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Prime Rib on a Yoder Pellet Grill

September 15, 2022 By Ms. K

Prime Rib Sale
Prime Rib Sale

Not sure what meat prices are like in your neck of the woods these days. But when prime rib roasts went on sale at our local grocery story, we had to snap one up. It’s summer, and we usually equate Prime Rib with Yorkshire pudding, hearty garlic mashed potatoes and other cozy fare. But we decided to go for it – and seize the chance to throw it on our Yoder YS640S Smoker



Yoder Smoker S640S Competition Smoker - Beautiful
Yoder Smoker S640S Competition Smoker – Beautiful

We fired up the grill, and brought it to a super-low 200 degrees F.

Yoder Smoker S640S We Have Fire
Yoder Smoker S640S We Have Fire

You can’t go wrong with a simple seasoning, so we chose our go-to blend of Malcolm Reed’s A.P. Rub and The BBQ Rub – no one does the basics better. And this way we figured we’d have to the best chance to tasting just what the smoker offers one of our all-time favourite cuts.



Carving the Roast
Carving the Roast

The 2.7 kg (~6lbs) roast took 5 hours to reach 132 F with virtually nothing for us to do. Now and then, we just needed to check our app linked to the built-in Fireboard temperature monitoring system (more info on this here). We might have stretched our legs once to go out and check the pellet levels, too. But truly – the Yoder makes this so easy.

Later Summer Veggies
Later Summer Veggies

We rested the meat for 30 mins, although we’d consider a 45 min. rest time for even more juiciness. While the meat did its thing, we roasted up some of the summer bounty from a local farm – multi-coloured carrots and purple potatoes. We boiled a yellow potato and a couple of cobs of corn for good measure, too – bringing summer sides to what’s often a winter dish.

Prime Rib - Plated and Ready!
Prime Rib – Plated and Ready!

The whole meal was delicious. The smoker worked great, and imparted a subtle smokey taste to the meat, which is what we were hoping. It may not replace our much-loved approach somewhere deep in December when we’ll be roasting prime rib indoors and whipping up Yorkshires and mashers – but it’s certainly a worthy option!

Filed Under: Love Your Meat Tagged With: Killer Hogs Seasoning, Killer Hogs The A.P. Seasoning, Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub, Malcom Reed, Pellet Grill, Prime Rib, wood pellet smokers, Yoder Smoker YS640S, Yoder Smokers

Whole Chickens on the Yoder YS640s

July 6, 2022 By Ms. K

Chicken with Malcolm's Bird Brine and essential seasonings
Chicken with Malcolm’s Bird Brine and essential seasonings

We threw a couple of whole chickens on our Yoder YS640S Smoker the other night. At about 3.5 lbs a piece, we enjoyed chicken for dinner and for days (salad, sandwiches, snacks). Super impressed by the flavour, texture and the ease of preparation.



We started by brining the birds overnight in the fridge using Malcolm’s Bird Brine. We then patted the chickens dry, and air chilled them for about four hours. After that, we oiled and seasoned them up, and stuck them back in the fridge for another 90 minutes before cooking.

Two birds seasoned and ready
Two birds seasoned and ready

A note on seasoning: we used our go-to Killer Hogs seasonings (The A.P. and BBQ Rub) and the results were delicious. BUT – that brine imparts a lot of saltiness. Next time, we’d dial back the seasoning to get more flavour and a less salty finish. (If you’re brining your birds, be warned and be wary!)



On the smoker and ready for slow cooking action
On the smoker and ready for slow cooking action

We got the grill up to 350F and put the chickens on. Plenty of room in our Yoder for the magic to happen.

The spacious Yoder YS640S cooking space...just wow
The spacious Yoder YS640S cooking space…just wow

We cooked the birds for 90 minutes until the breast meat read 165F. Then we let ’em rest for about 15 minutes.

Resting and lookin' pretty!
Resting and lookin’ pretty!

We were really impressed with the look and texture of the skin and the meat. Crispy and nice colour for the skin, and super juicy meat inside.

Juices flowing...
Juices flowing…

The level of smokiness was exactly to our taste when it comes to chicken – as in, just a hint. It was not overpowering at all. Just enough to make the birds special and give them a little ‘something’ over oven-roasting.

Crisp skin, juicy meat, and the perfect hint of smoke. Delish.
Crisp skin, juicy meat, and the perfect hint of smoke. Delish.

The chicken was delicious carved and served hot, paired with a homemade Greek Salad. It was also fantastic cold for the next few days. So tasty that leftovers weren’t at all tiresome.

Another win for our Yoder YS640S Competition Smoker!

