TR: Smoked and Grilled

[RootDKJ]

So I got a new grill, and decided to spend my long weekend getting to know it better.

On the menu for this thread are:
Brined Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Sausage Smoke-off
Beer Can Chicken
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Brined Grilled Pork Tenderloin
I took this recipe and added some toasted coriander seeds to the mix. I wanted to throw in a clove or two of crushed garlic, but I forgot. Next time for sure.

Ingredients:

Making the brine.

Salted and peppered tenderloin. After the brine cooled down, I used my flavor injector to really get the solution to penetrate throughout the meat. I then put the tenderloin and brine mixture in a zip-lock bag, and set it in the refrigerator for about 16 hours.

The end result. I seared the outside on the grill on high, then turned off the middle burner and let it cook via indirect heat (with the side burners on low). I pulled it off when it reached a internal temperature of 140F and let it rest (where the temp rose to just over 145F). Truth be told, this was the best tenderloin I've ever had, and almost forgot to take a pic of the finished product. I'll repeat this in the Orion for sure. Even the leftovers days later are moist.

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The Sausage Smoke-off
My grill has a built in smoker box, and I wanted to give it a try. I thought it would be fun to put it head-to-head against the Orion. The Orion won, hands down. I picked up a mega-size package of Italian sausage from BJ's. I removed the casings from all the links, and turned some of them into patties. I used hickory chips in both the Orion and smoker box.

I preheated/presmoked up the Orion for about 45 minutes.

I also waited a while for the grill to smoke up.

I snuck a peak at the payload.

The End Result (Grill on the left, Orion on the right). The Orion won, hands down.

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Beer Can Chicken
This is pretty simple, but it took forever in the grill. Next time I do this, it will be in the Orion. I used mesquite chips for this one.

After coating the chicken with oil, I seasoned it. I also seasoned the beer after drinking some of it.You can kinda see the can.

I cooked this with indirect medium heat. The end result:

 

[Nick]

that looks absolutely delicious. Good job!

 

[o3jeff]

Sounds like it tasted as good as it looks!

What grill did you get that you can smoke with it?

 

[RootDKJ]

It's a Blue Ember. You can buy a smoker box at Home Depot that will work with most grills. Cheaper yet, you can make an envelope out of heavy-duty aluminum foil and put your soaked chips in there (I've never tried it). The smoker box produces a very mild smoke flavor.

 

[deadheadskier]

wow, I would not have guessed the Orion to beat out a traditional smoker with something that cooks that quickly

great job

 

[RootDKJ]

wow, I would not have guessed the Orion to beat out a traditional smoker with something that cooks that quickly

great job

In more ways then one.

Combining prep time, preheating and smoking/cooking time, the Orion finished sooner. I cooked the sausage at a really low temp (just over 250F) so it took forever to finish. The smoker box uses about 3X the amount of wood chips. I'm surprised at how efficient the Orion really is.

Try hickory the next time you do sausage. It's almost like jerky, in flavor...but with out the dehydration.

 

[Glenn]

Damn tasty lookin' pics!

I tried sausage once on my smoker and overcooked it. I saw a few examples of people smoking a Jimmy Dean "fatty" while they smoked something else. Next time, I'll have to remove it a bit earlier.

We did chicken this weekend; I'll have to post some pics. It came out especially good because I used a can of PBR. :lol: