Smoked Meatloaf - Bacon Wrapped and Other Versions Weekend Smoke

I haven't done Meatloaf on the WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain) in quite a long time so while I was at the store I picked up the necessary ingredients and thought I would add a little variety to the cook this time by adding a few more ingredients. I purchased  4lbs Ground Beef, 2lbs Ground Pork, 1lb Bacon, Red and White Onions, Zucchini and the rest of the ingredients I already had at home.

So with the amount of meat that I purchased I was going to make two separate loaves and try different ingredients in each. While this would be fine, I figured what the heck, I'll make 4 different loaves and see if I come across anything that is remarkably better than the other Meatloaves that I've had. A quick look around the kitchen to see what I had and I was off with my plan. Here is what I came up with for the 4 loaves. Before adding the unique ingredients of each I mixed all the meat together with the sautéed onions, red bell peppers, garlic, then ground pepper, corn flakes, saltines, oats, then lightly dusted with BBQ rub I had left from the Butt/Chuck smoke, after mixing with my hands I then added 6 beaten eggs and sectioned off 4 pieces to make the individual 4 loaves:


Meatloaf #1 - Double OG (onion garlic)

• red and white onions diced (doubled)
• garlic freshly minced (doubled)
• red bell peppers diced
  
• corn flakes, saltines, oats
• eggs beaten
• bacon wrap
  

Meatloaf #2 - Zucchini Mushroom

• red and white onions diced 
  
• garlic freshly minced
• red bell peppers diced
  
• corn flakes, saltines, oats
• eggs beaten
• zucchini diced
• mushrooms diced
• bacon wrap
  

Meatloaf #3 - Jalapeño

• red and white onions diced
  
• garlic freshly minced 
  
• red bell peppers diced
  
• corn flakes, saltines, oats
• eggs beaten
• jalapeño fresh (2) de-seeded diced

Meatloaf #4 - Salsa, Black Beans & Cilantro

• red and white onions diced 
  
• garlic freshly minced 
  
• red bell peppers diced
  
• corn flakes, saltines, oats
  
• eggs beaten
• salsa
• black beans
• cilantro fresh
• chili spices(new mex, ancho pasilla)
  

After all the loaves where formed I placed each on wax paper and lightly dusted with BBQ rub.

The WSM was filled with 1.25 chimneys of Kingsford charcoal and Cherry and Hickory wood chunks. It was at 325° when I placed the waterless foiled pan on and then on the lower grate I added the Salsa Bean and the Jalapeño loaves. The upper grate was installed and the 2 bacon wrapped loaves (zucchi-mushroom, doubleOG) went on. I placed a probe in one of the loaves on the lower grate and one probe to the upper loaf to monitor temperatures.

First basting with the 2 different glazes came on when the loaves hit 155°, the WSM smoker was running around 295°. The bottom loaves got a glaze of ketchup and Tapatio hot sauce, chile powders. The upper loaves got a glaze of BBQ sauce, Ketchup, brown sugar.

After around 10-15 additional minutes the loaves reached an internal of 165° and I removed them from the smoker. The rested with a aluminum foil lightly covering the top then sliced and sampled. My impressions were the additional spices and salt could have easily been increased to all the loaves. Each had a very mild taste as I was very light on adding spices. There was no clear winner out of the 4 loaves we tried. Perhaps when the second or the third servings are devoured we'll have a favorite. The Jalapeño was not spicy at all and I could've increased the amount added to that loaf. The Salsa bean loaf flavor wasn't nearly as flavorful as I thought it would be with the strong ingredients added, especially the chili powder. They each were very delicious and had great smoke flavor and added depth with the glaze and different ingredients. I'm looking forward to the arduous task of judging the leftovers until they're finished.


Bacon Wrapped Double Onion Garlic & Zucchini Mushroom Meatloaf



Salsa Black Bean Cilantro & Jalapeño Meatloaf


Bacon Wrap Zucchini Mushroom Sliced


Salso Black Bean Cilantro Sliced


Jalapeño Sliced

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WSM - Pork Butt and Beef Chuck Roast Weekend Smoke

I purchased 3 Picnic Pork Butts and 1 Beef Chuck Roast for dinner this Sunday evening. I fully plan on having lots of leftovers and will vacuum seal most with the Foodsaver. I am getting a very late start this Sunday as it is almost noon. Didn't feel like doing my traditional overnight due to several factors including the wind and light rain that started late last night. We have an overcast day today but the wind has died down and a only a little chance of rain in evening.




