King of the smokers contest

Big Poppa

Administrator
The King of the Smoker is on in La quinta today Lets see who the queen or king is here

$25 first store credit to BPS
$15 Second Store credit to bps
$10 Third Store Credit to BPS

$5 bucks to everybody else that enters
 

MossyMO

New member
Orion Turkey

So I have had this Orion Cooker for a while and all I have used it for is ribs a few times and they taste ok but nothing compared to off a pellet grill or a Weber kettle, but it will do 3 slabs of ribs in 90 minutes (in the summer).

Now I have always heard how great a turkey is from an Orion and had to give it a try. Started out by putting the 10 lb. turkey in Mad Hunky Poultry Brine that was planned to be an 8 hour brine but North Dakota weather switched my plans and it ended up being a 32 hour brine.


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Now here is the turkey on the Orion poultry stand rubbed with Simply Marvelous Season All.


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The Orion Cooker is designed to add smoke taste if you choose to add wood chips around the drip pan, instead I thought I would try 2 hand fulls of pecan pellets.


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Here is the turkey loaded in the Orion.


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Here is the Orion with the coals lit.


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Orion cooks by time, not temp; and Orion suggest 7 minutes per pound for turkey. Well, North Dakota winter temps seemed to not work well with Orion's directions cause at 70 minutes this turkey needed more cooking time. Ended up going an hour 45 minutes which still is not that bad to cook a turkey in freezing temps! Here is the turkey when I pulled it.


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Check out the juices!


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Turkey, dressing and mixed veggies!


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I really like this turkey; great taste, the brine and seasoning made it moist and delicious... and most surprising was the smoke flavor, it really had a deep pecan smoke flavor. I like the Orion for cook time and flavor, but I will say with this style of cooking the turkey skin was terrible.

Thanks for looking!
 

7sanders

New member
Well, my cook isn't very exciting, but the kids sure are happy about it!

Step 1, thaw out 3 packages of bacon from the freezer
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Step 2, fill up the hopper with mesquite pellets (haven't tried this flavor yet)
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Step 3, load up the smoker with bacon
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Step 4, admire yummy bacon
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Step 5, hide bacon from children (and try to save enough for this weeks bacon & egg breakfasts!)
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I smoked the bacon (thin sliced stuff) for about 30 minutes at 250. towards the end I popped it up to close to 300 for awhile to help crisp it up a little bit.
 

FLBentRider

New member
Salmon Steaks

Start with 3 Salmon Steaks from RD
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One has salt/pepper/garlic, one has Everglades Heat, and the third has a teriyaki slather and five spice

One the MAK with BD Oak
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Done!
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plated
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TentHunter

Moderator
I picked up a 4 lb. Strip loin from the butcher for $6.50 lb. But what to go with it? Hmmm... how about some Roasted Garlic & Chive mashed potatoes?

The family's hungry so I better get cooking, literally!
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Garlic peeled & drizzled with olive oil.
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On the pit running about 275°
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Pulled at an I.T. of 130° to rest.
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Meanwhile, give the garlic & olive oil a whir...
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... and finish the potatoes.
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Oh yeah, time to slice!
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The family was giving me looks of, "Enough pictures already... can we eat?"
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Served with a salad and homemade Blue Cheese Ranch dressing.

Hunger meltdown averted!
 

flypig

New member
Ok, so I missed last week when you challenged the newbies, I'm finding it hard to document my progress in a worthy enough fashion for the other cooks I see here.

I am the VP of my local gun club and was tasked with cooking a club supplied spiral cut ham and other yummies for our Christmas banquet tonight. As I'm cooking for a group, there won't be many money shots, I have to take the food to the club.

So about 5am I pulled the ham out of the fridge and let it sit till daylight. Then put in a pan and cold smoked on the Yoder with the smoke tube for about 4 hours. (Ambient temp 41F)

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Then to have a little nourishment, some steamed veggies with just a bit of butter and BP Steak and BP garlic salt. Nice healthy breakfast before the gorging that will happen tonight.

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Then time to start on the eggplant lasagna... Smoked Mozz from last week. A sprinkle of BP seasoned Garlic salt on the eggplant.

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Grilled the eggplant on the Yoder

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Then assembled the cheese and herb stuffing into the eggplant slices and rolled them up. Covered with the rest of the filling, a layer of marinara and some more smoked mozz.

