smoked pork loin roast

One of the easiest, but most flavorful cooks to date. When I started this cook, I had no idea how good it would turn out. Used a simple binder of franks hot sauce and a light sprinkling of Killer hogs TX brisket rub. 

While the grill was coming up to temp, 220, I wash and pat dry the pork loin with a paper towel. Using a sharp knife, score the fat cap evenly as possible, to a depth of 1/8 to 1/4 inch. Put a liberal coat of binder, coating both sides and all edges. Sprinkle the seasoning, as evenly as possible, coating all sides and edges. 

Once the smoker hits 220, on the grates, fat cap up. At 1 hr, I misted with a mixture of Apple cider vinegar and water. Rotate 180. Hour two, repeat the process. 

For this cook, I did use an IT probe. 

Hour 3, it was time to pull, with the IT hitting 145. 

Allow the roast to rest. I couldn't wait and started slicing at 30 minutes. 

All I can say is, damn this is good. 

half rack babybacks

This took several tries to get it right. I'm not a huge rib fan, my wife won't touch them. Every once in a while, I get that craving for pork, but what normally happens is I give most of it away or end up throwing it out. That gets expensive when figuring the price of meat, equipment and supplies to make it, seasonings, BBQ sauce, etc...

So, I had to come up with a plan, to make a smaller amount, but still have the flavor and texture I wanted. Babybacks, being my favorite, tend to cook quicker. If your not careful, you either end up with a mushy pulled pork, or they dry out and are closer to jerky. 

Running a pitboss 850 pro, I set the temp to 230, and allowed the smoker to preheat. 

To prepare the rack, I removed the membrane, used a hot sauce binder to coat, and then applied a light coat of SPG seasoning. Hot sauce has become my go to binder with ribs. The cooked down sauce, combined with SPG, is complimented when a sweet BBQ sauce is added. For this cook, I used honey BBQ sauce. 

Once smoker is at temp, the half rack goes on, meat side up. I allowed the half rack to smoke for 90 minutes at 230. I did not check my IT at the 90 minute mark. May do that next time. 

At the 90 minute mark, I pulled the half rack  and wrapped in 2 layers of foil. I added 3 small pats of butter to each side. Wrap tightly, in a position that when it goes back on the smoker, the meat side will be down and none of your juices will drain out. 

As stated, back on the smoker, meat side down. No changes in temp, we are still running 230. 

I allow the ribs to cook in the foil for 1 hour, 60 minutes.

At the 1 hour mark, I temped the ribs at an IT of 203. 

I again pulled the ribs, cut the foil, flipped the mini rack over, and applied a light coating of honey BBQ sauce. 

Ribs went back on the smoker, at 230, for an additional 30 minutes. 

I allowed the ribs to rest for approximately 10 minutes. Bones had just a little tug, but pulled away clean. 

It then took me about 10 minutes to eat the entire half rack. Yup, made a pig of myself. Hope you enjoy. 

O'Leno State Park, High Springs Fl

Built in the 30's, on the Santa Fe River, it's one of the oldest. Floaters, kayakers, canoeist will love it. Historic exhibits, playgrounds, swimming area, hiking and biking trails offer hours of enjoyment. During our visit, there was a gator present in the swimming hole. Bring a camera, the scenery is some of the best that Florida has to offer. Campground offers a few larger sites. Sites are separated by brush. Wildlife is present in the campground, to include raccoons, so clean up before going to bed.

Tri Tip smoked like brisket

Ok. This was a two day project, but well worth the effort. Tri Tip, smoked like brisket. This was my first tri tip ever. Picked it up for $25 at walmart. So on Saturday afternoon, trimmed the fat cap off, and removed all the silver back and related fat. Trimmed a 3.8 lb down to 3 lbs. Seasoned with Holy Gospel meat church seasoning and wrapped tight in plastic wrap. Back in fridge til this morning. This morning, let it sit for about an hour to bring up temp. Put on smoker at 230, unwrapped. Once IT hit 165, pulled and wrapped tight with a half stick of butter, slabbed into 6 pieces. Back on smoker until IT hit 205. Pulled, wrapped in towel and let rest in the oven for 1 hour. While it was resting, mushrooms and onions in the cast iron pan, with the other half stick of butter and a sprinkle of soy sauce. Smoked, lid off, stirring once, for one hour at 250. Toasted a Vienna roll, sliced the tri tip nice and thin, added a slice of provolone cheese and produced probably one of the best steak sandwiches I've ever had the pleasure of eating. This will be a do again recipe. Amazing. 3 lb slab will probably make 10 to 12 small sandwiches.Side note, following morning heated a couple slices in the cast iron, with some butter and onion with some eggs over easy. Was able to cut with a fork without much effort. Tri Tip made me a believer. 

smoked cream cheese dip

Super easy. Tany and tasty. 