I set up the WSM (Weber Smoky Mountain) with two chimneys full of unlit Kingsford charcoal and then added my smoke wood, 2  pieces of Hickory, 1 piece of Apricot, 3 pieces of Cherry wood. I foiled a water pan to obtain higher cook temperatures since I'm short on time. My usual plan would be adding the larger Brinkmann water pan filled with warm water and relax for a 12-14hr cook at 220°-230°. I currently have the 3 bottom vents open at 50/50/0 and I am more than likely going to have to adjust the vents in the cook to start low and based on time open them up to speed the cook. The WSM was running 270° so I then changed vents to 50/0/0. I don't want to be outside tending the cook and pulling pork late in the evening but for the most part I'll just let the WSM do it's thing. Meat temperatures are being monitored remotely with my Maverick thermometer with 2 probes. One is being used on the upper Pork Butt and the other in the Beef Chuck roast also on the upper grate. Made a quick rub with the following:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 kosher salt
• 3 TBS turbinado sugar
• 3 TBS granulated garlic
• 3 TBS granulated onion
• 2 TBS new mexico chile fresh ground
• 2 TBS ancho pasilla chile fresh ground
• 2 TBS minced dried garlic
• 1 TBS coarse ground black pepper
  
• 1 TBS oregano dried
• 3 tsp old bay seasoning
• 2 tsp thyme
  
• 2 tsp all spice
• 2 tsp cumin
  
• 2 tsp seasoning salt

Will update as the cook progresses -

Here is the beer assortment that my Brother brought over, he's running another Triathlon this weekend so no brew for him. I've had some of these before but the new ones are the Don De Dieu and the little Budda (novelty -lucky drink co. china). others - Celebrator  / Afflingem /  Samuel Smith

Updated 2pm - Beef was at 168° so I decided to pull it off take a few pics, foil it, then return it to the smoker until fork tender. Pork is at 155°ish

Updated 2:45pm - WSM @ 265° and upper pork @ 164°


Updated 3:20pm - WSM @ 255° opened and checked tenderness of Beef and used fork to sample end cut - delicious and internal 210°, lots of juice! I decided to leave the beef, pork looks good, put the other probe in one of the lower pork to get temps.  Upper pork 168° lower pork 162°

Update 4:30pm - WSM @ 260° - fork tender throughout, removed top foil and sample for snacking. Ready to remove and then add more pics.

Update 5:05pm  - WSM @ 270° - took off the Beef Chuck and brought inside to rest. It didn't get a lot of rest, constant fingers taking samples off. Made a couple tacos while still monitoring temps of Pork.

Corn tortillas in a pan with a tad butter to warm them up, added pulled beef when I could stop putting directly into my mouth, fresh jalapeños diced with onions and tomatoes, cilantro, queso fresco cheese, cheddar, hot sauce red, green sauce

Update End Of Cook - Pork was taken off the smoker around 5:50pm and foiled and place back on the smoker. I would have preferred not to foil the Pork as normally done during my other low and slow cooks. Finally at 7:10-7:50pm I took the foiled Pork off and left them rest. Pulled the Pork later and noticed almost no fat, all rendered off very well, only thing that really got thrown away was the bones that came out very easily. Good Pork Picnics that are cooling off in the fridge and most will go into vacuum sealed Foodsaver bags with ample amount saved for meals in the fridge separately.

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Smoked Turkey Injection Seasoning - Labor Day Weekend

Finally got around to smoking another Turkey in the WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain) cooker. The last Turkey that I smoked was last year, during thanksgiving where I did a total of two in the smoker. And we did a traditional oven cooked Turkey for a total of three.

This Labor Day weekend I smoked an injected Turkey. The injection included the following:

• 1/4 Apple Juice
  
• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 1 tsp Granulated Garlic
• 1 tsp Granulated Onion
• 1 tsp New Mexico Chile powder
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Following the injection I next added BBQ rub both over the entire Turkey and under the skin near the breast. The first rub was one of my own from another cook and the second was a light sprinkling of Tony Chachere's which is a very salty rub, so I used it sparingly. The Turkey was then returned to the fridge as I got the WSM ready.




