Pellet Grill Jerky

Cabela's had their Jerky Blaster on sale for 50% so I went ahead and pulled the trigger.  Just received it yesterday so I had to try it out.  Here's what it looks like.

The Jerky Blaster comes with all the tools for making jerky and snack sticks!  Four nozzles, funnel and plunger for loading, and two brushes for cleaning. 

For my jerky, I used one of Hi-Mountains Seasoning/Cure mixes in Mesquite flavor, also from Cabelas.  Here I am mixing up a 3 lb. batch.

Ready to shoot some Jerky!

Loading up the tube was incredibly easy with the included funnel and tamper.  I used some of my wife's cooling racks for the jerky.  Hopefully I won't be sleeping on the couch for that one.  Here's the jerky, shot on the racks.

I smoked this on my Yoder Smokers pellet grill at 200 degrees for an hour and a half.  Here's what the first batch looked like.  I  used the single strip nozzle on this one.

For the second batch, I used the dual strip nozzle.  This made strips wider and thicker which I liked.  It also made for shooting out the jerky twice as fast.  Here's what that batch looked like.

Overall, I was very pleased with the ease of use and the quality of the Cabela's Jerky Blaster.  The quality jerky seasoning from Hi-Mountain coupled with the great smoke from the Yoder pellet grill made some excellent ground-meat jerky.  Hope everyone has a blessed New Year!  See you in 2011 and keep on smokin'.

Christmas Prime Rib

I had a chance to cook a prime rib for our Christmas dinner this year.  Here's how it all went together.  I started with a 6 lb. standing rib roast, rubbed with some olive oil.  The roast was rubbed down with a generous amount of Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic Seasoning and some John Henry's Brisket rub.

Standing Rib Roast rubbed in olive oil

Rubbed in Garlic Garlic and John Henry's

I smoked the prime rib for two hours at 225 degrees on my Yoder Smokers pellet grill.  After two hours, I cranked up the grill to 325 and finished it off until it was a good medium (around 150 degrees).

Smokin' away on the Yoder

I let it rest for about 45 minutes wrapped in foil and then carved into it.  Here's how it looked.

This was a real treat for our family for Christmas.  It was served with a horseradish sauce consisting of some mayo, prepared horseradish, and some whole grain mustard.  We will definitely be doing this again.  Hope you all had a blessed Christmas!  See you next year!

Yoder Day

I had the chance to hang out for a few hours with Joe Phillips and Don Cary from Yoder Smokers this week.  Watching them in action is a real treat.  They were smoking briskets, chicken, pork butts, and even a deer shoulder.  Got some great smoking tips and insight into what's coming down the pike with their pellet grills.  They have some exciting stuff planned for sure.  Here's a few pics from the day.

Joe checking the temp of the brisket.  He sure smokes a mean cut of meat!

One of the briskets ready for foil.  This one was a winner for sure!

Yoder Smokers Pit Stop

My grill is back!  Thanks to Andy and Eric from Yoder Smokers for making the trek down to Derby to make sure I'm back to cooking.  My baby looks a little bit different on the inside now.  Here's what is new.

They added the baffle/bulkhead in the center to really harness the airflow and make sure it is going in the right direction.  This has really helped getting my grill up to higher temps during these colder months.  The thermocouple (or temperature probe) was moved as well out of the turbulent air to give the grill some rock solid temperature readings.  Here's a closeup...

Thermocouple to the right of the fire pot

I also got a new set of wheels and their new dome thermometer.  Yoder Smokers really goes the extra mile, literally and figuratively, to make their customers 100% satisfied.  If you are in the market for a new grill or smoker, I'd recommend giving them a look above anyone else.  They have the best customer service of any product/company I've come across.

Brisket - Round III

This is my third try at smoking brisket on my Yoder Smokers YS-640 pellet grill.  The last time was excellent, and this smoke was no exception.  This cook I tried John Henry's Texas Brisket rub.  The rub added some great flavor, but not quite as strong as the Plowboys Bovine Bold I typically use.

I fired up my YS-640 to 225 degrees at around 11:30pm and in no time I was off and smoking.  The Yoder held temps very well over night in the cold.  I foiled my brisket at 170 degrees internal.  The brisket was pulled and placed in the cooler to rest at 205 internal.  By lunch time the next day, we had a very moist and tender brisket.  Here's how it looked.

I'll be without my grill for a short while as the Yoder is going in for a "Pit Stop" to receive some upgrades.  Stay tuned and I'll be back for more in a few days!  Keep on smokin'!

Sugar Maple Smoked Baby Back Ribs

It was a frigid day in Kansas this past Sunday, so what do you do?  Smoke some meat.  This time I smoked a rack of baby back ribs for my family using BBQr's Delight Sugar Maple pellets.  The night before the smoke, I rubbed down a rack of baby backs with some Coon Creek Rub and some extra brown sugar.  Coon Creek has become a staple of mine for ribs and pork butts.  Thanks to my friends at All Things BBQ for recommending this to me early on.  It's been a hit at our house.  Be sure to swing by their store if your in the Wichita area or check them out on-line at www.atbbq.com for all your BBQ supply needs. 

