint. Every couple of years the paint will fade and a little surface rust will appear. This does not affect the performance of this old faithful cooker. If left unattended the rust could take over but hopefully this will never happen. All it takes is motivation and a little elbow grease to return this barbeque to showroom quality.

A power drill, wire brush bit, emery cloth and heat resistant paint will transform this pit to its former glory. The power drill with its wire brush will make quick work of removing old paint and surface rust. Emery cloth will be used to finish the surface. A thorough cleaning of the surface with a damp cloth and we are ready to paint. Point & shoot with your spray can, it could not be easier.

A test fire will be built to cure the paint. A chimney full of charcoal was lit. Once the coals were glowing they were placed in the pit and left to do their magic. We now have a good as new bbq pit. It is ready to create mouth watering meals. This beef roast was the proof of the pudding.

CORNED BEEF SMOKED

Technically speaking what we are cooking today is pastrami. We prefer to call it smoked corned beef. No matter how you slice it, it will be smoky delicious. A brisket has been soaking in a tub of brine for the last five days. The sixth day we replaced the brine with clear cold water. The water was changed several times during the day to purge the excess salt from our slab of meat. This step was optional but we like a less salty finish. The cured brisket was put in the refrigerator over night to form a pellicle. This is a necessary step for the meat to accept the smoke in the cooker. The meat was smoked for 8 hours at 250 degrees. We pulled it out of the smoker when the internal temperature was 180 degrees. It was wrapped in foil and left to rest for two hours in an insulated cooler. Is it dinner time yet?

All that was left to do is slice and serve. Cole slaw, asparagus, and artichokes would accompany this beautiful pastrami/smoked corned beef. Tender with a kiss of smoke was the verdict for this St. Patrick’s Day. This seven day process was worth the effort. One of the best parts will be the sandwiches for the following week. Have a great pastrami day!

TIMBER CREEK MESQUITE WOOD SMOKING TRAY

While cruising through the ‘Outdoor Section’ of a large chain discount store, I happened upon the ‘Timber Creek Mesquite Wood Smoking Tray. Why was I cruising through a large chain discount store? Do not ask. These trays were very inexpensive so I picked up a half dozen for research purposes. I went to Timber Creek’s website and found operating instructions and several recipes that sounded pretty good.


These trays are simple in design and use. Two aluminum trays with mesquite wood pellets sandwiched between the layers. Some holes are punched along the seam to allow smoke to escape when heat is applied. The instructions recommend using 70 or more lit charcoals for a heat source. The also recommend a covered barbeque or use some aluminum foil to cover and retain the smoke.


First up on the grill was some bacon wrapped Asparagus. The bacon was par-cooked and wrapped around several spears. Lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper and a dusting of parmesan cheese was placed on the Asparagus. Some carrots were used as a makeshift trivet. This packet was put on the fire and covered. Fifteen minutes later smoky bacon wrapped asparagus emerged.


A salsa was next up to the fire. This was cooked for 20 minutes. It was cooled and blended with cilantro, salt, sugar and a little lime juice. This was just what the doctor ordered. The smoke was not overpowering but very pleasant.

Last but not least some flap steak and fajita fixings were put to the test. I was a little disappointed because of the lack of carmelization and grill marks that a hot grate can deliver. The website did recommend searing your meat on the grill to start. I guess I did not read that part.


Timber Creek Mesquite Wood Smoking Tray’s are convenient. Just toss the pan when done. I think this would be great for a picnic. They do use way to much fuel. I can cook and smoke the same amount of food with half the amount of recommended charcoal. I would recommend these pans if you are not familiar with smoking techniques. They are inexpensive and very convienient.

Timber Creek Mesquite Wood Smoking Tray

RED OAK

Santa Maria style barbeque is a cooking style that is unique and famous for grilling over coals of red oak wood. Red oak is a fragrant wood that imparts its own special flavor. Tri-tip is usually the meat of choice for this style of barbeque. We have acquired some chunks of red oak from ‘John’s Wood’ and a tri-tip from the ‘U.C. Davis Meat Lab’. We will give our version of this cooking style. Traditionally a fire of red oak wood is burned down to coals. Charcoal and red oak chunks will replicate this process. A medium charcoal fire was built and the wood chunks were placed on top. The grill cover was used to keep the wood from burning.

