This site is dedicated to sharing my experiences with food of all sorts, but especially smoked foods. There may be a heavy emphasis on my favorite, Texas Barbecue…
We took a roadtrip to the DFW area last weekend to spend some time with family. My brother-in-law is a huge fan of smoked meat as well, and had the outstanding idea of making our own pastrami. He got two brisket flats and brined them for the week before we went so that the briskets …
I've really wanted to make my own "no nitrites added" bacon for awhile now. I made my DIY cold smoker attachment for my Traeger a few months ago, and have been dying to cold smoke bacon. Here's how I did it: I bought a ~9 lb pork belly from my local Costco and then cut …
I've been toying with the idea of doing some cold smoking for quite awhile now. At first I thought I'd just buy the commercially-manufactured cold smoker attachment for my Traeger. But it isn't cheap. And call me weird, but Traeger doesn't make a grill cover anymore that works for the Elite 34 with the cold …
Continue reading DIY cold smoker — and some cold-smoked cheese
A couple weeks ago I finally got some time to do a spatchcocked chicken on my Traeger Texas Elite 34 pellet grill. I'm fortunate to get my chickens from the daughter of some good friends, who raises them for high school FFA. So they are really big, fat, raised without hormones, etc., and thus so …
Sometimes it is fun to enjoy some well-smoked meat but without a huge time commitment. That's what I needed a weekend or two ago. So I just grabbed a pork tenderloin (not to be confused with a pork loin). I covered it with a slather of extra virgin olive oil, fresh minced garlic, fresh chopped …
We had some friends over Saturday night to introduce them to cooking on a pellet grill. It was fun showing them how simple to use these grills are. I love my Traeger Texas Elite 34! It was BYOM so we had a variety of tasty grilled meat to share. Ribeye, New York strip and top sirloin …
This week I got special treat - I got to try my brother's home-smoked pulled pork while we were together on the Outer Banks in NC. It was a 7.8lb bone-in butt that he smoked at 225° for ~16 hours over hickory and apple. It had such a beautiful mahogany color on the bark. He …
Gotta love home-grilled deliciousness - nitrite-free bacon-wrapped wild-caught jumbo scallops and organic asparagus grilled with bacon as well. Grilled over 100% oak on my Traeger Texas Elite 34. Bacon is meat candy, and scallops are sea candy - so the combination is just amazing!!
I got the opportunity to smoke a brisket this past weekend for some friends as part of a church fundraiser. Once again, I used 100% post oak and went with 250°F for about 10 hours, fat cap up with a 50/50 mix of only 16 mesh black pepper and sea salt for the rub. I …
I love the versatility of my Traeger Texas Elite 34. Not only can I do low-n-slow brisket, ribs, pulled pork, etc. but I can also do high-heat grilling. This weekend I got to do some bacon-wrapped jumbo scallops and asparagus over mesquite. They were delicious!
