First week with new smoker

[Moomtaz]

Well, it's been a great first few days with my new Yoder YS-640. Let's take a look at a few of the highlights.

First things first, I said good bye to my old gasser. Haven't used it in two years since I went back to the webber kettle, anyway. No love lost there.

The next part was a little tougher for me. As part of the deal I had with my wife, I also sold the trusty WSM (got to keep the kettle, though). It was sad...

Next, the big day arrived, on a FedEx truck, no less

The total package weighed 497 pounds! Superb job in packing and shipping this American made product (made in kansas)...

Here she is in her final resting place.

Standard bacon test...

And the first cook, just did a couple brats to get my feet wet...

I'll post the cooks I did after the first day below. Great first day!!! (I hope I posted the pics on here correctly)

 

[Moomtaz]

Seems I'm posting the wrong photobucket link to the pics. Which one do I use? The choices are:

1: email and im

2: direct link

3: HTML code

4: IMG code

5: IMG thumb

 

[Moomtaz]

Seems I'm posting the wrong photobucket link to the pics. Which one do I use? The choices are:

1: email and im

2: direct link

3: HTML code

4: IMG code

5: IMG thumb

I figured it out. Changing pics now

 

[Moomtaz]

Day two. Now for something a little more substantial. I decided to go with two sirloin tip roasts. Here they are:

The players: two roasts. One about 4 1/2 pounds one about 6 pounds. I decided to go with a variation on the "Dalmatian" seasoning style. Simply coarse ground pepper, sea salt, and garlic powder.

Placed on the Yoder at 180° for about an hour to get some nice smoking in. Then up to 225 until it reached an internal temperature of about 135. in my excitement to get my first "real" cook in, I forgot a step in my cooking procedure. normally when I cook sirloin tip roast, I place them over high direct heat first to create a decent sear. Since I forgot to do this before putting them in the smoker, I decided to stick them in the broiler in my oven to get a good crust on the outside after pulling them. I then pulled both roasts, wrapped them in foil, and placed them in the fridge for slicing the next day. I have found that the meat is much easier to slice after cooling. Here is what the roast looked like after unwrapping the next day.

I then began to slice the roasts. I was pleasantly surprised to see a good smoke ring. This is very apparent in the pics below. The only downside of my failure to sear the roasts prior to slow cooking them was that they came out more medium instead of medium rare. All in all, they turned out pretty good.

 

[SmokinSteiny]

Looks Good, how you like it?

 

[Moomtaz]

Day 3: now it was time to try the direct grilling procedures on the pellet smoker. This should be pretty simple using the Grillgrates that insert perfectly onto the yoder, they are cut to fit.

I selected two huge, thick cut, sirloins. Not nearly as good of a cut of beef but about a third of the price of ribeyes. Seasoned mine with sea salt and coarse black pepper and the wife's with only salt (that's how she likes it)

I used the reverse sear method where I put them on indirect first then on the grillgrates to finish. A big shout out to Big Poppa for the instructional video. See it here:

This was my first foray into both the reverse sear process and also direct grilling on a pellet grill. The results:

Good sear marks, great color

The reverse sear leads to less variation in internal temps, meaning if you want a medium steak almost the entire center of the steak is medium instead of medium in the very center, medium-well in a layer outside of that, and well done in the outer most layer. Here is how the interior turned out when cooked to internal temp of 145:

Plated up. Man that's a huge steak!!!

 

[squirtthecat]

Looks like you are dialing it in!

 

[Big Poppa]

Nice cooks!!!!!

 

[Chili Head]

Nice job! Everything you can cook inside the house you can cook in your yoder..have fun!

 

[TentHunter]

Nice cooks! I predict that your indoor oven/stove is going to get a lot less use.

 

[Tatonka3A2]

Everything Looks great!!

 

[Moomtaz]

Thanks guys. Tonight is the biggest test. Ribs, brisket, pork butt, abt's, moink's, and armadillo eggs!!! Will post pics in a different thread titled something like "first mega cook"

 

[squirtthecat]

I'll bring the beer!

 

[MossyMO]

Congrats on the new pellet grill, food pics look great... you and your new buddy look to be getting to know each other well!
My condolences on the WSM; if it ain't sold yet, raise the asking price a couple hundred...

 

[sparky]

I'll bring the beer!

i bring the ice.

 

[Patrick_CT]

Nice cooks! I also like the look of the Yoders.