I love, love, love my smoker! I smoked pork butts and chicken quite a bit. At Thanksgiving I always smoke a couple of turkeys for all of the people that we have over here. All of the rubs that I use are made by me. I don't use hardly any salt and when I do it is Kosher salt. I do however sometimes use brown sugar. I am looking for appropriate alternatives for cream cheese, meat rubs and bacon wrapping. Does anybody have any thoughts?

Some examples;

Brisket

Bacon wrapped chicken thighs with mushroom, onion, garlic and parsley stuffing.

St Louis ribs

Pork butt

Atomic buffalo turds (jalapeño, cream cheese, shredded smoked pork and bacon.

I eat bacon and cream cheese-

and I think as far as things like the brown sugar (we do a ham glaze that uses it) I think you have to consider how much sugar is actually going to amount to per serving. because your servings will be quite small - so I doubt it's much of an issue really.

Lawd have mercy..........

It's my brother from another mother.

Great looking eats, man.

I eat bacon and cream cheese- because your servings will be quite small - so I doubt it's much of an issue really.

Please don't take this the wrong way but I love you!

I marinate in garlic, brown sugar, salt, pepper, olive oil and coke zero! It would probably be good without the brown sugar but I don't think the amount of sugar in the marinade will matter.

Ok first - my mouth is watering now. There should be some sort of warning when you and @@Dub are going to post pictures like that! Holy cow! I have been CRAVING brisket!

Having said that, I too eat bacon and cream cheese. (Now I eat the lower fat version of cream cheese but not everyone does that.) I made some stuffed jalapenos (not nearly as appetizing as yours though) that had a mix of reduced fat blue cheese and 1/3 fat cream cheese and a little Franks red hot. Yummy! (If you can't handle super spicy post-op, you might try those mini bell peppers which don't have the heat. I also use the same mixture in baby bella mushrooms.) As @@Christinamo7, as long as you are eating smaller portions, some of these higher fat choices are not that bad as your intake is pretty limited. Just make sure to concentrate on the Protein. Smoked turkey and smoked chicken are GREAT options.

Next time I catch a striped bass, will one of you smoke it???? I used to trade one salmon caught for 1/2 salmon smoked. It was soooo frigg'n yummy!

I'll ship it to you frozen overnight. ----and you can keep 1/2.

OR

You can just meet me on the surf...

Lawd have mercy..........

It's my brother from another mother.

Great looking eats, man.

. I knew @@Dub would respond to this! I wish I had placed all my money on the table!

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Next time I catch a striped bass, will one of you smoke it???? I used to trade one salmon caught for 1/2 salmon smoked. It was soooo frigg'n yummy!

I'll ship it to you frozen overnight. ----and you can keep 1/2.

OR

You can just meet me on the surf...

I've never done fish for some reason. We are going on a bottom fishing trip in July and I do plan on smoking a fair portion of our catch. We can keep 7 rock fish and 2 Ling Cod per person. There will be 3 of us. Unfortunately we will be about 10 days too late for crabbing. Pardon the fat man port but this is one of my turkeys.

Black sea bass (rock fish) are soooo yummy. Just be careful getting them out from the rocks!! Need any lessons on tying the "perfect" knot?

It is fluke season now, and the big door mats are equally as good to grill. We did grill some Ling fish last summer. They were very light tasting.

Wishing you nothing by "tight lines", my friend.

Oooh yum! I want a smoker!

https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/bbq-3000/c-24/p-327/pd-s

@ @@Dub

That is my BBQ rub, no sugar. I grill and smoke all the time and I find there is very little difference without sugar. The one thing I do now more than before is getting meat with more fat, and cook it slower, rendering the fat off. This adds a lot more flavor than sugar ever could, plus cooking things long and slow enough you still get the nice crust and the brown it just doesn't come from sugar. If you are making your own rubs and not using a high quality smoked paprika, add that and it has a sweetness and a smokiness that will replace sugar easily.

Like other people, I still eat bacon and cream cheese, I just makes sure they fit my macros for the day. So if I am going to have grilled meats or whatever in the afternoon and evening, I try to keep my food in the morning very lean and low in calories. It is all about balance.

I have some rib tips smoking right now for the evening.

Um.....yum! I wasn't hungry until I saw all that lovely protein!

I eat bacon and cream cheese regularly. Bacon is my new favorite.

The key is......don't eat too much of it.

you should have posted a "food porn trigger alert" - hahaha

Now I will be having fantasies about brisket...

Geez how much food porn can I see in one day?

Ok so do you use an electric smoker? I think I've talked hubby into getting me one for my birthday. Any recommendations on brand/features/etc?