Today is my first time smoking with gas and so far so good, will be providing updates throughout the smoke here.

What’s smokin’: A 6ish pound pork tenderloin rubbed with Penzey’s BBQ 3000
What’s it smokin’ in: Brinkmann (El Cheapo) Charcoal with Afterburner mod (available at GasSmoker.com)
What’s makin’ smoke: Apple and hickory chunks intermixed

The meat waiting for the smoker:

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The smoker with meat inside.  Hank Hill would be proud.

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Saucing the loin a little on the grill with a Pomegranate BBQ Sauce.

Loin on the smoker covered in BBQ sauce

All done.

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Bacon, pork and sage what more could one ask for, but all together these three ingredients make a startling pleasant and extremely tasty meatball.  Now drench those same meatballs in a tangy-thymey gravy and BAM, Olive Garden better head for the boarder there is a new sheriff in town.

I had originally found this recipe along time ago and had yet to make it, with an impending potluck this coming weekend I thought I would make them ahead only to discover yesterday that a pound of pork doesn’t go to far so I decided to eat them tonight piled high on a bed of rice.  I was not disappointed, thought I feel sorry for those of you who could have sampled them on Sunday.

This recipe is headed for the recipe box, it may become a frequent favorite.  You can find the original recipe over at Apartment Therapy.

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Well before we get right down to it prehaps I should mention that today was an exceptional day for smoking (bitter sarcism injected throughout that last statement), if I had not been forced, have already prepared my meat for smoking I would have just thrown in the towel for smoking today, but I had no choice, so I did what you do when you have no choice.  Upon rising at 0900 this morning it was rainy and windy, so I thought I would wait tell after noon to smoke my fatty, after all it had already been rolled.  Well noon brought around no positive change in the weather so I just did what I had to do, I got the charcoal ready.

Smokin' on a rainy day

I digress so after getting the smoker going in less than ideal smoking weather I popped the fatty on the smoker and let it smoke for 1…2…3…did I mention it was windy…4 hours until the thermometer read 165.

My Fatty on the smoker

Once it was done I pulled it off, let it rest and then dug in.

Picture of the Fatty

A sliced fatty

All said and done it was worth the effort, my tomato basil fatty has been my first fatty but certainly not my last.  It took a chunk of the day to smoke this fatty over charcoal and bits of hickory and cherry but it was worth it.  It was a culinary delight and an arterial nightmare.

Disclaimer:  While I may rave that this was in fact a delicious meal it would not be right to omit the opinion of my wife, who claims it was good but salty, it was certainly a man meal.

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While this ia  new concept to me many of you may be turned off by the title, I would encourage you to roll on.  Like its contraband counter part the fatty we are talking about must first be rolled, so that is where this process will begin.  But before we do perhaps we should look at a definition of what exactly is a fatty.  A fatty is a bit of sausage rolled out filled with some tasty goodness rolled up, wrapped in bacon and smoked (more info over at Smoking Meat Forums.  Having never assembled, much less smoked one of these tasty looking things I thought I would give it a try.  So I took some pork sausage and bacon out of the freezer last night and tonight assembled my master piece I will smoke it in the morning.  Below is my ordeal in a step by step fashion with pictures.

1.The Pork Sausage all rolled out.

Pork Sausage Rolled out for the Fatty

2. The bacon weave found out after all was said and done a much easier looking way to accomplish the same thing.

Bacon Weave awaiting the Fatty

3. Getting the fillings ready to the tomato basil fatty

The Fatty all filled up with Tomatoes, Basil and Mozz Cheese

4. The Fatty ready for the smoker…

The Fatty waiting for the smoker

It almost looks tasty enough to eat right now, but in the morning I shall throw it in the smoker and try it for lunch.  Check back later tomorrow for an update.

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