Time for a smoke

[Big Dave2]

13 hours ago, Mike89 said:

Dave the pellet grills are big on sear are a big question!!  it depends on how hi they will go Temp wise!!  the tragger will not sear..  the Green Mt. can, but I bought for everything but that...  My weber and the gas grill to that!!!  but I love the rascal!!!  and thanks for asking!!!   good luck!!!

 

The reason I ask about sear is because I am considering buying the Camp Chef woodwind with the searing station for my next grill. I am going to try steaks tonight or tomorrow on my Pit Boss so we'll see how that goes. I'll probably try a reverse sear.

 

I did chicken and salmon already and both were fantastic if I do say so myself.....

 

 

[PurpleFloyd]

1 hour ago, Big Dave2 said:

 

The reason I ask about sear is because I am considering buying the Camp Chef woodwind with the searing station for my next grill. I am going to try steaks tonight or tomorrow on my Pit Boss so we'll see how that goes. I'll probably try a reverse sear.

 

I did chicken and salmon already and both were fantastic if I do say so myself.....

 

 

I had the same thoughts and had the camp Chef pegged as my smoker of choice due to the sear box and Ash clean out. 

But I waited too long and decided I needed one this weekend to cook pork butts for my son's graduation party coming up so I started looking and rethinking it. 

 

After looking on the net at all options, I decided to run to Cabela's because they were open and had several models on the floor.

 

I ended up getting a Cabela's 36" model and I gave it a test by smoking 6 butts Sunday night and some chicken and pork chops yesterday.

 

This grill can sear without a propane add on ( not as hot though but you get direct flame) and it has an Ash clean out. 

 

I decided on the 36" model as I thought the 22-24" grills were on the small side for some of the things I cook. 

 

Also look at clearance from the grill to the top. On traeger you have like 9" of clearance and with the one I got you are at a full foot or so which means room for whole turkeys or room on the second shelf.

 

Just a few observations. 

 

I do like the camp Chef features though so no knock on them. I'm less impressed with traeger. 

[PurpleFloyd]

As far as searing,the more I thought about the camp Chef I was more inclined to order it without the sear box. 

It still requires propane and for the cost I figured I could use the turkey fryer and a pan to sear if I wanted to for a lot less money. But obviously that's a nice accessory. 

I did sear on this Cabela's grill yesterday and I was pretty happy with the results. You definitely get the flames high enough to hit the steak and get the nice color. 

[rl_sd]

Found the same thing here.... I absolutely love my pellet grill, but find my self cranking up the old propane grill to do the finish searing on steaks and burgers.

[rl_sd]

Being that pork loin is crazy cheap... I decided to do a handful of loins yesterday with a little experimentation. I took and separated the center loin from the rib end (white vs red meat) on all three loins. When I cook loins the standard way for slicing, it seems like the rib end gets too tender an falls apart - SO, I decided that I was going to try to pull them . I created a bourbon/apple juice/Worcester/ketchup/mustard/cola concoction that I used to mop the ends every 30-45 min that created a nice bark. I had them on for an hr on smoke, then cranked it up to 250 until the ends hit 165. Then I placed them into a foil pan and covered them with the remaining mop sauce and pulled them off at 190. They pulled awesome and were tender and juicy. This will definitely be the way that I do loins in the future.I seasoned up two of the center cuts for slicing and cooked them with the end loins until 145, then double wrapped and put them in the cooler for an hour.  The third center cut I did some more playing around with. I butterflied it out and spread a coating of dijon mustard on the inside. Then I mixed up a box of stove top and can of cream of chicken soup and packed the inside of the loin. Finally I closed the loin, wrapped it in bacon, and tied it up. I used my neighbors smoker to cook the stuffed loin since it needed to be cooked at a higher temp. I had it on smoke for an hour and then bumped it up to 350 for another hour. The high temp crisped the bacon nicely and the stuffing took on a great smoke flavor. Next time that I stuff one I am going to try using baked beans. Here are a few pics... sorry for not taking any finished picks, but had a house full of hungry people and ended up forgetting. At $1.69 / pound, you can feed a lot of people CHEAP!

 

 

[PurpleFloyd]

You bring up a good point about pork being cheap to buy. You have to be careful with the rubs though, if you aren't careful you can spend as much making them taste a certain way as you would have to just buy a nicer cut and be done with it. 

[delcecchi]

1 hour ago, PurpleFloyd said:

You bring up a good point about pork being cheap to buy. You have to be careful with the rubs though, if you aren't careful you can spend as much making them taste a certain way as you would have to just buy a nicer cut and be done with it. 