Filed Under: Grill School Tagged With: Killer Hogs Seasoning, Killer Hogs The A.P. Seasoning, Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub, Malcolm's Bird Brine, Malcom Reed, Whole Chicken, Yoder Smoker YS640S, Yoder Smokers

Where’s Summer? We’re Ready to Grill!

April 18, 2022 By Ms. K

Yoder Smoker S640S We Have Fire
Yoder Smoker S640S We Have Fire

Well, we’ve cracked the mid-April threshold, and we’re still digging ourselves out from yet another load of snow. In these parts, we love a good extreme-conditions, winter-grilling tale – but we are chomping at the bit for some warmer grilling times!



Here’s hoping that many of you in the Nation are already stripping down to shirtsleeves and grilling to your heart’s content. But for those of us still floundering in flurries, here’s a gallery of some of last year’s greatest hits from our still-rather-new Yoder Smoker, the Yoder YS640s pellet grill. Let’s hope these pics help to coax summer grilling time our way…

  • Burger Patties
  • Building Burgers
  • Burger Art
  • Beef Short Ribs
  • Smoking the Short Ribs
  • Shorts Ribs in Red Wine Braise
  • Short Ribs Plates
  • Pork Shoulder
  • Pork Shoulder Seasoned with Killer Hogs Rub
  • Pulling Apart Tender Smoked Pork
  • Pulled Pork for Days
  • Pulled Pork Sandwich
  • Seasoning the Brisket
    Seasoning a Beef Brisket
  • Come closer…
  • Brisket in Butcher Paper
  • Brisket Plated
  • Salmon
  • Salmon Flaking Beautifully
  • Salmon Plated and a Crisp White
  • Baby Back Ribs
  • Traditional Boston Baked Beans
  • Best Version Ever of Pork and Beans


You’ll notice a few common themes in our gallery that deserve a shout out. First, all this glorious food was prepared on our spectacular Yoder Smoker’s Yoder YS640s pellet grill. We bought ours through the good folks at Luxe Barbeque Company – assembled and delivered, thank you very much. We often find ourselves stocking up on pellets, specialty seasonings and other grilling supplies at this one-stop luxury bbq stop.

Speaking of seasonings, we’ve been taking our grilling and smoking to the next level with the superb line of Killer Hogs barbecue rubs and seasonings, created by brothers Malcolm and Waylon Reed. Big shout out to Malcolm not just for the killer blends, but also his awesome recipes and smoker video tutorials. We’ve certainly learned more than a thing or two about doing ribs, pork shoulder, brisket and more from his award-winning competition bbq expertise.

Finally, as you can tell from our pics, we like our wine. Our go-to local shop for the finest bottles as well as curated cottage cases for easy summer sipping is Jones and Company Wine Merchants. A friendly, first-class shop!

Looking forward to summer (- if you find it, let us know)!

Filed Under: Love Your Meat Tagged With: Beef brisket, Braised beef short ribs, Burgers, Jones and Company Wine Merchants, Killer Hogs Seasoning, Luxe Barbecue Company, Malcom Reed, pork shoulder, pulled pork, Salmon on the grill, Yoder Smoker YS640S, Yoder Smokers

Pork Shoulder on the YS640S Yoder Smoker

June 30, 2021 By Ms. K

9 1/2 lb. Pork Shoulder Fresh from the Grocery Store
9 1/2 lb. Pork Shoulder Fresh from the Grocery Store

One of the first things we tried on our new Yoder Smoker’s YS640S Smoker was a 9 1/2 lb. (4.3kg) pork shoulder blade roast. Turned out that pulled pork heaven was a mere 14 hours or so away. Did we learn some stuff? Yup. Would we tweak things next time around? Sure. But was there a delicious learning curve to be had? You’d better believe it.



Hopper filled with pellets
Hopper filled with pellets

Our epic day began at about 4:30 am to get the smoker going. (The alarm was set for a more decadent 5:00am wake up call, but we just couldn’t wait.) We loaded up the hopper to the max with 20lb of wood pellets (Pitmaster’s Choice Premium Fruit Blend Pellets to be exact). We set the smoker for a super-low 200F and waited about 30 minutes for it to get to temp.

Yoder Smoker S640S We Have Fire
Yoder Smoker YS640S We Have Fire

Found the fine looking roast below at my local grocery store where pork shoulder roasts happened to be that week’s featured item. Always nice when that happens.

Pork Shoulder Ready to Season
Pork Shoulder Ready to Season

As we waited for the smoker to be ready, we rubbed the roast with some canola oil (mustard would have worked, too) then seasoned with a one-two punch from Malcolm Reed’s Killer Hogs line of spice blends: A.P. Seasoning and The BBQ Rub. (For you Grill Nation Canucks out there, we order our Killer Hogs and other premium BBQ spices spices from The Rub Shack located in London, Ontario. Great selection!)

