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**Smoked Transistors** · January 4, 2026, 05:34 PM

Football-Finale Wk 18- Jalapeño Poppers

Felt like going bold for appetizers this weekend, so I rolled with pork al pastor–style chorizo & cream cheese stuffed jalapeños. I puréed roasted Hatch green chiles, green onions, and red bell peppers with chipotle adobo and a light hit of Chuds chorizo rub. After browning the chorizo, I cooked the veggie blend down in a cast-iron skillet to concentrate the flavor, then folded the chorizo back in with cream cheese.

Stuffed the jalapeños, finished them with shredded cheddar, and gave them a final drizzle of Mike’s Hot Honey for that sweet-heat knockout—perfect fuel for the last full week of football.

**Richard Chrz** · January 4, 2026, 06:47 PM

One of those nights that I was to sure what I was going to have for dinner.

So I looked through the leftovers and found, a left over thin crust, spinach artichoke dip from the bread bowl, and the un-used portion of pancetta from the meatballs.

Spinach artichoke pizza topped with fresh Parmesan and pancetta.

**rmeugene** · January 4, 2026, 07:36 PM

No action pics…pulled pork on the Bull from Thursday, fried rice today on the Blackstone.

**captainlee** · January 4, 2026, 07:47 PM

This is the second half of the,turkey breast we got for Thanksgiving. Smoked it again using Meatheads method of injecting butter. Just a simple salt pepper garlic rub, Malcom TX rub. Came out perfect and so tender. This is the only way to do Turkey breast.

**texastweeter** · January 4, 2026, 07:51 PM

Ham and gnocchi bake. Served with the leftover Greek salad from last night.

**Michael_in_TX** · January 4, 2026, 08:57 PM

Now that I finally have my Chimp fully up and running again, let's cook something on it: the Smoked Mac & Cheese from the free side.

(There is nothing redeemingly healthy about this dish.....well, it's high in calcium, I suppose lol.)

You start off with a blond roux and whisk in two cups of milk, some salt, pepper, and cayenne. I add 4% of the weight of the cheese of sodium citrate as I have found it really helps keep the cheese from breaking.

Then, slowly, over low heat, mix in 16 oz of cheese (I use equal parts colby and montery jack) about a handful at a time.

What always amazes me about this dish is that you will be convinced after whisking for what seems like forever that the cheese simply will never fully integrate then, boom, in an instant it becomes this velvety homogenous cheese sauce. Surprises me every time.

Now, add in one pound of cooked pasta (I like cavatappi / corkscrew) and one pound of sliced cooked sausage. I used the last hot garlic & pepper sausage we got at the past April Meat-Up. Fold all of this in and pour into a 13x9 greased baking dish.

To that add a mix of a cup of panko with 1/2 a stick of melted butter for the topping.

Into the Chimp it goes for a cold-start to 350 F. I tend to do 30 minutes, rotate the tray, then another 20 minutes.

Good to be using this thing again.

All done and ready to eat.

The crunch of the topping takes it, literally, over the top.

**jfmorris** · January 4, 2026, 09:28 PM

Well, this will be a two for one post - the second AND third cooks of 2026.

First, on the 2nd, I had two steaks in the fridge that needed cooking, and it was raining and dark outside, and I was microwaving potatoes for a 2 and 4 year old. So.... Lodge 12" skillet to the rescue! Not the prettiest steaks or best sear. I just flipped every 2 minutes until I hit 135F and called it done, after seasoning with Uncle Chris. And yes - that is butter melting over the steak right after I turned off the burner...

The 3rd cook of 2026 started around 10pm on January 3rd, and ended around 1pm on January 4th. Two 8 pound Boston butts, seasoned with Richard Chrz "Fairchild Kitchen" pork seasoning blend, and smoked overnight on the SNS Deluxe Kamado. I used the new RFX system (Thanks Santa Alan Brice !) + Billows to monitor and control the cooking temp, and monitor the two butts.

I ran 225 overnight, then upped to 250 when I woke, and when I was still in a stall about 11am, from church, I bumped the temp to 300F, to get it done by the time I got home. I pulled both at 1pm.

The results speak for themselves, but sadly, I got no pulled pork pics, as we were celebrating a belated Christmas with the kids and grandkids, as we had half of them missing due to flu back on actual Christmas.

We have plenty of left over pulled pork for the week, and sent the kids home with some as well. Here is one right after a 1 hour rest wrapped in a cooler, before I got busy shredding and pulling the pork by hand, using some heat resistant gloves. Once I dove in with both hands, photos were out of the question...

I will also add that the RFX system claims 3 rates for wireless probe reporting. I was on the report rate that claims to be for cooks up to 15 hours. One probe died right around 200F, with my alarm set to 203F. I was right at the edge of the 15 hours too, as I probably stuck the probes in the meat around 9:30pm the night before. I noticed it was offline, and just grabbed my Thermopen, walked out with a roll of foil, and found both to be ready to pull.

So, next long cook of a butt or brisket where I run 225 for the cook, I'll need to change the RFX meat probes to report less often, to lengthen the battery life. To be honest though, I feel I see reports much more frequently than the configured degree interval, with fractional degree changes, so I am not 100% sure what that setting does in the Thermoworks app.

**theroc** · January 4, 2026, 10:13 PM

Cooked Porter Road bone-in pork chops sous vide (2 hrs @140 F). Seared in the CI and finished in a pan sauce. Served with baked potatoes.

**cruiseplanner1** · January 5, 2026, 08:15 AM

A simple Venison neck roast. Dusted and seared in my cast iron pan then into the slow cooker with some beef stock onions and seasonings. Cooked for six hours and held at 205 for a while. Just used a fork and pulled that tender meat off the bone. Friends think they don't like neck roasts, best cut on the deer next to tenderloin.

**TWBarbecue** · January 5, 2026, 03:08 PM

Tri-Tip Steak Sandwich 🥩🥖

Wanted to make a steak sandwich with a flavorful Tri-Tip. Decided to use a prime rib seasoning that I first had back in my Army days when stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska. Seasoned the night before then removed from the fridge the next day to warm up while the grill was lit. Applied another light layer of seasoning before placing on the indirect side of the grill then cooked until reaching 115°F internal temp. Removed and quickly seared on both sides then placed back indirect until it reached an internal temp of around 130°F before pulling and resting. Grilled off a ciabatta roll then smeared a mixture of mayo, sriracha, and Worcestershire sauce on both sides. Added some micro greens, thinly sliced tri-tip, and caramelized onions on the other half. Put the two together and had at it. Absolutely Delicious!

**RichieB** · January 5, 2026, 06:37 PM

Taco with leftover brisket. Picante sauce, 4 blend cheese, Fresno pepper, lettuce and onion. The side is reverse jalaepeno dip I like to make in the cold months. Thin Wheats to dip.

**theroc** · January 5, 2026, 10:53 PM

Lamb tagine served with couscous.

**jayjordan** · January 6, 2026, 06:18 PM

Red beans and rice- made with leftover Christmas ham, Savoie’s Andouille sausage and Camellia red kidney beans. Cooked several hours yesterday, cooled and refrigerated for dinner tonight.

**RonB** · January 6, 2026, 08:48 PM

We were at Wegman's today and Nan requested steak "like the last one you cooked". So I asked the butcher to cut me a ribeye about 1.5" thick 'cause the ones in the case looked to be a little shy of 1". It was about 1.5 lbs. I front seared it and the finished it indirect. It went a little past my pull temp, but was still very good.

I used a board sauce tonight and Nan loved it. I thought it was pretty good too. It was just evoo, fresh basil, and salt.

As you can see, a little too much gray around the edges.