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The Perfect Smoke Ring: How to Get it Right

The Perfect Smoke Ring: How to Get it Right

The sign of a proper job smoking meat is when that first slice is made and you see the delicate, deep red ring surrounding perfectly cooked meat. Getting the perfect smoke ring is as much an art as it is a skill. In order to learn how to get good smoke rings you need to know why the smoke ring fo …
Guide to Slow Cooking: How to Barbecue Low and Slow

Guide to Slow Cooking: How to Barbecue Low and Slow

Most of the time when we want to cook something like beef brisket or a pork roast, we use a pellet smoker to get the flavor and texture we are after. We also realize that not everyone has a pellet smoker, so we want to talk about the best ways to cook low and slow on a charcoal grill. The comm …
Guide to Wrapping Brisket: How, Why, and With What?

Guide to Wrapping Brisket: How, Why, and With What?

Smoking brisket is one of those things that requires steadfast patience and the confidence to know that your process will result in a delicious smoked meal at the end of the day. To put it another way, brisket is probably the most stressful thing you'll put in your smoker. Brisket is a big cut …
How to Make Smoked Beef Jerky

How to Make Smoked Beef Jerky

Jerky is one of those epic treats that is portable, nutritious, and provides your body with a big boost of the essential nutrients you need to power through the day. Probably the biggest downside to beef jerky is the relatively high cost of good quality jerky snacks. All too often, you'll spend a bu …
Buttery Smoked Corn on the Cob Recipe

Buttery Smoked Corn on the Cob Recipe

The prime season for corn has just come to an end and the last harvest of the year is hitting grocery stores as we write this blog post. Now is the perfect time to snap up a few bags of sweet white and yellow corn to make the ideal side to any barbecue or smoked meat dish.While we love the classic m …
The Best Charcoal Smokers

The Best Charcoal Smokers

There is no smoker design that will give you a more authentic smokehouse flavor than a charcoal smoker design. There are lots of different designs out there that all aim to offer ease-of-use, consistency, and durable design. However, some smokers are simply better than others. We'll give you a guide …
Smoking Times and Temperatures

Smoking Times and Temperatures

Perfectly smoking meat is as much an art as it is a science. If you know the correct temperature to run your smoker and the ideal internal temperature of your meat, you stand a good chance of getting the science part right. The artistry is all about the flavors, spices, and wood you choose. Today, w …
The Benefits of Pellet Grills

The Benefits of Pellet Grills

Pellet grills are all the rage right now and have been for several years. It seems like every time you look, there is a new model to choose from. A good quality pellet smoker isn't a cheap investment and it can be a chore to decide if a pellet grill is even right for you, especially if you've never …
The Best Smoked Meats

The Best Smoked Meats

We know how it is – you're standing there at the butcher counter, looking at all the different cuts of meat and thinking about what you would like to smoke this weekend. Maybe beef, or pork – but what about a whole chicken or some turkey drumsticks? Figuring out the best meat for smoking isn't al …
Smoker vs Grill – What is the Difference?

Smoker vs Grill – What is the Difference?

You know it's time to replace your tired, old charcoal kettle barbecue. It's seen its fair share of hamburgers and hot dogs. You've charred chicken – sometimes on purpose. There's even a perfectly steak-shaped spot where the finish has come off the grate, and you remember exactly …
Easy Smoked Fish Recipe

Easy Smoked Fish Recipe

One of the most delicious things you'll ever cook on your smoker is a nice piece of fish. But smoked fish can be one of the most frustrating things you cook, too. It's easy to smoke fish incorrectly and end up with an expensive piece of dry and tasteless meat. We're going to show you the right way t …
The Ultimate Guide to Smoking with A Traeger Grill

The Ultimate Guide to Smoking with A Traeger Grill

Many people start out their smoker journey learning on upright, charcoal smokers. These are inexpensive and effective tools that force you to learn the skills for properly smoking different cuts of meat. It takes lots of practice to master the venting and temperature control. But when you buy a …
How Does a Smoker Work

How Does a Smoker Work

A critical step when you want to learn to smoke meat is to understand the way a smoker works. There are several designs on the market with similarities and differences in the way they make smoke. Today, we're sharing how the different types of smokers work so you can decide which would be the bes …
What is Butcher Paper & Where to Buy Butcher Paper

What is Butcher Paper & Where to Buy Butcher Paper

Butcher paper is one of those things that is misunderstood and often left out of the smoking, grilling, and barbecuing process because of the confusion of what it is and what it does. Butcher paper is not always the easiest item to find in the stores, either. You'll find a wide selection of parch …
Should You Soak Wood Chips?

