Fajita Meat

[Etex]

Have a 12 lb. packer brisket rubbed and in the fridge for tomorrow.  My first brisket in the electric.  Gonna put in on by seven in the morning and figure it will be about 9 tomorrow night before it is ready (or later).  Going to use the Maverick for the first time.  Hopefullly I will not get rained out. Have to put it on the drive.  I am working on a house to put it in to keep it out of the weather.  I also got a large piece of beef fajita from the Mexican market.  My grill bit the dust.  I looked online and saw some reference to smoking it.  Know that is not the best, but has anyone tried to do this?  I thought about smoking it (not sure about time) and then cutting it and searing it in my cast iron.  Any ideas?

 

[Etex]

Guess no one has tried this.  Thinking about putting them in for about an hour and see how that works.  Someone said in a post recently  that there was no meat if no picture.  So, here is the picture of my first brisket on the #3.  Hit 200 after about 12 hours.  Let it stay a while longer.  Took it out and wrapped for a couple of hours in the cooler.  Sliced it tonight.  Used a rub I used on my manual smoker that is similar to some posted on here.  Moist, firm, fork tender.  As Mr Food would say," Oooh it's so good!"  Sorry my pictures are not as good as that brisket that Joe from Houston posted a while back.  I drool in the computer everytime I look at his.  Gonna get some molasses and try to replicate what he did. That sounds so good.  Have a 8 lb shoulder in the #3 since 6:30 this morning.  Stalled for the last 3 hours at 162.  After 12 hours set at 225 should I wait longer for a higher temp.  I was shooting for 200 internal that I read on here.  Cooked a butt a while back and it went smoothly.

 

[DivotMaker]

Looks good, Tex!  Surprised to hear an 8 lb butt is only at 162!  I've never had a butt that size go that long!  I usually see the stall in the 180s in my #1, but usually about 9 hours (@225 in my #1) total to hit 200 internal.  Wow.  At this point, you're done smoking it, so I'd crank the temp up to 250 and push it through the stall to 200.  Just a thought...

As for the fajita meat; I love smoked fajita meat, but have never done in the Smokin-It (yet).  I would probably season a flank (or skirt) steak and smoke it like a steak (see the steak posts) to about 110 internal.  I would think a stout wood, like hickory or mesquite, would be the ticket here (due to the short smoke time).  At 110, I would pull it, slice it, and throw it in the hot cast iron skillet with the onions to sear.  I don't think there's much better than smoked fajitas! ;D

 

[Etex]

Thanks Divot.  Gonna go out and kick it up.  Will do the skirt steak to your recommendations tomorrow.

 

[DivotMaker]

I'll be interested to know how that turns out, Tex!  You have me wanting to try some this weekend!  I would think smoking them to a good medium-rare would allow the extra cooking in the skillet, and still be juicy and good!  Wish it was still Vidalia onion season!

 

[DivotMaker]

One more thought, Tex... You might want to consider setting the temp around 180.  Just hot enough to get the wood smoking, but cool enough to allow slow cook time for maximum smoke penetration.  Start with cold meat and a cold smoker.  Just thinking out loud...

 

[Etex]

Will do Divot.  Jacked the smoker up to 250.  It held that temp and higher.  I never did get over 170 on the maverick for the meat.  Wife looked it up on internet and they say 155 to 160 is now considered safe for pork.  So I should be o.k.  What I did read is that 165 is for pork to be sliced and 180 is for pork that you will pull. 

 

[Etex]

Just ran across this Divot.

3lbs tenderized beef skirt steak

Adams® Beef Fajita Seasoning

2 green bell pepper

2 yellow sweet bell peppers

2 red sweet bell peppers

4 jalapenos
1.With a sharp knife, trim the membrane off the back of the meat. The membrane is the thin white glossy layer attached to the meat.
2.Lay the skirt steak flat on a cutting board.
3.Sprinkle Adams® Beef Fajita Seasoning over meat. Be sure to cover the enitre steak and softly pat and rub seasoning into meat. Flip meat and repeat. Cover and marinade for 2 hours in refrigerator.
4.Preheat electric smoker to 220°F. Add meat to smoker. For this recipe I enjoy using mesquite wood chips for the smoke flavor, but feel free to use any desired wood!
5.Smoke meat for 1hr.
6.Wash bell peppers and prep for smoking. No need to cut or pit peppers, they will be smoke whole. Add peppers to smoker after smoking meat for the first hour. Place peppers on a rack ABOVE the meat so that the juices will drip onto meat adding flavor!
7.Wash and pit jalapenos. Add to smoker with peppers. Note: If you like extremley hot jalapenos, DO NOT PIT and smoke them whole. This techniques seems to anger the jalapenos making them flavorful and extremly hot to eat! You've been warned...
8.With peppers added, smoke and additional 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until internal temperature of meat is 140°F or to your desired texture. Some people like fajita meat a little tough when eating (not me).
9.Remove meat and wrap in foil. Set aside and prep peppers. Jalapenos are ready to eat as is, unless you smoked them whole. If this is the case remove stem and pit seeds before eating. Remove stem and seeds on bell peppers as well.
10.On a cutting board thinly slice peppers and meat to desired thickness.
11.Everything is ready to serve! Enjoy with your favorite additives; pico, avacado, salsa, chesse, etc!






