Grillroteca

[simonrest]

Followed another video from John Setzler. Another good result.

My wife got me a grill for my birthday last week. Prior to that IO;d only ever cooked on a gas bbq, and I'd tried to smoke brisket using a smoke box a couple of times to mixed results. This past weekend I did Brisket again over hickory which went OKish, and then chicken thighs over hot charcoal which were great.

One upside is I get to now read this thread with some interest, going to try ribs like this as my next experiment

[Hanley]

I'm going to try a chuck pseudo brisket tomorrow. It's salt brining now. We'll see.

OMG....I'm doing the same thing. Got a 5# chuck at Costco.

You using a kettle? What's the plan?

Man...I used lump charcoal, and temperature regulation using weber + slow and sear was a bitch. The kettle got way too hot. Chuck still came out good, but drier than I was hoping.

[iamsmu]

I'm going to try a chuck pseudo brisket tomorrow. It's salt brining now. We'll see.

OMG....I'm doing the same thing. Got a 5# chuck at Costco.

You using a kettle? What's the plan?

Man...I used lump charcoal, and temperature regulation using weber + slow and sear was a bitch. The kettle got way too hot. Chuck still came out good, but drier than I was hoping.

I stopped using lump. It just burns too damn hot. With normal briquettes the weber + s&s is easier to control than the Weber bullet (rocky mountain smoker).

I'm having a problem with unevenness in the meat. I went by the temperature in the thickest part, but the thinner parts got a little too much. It was still really good though.

Chuck is so much more forgiving than brisket and the brisket flat isn't really very good anyway.

[Manveer]

Followed another video from John Setzler. Another good result.

My wife got me a grill for my birthday last week. Prior to that IO;d only ever cooked on a gas bbq, and I'd tried to smoke brisket using a smoke box a couple of times to mixed results. This past weekend I did Brisket again over hickory which went OKish, and then chicken thighs over hot charcoal which were great.

One upside is I get to now read this thread with some interest, going to try ribs like this as my next experiment

I think you need to wrap them part way through. I’ve done them per the video instructions twice and both times the bone side was kinda...burnt. Still good though.

[simonrest]

I made many mistakes: bought the wrong kind of rib, didn't get enough of the membrane off, couldn't get the smoker to stay hot enough, but they were still pretty good, they all got eaten, and I'll know better next time

[simonrest]

6745BB78-6CA9-448E-80D6-F44D645D6ED8.jpeg

Smoked some Beef ribs, got the texture right, could have used more salt.

[Root]

6745BB78-6CA9-448E-80D6-F44D645D6ED8.jpeg

Smoked some Beef ribs, got the texture right, could have used more salt.

Beef ribs are the best!

[Manveer]

I've made pork spare ribs a few times now. Bottom gets charred, but otherwise they taste good (IMO). I think because I am using the dome thermometer rather than temp at the pit/grill grates.

Wasn't really impressed by any of the temp controllers out there. They seemed to all be overpriced and/or had poor reviews. Came across this from ThermoWorks today. Seems like what I've been looking for at a more reasonable price point:

https://www.thermoworks.com/Signals
https://www.thermoworks.com/Billows

Also, I tried foiling the ribs at about 2.5 hrs in yesterday. Seems like an extra hassle and didn't really improve the result.

[Manveer]

I've made pork spare ribs a few times now. Bottom gets charred, but otherwise they taste good (IMO). I think because I am using the dome thermometer rather than temp at the pit/grill grates.

Wasn't really impressed by any of the temp controllers out there. They seemed to all be overpriced and/or had poor reviews. Came across this from ThermoWorks today. Seems like what I've been looking for at a more reasonable price point:

https://www.thermoworks.com/Signals
https://www.thermoworks.com/Billows

Also, I tried foiling the ribs at about 2.5 hrs in yesterday. Seems like an extra hassle and didn't really improve the result.

I used this for the first time last night to make some chicken thighs (not Billows, just Signals). The most interesting thing was that the dome thermometer was reading ~100F lower than the grate temp (pit temp, whatever you want to call it). I didn’t expect there to be a difference of more than 50F. I probably need to calibrate the dome thermometer.

Signals works ok. It is annoying that it doesn’t immediately reconnect and show you all the probe temps. I had to open the app and wait a while for it to load. Otherwise, it was fine.

[omaniphil]

Made some smoked chicken wings for the Superbowl yesterday. Turned out pretty great. I put the raw chicken wings on the smoker for about 1.5 hours at 225 with some apple chunks. I tried to get the smoker hot enough to get some crispy skin, but I had trouble getting it much above 275-280 or so. Ended up bringing them inside, and put them under the broiler for a few minutes.

I made a pretty classic Buffalo sauce which turned out great. I might get a little more adventurous next time, but I wanted to see how these turned out as it was my first time doing wings. Simmered about a cup of Franks, with a few table spoons of butter, and then added some salt, pepper, garlic powder and worcestershire sauce. I think next time I do these, I'll let the wings dry out a little more in the fridge and then toss them in some salt, pepper and baking powder to really get some crispy skin. Turned out all right though - will definitely make again.