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Onto the Yoder, with alder pellets.

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Now for some pretzel rolls!

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Continued...


-Andy
 

flypig

New member
And after mixing and proofing, off to the baking soda and water bath, then salted up and put on the grill, I purposely didn't put all the seams on the bottom of the rolls which I think gives them a great look. They would look more like a pretzel if I followed the rules, but I think these present better.

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For completeness, here is the cheese smoking a couple of weeks ago...

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Ham smothered in mustard and Money rub and about a cup of fresh local apple cider. Wrapped up tight and back on the Yoder to heat up to 140. Then into the cooler to get ready for the banquet. I don't want to unwrap it, I'm trying really hard to keep it moist and warm until the feast. :) Time to have a cool refreshing beverage and beat up the Super Slinkys until I have to leave. ;)

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-Andy
 

Scallywag

New member
Stuffed Chicken
Stuffed some 1/4's with feta spinach and sundried tomatoes...

Smoked for 30 mins and bumped to 325 for an hour

Resting

Plated up goodness...
 

FLBentRider

New member
Hot and Sweet Thighs

Start with some boneless-skinless chicken thighs
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Molassess slather and rest
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Add a liberal dose of Everglades Heat
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On the MAK with BD Oak on SMOKE for an hour or so
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Bump the heat to 350F to render out some of the fat and caramelize the sugars a little
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Done!
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Good Stuff. The molasses adds sweetness and brings some added flavor. The heat of the everglades gets your attention without setting your head on fire. I will do this again.
 

Ffvillager

New member
SMOKED/GRILLED PEKIN DUCK
I have 2 PEKIN ducks that have been rinsed, dried and seasoned with Oklahoma Joes Hog and Yardbird rub. To let the fat drain as it is cooking, I have pricked the skin all over the birds. Into the Daniel Boone for 1 hr on smoke, then 2 hrs at 325.
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While that is happening,made a challot sauce to put on the duck. Peeled and cut 18 challots, placed in a pan with 1 T butter and sautéed them till just golden brown. Added 1.5 cups Marsala wine, 1 cup beef stock and 3 T honey and let simmer to concentrate. Then added small amt of Wondra flour to thicken up a bit.
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After 2hr cook, inserted orange pieces and turned duck back side up and pierced skin all over both birds. Drained about half cup of fat from pan to use on potatoes.
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After another hour, ducks turned back to breast side up, pierced again. Potatoes and onions sliced and coated with duck fat and seasoned with Seasonall. Put on shelf above the ducks. Went for about 1.5 more hours until duck reached 165 and potatoes were done.
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Here's what they looked like while they rested.
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Here, the ducks have been carved the potatoes have had buttered parsley added and we have a salad. Here is the table.
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Plated. Ducks very tasty and moist. Very light apple wood flavor. Potatoes very good. Never used duck fat before, but gives very good flavor. Next time will have a better understanding of how to carve a duck and will add more seasoning to the potatoes, which were actually better the next day.
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All in all, a good cook for my first try at duck
 

wneill20

New member
How about a stuffed pork loin.
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Then you suttee the mushrooms, onions spinach, cheese,
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Lay the pork out with some cheese
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Stuff it
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And yes on the smoker
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Done an resting
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Sliced going to be good.
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My plate
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Patrick_CT

New member
Breakfast

I have new years brunch coming up so I am trying to think of some new things to add to the menu to help with the hangover for your friends that will spend the night at our house.
I made a simple weave of of 3 1/2 slices of bacon and put them on the back of a muffin tim to hopefully create a little cup. When I opened it to check after 30min it shrunk more that i Thought it would. so needed to rethink.
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hmmm
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So I flipped the tim over and added the bacon in the bottom.
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Made a light egg miture with eggs, milk and some 1/2 & 1/2 added some Adobo Picante for salt/heat. Whipped it up to make it airy.
Poured it over the bacon and added some jalepenos and topped with cheddar cheese.
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After about 30 min this is what they looked like:
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Popped them out:
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Plated up with some fruit and toast
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They will require a little tweaking, but we really liked them Need to make the bacon crispier for other guests (we like it on the soft side)
 

scooter

Moderator
The best meatloaf recipe ever!!

