Category: Recipes

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Texas Beef Brisket

You would think that with all of the fat content of a brisket it would be easy right? Wrong! Brisket is one of those ribs that walks the fine line of chewy and dry. There are things that you can do to avoid a driving

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Smoked Chicken Quarters

One of the easiest and popular dinners in our family, and its delicious.

You can usually get quarters in the grocery store. It is more common to find the legs and thighs but sometimes you can find the breasts and wings as well.

You can cook chicken several ways on the Traeger. You can bake it at high heat or you can do a complete smoke, or you can do what I like to do is a mixture of both.

Smoke flavor on chicken is awesome, so the rule of thumb is to smoke it for as long as possible. You will get some smoke flavor with the high heat method but run the risk of drying out the meat especially the breasts.

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Smoked Chicken Wings

Smoked Chicken wings happen to my family’s favorite. They can be eaten right off of the smoker, or cooled and fried afterward for the iconic bar food.

Naked, Dry, Sauced, spicy, or mild it is all up to you.

There are two ways that I make wings, one version I finish them off or bring them to temp in the smoker, the second is to smoke them in the smoker first and then fully cook them in the fryer

Ingredients

    • Wing Sections
    • BBQ marinade
    • Your favorite wing sauce

Directions

    • Start smoker and set it to smoke
    • Place wings on grates and smoke for 1.2 to 2 hours
    • At this point you can pull the wings off of the smoker and fry them in a deep fryer -or-  you can turn the smoker to 375 and cook them until they reach an internal temp of 180.
    • Remove and enjoy

Sauce Options

    • Buffalo
      • Franks Redhot
        • Hot – Add hot wing and sauce in a metal or glass bowl and mix and serve
        • Mild – and equal parts of butter and franks red hot
      • Honey BBQ
        • Add a tablespoon of honey to your favorite BBQ sauce and mix with the wings
      • Sweet Siracha
        • Add Siracha, a diced clove of garlic, chives, and honey.
      • Sweet and Spicy Jalapeno
        • Add a jalapeno Pepper Jelly to the hot wings.

Accompany with:

    • Coleslaw
    • Carrot Sticks and Celery
    • Blue Cheese or Ranch Dressing.
  • In BBQ marinade
  • During Smoking
  • After smoking completed
  • With Jalepeno Jelly
  • Franks Red Hot
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Smoked Pork Shoulder (Pulled)

  • Temped Roast
    Easy to Make

Pork shoulder is probably the most popular and easiest BBQ meat. With the high fat content it makes nearly impossible to over cook or dry out. You can however under cook it making in not easy to pull or shred. The optimal temp is 200-205º to melt the fat and collagen.

Enjoy

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Texas Style Dry Rub

This is a great Texas style Dry Rub. Works with pork and beef.

  • 5 tablespoons paprika
  • 3 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dried parsley
  • 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/4 teaspoon hot chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar

Keep in an airtight container in a cool dry place for up to 3 months.

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Basic Pork Dry Rub

This basic Dry rub will work for pretty much any cut of pork

    • 1/4 cup brown sugar
    • 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
    • 2 teaspoons black pepper
    • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
    • 1 teaspoon onion powder
    • 1 teaspoon ground mustard
    • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
    • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine and mix all of the ingredients. Use a fork to smash any lumps.

Keep in an airtight container for about a month.

If you have a vacuum container you can keep for up to a year.

 

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3, 2, 1 Pork Rib Method

The ribs are easy and delicious. I have done several versions of this but these basics apply for all of them.

3 hours on smoke setting (Smoke Stage)

2 hours wrapped in tinfoil @ 225 (Tenderizing Stage)

1 hour naked on the grill @ 275 (Glaze Stage)

Ingredients:

    • Baby Back or Spareribs
    • Yellow Mustard
    • Kosher Salt
    • Fresh Ground Black Pepper (or your favorite Dry rub)

Prep Ribs.

    • Rinse ribs and pat dry.
    • remove silverskin membrane from the back of the ribs (optional)
    • brush or rub yellow mustard and pour and pat spices on the front and back of the ribs.
    • Complete the Smoke Stage
    • Remove ribs from smoker and turn up to 225.
    • place ribs in a covered tinfoil pan or make a tinfoil boat.
    • Add a of 1/4 cup liquid to the pan or tinfoil package. This will tenderize the ribs.(this can vary depending on the recipe, be creative)
    • Complete Tenderizing Stage
    • Remove pan from smoker and turn it up to 275.
    • Remove ribs from tinfoil and brush on your favorite sauce.
    • Add to smoker and complete the glaze stage. Depending on the glaze you may need to reapply every 15 minutes.
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Simple Jalapeño Pepper Jelly

Pepper Jelly

You can enjoy this recipe poured over your favorite soft cheese and serve them with crackers or chips. It also makes a great glaze for pork chops and chicken on the BBQ.

  • 10 large jalapeños
  • 1 cup vinegar
  • 4 cups of granulated sugar
  • Yellow pectin(powdered) – 2 &1/2 tbsp
  • 6-pint mason or storage jars
  • Canning pot and supplies (optional)
  • Food coloring(optional)

Although jelly can be processed and made shelf-stable it rarely lasts that long in our house. After cooking add to jars and process for 10 minutes in a water bath canner

  • Slice Jalapenos lengthwise and add to a blender.*(optional: you can remove seeds from two of the peppers and add them whole later. This is just for looks. You can also add dried apricots or sweet peppers in the suspension)
  • Blend the jalapenos until smooth adding the vinegar in small amounts.
  • add all of the jalapeno (sludge included) to a heavy bottom pot.
  • Add powder pectin and bring to a boil that you cannot stir down.
  • Add seeds and other dried fruit in at this point.
  • Add sugar and bring back up to a boil that cannot be stirred down
  • Add food coloring and bring to 220º-223º (5-10min)
  • Remove from heat and add to preheated and sterilized jars with ladle and funnel.
  • at this point, you could process them in the canner to make them shelf-stable or allow them to cool and put them in the fridge for up to 3 months or the freezer for up to a year.