Should You Soak Wood Chips?

You might have heard that you should soak your wood chips for at least 30 minutes before you put them on your smoker. In theory, the idea is to prevent premature combustion of the wood chips and to encourage the chips to produce smoke. This is one of those myths that has a kernel of truth, but fact& …
How to Control Temperature on a Kamado Grill

How to Control Temperature on a Kamado Grill

The Big Green Egg and Kamado Joe are nothing short of amazing. They're the most versatile charcoal grills we know of because they work great as a smoker, too. But mastering any kamado grill takes some practice. One of the most challenging skills you need to learn when you start grilling or smoking o …
Most Common Smoking Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Most Common Smoking Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Smoking meat can be an intimidating process because you're dealing with long cooking times, usually large and expensive cuts of meat, and the constant risk that something will go wrong. Sooner or later, everyone has a smoking fail. It's just going to happen at some point. You can minimize …
The Best Smoked Brisket Recipe

The Best Smoked Brisket Recipe

Beef brisket is one of those cuts of meat many people are too intimidated to try cooking. Brisket can be a challenge – it is a lean and tough cut that often is overcooked.Brisket is frequently served boiled and corned at St. Patrick's Day tables across the US, but well-made smoked beef brisket is al …
The Ultimate Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe

The Ultimate Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe

We all know someone who agonizes every Thanksgiving about making the perfect turkey. Lets face it, at some point everyone will make a less-than-awesome Thanksgiving turkey. But today, we want to show you a simple method of making an excellent super juicy bird every time. This is a great reci …
Different Types of Wood for Smoking

Different Types of Wood for Smoking

The Bearded Butchers Smoking Wood Chart – How to pick the right wood for smoking different types of meat Pretty much any type of meat is better when it's perfectly smoked. From beef and poultry to fish and wild game, smoking produces unique flavors you can't get on a gas grill. But not every type …
Spare Ribs vs Baby Back Ribs

Spare Ribs vs Baby Back Ribs

We're breaking down the difference between these two popular cuts of meat.It would seem like buying ribs for your next cookout would be a simple process, until you're sitting at the butcher's counter trying to choose between spare ribs and baby back ribs. Which one is better? What's different about …
Grilling and Reverse Searing a Bison Tomahawk Steak

Grilling and Reverse Searing a Bison Tomahawk Steak

The Bearded Butchers share their recipe for an amazing, juicy, flavorful steak. There are lots of techniques people use to create wonderful flavors and textures when grilling. A popular way to cook a steak right now is the reverse sear method. This fancy term is actually a really easy way to ge …
Kamado Joe vs Big Green Egg

Kamado Joe vs Big Green Egg

The decision to buy a kamado grill will change grilling forever. Kamado grills have been around for thousands of years and provide an ideal way to cook.What Brands Make Kamado Grills?Shopping for a kamado grill is a challenge because there are many types and sizes of grills to choose between. Two of …
How to Make Deer Snack Sticks

How to Make Deer Snack Sticks

With deer season almost on top of us, it’s time to start thinning the freezer. If you have trimmings or ground meat, you can make smokies at home. Smokies make for a great snack and they'll keep on a long day hike if you follow the same recipe we use today. Smokies, or sticks as some folks call …
Labor Day Recipes

Labor Day Recipes

It seems like just yesterday the sun finally came out of hiding, but here we are at the unofficial end of Summertime. Labor Day weekend is here, so we thought it’d be fun to share some of our favorite grilling, smoking, and barbecuing recipes that will make your cookout with family and friends both …
The Benefits of Smoking with Wood Pellets

The Benefits of Smoking with Wood Pellets

One of our favorite tools to use is our Traeger Grills Iron Wood 885 smoker. Those of you watching our Youtube channel know how much we enjoy smoking everything. Following our recipes is easy, but what to do if you don’t have a smoker? Well, you can use wood pellets and chips in a gas grill or a cha …