  The Stock Yard

 

[DivotMaker]

Will do Divot.  Jacked the smoker up to 250.  It held that temp and higher.  I never did get over 170 on the maverick for the meat.  Wife looked it up on internet and they say 155 to 160 is now considered safe for pork.  So I should be o.k.  What I did read is that 165 is for pork to be sliced and 180 is for pork that you will pull.

Tex, 170 is perfect for sliced pork butt, but I use 155 on pork loin (much less fat).  I always cook pulled pork to 200, then foil wrap & rest for at least 30-minutes (preferably an hour or two).  Did you confirm the smoker temp and internal temp with a different thermometer?  Sounds very odd that it would only be 170 after that much time!

 

[Etex]

I used the regular kitchen one you push in.  It was pretty close.  The bone came out clean and it broke apart easily, just did not pull apart.  Am going to get an instant read one for back up.

 

[Etex]

Called on my Maverick and told them about the temp hitting the 160's and not going any higher.  They said it was probably due to the probe getting moisture in it.  They are sending another one.  The fajita in the #3 worked well.  Actually better than I expected.  I cooked it pretty much to the above recipe.  It was moist and I sliced it thin.  The smoke flavor was very good.  I used a combo of oak. hickory and apple.  Did  the vegetables in the house on cast iron.  The skirt was not tough.  The only thing missing was the sear that you get on the grill with the flavor from it.  You might throw it on the grill after smoking for a bit.    I will do it again after I get my new grill, but it was good enough that I would do it without the grill again.  I did not have any fajita seasoning, so used some Canadian Steak Seasoning.  Worked good.  I found a Fajita seasoning on line and made it and when It was pretty good.  When I heated the skirt in the cast iron I put some of it in to make it taste more authentic.

 

[DivotMaker]

That's good news about the Maverick and the fajitas, Tex!  There had to be a problem; not like a Maverick to read like that!

I think, when I try the fajitas, I'm going to smoke it until it's medium-rare, slice it, and finish it in the cast iron skillet with the onions (which I'll most-likely marinate and smoke with the meat).  I'll let you know how it goes!  We're kind of traditionalists in my house - fajitas with just meat and onions, no bell peppers; seems like that's how I've always had them.  You've really got me thinking on this fajita thing! ;D  Definitely will have to do some homemade guacamole with them!  Just curious - what temp did you smoke the meat at, how long, and what internal temp?

 

[Etex]

Guacamole, that was what I was missing.  I pretty much did what the recipe called for.  I smoked it at 220 for about an hour.  I then took it out and looked at it.  It was pretty much on the way to being done, but it did have some blood standing on the surface.  Since my maverick food probe was not working correctly I did not plug it back in.,I put it back in at the same temperature.  It called for it to cook to 140 and that should take 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  I decided to let it stay in for a little longer.  Can't say for sure, but I think it was a little under 3 hours until the wife got home.  Here is where I am impressed with the smoker.  I had shut the door when I took it out earlier to take it inside and check it out.  It sat out for a little while before I returned it.  I had turned the dial off and so reset it to 220.  What I forgot was that I had also unplugged it.  I asked my wife to unplug it as she went by.  She said it was unplugged.  It had set all that time off.  I thought that I would see essentially the same piece of skirt steak I put in.  To my surprise I opened the door and smoke poured out.  When I removed the meat the blood was gone.  I took it in and it was medium in the middle.  Sliced it and put in the cast iron later.  I was impressed that the smoker held the heat all that time and continued to cook without being on.  Now I am not sure that it would have done it with a thicker piece of meat, but it sure worked on the skirt steak.

 

[DivotMaker]

Now that's pretty cool, Tex!  These units really are efficient, and hold the heat very well!  This is definitely a testament to that!