I block cream cheese. 

I packet onion soup mix

1 tablespoon of hot sauce. 

Place block of cream cheese on non stick foil. 

Score the cream cheese to a depth of 1/4 to 1/2 inch. 

Sprinkle onion soup mix, coating top and sides. 

Preheat smoker to 220. 

Place cheese on top rack of smoker and smoke at 220 for 2 hrs. 

Remove from smoker and transfer to bowl. 

You could stop here, however I like a little heat. Mix cheese and hot sauce to taste. 

Allow to cool and enjoy. 

Great on crackers, vegetables, bagels and sandwiches. 

Jerk and smoked chicken wings.

This one's pretty easy. You'll need a smoker and an air fryer. 

Preheat smoker to 280. 

I normally use the 3 lb bag of wings. 

Wash and dry wings and place them in a foil pan. Evenly coat the wings with the binder of choice. I used mustard for this cook, however normally use hot sauce. We the the jerk seasoning, you don't really need the extra heat. Once you have them coated, coat with the jerk seasoning of your choice. 

Once the smoker hits 280, place the pan in. I normally let them smoke until they reach an internal temp around 205. Normally takes about 2 hours. 

Once you hit temp, remove the pan from the smoker and head in the house.

Now, you could enjoy the wings at this point, however I like the skin crispy. 

Form a single layer in your air fryer. Set to highest setting, mine reach's 400. 

I air fry, at 400, for approximately 12 minutes. 

Remove from air fryer, let cool, and enjoy. 

3/2/1 ribs

In the past, never really been a rib fan after recently purchasing a Pit boss Pro 850, life changed. 

To date, I've done several racks, at different purchase price levels. I've found, you get what you pay for. If you don't want to fight trimming, wasted weight, membranes and such, spend the extra money and stay away from store brand ribs. 

The process I use is always the same, and times only very by a few minutes, based on internal temperature. Typically, a nice rack of ribs takes 5 to 6 hours in the smoker. 

First things first. Your ribs need to be seasoned. 

I've tried several different premixed seasonings from Holy Garlic to Everglades hot, to Amazon brand jerk. I like mine with a little kick of heat on the back side. 

Binders. I've used mustard, hot sauce, and my new favorite is garlic mustard. 

For this cook, I used the garlic mustard with a Jerk seasoning. 

Once you have trimmed any extra fat, removed the membrane, and cut out any unnecessary bones, I lay the ribs out on a piece of wax paper. Coat both sides of the ribs with your binder of choice. 

Now, I start on the bone side with seasoning. This prevents me from rubbing off any seasoning on the meat side when I flip it to coat the other side. Coat each side completely with seasoning. Once it's coated, let it set. Often I will wrap with plastic wrap and put back in the fridge for a couple hours. You want to give the meat an opportunity to absorb all those spices. 

I preheat the smoker to 220/225/230. Once the smoker comes to temp, ribs go on. Bone side down. Close the lid and forget about them. Let them smoke for 3 hours. Don't open the lid. 

At the 3 hour make, I pull them off the smoker. 

Set heat to 275/280. 

While the smoker is heating to temp, the next pahse begins. 

Using a none stick foil, I lay 3 pats of butter out the length of the ribs. Next, sprinkle approximately a 1/4 cup of brown sugar on the foil. Ribs go on meat side down. On the bone side, I repeat the process. 3 pats of butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar. 

Wrap the ribs tightly in the foil. I repeat the wrapping process 3 times. 

At 280, ribs go back on. Meat side down. 

At the 1 1/2 hour mark, I check the internal temp. Goal is to hit between 205 and 208. Don't deal out if it's higher. Once I hot the mark, I pull the ribs again. 

Flip, so the meat side is up, and open the foil. Becareful, as the butter and juices are extremely hot. You will see that there is a nice butter and sugar glaze on the ribs. At this point, I will sometimes add a BBQ sauce, sometimes not. Either way is good. Just depends on my mood. 

Adjust temp to 220 and put the ribs back on. Ribs will remain on until either BBQ or glazing starts to become tacky. Normally 45 minutes to an hour. 

Again, pull the ribs. 

Let them rest for 20 to 30 minutes, cut and enjoy.