Smoking, Meat--Not Fish

I didn't catch a lot of fish this winter that I could have smoked and besides, it was too cold and windy to use the smoker.

Now that it has warmed up a bit, I've had the Bradley out and in action, smoking some pork.

The first thing I did was smoke 4 pea meal roasts--about 2.5 lbs each, to make back bacon. The pea meals are already cured, so it is just a matter of getting them into the smoker and following the recipe I use. After they are smoked and cooled, I slice them on my slicing machine and then vacuum seal and freeze them.

I also smoked an 8lb pork loin to make smoked pork chops. I cut the loin in half and then soaked it in the Bradley Maple Cure brine for 48 hours. I follow a recipe off the Bradley web site for the brine cure and the smoking.

After smoking and cooling, I cut the loins into some nice thick chops and vacuum sealed them and froze them. When we want to have some, I thaw them and finish them on the BBQ for a few minutes.

I'm going to post some pictures of the various stages for both and if any of you need help or advice with smoking, send me a PM. The first picture is the pea meals after they came out of the smoker.

SDC

Sliced

I froze the slices first on a cookie sheet and then into the vac bag and back into the freezer

The pork loin before brine curing

In the brine cure

Ready for the smoker

Out of the smoker

Sliced

Vac sealed and ready for the freezer

They look great. i have a buddy that drives for Fearmans on occasion. Nice pork.

Did you use nitrates? Helps keep that pink colour when cooked. also which bisquite did you use?

Great pics!

Looks awesome dude. i have a Treager pellet stove works basically the same as Bradley self feed. Let me ask you how long and what temp you did the loin at. Look like some good chops there for summer time feast. Also could you share your Brine recipe? i have been just dry rubbing mine and injecting 24 hours prior to smoking . It works but the appearance after smoking isn't as clean as yours.

Thanks Dude

Good Job, Thanks for sharing. Do you prefer the rib portion over the sirloin? I find the sirloin to lean for smoking.

Awesome!

Hey TA
I used the Maple Cure that is produced by Bradley. I got it at Cabelas in Barrie. I had trouble finding curing salts. There are nitrates in their cure. I used 1 3/4 cups of cure in 14 cups of water. The recipe I used came off the Bradley web site and is entitled "Brined Smoked Pork Chops". It calls to leave it in the brine 36 to 48 hours. I left it in 41.5 hours, but it probably should have been in for 48 hours. If you look closely at the pictures on some of the chops the centre is a bit grey--the cure never got to it. I also pierced the loins with a large 4 tined carving fork to help brine penetration--2 on each side--I would do 3 on each side next time.

The loins were in the smoker for 4.5 hours at 200 degrees to bring them up to an internal temp of 152 degrees. When I'm ready to eat the chops, I finish them on the BBQ. I used 60% Bradley Special Blend bisquettes and 40% Hickory for 3 hours of smoke.

As I have said before, I keep detailed notes every time I smoke something, so that I know what works and what needs to be improved.

SDC

Hey RL

Look at the reply I put up for TheAler

SDC