Our trip-tip was marinated in our special rub for several hours. A mixed grill of home grown delicata, gray zucchini squash and marinated portabella mushrooms will be a good canvas for the smoke of the red oak. The smoke from the red oak has a beautiful bouquet of sweet smelling smoke. This is my kind of air freshener. In no time at all we had a Santa Maria meal to enjoy. We threw in an artichoke and enjoyed a meal flavored with sweet red oak smoke. I think they are on to something in Santa Maria.

JOHN’S WOOD

In search of chocolate covered bacon was our quest at the Zucchini Festival in Hayward California. Yes, there was deep fried zucchini but no bacon. We did happen across ‘John’s Wood’ booth. This was a barbeque smoker’s bonanza find. John has multiple varieties of woods for smoking purposes. Alder, pecan, apple, mesquite, cherry, peach are some of the woods for sale.

Apple wood was our selection. A large shopping bag full of small chunks of wood was filled for the paltry sum of six smackeroos. ‘John’s Wood’ is a resource that will be great for our future smoking materials. No chocolate covered bacon today but a great find for smoking woods.

John’s Wood
510 317-0230

BACKYARD COMPETITION

“Let the games begin”. It is the dawning of a new age of smoking at Mad Meat Genius. We had an inaugural run with the new Weber Smokey Mountain cooker. This is a barbeque smoking tool that Ms. Goofy has laid her paws on to claim. Some baby back ribs and some chicken thighs were cooked in the name of science and good eats. We set up two WSM’s in competition mode. They were set up side by side separated only by the controlling ‘Stoker’ unit.. Only Ms. Goofy’s smoker will be used today because this is a trial run only.

Both meats were prepared for smoking. The rib membrane was removed from the rack and rubbed with Harry Soo’s secret preparation. The chicken was trimmed and rubbed with a good commercial rub. The smoker was lit using the minion method. Hickory wood was the smoking material. The pit temperature was set and the ribs went on first. The ribs were smoked for three hours and checked. They were removed, wrapped and seasoned with some additional items. The wrapped packet went back on the grill for another hour. We cannot reveal all of our techniques but they were learned at Harry Soo’s class.

The chicken thighs went on the smoker the last two hours. They turned a beautiful mahogany color. The smell was very intoxicating. Once the internal temperature of the chicken reached 170 degrees a commercial barbeque sauce was lightly applied. A few more minutes and everything was removed from the smoker.

The ribs were removed from there tin foil sauna and a barbeque sauce was sparingly applied. Ms. Goofy began to cry or maybe that was me because this first batch of meat looked and smelled so good. The ribs were perfectly cooked. When you bit into the rib the meat easily pulled away from the bone and left the perfect bite mark. The smoke flavor was present but not overpowering. The sauces and rubs were used with restraint to let the meat flavors shine through. The chicken skin was crispy and the meat, oh so ever tender. This was a victorious day at the Mad Meat Genius competition grounds. We look forward to many more contests to come.

WEBER SMOKEY MOUNTAIN

It is the dawn of a new smoking era. After taking Harry Soo’s barbeque class we have found  new inspiration. We have new cooking knowledge and techniques to practice. Ms. Goofy suggested we get another smoker. We have had a lot of success with the Weber Smokey Mountain model. It is a very popular smoker that is used in bbq competition. They have upgraded and made some improvements to the original design. Ms. Goofy claimed that this smoker would be hers and she would put it to use and out cook me any day of the week.

It almost seemed like Christmas with the anticipation of our delivery to come. Normally the UPS man comes late in the day. I had to pull some strings and use some connections for an early afternoon delivery. We could hear the truck roar up the hill. Christmas in July is a wonderful thing. The truck had not even pulled away for Ms. Goofy to tear open this package. In no time at all she had it together.

We are looking forward to our backyard competitions. You may ask: Why two smokers? Well, to cook all four meat categories of chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder and brisket you would need the extra smoker. Our maiden voyage will be with chicken and ribs. I think we are going to have to invite you over to help us eat and judge our competitions. “Come on over!”

FLAVORWOOD

“Fumee Aromatisante Pour Bar-B-Q” What does it mean? I have no idea, but it sounds impressive on the label of our ‘Flavorwood Bar-B-Q Grilling Smoke” natural compressed wood canisters. The good people at ‘Camerons Products’ sent me a couple samples of this smoking wood in a can for our barbeque. This product is a small can filled with specific woods for smoking on your grill. Place this can on a heat source and smoke will fill your cooking vessel. This package had three different flavors of wood; Apple, Hickory and Mesquite. We are going to sacrifice a chicken to test this product.

