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Can you use baking parchment (or its equivalent) instead of butcher paper? 

Would it have the same effect?

Interestingly, saw this Baby Back Maniac/T-Roy Cooks video where they try ribs unwrapped/foil wrapped/paper wrapped and the paper ones came out the worst of the three…

Here

Today's effort was delicious! 😀

Hot-smoked it for 8.5hrs with lumpwood and some cherrywood chunks.

Never used lumpwood before – the temp dropped a bit after 6hrs, so added another chimney's worth and that did the trick.

While the lamb was resting, popped some corn on the smoker as it had plenty of heat left, and after 40mins whacked right over the coals to finish it off.

Very happy with the meat. It fell apart and had good flavour. Wasn't sure if I should have wrapped it in foil once I was happy with the crust – any suggestions welcome.

On 9/3/2018 at 7:55 PM, May the Sauce be with you said:

OK this is based on the traditional Moroccan style of Mechoui Lamb. It's fantastic on lamb leg or shoulder. It makes a good amount of rub.The good thing is it works well as a marinade too you just mix with 50g of butter or olive oil.

2 tablespoons ground coriander

1-2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon salt

Pepper to taste - I put in half teaspoon

If you try it i hope you like it. 

Cheers,

Wayne

Looks great - just done that on the shoulder I'm smoking on Sunday 🙂

2 minutes ago, Raptor72 said:

On briquettes 

i use Weber now for my pitbarrel. Heatbeads are also good . But smaller than Weber 

But not with lumpwood? (that's what I'm using this weekend)

11 minutes ago, Justin said:

It burns according to how much air you let into the smoker, you can restrict the temperature by regulating the airflow. I have used both lumpwood and  briquettes in the past but i prefer weber briquettes these days, they are easier for slo and slo like snake minion method than lumpwood and they stack easier. I use a kettle and a wsm not a uds

Would minion method still work?

Am going to try some of this charcoal this weekend.

Have never used lumpwood before. Am I right in thinking that it burns hotter than briquettes but not as long? 

If I'm cooking lamb slow for 6-8hrs, will one load of lumpwood be enough? (have a ProQ Frontier)

Am having another crack this Sunday. No brining or cold-smoking this time, just a good rub and a long hot smoke 😋

50 minutes ago, Smokin Monkey said:

Cook it in one stage. Then re-heat.

Its not safe to cook it in two stages, unless the first stage reaches 74’C.

Gotcha, thank you. 

4 minutes ago, Smokin Monkey said:

No, cook it before and reheat.The flavour actually develops over time.

But would it be OK cooked in two stages, ie two lots of 4hrs? Or did you mean do it all the way through then reheat it? 

We're having friends over in a few weeks time at lunchtime, and I'd like to cook some meat on the ProQ.

When I did pulled pork recently, it was delicious, but it took 8-9hrs + resting time, so realistically this would mean lighting the smoker at midnight/1am, getting it up to temp then smoking the meat through the night. I don't really want to get up every few hours to check it, so I was wondering if you can hot-smoke in two stages, ie give it 4-5hrs, let it cool, then finish it off on the day people are coming over. Would that work?

Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks! Am very happy with experiments so far. The amount of smokiness after 3hrs seems to be spot on.

Have only tried oak dust so far; will try a couple of others next time 🙂

Is there an ideal size of cheese to smoke?

When I've done Cheddar, I've cut it into two or three pieces based on some of the pics above.

But if I put a big block on without cutting it, would you get an even penetration of smoke all the way through?

One article I saw recommended 12 hours of cold smoking, but I tried cold-smoking them for about 3 hrs (while I was doing some cheese), and they turned out really well. Have mellowed slightly but still have lovely aroma.

2 hours ago, Montyb82 said:

I've bit the bullet literally and figuratively and ordered the ProQ frontier elite

I bought the same one a few weeks ago – very happy with it.

Welcome to the forum, too. There are some seriously knowledgeable people on here for rookies like me 😀

When I've looked online, the only ones I've seen are metal ones or glorified sugar shakers.

Am trying to find a clear plastic one with decent-sized holes in the top (ie bigger than a salt shaker) - any ideas?

Might be worth me just making my own with a plastic food container etc?

2 hours ago, Wade said:

Smell is a great indication of the freshness of the meat and just because the lamb was within its use by date does not guarantee that it has been correctly stored since it was packed. If yours had an unexpectedly strong smell when it was unpacked suggests that it had not been stored correctly. The smell indicates bacterial growth or other meat spoilage and I would not recommend meat like this for brining/cold smoking. 

Generally meat and poultry does not need to be washed before it is cooked, however it is usually taken from the pack and placed in a hot oven/pan within a short period of time which will quickly kill any bacteria present. Depending on the brine you used, it may not have been strong enough to denature the bacteria and even enabled it to spread deeper into any crevices within the meat. The cold smoking would then have given it even more time to grow.

What I would have done in your situation. If the smell was slight to moderate on opening the pack I would not have used it for brining but would have rinsed it carefully under cold running water then assesses the smell again. If slight, I would have immediately roasted it without brining but if it was still moderate I would have returned it to the supplier for a replacement/refund. 

I know that when you are all fired up to do something it can be a tough call to change in mid flow, but taking the tough decision to abort would have saved you the cost of the meat and the subsequent unpleasant experience. 

Don't let this put you off though. Bounce right back and try another, fresher, one next weekend 👍

Thanks, Wade. In hindsight that all makes perfect sense! 

3 hours ago, Icefever said:

Sorry to hear that Sub...after all the prep...most of the time we buy our meat from Bookers now. I've never had anything like you've just had thou.

Ice.

I think it was a one-off. We've had vac-pack meat before and it's been OK. But I shouldn't have thought that the smell would just disappear! Oh well, the next one will be better! 

It was rank. Stunk to high heaven. 

Very odd, as it was well within its best before, but that funky vac-pack smell was really off-putting. We had a few mouthfuls and chucked the rest. 

@Wade - any thoughts? I'm really surprised how bad the meat smelled. 

Damn, that skin looks good! 

Am kicking myself. I bought a shoulder of NZ lamb from the supermarket, about 15 quid. It was plastic wrapped, and when I unwrapped it, there was a pretty funky smell. Now, I know that meat wrapped in plastic often has that slightly funky, sulphurous odour, but this was quite pungent. Maybe I should have rinsed it (but I don't really wash meat after reading articles about the risk of spreading germs etc), but I definitely should have paid a few more pounds and got something from the butcher section. The shoulder just doesn't look that appetising. Perhaps it will taste fine, but a lesson learned, especially as I went to the trouble of brining it, then cold- and hot-smoking it 😔

I bought these - only 9 quid and do the job:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07BGVRGS8?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Am trying lamb shoulder today.

I brined it for 24 hours last night, and it's currently cold smoking for a few hours, with cherry dust.

Will add the rub tonight (probably cumin/coriander/garlic/onion), then will hot smoke it tomorrow for 6-8 hours.

Should I stick with cherry chunks with the charcoal, or would another wood work well with it? 

Yay! I found the WoodSmoke Forum Twitter account, which was last posted on a year ago, to ask what had happened!

Glad all OK now 😀

Are Big K briquettes any good?

Waitrose selling them for £7/5kg (and lumpwood for the same price).

They have bags of instant-lighting stuff next to them (which I know are not to be touched), but wondered if their standard briquettes were decent? Local garden centre does 8kg of Weber briquettes for £15.

Waitrose are doing Big K briquettes and lumpwood at £7/5kg. Any cop?