I got two items for my birthday yesterday to contribute to my new hobby, smoking meat.

I got BBQ gloves which are like a thick rubber with texture on the hands and fingers for handling hot smoked meat.

I also received a vintage Enterprise brand hand crank meat grinder. It's a #10 size and has a table/counter mount clamp. Enterprise is now known by the name Chop-Rite and are still maid in the USA. While mine is old, it still functional and has the originally tin coating on the cast iron. There is minor wear but I can't wait to try it out. I am really wanting to learn how to make my own sausage. Next I need a feeder tube, casing, and an Amaze-N smoker tube for cold smoking. I should be able to get that with some of my birthday cash. :-)
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My mother finally came up with all the parts to hers and gave it to me. She has been giving me boxes of
parts of meat grinders for years, she had a Hamilton Beach with EVERYTHING except the key piece that kept the
business end on the machine....she has now claimed to have found that plastic cap. But in the meantime she found
her old style grinder and given that to me as well and IT DOES GRIND MEAT, but you will gain a new respect for the
founding meat-grinding fathers. It is NOT easy to grind meat in it, especially if your counter is not cooperating.
But what a great tool that thing is.
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Anyone use an A-MAZE-N smoker?

http://www.amazenproducts.com/

I'm about ready to pull the trigger on one. I was thinking about getting the tube smoker, likely the 12". My concern is the availablity of hardwood dust or pellets to use in it. They have a pellet smoker, rectangular shape but it's about $10 more. Not a deal breaker, just curious if anyone has any suggestions or opinions on them. I'm primarily going to use this for cold smoking as I have my trusty UDS for normal/hot smoking.
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Apparently I misread their website. The tube smoker can burn pellets or dust. I guess that makes my decision simpler.
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AMNTS shipped today. I also ordered a replacement probe for my ET732. Supposed to be a hybrid for meat or grill temp. My original grill temp probe died and won't read anything but HHH.
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interested to hear how you like it. I looked into regular one for my Bradley, for cold smoking. But I've read about issues of it going out if there's not enough air flow.
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I plan on using it in my grill. I have a charcoal grill with two charcoal pans, each with a height adjustment crank. It also has 4 twist open vents. So, I am hoping it will provide enough airflow for it to work plus, it has quite a bit of surface area for meat/cheese/etc.
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Six bone in pork butts, half a wild hog, a turkey breast and a pan of BBQ beans just went in. Smells amazing on my street! I just has a guy on a bike ride by and offer to be my friend :-)

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I need to hurry back to the states and purchase a smoker. All this recent talk of briskets and such is making me hungrier by the minute.
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Beans soaking in the goodness

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All that was left at the end of the day...

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Don't worry, it didn't suffer long!
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any tips for brisket... for some reason no matter what i do it comes out a bit dry...

usually its a full packard.. dry rubbed... smoked (225-235) and covered after 3 hrs with beef broth... till internal hits 190 and then pulled... rested for a 30 min...

still failing....

help please...
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Here's the one and only brisket I did. I wanted it to be tender but not pulled. I wanted it as tender as could be but just firm enough to be able to slice it. I had to reheat due to circumstances but it worked out perfectly. I really want to try it again.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showth...et#post1886860
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Got a new (to me) smoker/grill this past weekend. It is a Fast Eddie by Cookshack PG 500. Really sweet setup for frequent use. The bottom left is direct heat under a cast iron grate. The say you can get that to about 800-900 degrees. The top rack has two cooking zones left and right. The bottom right is for smoking/holding. The under that you can see a drawer that is a warming drawer or can be used for cold smoking. Cooked a couple of steaks last night that were awesome!!! Got a couple of chuck roasts thawing to smoke tomorrow. Never thought I would be without a Big Green Egg, but I may end up selling both of them!

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I've got a spatchcock (butterfly) chicken sitting in the fridge with the Galena Rub from Penzy's Spices. I plan to cook potatoes, carrots and broccoli in the drip pan. Here is the post from the egghead forum that inspired me to steal the recipe.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1...and-spatchcock
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Haven't spatchcocked a chicken in a while. Need to put that on the list. That recipe sounds killer!!
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Sounds like you are close… so try this…

Cook it uncovered until the internal hits 175. That is usually around 12 hours give or take. Then double foil and put in maybe 1/2 cup of beef broth instead of covering it. Then start checking for tenderness at 190. Rarely do I have one that is ready at 190. It is usually 195-205 and I have had to take them to 210. The way I check for tenderness is with the temperature probe. You want the probe to go into the flat with almost no resistance. I say it is like putting the probe into a semi-soft stick of butter. It takes a bit to get the feel, but you will see what I talking about.

The point will not be ready at then, so I separate it and put if back on the smoker for another hour. That usually gets it just right.

Also… briskets vary widely in their tenderness and connective tissue. When I was doing competitions I always did 2 briskets. Invariably, one would take a good bit longer than the other. As my mentor used to say… it is done when it is done!!
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Burnt Ends...:-):-):-):-)

I'll be cooking a brisket (or two) in a couple of weeks to celebrate Holly's life and birthday. I've already had people asking if we were going to have burnt ends!
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i'll give this a try... thanks! :-)
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Not if they used that rake last week to clean up after the dog. :-)
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