Smoked Shrimp

Jeff Phillips over at Smoking-meat.com recently published a great technique for smoking shrimp.  I'm a big shrimp fan so I had to try this out.  I experimented with a pound of large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined.  Those were tossed with a little olive oil and some rub.  I used John Henry's Texas Pig Rub, which gave a great flavor to the shrimp.

The shrimp marinated for about an hour, placed in a foil pan with a half stick of melted butter, and thrown on the Yoder to smoke at 225 until they are pink.  This a tell-tale sign the shrimp are done.  This shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes so keep an eye on them.  I love how these tasted with just a nice hint of smoke.  Here's a few pictures of the process.

The shrimp marinating in olive oil and rub

Panned up with butter and ready for smoke

The finish product (notice the pink color)

Plated up with some fried okra and fresh Colorado peaches...Mmm!

The Yoder Smokers Manufacturing Facility

I recently had the privilege of making a road trip to tour the Yoder Smokers manufacturing facility up in Yoder, KS.  It was really fun to see where some of the finest grills and smokers are designed, tested, and produced.  I got the spend the day with Don Cary and Joe Phillips of Yoder Smokers, Andy Groneman from Smoke on Wheels BBQ, and Rob Green from Smokingpit.com.

We started off our tour watching some testing of the YS640 and YS480 pellet grills, alongside some of the competition from Green Mountain Grills and Traeger.  After watching the logging of data for about two hours, I am reaffirmed that the folks at Yoder build a superior product.  Here's some shots from the test area.

The Yoders (in the background) stacked up next to the Traeger and GMG (foreground)

Here's Joe and Andy watching the test data coming in

It was a real treat to see the attention to detail that goes into the development of the software for the Yoder pellet grills.  Joe has worked incredibly hard over the last year to fine tune all aspects of the grill.  His passion for great BBQ really shows in how the Yoder pellet grill performs.

After the watching the testing, we had the chance to see how it all comes together in their manufacturing area.  It was a great pleasure to see true American craftsmanship still exists.  Here's some shots of these pits getting assembled.

Made in the USA by American hands

Some cooking chambers ready for final assembly

Assembled grills ready for the finishing touches

Control boards...the brains of the pellet grill

All their pits are modeled in software to ensure everything goes together seamlessly

I was also able to catch a glimpse of the new Yoder Smokers charcoal grill.  The same attention to detail and craftsmanship went into this grill as with their offset wood smokers and pellet grills.  Folks that like to grill over hot coals will want to check this out when it is made available.

The Yoder Smokers charcoal grill with adjustable charcoal tray and all the cooking  surface you will ever need

Overall it was a very fun day, shared with friends with a real passion for great BBQ.  I finished off the day taking a cooking class from Andy Groneman on how to get the most out of your pellet grill at All Things BBQ.  I received some great tips and recipes for pellet grill cooking.  If you are ever in the Wichita area when he is offering a cooking class at All Things BBQ, be sure to sign up for one.  Andy has a wealth of knowledge from the BBQ circuit that will really help you step up your game when it comes to the grill or smoker.

Next time, I'll let you all know how my attempt at smoking shrimp turns out.  You definitely don't want to miss that.

Pork Chops with Sauteed Apples and Onions

I had the chance to try out Sweetwater Spice Company's Smoked Apple Spice Butt and Rib Bath on some pork chops.  As was the case with other Sweetwater products, this brine was no disappointment.  The Butt and Rib Bath has some great flavors in the ingredients list, like ancho chilies, cinnamon, cumin, and celery seed to name a few.

After brining the chops for 45 minutes, I grilled them up on the Yoder pellet grill until they were done to my liking.  I finished off the chops with some sauteed apples and onions.  This really complimented the pork with both sweet and savory flavors.  The chops were incredibly juice and flavorful from hanging out in the brine.  Here's how it all looked.

Stay tuned for my next post where I will detail my experiences of touring the Yoder Smokers manufacturing facility.  It was a real treat to see where some of the finest crafted smokers are born.

Beer Can Chicken

It's been a while since I've posted anything, but don't fear.  I'm back to smokin' up something after recovering from some graduation parties I catered for my family.  For this post, I'd tried my hand at a beer can chicken using Sweetwater Spice Company's brisket bath as a brine.  Here's some pictures of the process.