 WSM was setup using a chimney of Kingsford lit, another chimney of kingsford on top, and finally the smoke wood was added. So the fire had the following

• (2) chimneys - 12lbs approx Kingsford
• (3) Cherry wood chunks
  
• (2) Apricot wood chunks(one added later)

Foiled empty water pan, and an empty aluminum disposable pan to catch drippings and to hold turkey trimmings. The Turkey was then added to the top grate on the WSM and during this windy day the somewhat protected WSM was hovering around 300° with 1 vent off and 2 others at 50% open. I was using a Maverick remote temperature probe that was placed in the thicker part of the Turkey breast with the alarm set to notify at 160° internal. The entire cook was completed in 3 hours, a little faster then needed as the guests were arriving later then anticipated. So the Turkey was removed when the breast was in between 164°-170° and then it was wrapped snuggly in aluminum foil and placed in a cooler with two larger towels above and below to maintain heat. It held it's heat pretty well considering after we had worked all the appetizers and various other treats we finally got around to having our larger meal. After 4 hours the Turkey was still hot but could be carefully handled without burning when trimming.

Other meal items prepared where 10lbs Russet potatoes with additional Yams added then lightly mashed with butter, pepper, salt, granulated garlic. The gravy was comprised on the Turkey giblets and the drippings from the pan that was underneath the Turkey in the smoker. The drippings were very salty as expected mostly due to the Tony Chachere's rub I placed liberally in the body cavity. Also in the gravy were the pan leftovers from the ABT's (stuffed jalapeños) that were cooked in the oven so there was a lot of charred goodness from that. Cornbread that was cooked in the oven and had additional jalapeños and green onions added. A side salad with mixed greens, apples, walnuts, red onions and a raspberry vinaigrette.

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HobbyZone Super Cub returns to the air with new color

I have neglected my old workhorse, the HobbyZone Super Cub for far too long. With the addition of the ParkZone Corsair F4U and most recently ParkZone Radian I found less time to fly the ole' Cub. One of it's strengths is the ease of flights and less aggressive flying dynamics that make it a perfect trainer for the new pilot. I will always have a Super Cub in the hangar for this exact reason. As friends and family become interested, I have handed over the controls to the Super Cub to many new fliers after a short instruction. The most recent crash with the Super Cub was a result of a new flier and even though I had all the replacement parts delivered, I never put the Cub back to flight worthiness until last night. I added some high visibility trim strips from Monokote (Day-Glo Red) to the upper wing and tail rudder. After a range check I took the Cub out to the flying field even though it was very breezy. I did the same lipo conversion that I had on my previous Cub and placed my stock Corsair 3s1800mAh lipo in the bottom. I used my Skymate sm18 to check the wind speed out of curiosity and found that my guesstimate was pretty accurate. Winds were averaging 15mph and gusts up to 20mph during a couple minute test period. I was confident on my pre-flight and power of the lipo to pull the Cub out of harms way if needed.



The flight went pretty smooth, less than half throttle and the Cub would practically not move in the air, almost hovering and stuck in the wind. Tip the nose and add power and I was able to make headway. Performed a few instant flips heading into the wind, a few large circles and low flyby's feeling how difficult a landing would be. I landed after 15mins(no wheels) in the grass field just to check over the decals and surface areas incl rubber bands etc. All was well and the motor being new smelled a little as it was getting broken in for the first time and was warm. I readied for another hand launch and had the Super Cub in the air for 20 secs when throttle cut off, I still had control of plane so I just landed off in the field and figured it was a low battery cutoff. Yep, low-batt cutoff as I forgot to charge the 1800 fully before I left! It was reading 10.v right there on the spot. It was a good flight so I just decided to call it a day at the field and will make a return visit with additional color on the wing and other planes.

Thoughts - the new Trim sheet color(day-glo red) however bright as they are up close were not as noticeable at altitude as the trim colors I recently tried on the Corsair(yellow). That surprised me, so I have to try a little yellow or maybe the neon green I bought recently on the Super Cub's wings.

Here are my other RC posts

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