Tag: Smokers
Smoked Pork Leg
Smoked Pork Leg
Most people I feel aren’t very familiar with raw pork leg. Once cured and smoked, you may know it as ham. But the raw pork leg is a great cut that is really inexpensive and doesn’t deserve the neglect it gets. A whole pork leg is around 10-12lbs. You can usually find half legs at any grocery store if you don’t want 10lbs of pork. For smoking purposes, you will want to trim off the outer skin.The marinade is an oniony/garlicky blend with orange juice and vinegar acting as a tenderizer. Marinate the leg for 24 hours. If you are going to smoke the leg, it will need to rest in the refrigerator on a rack for 24 hours. If you are going to roast the pork leg, it will be ready to go. Smoke for about 5 hours in your smoker at 250 degrees. If roasting, bake for 2 1/2-3 hours at 350 degrees. Let your pork leg rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing.
Equipment
- food processor
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 5 lb pork leg
- 10 garlic cloves
- 1/2 medium white onion
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp Mexican oregano
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 6 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
Wood Chips
- 1/2 applewood
- 1/2 pecan
Instructions
- Dry toast the onions and garlic in a sauté pan over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Place the onions and garlic in a food processor along with the other marinade ingredients.
- Pulse until all of the ingredients are blended. The marinade doesn’t need to be puréed smooth. Semi-chunky is ok.
- Remove the outer skin of the pork leg.
- Place the pork leg in a gallon sized storage bag with the marinade. Marinate for 24 hours.
- Place the marinated pork leg on a rack. Allow to dry out in your refrigerator for 24 hours. Let rest at room temperature for 2 hours before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place the pork leg in the smoker.
- Smoke for 5 hours.
- Let the pork leg rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Smoked Corned Beef and Cabbage
Smoked Corned Beef and Cabbage
Corned beef is probably my favorite processed meat. I only ever really get to gorge upon it once a year during the month of March. Well, it’s March, so it’s that time. So I decided to smoke one instead of boiling it like everyone else. What I’ve learned from this is that smoking corned beef is the only way to go. Anybody that boils or crockpots your corned beef: the jokes on you. This ended up being hands down the best corned beef I’ve ever eaten. There’s no comparison. The brisket will take about 90 minutes a lb; needing to reach an internal temperature of 200 degrees.I decided to try and smoke a whole head of cabbage as well. I cut the yop of the vote off, creating a cap. Then I hollowed out the center and filling it with garlic and butter. I wrapped about 2/3 of the cabbage in foil so it wouldn’t turn completely black when smoking. A 3-4lb head of cabbage will take 4-5 hours to smoke. The cabbage turned out sweet and smokey, with a garlic buttery goodness.
Equipment
- foil
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 3-5 lb corned beef brisket flat
Smoked Cabbage
- 1 head green cabbage
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 garlic cloves
- salt
Wood Chips
- 1/2 mesquite wood chips
- 1/2 hickory wood chips
Instructions
- Rinse your corned beef of the brine. Pat dry. Let dry out in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Place on a smoking rack and sprinkle with the corned beef seasoning packet. Let sit at room temp for an hour before smoking.
- Cut the top part of the core of the cabbage off, creating a cap.
- Using a paring knife and a melon baller, hollow out the center of the cabbage.
- Stick garlic cloves and a half stick of butter inside the cabbage.
- Place the cap back on the head of cabbage.
- Wrap 2/3 of the cabbage in foil.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place the corned beef and head of cabbage in the smoker. The corned beef with take about 90 minutes per lb, with an internal temperature of 200 degrees. The head of cabbage will take 4 1/2 – 5 hours.
- Let the corned beef rest for 30 minutes before slicing.
Smoked Tomatillo Salsa
Smoked Tomatillo Salsa
I really like tomatillo salsa and wanted to see what it tastes like with the ingredients smoked. The answer: even better! The ingredients take no more than 2 hours to smoke in your smoker. It’s ready to use as soon as you purée the ingredients in a food processor. The salsa will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 lb tomatillos
- 1/2 medium onion
- 2 jalapeños
- 2 green onions
- 1 head garlic
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 3 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Wood Chips
- mesquite wood chips
Instructions
- Place the tomatillos, onion, garlic, jalapeños, and green onions on your smokers rack.
- Place in a preheated 250 degree smoker for 2 hours.
- Let the ingredients cool.
- Add the smoked ingredients along with the cilantro, vinegar, and salt to a food processor.
- Purée until smooth.
