Jason Deike is a busy guy.
As co-owner of Deike Implement in Waverly, he is in charge of sales, a position that is usually quite busy.
Then, the pandemic threw him additional challenges, both supply-side and demand-side. Customers wanted more small tractors and utility vehicles, while parts and merchandise were limited.
Inconsistency can be stressful.
But Deike has found a way to relieve the pressure in his life.
“I love to cook,” he told the Waverly papers. “I’ve found in the last three or four years that cooking is a great stress reliever.”
Most of that cooking is done by a smoker. Deike estimates that he started using a smoker about 15 years ago.
“I got bored with grilling,” he said. “I went looking for a hobby and everyone likes to eat, right? One day I picked up a smoker and that’s how I started.”
He now has two smokers — a Traeger and an Egg — each about the size of a grill, in his front yard.
“Traeger uses wood pellets, and Veza uses charcoal and coarse wood,” he said. “They have their different tastes and they have their different techniques that you have to use with them.”
“Traeger is easy,” he added. “The Traeger makes smoking simple. I wouldn’t necessarily call him a real smoker. You still get the smoky flavor, but it’s not that real thick, hearty smoke flavor. If I’m smoking a thicker cut or beef, I’ll do it with the egg because it has a sharper smoky flavor.”
Deike’s smoking repertoire extends beyond the typical pork, beef, chicken or turkey.
He explained that the Traeger maintains a consistent temperature and can be used as an oven, which really expands its options.
“Anything that goes in a furnace can go in a Traeger,” he said. “So, like a casserole? Put it on Traeger. That’s wonderful.”
But Deike doesn’t stop with delicious dishes.
“You can smoke anything,” he noted. “I drink a lot of sweets. They’re delicious, just a little smoky.”
For example, he likes to make cookies in the smoker.
“Smoky Snickerdoodles are amazing. “Smoky Snickerdoodles have the perfect blend of sugar and cinnamon, and then there’s this little smoky flavor that’s divine,” he said.
“My specialty is probably triple chocolate brownies,” he noted. “Boys’ girlfriends, when they come, this is what they ask for.”
His other favorite dishes listed.
“The homemade bread in the smoker is to die for. smoky chili is delicious.” He also likes smoked chicken noodle soup, smoked lasagna and smoked deviled eggs.
While almost anything that can be baked can be successfully smoked, Deike said, there are some exceptions.
“Angel food desserts. Don’t do it,” he warned. “It tastes terrible.”
He has some advice for people interested in trying out smokers themselves.
First, he recommends pork as a good starter meat.
“You can’t go wrong with smoking pork,” he said. “Pork is the easiest thing to cook, the easiest thing ever.”
“Be patient with the meat,” he also advised. “Low and slow is always better. I very rarely get above 225 (degrees) when smoking meat.”
Then, “The best thing you can do is get yourself a digital thermometer with four probes on it,” he continued, “and keep an eye on the temperature of the meat.”
Once it reaches the target temperature, Deike wraps the meat in aluminum foil and leaves it in a refrigerator for three hours, saying this helps make the meat juicy.
Regarding baking, “The most important thing is that you have to grease the pan.” He laughed. “If it says don’t grease the pan, grease the pan!”
And not just any fat will do, according to him.
“When you’re cooking outside, you have to use original Crisco,” he said, laughing a little more. “You can’t use Pam, no! You have to use Crisco.”
Deike has used his smoking skills to cook not only for his family, but for larger groups of people.
“I’ve cooked for a party of 50 a few times,” he said. “I did five, six pork loins at a time. I have made two batches at the same time. You can feed a lot of people with two batches.”
He thought of other bands he had smoked.
“One of my favorite moments is when I pulled pork for a friend’s bachelor party. And then I made smoked cornbread and smoked corn casserole, then I made smoked brownies and there was nothing left,” he said, visibly pleased.
Deike says he smokes food for his family all the time, year round.
“We hardly even use our kitchen oven,” he said. “It’s been an amazing stress reliever.”