Here are the raw wings:


Here are the wings right off the smoker before going in the broiler:


Finished product:

[Hanley]

^ those look fantastic

[simonrest]

nice job, would eat

[simonrest]

IMG_20200308_174603.jpg

absolutely nailed some pork ribs on the weekend. Used the 3-2-1 method. Made a baste from apple cider, BBQ sauce and brown sugar, worked a treat. I can get pork rib racks anywhere so this is going to become a go to I reckon

[Hanley]

Tried bavette steak for the first time. Where has it been all my life? Absolutely delicious. $10.99/lb.

[omaniphil]

Tried bavette steak for the first time. Where has it been all my life? Absolutely delicious. $10.99/lb.

Ooh, tell more. Where'd you find it? Reading about it sounds like flank? Or is it different than that?

[Hanley]

Tried bavette steak for the first time. Where has it been all my life? Absolutely delicious. $10.99/lb.

Ooh, tell more. Where'd you find it? Reading about it sounds like flank? Or is it different than that?

My local butcher had it. I was going to get flank or skirt and he was all "this is what I eat". The texture is something like the love-child of flank and skirt. Much thicker than skirt, and less gristly. Flavor is fucking great...like sirloin cap and skirt combined.

It's a new favorite for sure. All I did was salt, pepper and then a little wash of soy and fresh lime juice while grilling. So good.

[omaniphil]

My first brisket. It was just a small brisket - about 5 lbs or so. Got a little dried out which was sad, and didn't get much bark. I also wrapped it once it hit 160, so that probably didn't help the bark situation. I think the total time on the smoker, @225 F was about 6 hours, which wasn't too bad at all. I'd like to try this with a full size brisket. I used the Big Bad Beef rub suggested at Amazing Ribs, and it was delicious. Would never use it for pork, but for beef, this was just the right level of boldness.

[PC]

Tried bavette steak for the first time. Where has it been all my life? Absolutely delicious. $10.99/lb.

Ooh, tell more. Where'd you find it? Reading about it sounds like flank? Or is it different than that?

My local butcher had it. I was going to get flank or skirt and he was all "this is what I eat". The texture is something like the love-child of flank and skirt. Much thicker than skirt, and less gristly. Flavor is fucking great...like sirloin cap and skirt combined.

It's a new favorite for sure. All I did was salt, pepper and then a little wash of soy and fresh lime juice while grilling. So good.

They call it Flap Steak where I'm at. And I like that moniker, because it might help keep the demand down. They also charge $10.99/lb here in Oregon, a couple bucks cheaper than they do Flank. I totally agree on the part about flavor, it's the beefiest cut I've found. Texturally, I like the Flank and Skirt better, though I've only prepared the Flap 3-4 times. The local butcher only began selling this cut ~3 months ago, and now he's got it in his display case.

Anyway, I did a Chuck Roast last weekend on my 20" kettle. The temp held pretty regularly at 230°±10 with little fussing for ~7 hrs using the snake method. It was a little guy, about 3lbs, and I pulled it at 197°. It turned out great - it makes a world of difference NOT to wrap this cut.

[Allentown]

My first brisket. It was just a small brisket - about 5 lbs or so. Got a little dried out which was sad, and didn't get much bark. I also wrapped it once it hit 160, so that probably didn't help the bark situation.

Did you have any liquid/water in the smoker? Also, that looks pretty lean, but the fat night just be covered by the rub.


Question- wat do with ashes? I've been dumping them in the little "garden/yard waste" pile in my yard hoping it would help kill off the weeds that keep growing there, since it gets about 0 sun and so is useless for an actual garden.

Oh, and doing a pork shoulder today. WFH has some advantages, I guess.

[5hout]

My first brisket. It was just a small brisket - about 5 lbs or so. Got a little dried out which was sad, and didn't get much bark. I also wrapped it once it hit 160, so that probably didn't help the bark situation.

Did you have any liquid/water in the smoker? Also, that looks pretty lean, but the fat night just be covered by the rub.


Question- wat do with ashes? I've been dumping them in the little "garden/yard waste" pile in my yard hoping it would help kill off the weeds that keep growing there, since it gets about 0 sun and so is useless for an actual garden.

Oh, and doing a pork shoulder today. WFH has some advantages, I guess.

You can make lye with the ashes, then make homemade soap (filtered drippings from bbq for the fat) with the lye.

You can mix straw, ashes and urine then keep peeing on it every day (leave partially covered). After a while a stop peeing on it, a crust will form, this crust can be harvested, dried and mixed with 25% powdered charcoal to make black powder.

Add small amount to plants that like alkaline soil, hardwoods and fir trees.

If they haven't killed off that spot I would recommend dumping them, but immediately adding water, enough that it has time to soak out the alkalinity which should kill that spot.

Ohh you meant useful tips? Apart from water to kill off the spot I don't have any