Pork loin is pretty much one of the nicer cuts of pork.   Tenderloin might be better.  In any case the flavor is sort of mild and takes well to smoke or other enhancers. 

[PurpleFloyd]

54 minutes ago, delcecchi said:

Pork loin is pretty much one of the nicer cuts of pork.   Tenderloin might be better.  In any case the flavor is sort of mild and takes well to smoke or other enhancers. 

I'm speaking more of the shoulder cuts like the butt and picnic that get used for pulled pork like I made.

[delcecchi]

4 hours ago, PurpleFloyd said:

I'm speaking more of the shoulder cuts like the butt and picnic that get used for pulled pork like I made.

Oh.   RL_sd wrote a long post about cooking pork loins.   And you commented about it, something about better cuts?   But you weren't talking about loins but something else?  

 

OK,, maybe you could clarify more next time.    Or even this time.   What were you talking about after all?

[rl_sd]

6 hours ago, PurpleFloyd said:

You bring up a good point about pork being cheap to buy. You have to be careful with the rubs though, if you aren't careful you can spend as much making them taste a certain way as you would have to just buy a nicer cut and be done with it. 

 

I think I hear ya.... and your point is definitely accurate with beef where you have a fairly big price and quality difference between something like round roast versus chuck. From what I have seen on pork though there isn’t near the variation in price. I like using the loin because it is boneless and easy to cook. Cuts like picnics or butts... you are getting more marbling but are also paying for bone.  The end product of a properly cooked and pulled butt is hard to beat, but cooking the rib end as described above was pretty darn close considering it took half the time. 

 

Regarding the seasoning comment... it is all about the flavor profile that you are going for. A lot of the time I like to keep things simple with salt and pepper or lawrys. This go around I decided that I wanted to do more of a vinegar flavor.  It is fun to continue adding a little of this and a little of that until the flavor is just right. The biggest issue is that I never write anything down so I have a hell of a time reproducing the sauce or rubs when they are a success

[PurpleFloyd]

58 minutes ago, rl_sd said:

 

I think I hear ya.... and your point is definitely accurate with beef where you have a fairly big price and quality difference between something like round roast versus chuck. From what I have seen on pork though there isn’t near the variation in price. I like using the loin because it is boneless and easy to cook. Cuts like picnics or butts... you are getting more marbling but are also paying for bone.  The end product of a properly cooked and pulled butt is hard to beat, but cooking the rib end as described above was pretty darn close considering it took half the time. 

 

Regarding the seasoning comment... it is all about the flavor profile that you are going for. A lot of the time I like to keep things simple with salt and pepper or lawrys. This go around I decided that I wanted to do more of a vinegar flavor.  It is fun to continue adding a little of this and a little of that until the flavor is just right. The biggest issue is that I never write anything down so I have a hell of a time reproducing the sauce or rubs when they are a success

I'm the same way. I nailed a pulled pork recipe some years back for my daughter's confirmation and then I couldn't find the list of ingredients I used the next time or since. 

 

1 hour ago, delcecchi said:

Oh.   RL_sd wrote a long post about cooking pork loins.   And you commented about it, something about better cuts?   But you weren't talking about loins but something else?  

 

OK,, maybe you could clarify more next time.    Or even this time.   What were you talking about after all?

Sorry, I forgot to care about how you would interpret my post. It's probably best if you just stick your meat in a bag and boil it.

[Big Dave2]

11 hours ago, PurpleFloyd said:

I had the same thoughts and had the camp Chef pegged as my smoker of choice due to the sear box and Ash clean out. 

But I waited too long and decided I needed one this weekend to cook pork butts for my son's graduation party coming up so I started looking and rethinking it. 

 

After looking on the net at all options, I decided to run to Cabela's because they were open and had several models on the floor.

 

I ended up getting a Cabela's 36" model and I gave it a test by smoking 6 butts Sunday night and some chicken and pork chops yesterday.

 

This grill can sear without a propane add on ( not as hot though but you get direct flame) and it has an Ash clean out. 

 

I decided on the 36" model as I thought the 22-24" grills were on the small side for some of the things I cook. 

 

Also look at clearance from the grill to the top. On traeger you have like 9" of clearance and with the one I got you are at a full foot or so which means room for whole turkeys or room on the second shelf.

 

Just a few observations. 

 

I do like the camp Chef features though so no knock on them. I'm less impressed with traeger. 

 

Looks like that smoker is made by Dansons who make Louisiana pellet grills and Pit Boss pellet grills.