Seasoning up the Pork with Killer Hogs Seasonings
Seasoning up the Pork with Killer Hogs Seasonings

For our cooking method, we decided to follow pitmaster Malcolm Reed’s ultra low-and-slow, no-wrap pork shoulder method. Definitely check out his detailed video tutorial for a masterclass session.



The no-wrap method aims to infuse adequate smokey goodness into the meat and allow the roast to develop a beautiful bark. You’re shooting for an internal temperature of about 200F (195-205F). But you do need time. Lots of time. (In the video, Reed’s roast takes ~ 14 hours, and ours came in around the same. More on this below.)

Pork Shoulder Getting Started on the YS640S
Pork Shoulder Getting Started on the YS640S

For hours and hours, our roast was a-smokin’. We kept the smoker at 200F for about 12 hours. During that time beginning at about the 8 hour mark, the roast’s internal temperature stalled out as expected between 158-170F. It literally wouldn’t budge. (Using our smoker’s built-in Fireboard technology, we were keeping track of all this remotely with an app – but we did step out on the deck fairly often to peek.)

This ‘stall’ point is of course the point where other methods have you wrap the thing, urging those internal temperatures to keep on rising.

Pork Shoulder After Hours of Smoking
Pork Shoulder After Hours of Smoking

We waited as patiently as we could through the stall. But after about 4 hours seeing no change (so, about 12 hungry hours now into the process) we decided to bump up the smoker’s temperature to 250F. It was getting late, we were getting hungry, and we’d been smelling smoked meat all day for Pete’s sake. Anyway, raising the temperature got things moving in the right direction.

Falling Apart Goodness
Falling Apart Goodness

The roast came off the smoker at about 7pm with an internal temp of 190F (a little below what Reed recommends). This was 14 hours after we put it into the Yoder.

Then we had to rest it for about 30 minutes which may have been the hardest part of all. But look at these pics – the meat is as tender and buttery as it looks, and the bark had a pleasing bite.

Pork Shoulder Falling Apart and Ready to Go
Pork Shoulder Falling Apart and Ready to Go

These Bear Claws are an indispensable tool for pulling the pork apart.

Shredding the Pulled Pork with Ultra-Handy Bear Claws
Shredding the Pulled Pork with Ultra-Handy Bear Claws

…and look at what we made! Mmmm-mmm. We feasted on pulled pork sandwiches for days and shrink-wrapped and froze three generous portions for future meals. Hard to argue that all that time and waiting isn’t worth it when it tastes like this.

Pork Pulled to Perfection
Pork Pulled to Perfection

Our new Yoder YS640S definitely shone throughout the process and made start up, smoking and cleaning up ultra easy. I should note that we did end up topping up the hopper with pellets several hours in. AS we get acquainted with this machine, we’re finding that it uses about 1 1/2 lbs. pellets per hour, so for a huge smoking day like this one, simply filling once isn’t enough. Something to keep your eye on.

Pulled Pork Sandwich Au Naturel
Pulled Pork Sandwich Au Naturel

All in all we buy the logic of Reed’s no-wrap method. The meat was certainly buttery tender, perfectly infused with smoke, with a pleasing bark. It is a long process though.

You’ll notice that in Reed’s video, he puts his roast on overnight aiming to serve pulled pork at lunch. So, you’re sleeping during a lot of the waiting time, and not really tense about whether it will be done or not. Putting it on in the morning and aiming for dinner – even a later one – got a little tense as we started to wonder if we’d ever get around to eating. We had no choice but to bump up the temp to push it along this time.

Next time, we’re planning on raising the smoker’s temp from 200 to 225 after about 5 hours, then moving it up to 250F if need be. This might help us get to the more ideal 195F internal temp – and sooner. We’ll let you know how it goes!

Pulled Pork Sandwich with Chopped White Onions and Ms. K's Homemade Coleslaw
Pulled Pork Sandwich with Chopped White Onions and Ms. K’s Homemade Coleslaw

Great results from this method and our first time doing pork shoulder on our Yoder YS640S. More Yoder experiences coming soon…

Filed Under: Grill School Tagged With: Bear Claws for Pulled Pork, Coleslaw, Killer Hogs Seasoning, Malcolm Reed, No wrap pork shoulder smoking, Pitmaster's Premium Choice Wood Pellets, pork shoulder roast, pulled pork, The Rub Shack, Yoder Smoker YS640S, Yoder Smokers

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