Wednesday, September 19, 2007

First Tri-tip smoke - & first time with lump charcoal

Got a late start. Wanted to get setup and smoking by noon, but, as usual, life got in the way. Finally got going getting ready about 3-ish. Then was getting worried because rain was in the forecast - but luckily they pushed that back a day, so it was just getting cold.

Of course it had been sometime since I've smoked and things we out of place, and dirty, and I was moving the smoker to a new spot, etc......So finally got the coals going about 4:15 or so. First time trying lump charcoal. Got a bog bad at Costco a few months back. It even sat out in the rain, but had plenty of time to dry.

I had two good size Tri-tips. I was also going to do a pork tenderloin, but decided to marinade that overnight for a wok dish tomorrow. One Tri-tip I lightly sprinkled with Santa Maria style seasoning. The smaller one I didn't do anything to.

On they went. I sat out there with the laptop working and watching the heat (and being sure the dogs didn't get too close checking things out!).

About 4 hours later Jen got home and I pulled the meat, sliced off a bunch and sat down.

The plain stuff had a lovely smoke ring. First time I've seen one so clearly on my own smoking! =)
It also melted in your mouth! Flavor? OK. I wasn't getting as much smoke as I would have liked. Not sure why.

The one with Santa Maria seasoning? Oh ya, very nice. Great flavor. Jen would have been happier if I had flipped it as one side was pinker than she likes. But the internal temp was over the USDA minimum, so we were good.

Sorry, forgot to photograph the end result - wanted to show Jen the smoke ring, and then eat it up!

The new location worked well. The garage blocked much of the wind that has always been such a problem for me before. Still got some, but not nearly as much. Works well for sunset smokes because the wind turns at sunset and gets blocked. But earlier it was coming from the west right at me. So will he to try a day smoke and see how it goes.

Good stuff!
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