[PurpleFloyd]

1 hour ago, Big Dave2 said:

 

Looks like that smoker is made by Dansons who make Louisiana pellet grills and Pit Boss pellet grills.

That's possible. Cabela's has both of those brands for sale on the floor so it makes sense.

 

I know the grates on the Cabela's and Louisiana are identical.

[Big Dave2]

9 hours ago, PurpleFloyd said:

That's possible. Cabela's has both of those brands for sale on the floor so it makes sense.

 

I know the grates on the Cabela's and Louisiana are identical.

 

The sear system and rounded drip tray is the same on all 3 of them too.

[Big Dave2]

OK, so I like my little Pit Boss pellet grill so much I decided to go "all in" on pellet grills!

 

I ended up getting a 2013 Louisiana Grills CS-680 showroom model that was still brand new/never used. This thing can not only smoke low and slow, but also sear a steak like a boss!

 

 

[Mike89]

way to go!!  I went with the Green Mountain brand and love it!!

[rl_sd]

If I weren’t so cheap I would probably go with a green mountain or Louisiana. I see we have the same wireless thermometer 

[Big Dave2]

2 hours ago, rl_sd said:

If I weren’t so cheap I would probably go with a green mountain or Louisiana.

 

I know where you might be able to get a slightly smaller Louisiana grill just like mine for about half price of new if they still have it.

 

2 hours ago, rl_sd said:

 

I see we have the same wireless thermometer 

 

I dropped my remote the very first time I ever used it and it no longer works.......

[chaffmj]

I used a Louisiana grill at work and really liked it. We also had a Traeger grill and two weber charcoal grills. I did like the Louisiana better than the Traeger. At the end of my career I would have all 4 of them going at once a couple of times a month. I would cook beef tenderloins, pork loins, salmon, turkey, prime rib, chicken and ribs. They liked this much better than ordering pizza or catering in something else and most of the time it was cheaper too. 

[Big Dave2]

On 6/11/2018 at 4:54 PM, chaffmj said:

I used a Louisiana grill at work and really liked it. We also had a Traeger grill and two weber charcoal grills. I did like the Louisiana better than the Traeger. At the end of my career I would have all 4 of them going at once a couple of times a month. I would cook beef tenderloins, pork loins, salmon, turkey, prime rib, chicken and ribs. They liked this much better than ordering pizza or catering in something else and most of the time it was cheaper too. 

 

Yeah, there is at least one thing the Louisiana Grill can do that the Traeger can not......

 

 

[PurpleFloyd]

On 6/11/2018 at 12:33 PM, Big Dave2 said:

OK, so I like my little Pit Boss pellet grill so much I decided to go "all in" on pellet grills!

 

I ended up getting a 2013 Louisiana Grills CS-680 showroom model that was still brand new/never used. This thing can not only smoke low and slow, but also sear a steak like a boss!

 

 

That's exactly how mine is internally. It looks like I have a different control panel that is digital. Your style will probably last longer with fewer issues. 

 

I think you will like it.

I'm home Traeger is overrated. They have an incredible distribution network but their quality and features lag behind a lot of other models.

[rl_sd]

1 hour ago, Big Dave2 said:

 

Yeah, there is at least one thing the Louisiana Grill can do that the Traeger can not......

 

 

 

Agreed... They make the juiciest burgers and steaks around, but everything is "medium". I find myself cranking up the gas grill and doing a reverse sear.... gotta have the grill marks!

[going4it]

I bought a Louisiana and the second time I used it the auger stopped. I emailed Louisiana and it took them 3 days to return an email and tell me to call some other number to get help. 3 days to tell me that was all I needed. Returned it and got a trager and it’s worked awesome. Wanted to like the Louisiana, felt more heavy duty but the customer service ruined it. 

[Big Dave2]

On 6/14/2018 at 9:46 AM, PurpleFloyd said:

That's exactly how mine is internally. It looks like I have a different control panel that is digital. Your style will probably last longer with fewer issues. 

 

I actually bought the electronic controller off E-b-a-y and it just came in the mail today. I will install it sometime soon.

 

Quote

I'm home Traeger is overrated. They have an incredible distribution network but their quality and features lag behind a lot of other models.

 

Agreed.

Edited June 16, 2018 by Big Dave2

[rl_sd]

Since we are talking about searing stations, etc....

 

Has anyone ever used the Grill Grate product on their pellet grills?

 

https://www.grillgrate.com/shop-grillgrates/standard-grillgrates/pellet-grills/