Mac and Cheese
- Thread starter swthorpe
- Start date
The last time I did this recipe I set for 230F and about 2 hours of smoke. I used 3oz of cherry, which is a milder/sweeter wood than hickory. I would suggest increasing your temp slightly on the next try, and go for 2 hours rather than 3. If you remove it at 2 and give a taste test, if you think it needs more time, then you could put in back in the smoker.
mmiaff3666
New member
Just pulled Jeff Phillips' mac & cheese from the #2. It was in for 3 hours with 4 racks of baby backs that are still smoking. I used 3 ounces of apple wood. Going to let the ribs go another 2 hours and then hit em with Jeff's sauce. Don't know if I can stay out of the mac & cheeses until the ribs are ready!
DivotMaker
New member
Can't wait to see some pics of the results, Matt! 
8)
8)mmiaff3666
New member
DivotMaker
New member
That's what I'm talking about! Looks great! ;D
NDKoze said:
I think Jeff's Mac N Cheese is probably best served right away out of the smoker. We did cool and reheat ours as well but added some more half and half or milk to the reheating process in order to help bring up some moisture. In fact I still have some of this leftover in my fridge. Maybe I'll try to reheat more tomorrow (I should probably hurry since it has been in the fridge just over a week now).
My experience has been to not cook it too much. This needs to be undercooked when taking it out of the smoker. Like a pudding consistency. Let it rest and it will continue cooking and set. Otherwise it will dry out very quickly after you take it out. Cheese gets extremely hot and cools off and solidifys in short order. When we want a piece another day from the fridge, we nuke it on high so the cheese quickly melts. If it was cooked properly it will still reheat fairly well.
mmiaff3666
New member
The mac and cheese was excellent. It smoked for 3 hours with the baby back ribs. It was not dried out and I attribute that to the apple juice that was in Miss Lilly's Flavor Savor adding some moisture to the #2. I removed the mac and cheese from the smoker and covered the pan with foil while letting the ribs cook another 2 hours. When I opened the smoker to brush the ribs with Jeff Phillips' BBQ sauce, I placed the mac and cheese back in the smoker for a 1/2 hour on the top most shelf to heat it back up for serving. Everyone over for the game yesterday liked the mac & cheese and I had no leftovers.
BedouinBob
New member
Sounds like a successful approach Matt. How did the ribs turn out?
SuperDave
New member
Even well cooked pasta will continue to absorb moisture so baked mac & cheese continues to absorb the liquid the longer it is smoked or baked. If you viewed similar recipes for stove top mac & cheese vs. oven, one would see twice the liquid ratio. Smoked or oven mac and cheese is almost soup when it goes in. One experiment I did was to lightly smoke my sauce and then mix it with the noodles. I like really creamy mac & cheese so I thought it was a hit. Others like a top crusty style so the standard method works better for that.
mmiaff3666
New member
Baby backs turned out good Bob. They were moist and everyone loved them. The only change I would make to the ribs would be to sear them on a high heat grill after pulling them from the smoker to give them a nice bark.
