Second smoke..

[TARDISgirl]

What with having to work the holiday weekend, I was looking to do a quick meal.  I was thinking a package of Johnsonville brats with some baked beans (from a can..no time for homemade) and a couple of small potatoes.  Any suggestions on time/temp?  I was thinking 220 for about 2.5 hours?

Thanks!

 

[Pork Belly]

sounds ok for the meat but the beans wont thicken up in that short of time. Beans have taken 3.5 to 4 hours for me. Typically two large cans in a cast iron skillet on the top shelf.

 

[TARDISgirl]

Good to know. I was mostly worried about the meat,  I want to make sure it will be at safe temp to eat.  As for the beans, I'm only cooking for two people, and a single 16oz can will more than do us. I am ashamed to say that beans from a can usually get the microwave treatment, so smoking sounded like a step up.

 

[swthorpe]

Two and half hours for the brats should be plenty, especially if you set the temp a bit higher, like 225F.  The potatoes depending on size may not finish in 21/2 hrs at 220.  When  I do ribs, I throw a couple of baked potatoes on the top shelf and they take about 5 hours to get soft.  As for the beans, I do baked beans in a 2qt AL pan on the top shelf for 2 to 2.5 hours and that's plenty to heat through and get a nice smoke flavor...if you can go longer, then all the better!  Yesterday I did chicken breasts and baked beans at 220F.  When the breasts were done (about 1 hour), I removed the chicken and ramped the temp up to 230 for the beans to continue heating.  Speaking of baked beans, there's a nice recipe in the appetizers list that I use with good success!

http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1483.0

 

[Pork Belly]

Use a pan with a lot of surface area for the beans, you may get a little crust. You can always finish the potatoes in the microwave if needed, just stick a fork in them a few times to break the skin. Corn on the cob in the husk will finsh in that time frame if you want to add a few of those. Have a good meal.

 

[TARDISgirl]

Thanks for all the advice! Can't wait to get off work -- I can almost taste the brats now 

 

[TARDISgirl]

Had to eat a little later than normal, but worth the wait. I did have to finish the potatoes off in the microwave, but I figured that going in.

 

[old sarge]

Looks like a fine meal!

 

[swthorpe]

Great job!  How did the beans turn out?  Get enough smoke on them?

 

[DivotMaker]

Looks great!

 

[TARDISgirl]

Steve,
The beans turned out great! They were only a bean or two deep, so they got a good smoke flavor, but I managed to avoid getting a crust on them. Thanks for the recipe, will definately use that on a later smoke.