The chicken bathing away.

The chicken smoked on the Yoder at 250 until the breast registered 160 degrees.  Here it is taking on some smoke.

The stand is Steve Raichlen's Beer Can Roaster.  This is a great stand that keeps the chicken upright and provides a container that allows you to use whatever liquid you would like if you don't want to use beer.  For mine, I used some white cranberry peach juice which gave me excellent results.  The chicken turned out very moist and flavorful.

For leftovers, here's a great panini sandwich recipe you can try.  Warm up some of the leftover chicken with your favorite BBQ sauce.  Put a pile of chicken on some fancy bread with some caramelized onions and some cheese, and grill that panini style for an excellent sandwich.  Enjoy and we'll see you next time!

Sweetwater Spice Company's Brisket Bath

I had a great opportunity to try a Sweetwater Spice Company's Brisket Bath instead of using a traditional dry rub.  The Brisket Bath is a brine using ancho and chipotle chilies, apple juice, black pepper, brown sugar, onion, garlic, tamarind paste and a hint of cinnamon.  This mixture is ultra concentrated, requiring a 3:1 ratio of water to Brisket Bath per every 5 lbs of meat.  For this smoke, I used a 5lb brisket flat.  Here's a look at the process.

Brisket Bath!

The brisket bathed for five hours

Here it is after coming off the Yoder.

All sliced and ready for consumption!

The Brisket Bath made a very moist and flavorful brisket.  This was a great change of pace from the traditional dry rub technique that I usually use.  I would recommend giving this a try if you get the chance.  You can pick some at All Things BBQ or directly from Sweetwater Spice.

Review of the Home Tech Flavor Injector

I recently had the privilege of testing out the Home Tech Flavor Injector.  The device is certainly a unique design compared to the standard injector that most folks are accustomed to seeing.  Here's a few pics.

Cupcakes!  Gotta try that!

Three injection needles instead of one.  Each exit has screen to prevent clogging.

For my review I started off by injecting a chuck roast with some of my brisket mop.  The Flavor Injector did an admirable job injecting the chuck roast.  There was a bit of a learning curve with knowing when to release the press pressure in the reservoir so not to spray your injection everywhere.  After smoking it up on the Yoder, I was left with a very moist and flavorful helping of pulled beef.  I was very pleased with the results.

Getting ready to inject.

Adding injection is a lot neater than a traditional injector

Injecting away!

A fine batch of smoked, pulled chuck roast!

The the next round of testing I had to give the injected cupcakes a try.  I baked up some traditional yellow cupcakes and tried injecting them with hot fudge.  Here's some pictures of that process.

The fudge was a bit of challenge as it was still very thick, even when heated up.  This made the injecting process a bit cumbersome.  In my opinion the injection needs to be thinned down to allow it to flow better through the injector.  Overall, I think the injector faired very well with watery-consistency injections, but struggled with thicker injections, so those should be thinned out before attempting.

Pellet Fired Crab Cakes

Whenever my business travels take me to Baltimore, MD, I am always on the lookout for a great crab cake.  I haven't been in over a year, so I've been having a craving for some good crab cakes.  This time around I'm baking them up on the Yoder pellet grill.  Here's the recipe that I use:

16 oz. Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
2 eggs
2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 tsp. Dry Mustard
2 Tbsp. Mayo
1 tsp. Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp. Mustard
1 Tbsp. Melted Butter
1 tsp. Parsley Flakes
1/2 c Ritz Crackers, finely crushed.

Combine all the ingredients except the crab meat.  Fold in the crab meat, gently, so not to break up the lumps of crab meat.  Shape into cakes.  I baked these on the pellet grill at a grate temp of 375 until the internal temp was 165 degrees, maybe 15 minutes or so.  You can certainly pan fry them or broil them in the oven.  The pellet grill gave them a nice kiss of wood-fired flavor.  Here's a few pics of the process.

The crab cake mixture ready for forming into cakes

Baking away on the Yoder.  I used a Weber grill pan to make it easy getting the cakes off the grill.

The finished crab cakes.  They had a great wood-fired flavor!

Be sure to stay tuned for my review of the Home Tech Flavor Injector.  In the mean time, keep on smokin'!