On the day of the smoke, I fired up my Yoder YS-640 pellet grill to 225 degrees.  The ribs get smoked using 2-2-1 method, meaning 2 hours in the smoke, 2 hours wrapped in foil, and 1 hour (or until done) unwrapped and basted with BBQ sauce.  The Yoder was rock-solid during the entire process as usual.  Temperatures held very stable given the cold temps outside.  Here's how they turned out.

I want my baby back baby back baby back...ribs!

Great smoke ring and very moist!

All that was left after all the carnage!  Finger lickin' good ain't just for chicken anymore!

Next weekend, I'm smoking brisket again with a new rub by John Henry.  Stay tuned and I'll share all the meaty, juicy details with you.  Keep on smokin'!

Smoked Tri-Tip Sandwiches

Welcome to Flavor Town!  This sandwich has a lot of ingredients that definitely wake up the taste buds.  The night before, I rubbed down a 2.5 lb tri-tip with some Plowboys Bovine Bold and some extra garlic powder, wrapped the meat in plastic wrap, and placed it in the fridge.  In the morning, I fired up my Yoder Smokers pellet grill to 225 degrees and started smoking.  Tri-tip is very lean so care has to be taken if you are smoking it to avoid drying out the meat.  I smoked mine with hickory pellets to 140 degrees internal before wrapping in foil with some apple juice and worcestershire sauce.  As usual the Yoder was rock solid with the temperature control.  The meat was pulled when the internal temperature reached 195 degrees and rested for about an hour before slicing.

Here's the smoked trip-tip.  Great smoke ring and still moist.

The sandwich consists of the shaved tri-tip, melted provolone cheese, pico de gallo, and a horseradish-mustard aioli, all on a butter toasted Bolillo roll .  My version of the aioli was some mayonnaise mixed with some prepared horseradish and Dijon mustard.

Here's the new mayor of Flavor Town piled high!

Look at all those layers of flavor!

And the meal wasn't complete without some fried onion petals!

Definitely recommend this recipe if your looking to break out of the rut of usual BBQ.  The host of flavors made this meal a winner in our house.

Smoked Meat Loaf

I was hungry for some good meat and potatoes this past weekend so I decided to smoke some meat loaf.  Here's the recipe I used.


1 1/2 lbs Ground Beef
1/2 cup Crushed Ritz Cracker Crumbs
1 pkg Dry Onion Soup Mix
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup Ketchup
2 T Steak Sauce


Mix all these ingredients together and form into a loaf.  Throw this on the smoker at 250 degrees till the internal temperature reaches 160.  Here's some pictures of the process.

The meat loaf mixture all stirred up

Here's the loaf cut into.  Check out that smoke ring.

Here the meat loaf plated up with some scalloped potatoes, peas, and garlic bread.   Now that's some good stick to your ribs comfort food!

Sugar Maple Baked French Toast

For breakfast this past weekend, I baked up a French Toast casserole on my Yoder Smokers pellet grill.  Here's how it all went together.

The night before, I sliced up a loaf of French bread into roughly 20 slices.  I lined a well buttered 9x13 Pyrex dish with the bread slices, over lapping slightly.  Next I mixed up the egg mixture which consisted of:

• 8 large eggs
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Dash salt

Whisk all the ingredients together well and pour over the bread.  Cover and let that sit over night.

The next morning I fired up the Yoder to 350 degrees with some Sugar Maple pellets.  It was a pretty cold morning so I ended up setting the grill to 375 to keep the temperature around 350.

While the grill was preheating I topped the French bread with a brown sugar pecan topping consisting of:

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Here's what it looked like ready to throw on the grill.

This was baked at 350 until golden brown.  Here's the finished product.

A slice of that topped off with some hot syrup, made a great breakfast on a cold Kansas morning.

Pizza Night!

I wanted to try baking some pizza with my Charcoal Companion grill pizza pan tonight.  My wife and I mixed up a pizza crust recipe we found online.  The recipe made enough dough for two crusts so the other pizza was baked on a baking stone to compare.  The pizza sauce was a clone of Papa John's sauce that we found online as well.  Both pizzas were topped with half pepperoni and half sausage and mushroom.  The cheese was a blend of mozzarella and Provolone.

I fired up my Yoder YS-640 pellet grill to 425 degrees and threw the pies on.  Here they are on the grill...

The pizza pies baking away.

Here's the pizza stone variety.

And the Charcoal Companion variety.

The pizza on the stone had a drier crust than that of the pizza baked on the pan.  The pizza on the pan reminded us of more of what we would get from a pizza restaurant, which we preferred.  It was much easier taking pizza on and off the grill as well.  I think I'll be grabbing another Charcoal Companion pizza pan very soon.  The fresh, home made ingredients coupled with the wood-fired taste from the Yoder made pizza night a winner at our house!

