Grill and Barbecue Cookbooks
Meathead by Meathead Goldwyn
The Cooks Illustrated Guide to Cooking and Barbecue
Weber's Smoke by Jamie Purviance
Charcoal: New Ways to Cook with Fire by Josiah Citrin
I cooked ribs yesterday. Second rib cook on the hasty bake. I used the heat deflector this time. Easily maintained 250 above the heat deflector. Bumped up the temperature to 275 for the last hour to ensure they would be done in time.
Did a spectacular brisket yesterday. Bought a 13.5 lb whole prime packer brisket, trimmed out, it came to about 11 lbs total. Rubbed with my "house rub" as well as some Worcestershire powder for an umami kicker, with a homemade Carolina Mustard BBQ sauce as a binder.
Smoked it on my Traeger Pro575 at 250. Took about 5 hours to "stall" and I left it to cook in stall for about 2 hours, then butcher paper wrapped it. It was still taking a touch longer than I want so at 185 degrees, I threw a layer of foil around the butcher paper to accelerate things - it hit 203F done in about 45 minutes when I did that. Rested it for about 90 minutes "cuddled" under a couple of heavy towels on my counter top. I removed the point and cubed that up for a burnt-ends like experience, and then thinly sliced the flat. My "audience" of a dinner party for 10 was thrilled with the results!
I also smoked a slab of Atlantic salmon for the non-meat eaters in the group.
Sadly, I did not get pix of the final sliced result, but here's the pictures I got of what I did. The final result looks just like my profile picture.
@Dr. Pepper: In Modernist Cuisine @ Home, they solve the crispy/saucy problem by changing up the sauce a bit. They basically infuse an oil with chiles and such, and then make an aioli with it. I made too much of it when I made it, so brought it and a BBQ brush to work and ordered plain wings from the wing stop. That was good stuff.
This is in response to Elton's BBQ who asked for the recipe for the fusilli with spicy salmon I posted on SUWYC.
This recipe is a riff on the classic pasta with canned tuna and tomatoes that you'll find many places. While I love that recipe, you can make this dish with different types of firm fleshed fish. Cooked fresh salmon
So, did a bunch of cooking last night. Thought it was time to fill the smoker with MEAT!
Started with chucks I cut from a chuck roll (that was kind of fun)
Hit them with some rub
Found a corned beef flat that was really asking to be smoked, so hit him with some rub too
and threw them all on the smoker
And the gratuitous food porn pic
Which all cooked great.
The chucks are future chili filling and the smoked corned beef was dinner!
It was really good, though a little tough. Need to work on technique there. But, that wasn't all I cooked. I was probably a bit too ambitious for my own good, but, that's another post
The second part of all that cooking.
So following the chucks and corned beef flat, I also had some corned beef points. I decided it was time again to try my hand at pastrami! And I'm really grateful for all the insights and recipes here, because once again, it was Meathead pastrami rub mix I used. Pretty good stuff, but, a little spicier than I expected. It was good, just a little warmer. Now, on to the pics.
Started with the points
Covered them in rub with a little mustard to hold it in place
And put them on the smoker after I cleared out all the other meat
Life was good until the heat dropped due to environmental factors and me not factoring in enough coal base as I burned through the original. But, got things back on track, it hit 150F, and then I pulled them.
Let them cool, put them in the fridge, and then steamed them today. Which made dinner!
It's the smaller end of the point that I tried first, because if it was too tough, I'd have to go to a plan B. But, it came out really good, just a bit spicey (not really sinus clearing, just good heat) and most importantly, not dry! So, my most succesful pastrami cook to date
Last edited by DesertRaider; April 11, 2022, 11:58 PM.
The pork roast turned out excellent, didn't use it for Cubans, instead had a wrap today with home made giardiniera spread. Possibly Cubans in the panini press tomorrow, thanks for the idea texastweeter.
Smoked Spicy Chili Lime Chicken Thighs!
Brined chicken thighs in pickle juice for 2 hrs. Seasoned and smoked at 225° for a little over 2 hrs. Sauced and set back in the smoker for 10 minutes to set up and for the IT to reach around 185°. Spicy goodness!!! 🌶🥵😅
My gear:
22 Weber Kettle
Napoleon PRO Charcoal Kettle Grill
Broil King Keg
Traeger Pro 34
Napoleon Prestige Pro 500
Pit Barrel Cooker
Blackstone Range Combo Griddle
I of course love smoked meats of all kinds, but also like quick cooks like chicken portions, pork tenderloins, steak and fish. Really into cooking of all kinds.
My outdoor kitchen has a Lone Star Grillz Adjustable and it is wonderful. There also is a Pit Boss 5 Burner Ultimate Griddle and a Pit Boss Copperhead pellet grill.
There is an outdoor fire pit that has grilling capability and limited Santa Maria-style grill raising and lowering.
It is an actual pain in the butt for me to do anything today. That's because yesterday I sustained a strain to my gluteus maximus while wrestling a hundred pound bale of hay. Needless to say, the hay won.
I had planned za'atar chicken thighs and decided to go ahead with that, but for convenience I moved the cook to my dual heat Ninja in sear crisp mode. I'm turning into a huge fan of this device, especially how easy it is to use.
I did my usual, mixing za'atar spice mix with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and some UC Biber pepper. That marinated several hours. Cooked on sear crisp for 20 minutes at 400. With just a little time left, zi threw in a couple pieces of naan on the top baking shelf. Turned out great, served with tabouli made with my fave recipe.
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