I actually read the instructions. I know, who needs to tell you how to barbeque. ‘Remove all the paper labels from the can.’’ Place on grill or coals 5 minutes before grilling’. The instructions were followed precisely and lo and behold, “Smoke”. Once this baby got hot it hissed and spew out a flume of smoke. Today, we used hickory and it smelled lovely. We place the lid on our kettle and let the magic happen.

These cans of wood should last an hour with proper usage. We had a very hot fire and it smoked for about 40 minutes. This was plenty of time to smoke our chicken. Our chicken was cooked and smoked to perfection. This meat will be used in a chicken pot pie that we will cook later. Flavorwood smoking cans are a great product. No fuss, no muss! Just follow the instructions and instant smoke. These cans of smoking wood would be great for camping or that tailgate party at the ballgame. Convenience is the selling factor of this product. It is clean and easy to use. Flavorwood will receive the ‘Mad Meat Genius’ seal of approval.

Cameron Products

OAK WINE BARREL SMOKING WOOD

Our adventure to Greenleaf BBQ resulted in a purchase of a bag of oak wine barrel smoking wood. This is Greenleaf’s signature smoking wood. It is recycled wine barrels that have been cut up into small chunks for bbq smoking use. Purple wine residue is present on these vinegar and wine smelling wood chunks. Hard woods like oak are ideal for use in the barbeque. Different varieties of wood will impart unique and subtle flavor profiles when used for smoking. The question is; what flavor will the Oak wine barrel wood create? Let’s start a fire.

Ribs and chicken will be cooked on a Weber kettle to sample this product. The chicken will only be seasoned with salt and pepper. I did not want to use a rub that might mask the flavor of the smoking wood. The ribs were rubbed with my favorite rub. A chimney full of charcoal briquets was put to the fire. The vents of the kettle were open half way. The fire was spread evenly over the floor of the kettle. Four pieces of the wood were spread evenly over the coals. The meat was put on the grill and the lid was locked in place. The chicken was turned several times for 45 minutes and 70 minutes for the ribs to create cooking perfection.

The chicken was a gorgeous golden brown. The ribs were falling off the bone. You could smell smoke but it was not overpowering. The chicken absorbed the most smoke. We did taste a sweet smoke flavor. I am not sure if wine could be identified. The ribs had a smoke flavor but the rub taste was more prevalent. The Weber kettle, with a small direct heat, may not have not brought out the full flavor of this smoking wood. We were very pleased with our meal. It was finger lickin fantabulous. Next time we will use a designated smoker to impart more of the wood flavor. We will put our conclusion on hold until the next barbeque.

Happy Thanksgiving!

'STOKER' BUTT

The first trial run of the Stoker has been completed. Last night an eight pound boneless pork shoulder was placed in the 'Weber Smokey Mountain cooker. All the Stoker probes were inserted and positioned in their proper place. I used my 'Nu-temp' thermometers as a back up and to verify temperatures. The cooking process started at 8:00 pm last night. The pit temperature was set at 245 degrees. Both the Stoker and the Nu-temp were in sync. I stayed up and watched re-runs of Captain Kangaroo. It just kills me when Mr. Moose tells his 'knock-knock' jokes.

I turned in around 1100 pm and tried to get some sleep. It was like Christmas Eve waiting for Santa. I wanted to get up and check the new toy. I did get up once just to make sure it was still cooking and take a photo. At 600 am. the Stoker alarm went off. The butt had reached the internal temperature of 190 degrees. The butt looked fantastic. Not once did I have to do anything to the smoker. The Stoker worked like a charm.

Well it is 700 am and I think I need to take a nap. Later today we will makes some rolls and some Cole slaw. We are going to use a vinegar/pepper sauce and have some sandwiches. The stoker has passed its first test. I have not hooked it up to the computer yet. Eventually it will be wireless and on the web. It is a little involved in the set-up and I will probably need some help. There will be plenty of time for more smoking later. Goodnight!

WHAT'S IN YOUR SMOKER?

The smoker is on full load today. We have two types of bacon and short ribs slowly smoking in the Weber Smoky Mountain Smoker. The air is thick with peach, hickory and sugar maple wood aroma. My skin and clothes are permeated with the sweet nectar of smoke. The temperature in the smoker is hovering around 230 degrees. I only had to send Ms. Goofy to open a vent twice. The couch is the perfect place to control and monitor the smoking process. If you look at my opening picture, You will see me watching basketball with a temperature monitor. There is a method to my madness.