Yoder Pellet Smoked Chex Mix

We finally kicked off our fall baking tonight with a couple batches of Chex Mix.  One the traditional way in the oven...the other on the Yoder pellet grill, just to experiment.  I fired up my YS-640 to 250 degrees and threw together a batch of Chex Mix using the standard recipe and smoked it for one hour.  It wasn't quite done after that so I finished it in the oven for another 30 minutes to crisp it up.  This was outstanding!  The hickory pellets gave the Chex Mix a nice subtle bacon flavor.  If it tastes like bacon, it ain't bad!

Smoke Stack Sandwiches

I had some leftover pulled pork and hot links from this past weekend's smoke on my new Yoder Smokers YS-640, so I decided to make my own version of a Smoke Stack.  Just pile high the warmed up pulled pork with some slices of the hot links, all on a butter toasted bun with a little BBQ sauce.  Now your in hog heaven!

Bacon Mushroom Melt Burgers

The Yoder Smokers YS-640 arrived this past week and after a little troubleshooting from the guys at Yoder, I'm back to BBQ'n.  Thanks Eric, Andy, Don, and Joe for all your efforts.  The maiden cook for the YS-640 was some Bacon Mushroom Melt Burgers.  Here's how it all went down.

Firing up the Yoder YS-640 to 550 degrees for some burgers

While the burgers were grilling, I sautéed some mushrooms and fried up some bacon.  When the burgers were done, I topped them off with some American cheese on the grill to melt.  The burgers were served up with the mushrooms, bacon, and topped off with some Cheez Whiz.  Here they are all finished up.

Bacon, Mushrooms, Cheese and more Cheese...can't go wrong there!

 

Smoked Chuck Roast

I smoked a chuck roast or chucky this past weekend for some BBQ beef.  I rubbed it down with some Plow Boys Bovine Bold and put it on the Yoder set to 225 degrees.

On the Yoder pellet grill taking on smoke.

During the slow smoke I occasionally sprayed it with a mixture of apple juice and worcestershire sauce.  Once the chucky reached 170 degrees, I foiled it with some of my spray and finished it to 195 degrees (I think I'll take it higher next time to make it easier to pull).

Here's the chucky ready for pulling

Chucky after pulling. Check out that smoke ring!

Smoked Chicken Enchiladas

I had some left over chicken breasts from the cordon-bleu so I cooked up some chicken enchiladas on the Yoder Smokers pellet grill.  This has been a very popular recipe with our family and the smoked chicken really took this dish to the next level.  Here's how it went together.

In a bowl combine:

3 chicken breasts, smoked and diced

2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded

1 can (2.25oz) sliced black olives, drained

2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Some of the chicken mixture.

Divide this mixture between eight flour (8) tortillas, roll, and place seam side down in a 9x13 baking dish.  Here they are rolled up.

Rolled up and ready for sauce.

Now lets move on to the sauce.

1/2 medium onion, diced

1/2 green pepper, diced

1 tablespoon of cooking oil

1 can (4oz) chopped green chilies

1 can (15oz) tomato sauce

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Sauté the onion and pepper in the oil until tender.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.  Here it is mixed up on the stove.

Enchilada Sauce

Pour this mixture over the tortillas.  I baked this on the Yoder at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  During the last 10 minutes I sprinkled on 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.  Here's the grill loaded up with the enchiladas and the spoon bread.

Lookin' good already

Here's the enchiladas finished up.

Sweet Corn Spoon Bread

No Mexican Fiesta is complete without a side of sweet corn spoon bread, similar to what you would find as a side at Jose Pepper's Restaurant.  This baked up nicely on the Yoder as well.  Here is the recipe.

1/2 cup of butter, softened

1/3 cup Masa Harina

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/3 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

1/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

In a medium bowl beat butter until creamy.  Add the masa harina and water and beat until well mixed.  Using a food processor, process thawed corn, but leave chunky.  Stir into the butter mixture.  In a separate bowl, mix corn meal, sugar, cream, salt, and baking powder.  Add to corn flour mixture and stir to combine.  Pour batter into ungreased 8x8 baking dish.  Smooth batter and cover with aluminum foil.  Place pan in a 9x13 baking dish filled a third of the way with water.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes.  Use an ice cream scoop for easy removal from pan.  Here's how it looked.

Spoon Bread ready for eating.

Here it is plated up.

The State Fair

I took a break from BBQ'n today to check out the Kansas State Fair.  I made sure to stop by our friends at All Things BBQ to check out the production version of their new Yoder Smokers pellet grills.  Here's their set-up.

Yoder Smokers new line of pellet grills, YS480 in the front, YS640 in the back

Yoder Smokers line of offset smokers

The new Yoder YS640.  Pay no attention to the man behind the grill.

Inside of the YS640.  You can't beat the Yoder quality.

The new control board.  This is going to make my life easier than it already is.

I had a chance to put my hands on a variety of pellet grills being displayed at the fair.  This includes Traegers, Green Mountain Grills, and the Memphis Pro.  I sure am glad I'm going with the Yoder.  With build quality that's second to none coupled with the best customer service experience I've had makes the Yoder the best pellet grill out there.