After years of wanting a smoker, I finally pulled the trigger and bought a Camp Chef pellet smoker. I'm looking for some good weeknight meal (1-2 hr) smoke recipes. What do you like?

Reverse sear.

Smoke thick cut steak for 45min or so. Fire up real grill or cast iron and sear on high for a few minutes per side.

Helps if you have let steak sit out for a while to come to room temp or at least raise above the 34 degrees it was sitting at in the fridge.

Smoking by definition is time intensive.
Most good smoking recipes will take longer than an hour or two.
If your are time crunched I suggest grilling meats aka steaks, burgers, dogs, chicken parts.
You can still get the good smoke flavor of course but the deep down smoking recipes like my favorite brisket or ribs will take time.
It is possible for intermediate smoke times with whole chicken or pork.
The "good stuff" you can't rush.
Good Luck.

I do mine in bulk on the weekends. Usually have left overs for lunches/suppers during the week. I vacuum seal what is left then freeze. I am doing 4 whole chickens tomorrow. We'll eat one tomorrow night and the rest during the week. We cube up all the meat, package, and then freeze. It makes it easy to pull out and quickly warm up during the week.

One of my crowd pleasers is pork tenderloins and I’ve smoked them after work for out of town business associates. The key to success starts at the grocery store where you buy 1 lb pork tenderloins not 2 or 3 lb ones. The reason is that diameter of meat is a big factor in cooking time so two 1-pounders will cook much faster than one 2-pounder. Another tip is use your favorite rib rub but after rubbing put some fresh rosemary on it.

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Originally posted by Skins2881:
Reverse sear.

Great suggestion

I bet you get some good fresh salmon up in UT. Fresh salmon fillet with salt and pepper 1/2 hour on smoke then 1/2 hour around 250F, do not over cook. Smoke some asparagus along side. Drizzle asparagus with olive oil then kosher salt and pepper and smoke with the salmon. Save enough salmon for breakfest with eggs and mushrooms in the morning.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Reverse sear.

Yep.

Get some ~1.5 inch thick steaks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Smoke the steaks at 220ish to an internal temperature of 125, then immediately sear (either on a blazing hot charcoal grill or in a smoking hot cast iron skillet over a High burner) for around 60 seconds on each side, then cover with foil on a plate and let rest for 5 minutes.

You'll end up with a perfectly reverse seared medium-rare steak. Takes around an hour total to make, all told. Get your grill/skillet ready when your steak is nearing the end of its smoke, so you can immediately go from smoke to sear.

We will smoke Baby Back ribs for around 45 minutes with hickory on the Weber kettle and finish them off with BBQ sauce in the oven at 325 degrees. They come out tender and yummy. Total time is usually around 2 hours.

Jim

Chicken legs, Plowboys Yardbird rub at 350 for about an hour and a half with some bbq sauce towards the end of the cook.

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Originally posted by tatortodd:
One of my crowd pleasers is pork tenderloins and I’ve smoked them after work for out of town business associates. The key to success starts at the grocery store where you buy 1 lb pork tenderloins not 2 or 3 lb ones. The reason is that diameter of meat is a big factor in cooking time so two 1-pounders will cook much faster than one 2-pounder. Another tip is use your favorite rib rub but after rubbing put some fresh rosemary on it.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Reverse sear.

Great suggestion

Perfect for during the week.

A nice fish that lends itself well to smoking. I smoke Mahi Mahi for an hour at 225F and it's done (1/2-3/4" filets). Just throw them on the smoker on aluminum foil and let them go.

I smoke a whole 4.5-5.5 lb beercan chicken at 325-350F. Put 2/3 full can of strong dark beer inside on stand. Coat with olive oil and a thick coating of McCormick montreal chicken seasoning, put in smoker for about 1:45 hours until it hits 165F internal...…

Pecan is great with both. Hickory is also good for the chicken.

Bone in skin on chicken thighs. Start smoker bring it up to 325 while chicken rests on counter. Rinse thighs, pat dry with towel, apply Dillon dust or other sweet rub liberally to both sides. If you like spices, then use Salt Lick rub. Put in pellet smoker for approx 40 minutes, looking for 165 near the bone. Gauranteed crowd pleaser in under an hour.

If you are going to get the smoker dirty make it worth your while.
Night before smoking,I get a three pound bag of plain almonds from Sam's Club. Fill a stainless bowl with warm tap water and with a slotted spoon I stir in kosher salt. Keep adding the salt a half cup at a time until it won't dissolve anymore. Should be milky white at this point. Stir in the almonds and let them sit overnight. The next morning I drain them but do not rinse. Spread them out to dry. After I am done smoking the meat, but with the smoker still warm, I place the almonds in using mesh pizza trays for circulation. Add a little apple wood for flavor and let them go for about two hours. They will turn chalky white from the salt. try a few and if they crunch, pull them. Let them cool and bag them up. Good eating.

Make some jalapeño poppers. Cream cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic, roasted red pepper, salt, pepper. Maybe some of your other tastes to add in. Wrap in bacon for 30-45 min at 250-300.

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Originally posted by mkueffer:
Make some jalapeño poppers. Cream cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic, roasted red pepper, salt, pepper. Maybe some of your other tastes to add in. Wrap in bacon for 30-45 min at 250-300.

I was going to say that ~ and it's almost exactly the way I make 'em too!

Chicken thighs for sure, don’t sleep on a fryer whole chicken. Prob the cheapest meat, and smoking is amazing flavor. They cook fast too, learn how to spatchcock.

I cut them in half removing the spine. These were done on my Pit Barrel Cooker.