3 Delicious and Easy Smoker Recipes

Perhaps you’re making progress against your plan. Maybe its even time to start considering what to do with all that free time in retirement? Let me introduce you to a particular obsession of mine…the world of smoking. I’m a long, long way from an expert in this world but I’ve had my electric smoker (ZGrill-450a) since just before I retired and couldn’t be happier. So much so that I removed the old propane-fired grill and grill or smoke everything on the ZGrill.  There are many, many foods that can be smoked.  I’ve included 3 delicious and easy smoker recipes here in this article. Think of these as starter dishes.

Hardwood pellets are burned in a firepot.  This generates heat and smoke that are circulated throughout the cooking chamber.  The temperature is regulated by a control panel and my experience is that it does a great job in allowing me to dial in on the desired temperature.  These days I tend to use apple wood pellets for cooking just about everything.  Apple wood smoke works particularly well with the recipes in this post but I know others will vary the wood by the type of food being smoked. One can even order Traeger Apple hardwood pellets on Amazon and have them delivered to one’s door. 

Below are three recipes that my family particularly enjoys.  None of them are hard to prepare and you don’t need to change temperatures during the cooking process.  Speaking from experience, you don’t need to be a master chef for these to come out good and tasty.

SMOKED CREAM CHEESE RECIPE

I realize this one sounds bizarre.  However, smoked cream cheese kept coming up when I was searching for things to try after I got the ZGrill. If you follow the steps below, you won’t end up with a gooey mess.  Try it – you won’t be disappointed.

• Crack open a beer.  I’ve found Octoberfest goes well with smoking and eating cream cheese.
• Spray some canola oil on a sheet of aluminum foil so the cheese doesn’t stick.
• Take a brick of Philadelphia cream cheese (or your favorite brand) and season it all over in a bowl.  Taco mix is good.  Ranch dressing mix is good.  Traeger Pork and Poultry rub is good.  Sometimes I’ve pressed homegrown jalapeno slices into the cheese post seasoning.  You should experiment with different dry seasonings as you desire.
• Drizzle olive oil over the block of cheese.
• Heat your smoker to 250 degrees.  Put the foil with the cheese, leaving it uncovered, on the smoker after it hits 250.
• Total prep time is 5-10 minutes at most
• Put the cheese on the smoker and keep it there for 3 hours.  Again, surprisingly, it won’t disintegrate into a puddle of ooze.  
• Hard to believe but you’ll need a knife to slice & spread.
• After 3 hours, enjoy the cheese with crackers, chips, apple slices or whatever.

SMOKED ARMADILLO EGGS RECIPE

Before we get started, I assure you, no armadillos are involved in any way. This recipe also came up in several spots when I first searched for things to smoke. Some versions call for the use of sausage. This version uses ground pork and I’ve had good success.

• Crack open a beer.  I’ve found a nice Mexican Lager goes well with smoking and eating armadillo eggs.
• 2 lbs of ground pork, 5 jalapenos and a block of cream cheese should make about 20 eggs.  Scale as appropriate.  These little suckers are quite filling.
• Quarter 5 fresh jalapenos.  Fill the quarters with a mixture of cream cheese and shredded cheddar cheese.
• Season the ground pork with taco mix or some other such dry rub in a bowl.  I tend to work the seasoning into the pork. 
• Fully wrap the quartered jalapenos in the ground pork to form small balls (or eggs, if you will).  Sprinkle some more seasoning on the formed eggs.
• Heat your smoker to 250 degrees and put the eggs on for 2 hours.
• Let them cool for a bit and then enjoy!

321 RIBS RECIPE

321 refers to the hours the ribs will be cooked through three different phases. I’ve made these ribs many times at this point and it does require a bit of a time commitment. However, today’s electric smokers enable precise temperature control…just ensure the hopper remains full of wood pellets. Despite the amount of time required, this really is an easy ribs recipe.

• Crack open a beer.  I’ve found a nice IPA goes well with smoking and eating ribs. Because this is a 6 hour process, pacing one’s IPA consumption is proper and key.
• Season both sides of a rack of ribs.  I very much like to use the Traeger Pork and Poultry rub on the ribs.  Be generous on the application.
• Heat your smoker to 250 degrees and put the ribs bone side down once the temperature is right.
• Let the ribs smoke for 3 hours.
• Put the ribs on large sheet of aluminum foil and sprinkle brown sugar all over.  I use enough to more or less coat the top of the ribs.  Put 3-5 tbsp of salted butter (your preference on the amount of butter) on the top of the ribs and then flip the rack over on the foil.  Before wrapping the ribs completely up, add a cup of apple cider or juice.  Completely wrap the ribs in the foil and place back on the smoker.
• Let ribs braise in the foil on the smoker for another 2 hours.
• Remove the ribs from the smoker and foil.  Brush on whatever BBQ sauce you like best.
• Let the ribs smoke for 1 more hour.

Enjoy!  You may find the ribs falling apart as you remove them from the smoker.  Don’t be alarmed. This is normal. And delicious.

BONUS RECIPES

If you’re going to invest the time in making six hour ribs, you might as well make some delicious and easy sides to go with them, right?  You don’t need to alter anything in the process, just save a little room on the grill.  We’re assuming the smoker’s temperature is at 250 degrees for both of these.

• Garlic-Butter-Mushrooms:  Slice some mushrooms or use some that are pre-sliced.  Coat the slices in butter, minced garlic, salt and pepper.  Completely wrap them in aluminum foil and put them in the smoker during the last hour you cook the ribs (so once you’ve added the BBQ sauce).  Take them off when you remove the ribs and enjoy.
• Smoked green beans:  I’ve used both frozen and fresh green beans.  Toss the beans with sesame seed oil.  Then season with salt, pepper and sesame seeds.  Put the beans in foil but don’t fully wrap them up.  Place them on the smoker for 1.5-2 hours, depending on how firm you want them to finish.