We’re Smokin’ Now!

I’m “fired up” about my new toy!

Masterbuilt 40″ Electric Smoker

This is the Masterbuilt 40″ Electric Smoker! 3.4 cubic feet of smokin’ goodness all wrapped up in a stainless steel cabinet.  Looks (and lifts) like a small refrigerator! However, throw some meat and some wood chips in there, plug it in and watch the magic happen……in a few hours (depending on what you’re smoking).

But, how cool is this??  Before, when I was smoking briskets, I’d be up most of the night tending the fire box – which usually meant, starting a fire and making coals, then transferring those coals to the fire box, all the while trying to maintain a perfect temperature “balance.”  Most briskets I did were on there 16-18 HOURS!  Try and do one of those suckers in the middle of a South Texas summer and that fire-tending gets old in a big, damn hurry!

So, enter the MES 40 with it’s set-it-and-forget-it way of smoking meats, fish, poultry, vegetables….whatever you want to put in there!  The only thing you really need to keep an eye on is the wood chips.  You can add a little or a lot depending on how much impact on the food you want the smoke to be.

And, do you think you’re limited to just “hickory” or “mesquite” chips??  Oh, no, no, no, my friends.  Think again!  There are those, plus oak, cherry, apple, alder, pecan, maple – almost as many choices for wood as the meat you want to smoke with it!  Tobasco brand makes wood chips out of the barrels they use to age their hot sauce! Same with Jack Daniels.  Now, how good will that ham or pork butt be when it’s smoked with whiskey soaked oak chips??  I’m sure there are some wineries out there that are smart enough to chip up their old oak barrels and sell those for smoking as well.  What you do NOT want to use are any of the “resin” based woods like pine, cedar, etc.

A simple rub of salt, brown sugar and chili powder on a pork butt.

So? What did I smoke for my “inaugural” run?  I chose a 7 pound pork butt.  Nothing says a summer Sunday in South Texas like a good ol’ BBQ’d butt……well, except for a BRISKET, of course, but I felt like pork for this go.  Now, there are as many schools-of-thought for preparation of the meat as there are with how to cook/smoke it.  There are brines, marinades, rubs, glazes, bastes, and on and on and on yadda yadda blah blah blah……  What you do all depends on what you like.  Sweet? Savory? “Bark”? You could fill a book on what to do – and there are TONS of ’em out there!  Pick one that looks like your speed and run with it.  Give it a try.

For mine, I actually went with a very simple rub (that came from the manual) of:

• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp chili powder

Here’s what it looks like after 6 1/2 hours at 225°F.

First I coated the roast with olive oil and then smeared this rub all over the meat, then I let it rest while I got the chips soaking and the smoker ready.  Now, you CAN do this the day before, then wrap the pork in plastic wrap and let it rest overnight in the fridge.  The rub will act like a marinade and soak into that meat and “deepen” the flavors that much more.  But, I didn’t think that far ahead so I just let it soak in for about 30 minutes.  Once it was ready, I put some old apricot wine and water in the water pan and some pecan chips in the smoker tray and away it went!  About 9 hours later, I had a BEAUTIFUL smoked pork roast!

We had this along with some mashed sweet potatoes w/ walnuts and some garlic-roasted cauliflower and jalapeno.  WOW!  Just can’t beat that at all for Sunday supper!  Now, get those fires lit and join me!  Until next time.

Smoked pork butt, mashed sweet potatoes w/ walnuts, garlic roasted cauliflower and jalapenos.