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I've been doing BBQ competitions since 1993. The main cause of to much smoke is a smoldering fire. Almost all hard woods and fruit woods are good to cook on. If the smoke from the fire smells bad, the food will taste bad. Most comp teams use charcoal for heat and a couple of pieces of flavor wood. Taking your time is a key ingredient in good BBQ. I have 4 different cookers that will feed 150 to 200 people.

Do you make a lot of good santa maria tri-tip around your way? I have smoked a few tri-tips with very tasty results. I soaked one in guinness extra stout for a couple of days and grilled it over oak and it was amazing.
 
You guys tried the cajun injector for marinade yet? I smoked a turkey over hickory for thanksgiving and injected there "Creole Butter" marinade. It was real good stuff. BASS PRO SHOPS,INC sells the injector and a 16 oz jar of marinade(they have at least a 100 varieties of marinades) for $4.00. give it a try and i'm sure you;ll be glad you did. preciate the tips on the smoke too.:clap:

I have tried it and liked it. I used the creole garlic on a pork butt, and it definitely added some flavor to the inside of that big piece of meat. I like to make my own injectable concoctions too. I like hot stuff, so I pureed some jalapenos with garlic, lime juice, and olive oil. Injected a brisket with it. Recommended:cheers:
 
A bitter taste on the outside can be a few things. I will list them, and if you see one that rings a bell, I can offer more information.

1. closing the outlet damper on your smoker--never do this
2. smoldering low temp fire--you want a clear burning hot fire
3. overly green wood--usually doesn't burn hot and clean
4. too much smoke--cover your food after 4-6 hours of smoke or change your fuel to charcoal.
5. putting your meat in the smoker when it's cold--never do this, let it set out while youre getting the fire ready (30 min to 1 hour)
6. your smoker is dirty with creosote--this nasty stuff will taint the foods taste, brush clean and then burn a "hellfire" in there to burn off.
7. rancid pork products--chain grocery stores are notorious for this, it can taste weird and chemically, smell your pork product before you commence seasoning.

Thanks for the tips I am betting it's #3 overly green wood since my Apple an Hickory are always well seasoned and come out good.
 
I have tried it and liked it. I used the creole garlic on a pork butt, and it definitely added some flavor to the inside of that big piece of meat. I like to make my own injectable concoctions too. I like hot stuff, so I pureed some jalapenos with garlic, lime juice, and olive oil. Injected a brisket with it. Recommended:cheers:

Damn Bone! That's all sounding mighty tasty! I've done the tri tip you mentioned myself. Up untill a year ago we couldn't get that cut up here at the market. My Butcher told me it was primarily a western thang. They do have some now.

I bought a half a Galloway banded cow and he butchered it up the way I asked and had some nice tri tip. I'll tell you one thing, there's no comparison in taste too fresh grass fed beef and the stuff in the supermarket! :cheers:
 
Carbon Monoxide in beef

Hey zodiac,that's a great point about the beef tasting less desirable from the store! I was shocked when i recently saw a special on tv how beef is pumped full of carbon monoxide to give it that fresh(fake) red color. I try to buy a brand called Laura's all organic lean beef. More expensive than store bought, but heck it's worth it. You just can't beat good ole ranch raised ,grass fed beef.:clap:
 
you know how red oak smells when split green? just saying it wouldn't't leave a great taste in your mouth. i think the key is seasoned wood, you don't get as much "smokey" taste with dry but you avoid the unpleasant #2 smell.
 
Tri tip is a great cut off of the end of the sirloin. 5 years ago we could get choice grade tri tip for $1.45 a pound in 16 pound bags. You can smoke, smoke then grill, or just grill tri tip. It is a cross between a thick steak and a small roast. The secret is not to over cook it. I cook it to about 125F max.
 
I've read where alder is the first choice for smoking fish.
I've been using alder(box alder) for smoking fish(Northern Pike, Lake Trout, suckers,Whitefish) for over 40 years...but then again we have box Alder coming out of our ying-yang .
I use dry or punky pieces and try to scrape off most of the bark...supposedly gives a bitter taste to the fish .
I use small dry pieces soaked in water for beer can chicken .
I gotta learn how to do a brisket like 046 does ....looks yummy .
 
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A post on tri tip from bbq list

I'll give the tri tip a try! Sounds like a great,but forgotten cut of beef. Yummy:cheers:

Tri tip has been a Central C A thing forever. It started in Santa Maria. The Thursday night Farmers Market in San Louis Obispo has 4 blocks full of vendor's selling food and most sell tri tip.



From: Bill Martin [[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2004 11:41 PM
To: BBQ BBQ
Subject: [bbq] Tri-tip

From: http://www.elks1538.com/bbq.htm
Pictures at: http://www.jl-site.com/Steak/Tri-Tip.html

The Origin of Tri Tip

Santa Maria's Cut of Meat

65 year Santa Maria Elk member Larry Viegas' memory is fuzzy about the
exact date of the discovery of tri tip--a barbecue favorite on the
Central Coast. It was sometime in the late 1950s, he suspects.

But of one thing the Santa Maria man is certain--he was there when the
first tri tip was prepared, ushering in a word-of-mouth success story
for a cut of beef that was never held in much respect.

Viegas, a butcher, was a summer vacation replacement at the old Safeway
store at the corner of Mill and Vine streets in Santa Maria (now the
site of a high-rise housing unit for seniors). He was cutting large
beef loins into sections of preferred top block sirloin and filet; the
triangular shaped tips of the sirloin were set aside.

