Good BBQ Sites

http://www.bbqbug.com/
http://www.thesmokering.com
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/

Hamburger Quickie Smoke

A quick hamburger smoke.  Apply your seasonings if desired.Throw hamburgers on at 250-275 for 45 minutes. Flip after 25 minutes. Use a couple handful of wet wood. The hamburger absorbs smoke easy so once is enough. After 45 minutes transfer to a cast iron skillet. Fry hamburgers now to your desired likeness. Enjoy the smoke aromas released as they fry. If you want to smoke complete just add a half hour in the smoker. They are great either way, and you will never want another burger on the grill again.

Wood Type And Flavor Profile

Reference guide for Woods used to Smoke Food

ACACIA - these trees are in the same family as mesquite. When burned in a smoker, acacia has a flavor similar to mesquite but not quite as heavy. Is a very hot burning wood.

ALDER - Very delicate with a hint of sweetness. Good with fish, pork, poultry, and light-meat game birds.

ALMOND - A sweet smoke flavor, light ash. Good with all meats.

APPLE - Very mild with a subtle fruity flavor, slightly sweet. Good with poultry (turns skin dark brown) and pork.

ASH - Fast burner, light but distinctive flavor. Good with fish and red meats.

BIRCH - Medium-hard wood with a flavor similar to maple. Good with pork and poultry.

CHERRY - Mild and fruity. Good with poultry, pork and beef. Some say the cherry wood is the best wood for smoking. Wood from chokecherry trees may produce a bitter flavor.

COTTONWOOD - It is a softer wood than alder and very subtle in flavor. Use it for fuel but use some chunks of other woods (hickory, oak, pecan) for more flavor. Don't use green cottonwood for smoking.

CRABAPPLE - Similar to apple wood.

GRAPEVINES - Tart. Provides a lot of smoke. Rich and fruity. Good with poultry, red meats, game and lamb.

HICKORY - Most commonly used wood for smoking--the King of smoking woods. Sweet to strong, heavy bacon flavor. Good with pork, ham and beef.

LILAC - Very light, subtle with a hint of floral. Good with seafood and lamb.

MAPLE - Smoky, mellow and slightly sweet. Good with pork, poultry, cheese, and small game birds.

MESQUITE - Strong earthy flavor. Good with beef, fish, chicken, and game. One of the hottest burning woods.

MULBERRY - The smell is sweet and reminds one of apple.

OAK - Heavy smoke flavor--the Queen of smoking wood. RED OAK is good on ribs, WHITE OAK makes the best coals for longer burning. All oak varieties reported as suitable for smoking. Good with red meat, pork, fish and heavy game.
ORANGE, LEMON and GRAPEFRUIT - Produces a nice mild smoky flavor. Excellent with beef, pork, fish and poultry.

PEAR - A nice subtle smoke flavor. Much like apple. Excellent with chicken and pork.

PECAN - Sweet and mild with a flavor similar to hickory. Tasty with a subtle character. Good with poultry, beef, pork and cheese. Pecan is an all-around superior smoking wood.

SWEET FRUIT WOODS - APRICOT, PLUM, PEACH, NECTARINE - Great on most white or pink meats, including chicken, turkey, pork and fish. The flavor is milder and sweeter than hickory.

WALNUT - ENGLISH and BLACK - Very heavy smoke flavor, usually mixed with lighter woods like almond, pear or apple. Can be bitter if used alone. Good with red meats and game

Types of wood that is unsuitable or even poisonous when used for grilling. Don't use any wood from conifer trees, such as PINE, FIR, SPRUCE, REDWOOD, CEDAR, CYPRESS, etc. Also ELM, EUCALYPTUS, SASSAFRAS, SYCAMORE and LIQUID AMBER wood is unsuitable for smoking.

John's Dry Rub

1 Teaspoon Kosher salt
2 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 Teaspoons Paprika
1 Teaspoon garlic powder
1 Teaspoon onion powder
1/2 Teaspoon Chipolte powder
1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Powder
1/2 Teaspoon cumin
1/2 Teaspoon mustard powder
1 Tablespoon seasoning salt

Dry rub split chicken breast

Apply John's dry or your rub of choice. Smoke at 225 - 250F for two and a half hours. To an internal temp. of 165-170

Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork

Choice of meat:

 Bone in Pork Shoulder – They range from 7 to 9 pounds. You can use a fresh pork picnic which is the Butt (Shoulder) and the upper front leg bone together. They are larger than the Butt alone.


Preparation:

About 12 hours before the meat goes in the smoker, trim the fat cap off there is pleanty of marbling inside it doesn't need the fat, apply a coating of mustard to the shoulder and use the rub of your choice, and wrap in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. ( the coat of yellow mustard before the rub is to hold the rub on and add to the bark. The mustard taste cooks out.) This is a good time to soak your wood.


Smoking:

Start your smoker and get it up to 225-250 degrees F. Place the meat in the smoker, fat side down. I don't flip as it interferes with bark formation. When the meat gets over 100F I spray it every half hour to an hour with a 3 to 1 mix of apple juice and water sometimes I use white grape juice. The sugars in the juice will caramelize, and add to the bark. An optional mop/ spray is a spiced rum ans apple juice mixture.

Foiling:

When the meat gets to about 165F, double wrap it in Heavy Duty aluminum foil. Put some of your spray of choice in the foil to help braise the meat. At this point I usually stop making smoke. You can finish cooking from this point on in the oven set at 250F. Continue to cook until the internal meat temps gets to 195-205F. Remove the foiled meat from the cooker and wrap it (still foiled) in a couple old bath towels and put it in an insulated cooler to rest for at least an hour before you pull it. This step forces all the juices back into the pork.


The Plateau:

Almost all marbled meats will hit a plateau where the temps of the meat stops rising. Don’t be tempted to raise the heat as that will dry out the meat. The meat is absorbing a lot of heat at this point while the connective tissue is breaking down. This is what makes the meat tender. Low and slow is the way to go! I’ve seen some actually drop in temp by a couple degrees. Patience – it may be over an hour before the temp starts climbing.

Pulling:

There is a tool called bear claws, I use my hands. I un-foil the meat, the bone usually falls out on it’s own, and I break it apart in to big pieces that I let cool for a few minutes. I then go through each piece and pull out the extra fat which there is little and shred by hand.

Sauce:

I serve my pulled pork with sauce(s) of choice on the side.

Time of smoke:

The general rule of thumb is that it will take about 1.5 hours per pound. Keep in mind that this is just a guideline as each piece of meat is different. Go by temp not time to know when it's done. Give yourself extra time, you can always keep it wrapped in the cooler a little bit longer before you have to serve. It's hard to rush a piece of meat if it does not want to be rushed. So a 8lb shoulder can take 12 to 13 hours.