This recipe started from TX BBQ rub company then went through a friend who made some changes then came to me. I thought the final product a little too sweet so I added a package of Lipton Onion Soup, the BBQ sauce coating near the end and Happy Ending to the recipe which balanced it out perfectly (Also a nod to my mothers meatloaf recipe). The end result is a meatloaf that's very moist, lots of flavor with a hint of smoke. Simply the best I've ever had. Others that have tried it have said the same thing.

Here it is for your dining pleasure!!

scooter's Meatloaf Recipe

3 lbs ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, minced (1/8" or smaller)
1 medium green bell pepper, minced (1/8" or smaller)
1 medium red bell pepper, minced (1/8" or smaller)
6 eggs beaten
1 1/2 stacks Ritz crackers, crushed
1/2 cup Three Cheese Blend (parmesan/romano/asiago)
1/3 cup Texas BBQ rub
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 TBS garlic, minced
1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
BPS Happy Ending Rub

In a large bowl mix all ingredients together. It's best to use your hands to mix it thoroughly.
Heat your pit to 325. Put down a Frogmat and roll out the meatloaf mixture onto the Frogmat and form into a loaf.
At an IT of 145*, give the loaf a coat of BBQ sauce. Continue to cook to set the sauce until an IT of 155* - 160* is reached. Pull from the pit, cover with foil and let rest 15 mins then slice and serve.
Wood: Oak, Pecan, Hickory

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This is the size of the minced onion, pepper and garlic I use. Very small mince. This is what makes this meatloaf so very moist!
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Onto the frogmat
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I set the drum up to cook like a WSM. I covered the charcoal basket with a foil covered pizza pan.
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Hickory pellets and a chunk of red oak
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Green beans coated with olive oil and Desert Gold go in the MAK at 425* for 20 mins. These are done!
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The meatloaf is brushed with Better Than Sex BBQ Sauce and dusted with Happy Ending rub at around 145* IT and left in the cooker to set the sauce. Here it's done at 155*. Looks good enough to eat!!
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Plated with mashed taters and gravy and roasted green beans

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Last edited:

Kite

New member
Okay, on to the business of the day – the King (or Queen as it were) of the Smoker on ps.com.. We have:

MossyMo - Orion Turkey
7sanders – bacon (what could possibly be wrong with bacon?!)
FLBentRider – Salmon Steaks
TentHunter – Strip loin with mashed potatoes
Flypig – Spiral ham, pretzels, and eggplant lasagna
Scallywag – Stuffed chicken
FLBentRider – Hot and sweet thighs (just the way I like my thighs!)
Ffvillager – Smoked/Grilled pekin duck and potates
wneill20 – Stuffed pork loin
Patrick_CT – Breakfast
Scooter – The best meatloaf recipe ever!! and green beans

And the winners are…
3rd Place – TentHunter with the strip loin
2nd Place – Patrick_CT with breakfast – the food looked fantastic, but more important, when it didn’t work out as you planned you tweaked and made it better.
And the winner is… (drum roll please) – Ffvillager with the pekin duck – that was a great looking meal!! I had no idea what a “Pekin Duck” was – I thought it was a typo for Peking Duck. Boy, what did we ever do without the internet (I know, the young folk among us have no idea what I am talking about – like a TV without a remote).

Thanks for playing everyone!! And thanks for the playground BP!! I love these contests because as usual, I learned a couple of things this week. So everyone put your thinking caps on, today is the day to start planning your winning entry for next week!!
 

Patrick_CT

New member
Thanks Kite and BP. I really love breakfast food on the MAK.. just hard to take the time with kids running around. Congrats to everyone else.. I am now making meatloaf today :)
 

TentHunter

Moderator
Absolutely top notch entries this week! The Pekin Duck looks awesome, and those breakfast omelets in bacon baskets sure had my attention.

Congrats FfVillager & Patrick!

Many Thanks to BP, and also to Kite for sitting out and judging! :)
 

Ffvillager

New member
WOW!!! Didn't expect that. Thanks Kite and BP. Have always liked duck and when I saw these at an Oriental market I bought 4. These were the first I had ever cooked. I will say they were very good with the small amount of apple wood flavor.
All of the entries really looked great so I was very surprised.
 
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