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Any Time is Grillin Time

I made a Costco run today. We were short on paper and dry goods. I bought a skid of their boneless skinless chicken thighs. We like them grilled or smoked. The thighs also make great fajitas and stir fry. I almost came home with a whole packer. They had some pretty ones but at $4.99 per pound I passed them up. I did buy some nuts while there. I plan on spicing and smoke a couple of pans of cashews tomorrow. I also came home with some macadamia nuts and some salt and pepper pistachios. Smoking them hasn't made them better so we'll eat them as is. The place seemed busier than normal for a Friday. I think the crummy weather that is forecasted for next week influenced some of the shoppers.
 
I have around 60 ounces of cashews cold smoking. I deviated a bit from my normal spice. Instead of cayenne pepper in my spice medley, I used chipotle seasoning and left out the garlic.
Per 20 ounce of cashews:
1 Tbs Butter
1 tsp Slap Ya Mama
1/2 tsp Chipotle
1/4 tsp Smoked Paprika
I will sprinkle with Pink Himalayan salt if needed once smoked
 
I normally don't smoke such a large amount of nuts at a time. I'm smoking them in three disposable pie tins. Each tin is pretty full of cashews so I'm stirring them often to make certain they all get their fair share of smoke. The upside of needing stirred often is I eat a few every time I stir. :) I'm thinking they are a bit under spiced. They are tasty but not all that hot. My wife will be snacking on them too so maybe they are perfect. Adding a bit of salt dust will enhance the heat factor. However, I don't need the extra salt... nobody needs extra salt! I've not smoked nuts since my heart attack and I've never used chipotle. I might add a dusting of cayenne. I'll wait until they are finished smoking and have a chance to breath out before adding to the mix.
 
The cashews only smoked for four hours. Usually there is at least another half hour or more smoke in a tube. I contribute the quicker burn rate to the gusty winds in my area. I have the cashews airing out a bit before I package them up. I thought they turned out spicy enough and my wife agreed on her return home. I like them to have a definite bite on them but not so much to over power the smoke and natural cashew taste. They might even be a bit too spicy. Time will tell as they age some.
Cashews 2-8-25.jpg
 
I'm smoking a flatiron steak for my Super Bowl Sunday dinner. I bought a few a while back when they were on sale. I pulled the best looking one out for the big day. It will be just the wife and I.
She plans on making a cucumber salad to go with our beef.

I thought my son was doing beef ribs for the virgin cook on his new smoker. I guess that's a future. He is smoking a very nice looking brisket point. He was wanting to do a whole packer but this point was too pretty to pass up. So far he is liking the new smoker.

His new Silverbac smoker has a unusual feature. It has two settings that you can choose and they can be changed at any time during a cook. One setting is like a Green Mountain smoker where it stays dead on the set temp and the other setting is like a Traeger smoker and fluctuates up and down with the set temp being in the middle of the up down cycle. Both have their advantage. The GM burns less pellets staying a constant temp. The Traeger burns more but produces much more smoke as it raises the temperature again and again. It's an interesting adjustable variable.
 
My flatiron turned out great. It took 4.5 hours to cook and I let it rest almost an hour and a half before we ate. I have about a third of the steak left for my dinner tomorrow. It will either be sliced thin for a bbq sandwich, turned into a couple of fajitas, or beef and noodles. They all sound good to me and I have everything I need for each.
 
After resting and airing out a bit, without hurting myself from patting myself on the back, I without shame boast that the cashews are the best I've smoked. I'm not saying they are perfect for everyone but they are just the taste I was looking for. They are likely too hot for most but I'm old with used up taste buds. :)

I got into the smoked cheese last night. I opened a vac sealed block of Vermont Extra Sharp White Cheddar and Kroger branded Pepper Jack. I had used the paper towel blotting a bit on a few blocks and I'm very happy with the moisture of the cheeses. They were both tasty but the Vermont Sharp took the prize between the two.
 
I smoked some boneless skinless chicken thighs today. It took right at two hours at 225° to bring my chicken to 165° internal temp. I seasoned them with garlic salt, smoked paprika, and chipotle seasoning. I brushed them with butter a few times to keep them wet and to get some pretty on the outsides. I was super pleased with the results.
 
olbriar said:
I smoked some boneless skinless chicken thighs today. It took right at two hours at 225° to bring my chicken to 165° internal temp. I seasoned them with garlic salt, smoked paprika, and chipotle seasoning. I brushed them with butter a few times to keep them wet and to get some pretty on the outsides. I was super pleased with the results.
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Have you thought about a honey glaze on those?
 
BrickHouse said:
Have you thought about a honey glaze on those?
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I have used both honey and bbq sauce. Both are tasty. I have wrapped them with bacon and stuffed them with spiced cream cheese. It's difficult to go wrong with boneless skinless chicken thighs. We love them in a stir-fry or fajitas, we love them grilled, we love them made into a salad. The possibilities are nearly endless.
 
The Darling Bride had about 13lbs of chicken to cook yesterday for our church's free community dinner. She'll put it all together as Chicken Alfredo. To speed it up, I put the griddle insert in the Weber grill so she could cook a bunch at once.

This morning I cleaned and put it away, rigging the Weber as a grill again and, tonight, I'll be preparing a couple of prime strip steaks. Sauteéd mushrooms, broccoli and baked potato will round out the plate nicely.
 
I smoked a meatloaf this afternoon. Instead of the 50/50 ground beef and pork I usually fix, I bought the store bork mixture that was on sale. It is a 80/20 blend of ground beef and pork. A two pound package was only $4.59. That was considerably cheaper than a pound of ground beef. Tonight's loaf was the bork, egg, breading, diced bell pepper, garlic, tomato sauce and salt and pepper. The loaf took 2.25 hours at 235° to reach my target temp of 165°
 
olbriar said:
I smoked a meatloaf this afternoon. Instead of the 50/50 ground beef and pork I usually fix, I bought the store bork mixture that was on sale. It is a 80/20 blend of ground beef and pork. A two pound package was only $4.59. That was considerably cheaper than a pound of ground beef. Tonight's loaf was the bork, egg, breading, diced bell pepper, garlic, tomato sauce and salt and pepper. The loaf took 2.25 hours at 235° to reach my target temp of 165°
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I like to mix Elk with my beef pork blend. Often (roughly) 35% beef, 35% pork, 30% Elk.
 
olbriar said:
I've eaten bison burgers.. not bad. I believe that it can be bought at times at my local market. I wouldn't mind trying it a beef mix for a loaf. It's difficult to mess up a meatloaf and it's amazing what smoking does for them.
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There's many meats that smoke well. Some that I won't smoke are ostrich, rattlesnake, Gator, quail, pigeon ..... the flavors are a bit delicate and I'm afraid of ruin them.
 
I'll stick to my pork, beef, chicken, and turkey smokes. I've eaten smoked duck and quail. This was some of a good friend's adopted dad's cooking. I swear that guy could smoke up a goodyear tire and you'd like it.
 
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