I have now smoked meatloaf and hamburgers a few times, and the results are indisputable, I can't believe how delicious the difference is. For hamburgers, not only does it kick the flavor in to another atmosphere than just grilling, it also solves the problem of patties turning into baseballs as they do on the grill. With a quick reverse sear they are so, so good. My family noticed the difference immediately, and they are not foodies. And the meatloaf. Wow. I will never disrespect a meatloaf again by sticking it in a dark, smokeless kitchen oven again.
So, what other foods that I've cooked all my life have I been missing out on enjoying to the fullest by not smoking them?
Hahahaha, I totally agree, I picked up two store made (but still raw) meatloaves for 50% off the other day as they needed to be sold before they expired. They turned out so, so well. The smoke takes meat loaf to another level, its amazing.
Have you tried chicken wings yet? Not exactly an earth shattering revolutionary idea, but they are also outstanding.
Try a little of Everything! A huge hit at our place has been the roasted veggies with a touch of smoke. Everybody in our circle loves the ribs, "best I've ever had", the pulled pork, the turkey etc. But the the biggest raves are the burgs & veggies.
I think a lot of peeps don't care for the little things because of the way they are cooked mostly, but when they have them roasted with a bit of smoke, ooh la la. Plus vegetables can be "good to you."
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan - near Clare (dead center of lower peninsula).
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
I like smoked lasagna. Make a lasagna up according to your favorite recipe. Bake it on your smoker at 350-375 or whatever you can get your smoker to...basically just use your smoker as the oven, same as with meatloaf. Wow. I thought the same about that as you did the smoked ground beef.
Ok Huskee you got me there. Fired up the Yoder for our first ever outdoor lasagna, and it was freaking amazing! Good work with the motivational nod that brought me around to "thinking outside the meat".
i would imagine any recipe that takes ground beef would work, a lot of recipes ask for it. you could probably form a giant patty and put it on the smoker, then take it off and break it up, and finish cooking it for use in a recipe. smoked tacos, spaghetti sauce, chili, stuffed peppers, etc.
having said that, i really did not care for smoked hamburgers and i have not had smoked meatloaf so i am not one to try this right away. look luck for whoever experiments with it, though!
I have smoked Mac and Cheese before, and what I found was that I enjoy Mac n Cheese as a hearty side w/o smoke added. I may try it again, but it's been the only thing that didn't go over very well with the family.
Hey, somebody told me about an $8 dollar mac & cheese at some "noodles factory" that just opened up here. All the "young people" love the place. I think I'll try BigCountryQ either way and pocket the difference.
I do portabellas & other shrooms all the time. Slice em with some onions, a little olive oil (not evoo) & salt and cook them in my Weber wok. I'll also chunk red, yellow, green (not so much green) peppers, with maybe some zucchini or yellow squash, a little olive oil &,salt stirring those, then add hoisin sauce at the end. There is so much one can do.
Now that's something my wife does all the time, especially Pablonos, in the oven. That will be one of my upcoming projects now, after recently buying a 1/2 doz. Stuffed Poblanos here we come, with SMOKE!
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
My experience is that it is excellent, but ground beef sucks up a lot of smoke and you should go lightly on it. Just a kiss is all it needs for perfection. I did a few that tasted like a tire fire before I figured that out.
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan - near Clare (dead center of lower peninsula).
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
I forgot, one of my kids' favorite things that I make- roll a sausage roll (Bob Evans, Jimmy Dean, etc) in brown sugar all over and smoke it indirectly up to 160. It's amazing. Not ground beef, but along the lines of stuff you might not think to make in the smoker.
My wife is very proud of and protective of her lasagna recipe (it's a great one), so she wasn't too thrilled when I told her I wanted to take her recipe and smoke it instead of sticking it in the oven, per Huskee 's suggestion. But she bit her tongue and indulged my request, with low expectations since she's not a huge fan of smoky flavor like me. The results were phenomenal! Even my wife couldn't believe how great the smoky mozzarella tasted. I'm pretty sure she'll be asking me to fire up the smoker next time she's prepping the lasagna pan, and every time after that.
Grills: 22" Weber (wood handles) (another Weber on the way), Lodge Sportsman "hibachi" Smoker: None yet, part of why I joined Thermometer: 10+ yr old Taylor digital thermometer with remote Sous Vide: Anovo Imersion Circulator (1st gen) Coffee Roaster: Hot Top Coffee Roaster Adult Beverages: Fighting Cock Bourbon, Leinny Shandy, Troegs Mad Elf
Wings are a must. The local german restaurant did a smoked wing special last week, we ended up getting 4 orders. I wonder about smoked liver (cow, chicken)
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