"We would cut it up in chunks for stew meat," he recalls, "and
sometimes it would be used for hamburger."

But that day there was an overabundance of hamburger and stew meat, and
the triangular cut was about to be wasted.

In the pinch, meat market manager Bob Shutz experimented. He bought a
piece of the unwanted meat, seasoned it with salt, pepper and garlic
salt, and placed it on a rack in his department's rotissiere.

"He just let it go around... for 45 minutes or an hour," Viegas says.
"I told him he was going to chew that meat all day long, it was usually
so tough. But I had never tried it in a whole piece."

He was in for a shock. "I couldn't believe it was going to be as tender
as it was and as delicious as it was. The supervisor from the Santa
Barbara office came into the store and tried it himself, and he wanted
to know what it was."

It was a new cut "with a texture of its own and a flavor all its own,"
he says. And at the time its cost was significantly less than what was
being charged for the traditional cuts of beef--about 90 cents a pound
versus $1.90 - $1.95 a pound for top sirloin.

Shutz dubbed it "tri tip" and began giving samples to customers and
occasionally selling a cooked piece. It was not an overnight success;
Safeway didn't promote tri tip or sell it anywhere except at the Santa
Maria store, Viegas says.

The breakthrough occured when Shutz opened his own meat market, known
as the old Santa Maria Market, on North Broadway. He promoted the new
cut and taught customers how to prepare it. Williams Brothers picked up
the idea and began to market tri tip through its Central Coast chain.

For two decades tri tip remained a Central Coast -- and particularly
Santa Maria -- delicacy. "I would ask a butcher in Santa Barbara for a
tri tip," says Viegas, "and he wouldn't know what I was talking about."

Visitors and workers transferring from Vandenberg Air Force Base slowly
spread the word. "People from the (San Joaquin) Valley were coming over
here and buying it by the case and taking it back for barbecuing,"
Viegas recalls.

In 1986 tri tip can be found in many independent groceries in
California, although it is still an unfamiliar word to barbecuers in
most other states.

It is their loss, because when prepared properly tri tip is the ideal
barbecue meat.

"It can be harder to work than other cuts," cautions Viegas, who
learned to barbecue at the old Santa Maria Club (now the Landmark
restaurant) and has worked at barbecues serving as many as 5,000
people.

"It can be a tough piece of meat if you make the mistake of taking all
the fat off. If you put the fat side of the tri tip on the fire first,
the moisture will come up through the meat and make it tender."

Viegas' procedure is to sear the lean part of the meat over the fire
for 5-10 minutes to seal in the juices, then flip over to the fat side
for 30-45 minutes, depending on degree of doneness expected. When juice
appears at the top of the meat, it is time to flip for another 30-45
minutes.

The fat can easily be trimmed after cooking, he says.

Source: Larry Viegas, On The Road



1309 North Bradley Rd. Santa Maria, CA 93454

Office 805-922-1538 - Rodeo 805-925-4125



From the fertile slopes of Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island

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man o man 046, i would tear that bologna up, bet it taste beter than fried. each time i deployed overseas fried bologna is what i ate when i came home. you dont miss it till your away from it. just the simple things in your chilhood that makes home feel like home.

but when i smoke meat i use 1.25 zigzags :dizzy: just joking, wild chery is my choicefor poultry as it is milder, hickory and oak=beef, apple or cherry=pork, beef takes to the harser woods like oak and hickory than pork or poultry
 
It's worth a shot. I think sugar's the good one to use though from what i've heard

Yeah, sugar maple is the one you want to use. I am surrounded by Big Leaf Maple's and recently cut one down for fire wood. I was going to use some of the wood for smoking some fish but a day after I cut it, it just didnt have a very nice smell to it.

I recently borrowed my fiance's parents smoker and have been testing out several things.

Alder & Wild Cherry Trout
2459661411_b182aba0b4.jpg


Mesquite & Cherry Blackmouth
2501505626_db0c061aa9.jpg

2500674789_1fd5fa0618.jpg


I've also tried alder for chicken breast's, that was not a great combo.
And I've ruined some beef jerky by adding to much vinegar to the marinade :(
 
I've been using alder(box alder) for smoking fish(Northern Pike, Lake Trout, suckers,Whitefish) for over 40 years...but then again we have box Alder coming out of our ying-yang .
I use dry or punky pieces and try to scrape off most of the bark...supposedly gives a bitter taste to the fish .
I use small dry pieces soaked in water for beer can chicken .
I gotta learn how to do a brisket like 046 does ....looks yummy .

I've never heard of box alder....box elder, yes, which is acer genus, thus, actually a maple.

The PNW is where red alder is native to, and it is a great wood for smoking.

Here's a link, does this look like the right tree?:
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/kids/tree_box.htm
 
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Yeah, sugar maple is the one you want to use. I am surrounded by Big Leaf Maple's and recently cut one down for fire wood. I was going to use some of the wood for smoking some fish but a day after I cut it, it just didnt have a very nice smell to it.

I recently borrowed my fiance's parents smoker and have been testing out several things.

Alder & Wild Cherry Trout
2459661411_b182aba0b4.jpg


Mesquite & Cherry Blackmouth
2501505626_db0c061aa9.jpg

2500674789_1fd5fa0618.jpg


I've also tried alder for chicken breast's, that was not a great combo.
And I've ruined some beef jerky by adding to much vinegar to the marinade :([/QUOT]

You gotta try white oak and hickory combined. Will be the best bbq you ever ate!
 
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