The first bacon is a command performance by the 'Great White Hunter'. The recipe is nitrate free and was created by Alton Brown of the Food Network. It has a sweet molasses kick. A three day soak in salt, sugar, apple cider and molasses is all that is needed. This will be smoked for 5 hours until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees.

The second bac0n is a cured boneless shoulder. It is called 'Buckboard Bacon. It was rubbed with a cure that was made by 'High Mountain Seasoning'. This rubbed butt was held in the Chilebrown Ice Cave for 10 days. A quick rinse with water and returned to the Ice Cave to form a pellicle. This was also smoked to 15o degrees. It took 7 hours or 14 reruns of 'I Love Lucy'.

The final entry into the smoke cavern was some short ribs. They were on sale at the local Wally-Mart. These beef ribs are very tough and loaded with fat. These are perfect to cook low and slow in the smoker. They were smothered in mustard and then some home made rub was applied. They were cooked for 7 hours. The meat was falling off the bone. OH my they were good.

This is how I roll. The smoker got a work out and I watched a lot of T.V. "HEY LUCY I'M HOME"

"SMOKE' EM IF YOU GOT ' EM"

One person's trash is another's treasure. My good friend from work, Dr. Love (Don't Ask!), was cutting down a Peach tree. He was more than glad to give me as much of the fallen wood as I wanted. What is one to do with cut down peach tree wood besides build a fire? This wood is perfect for using in the smoker. Peach wood will yield a mellow, and somewhat sweet smoke profile. Not only does this wood produce lovely smoke in my cookers, it gives one an excuse to play with a chain saw. 'Men and their toys'. The wood was cut into 2-4 inch rounds. It was then split with a hatchet. Chicken Wings will be cooked on the Smokenator 1000 for a taste test to this peachy adventure.

Before we start cooking, I would like to bring up a controversial question to my fellow barbeque enthusiast. Bark On? or Bark Off?. There seems to be a little squabble. Some people say that leaving the bark on the smoking wood will leave a bitter taste. Some people proclaim, it does not matter. I remove the bark, if it is easily removed. Otherwise, my party lines go straight- down -the -middle. What do you think?

Salt & Pepper was the only pre-preparation for these wings.
The wings were smoked for 2 hours at 225-250 degrees . The wings were removed from the smoking chamber and reserved. A hotter fire was stoked to finish the wings. Once the heat was up to temperature the wings were crisped up about 1-2 minutes on each side. A bottled barbeque sauce was applied.

Jumpin Jeebus Jehoshaphat are these wings good. They are peachy fine. They are smoky and juicy. I am going to run to the store and find something else to smoke, as soon as the couch releases me.

PULLED BEEF

My dog Oscar has his own idea how to make Pulled Beef. I turned my back for an instant and look what happend. Luckily for both of us he only got a taste. Today I am smoking a Monster 7 bone roast. This is a very flavorful cut of meat. It has a lot of fat marbled through out the cut. This is the cut of beef that is usually used for Pot Roast.

I got the idea to smoke this roast from a fellow writer Larry Gaian. Sometimes one needs a little inspiration. Our local supermarket had this cut of beef on sale. I talked to the Mark the butcher. He was very helpful. He brought me in the back and showed me the whole cut. It weighed over 30 pounds. That was a little much. Mark cut a 12 pound hunk right out of the center. It is a beauty.

I started my Weber Rocky Mountain Smoker at 9pm. It came to temperature (225-250 degrees) and apple wood chunks were added. The roast was rubbed with salt, pepper and a few secret spices. This monster of beef stayed in the smoker till 2 pm the next day. It took 15 hours to reach an internal temperature of 190 degrees. I tell you it was worth the wait. The beef fell apart taking it off of the grill.

The roast rested for a while. A large chunk was put in a bowl and shredded with two forks. I got a Little impatient and used my fingers. This shredded beef was put in a hot frying pan with a cup of barbeque sauce. I seasoned the mixture with a little salt and pepper. You are only reheating the beef and coating it with sauce.

Ms. Goofy, Dr. Biggles and Dagny were in the kitchen drooling while the beef was prepared. This mixture was served over hamburger buns with a side of cole slaw. The long process to make this pulled beef sandwich was well worth it. It turned out to be a success. Dr. Biggles went back for more and everybody took a little home. OH YEAH!

Photo by Dr. Biggles

Sandwich Photo taken and eaten by Dr. Biggles