22” Blue Weber Kettle with SnS insert
Kamado Joe Jr with Kick Ash Basket
Char-Broil Smartchef Tru Infrared Gasser
Anovo Hot Tub Time Machine with Custom Hot Tub
Ooooh! Corn holders! And they don't look like little corn cobs, haha!
Do you like that Meat Candy rub? I have a bottle of two of it in the pantry that I need to open and use, courtesy of Panhead John and the Texas crowd last year...
This was a bit of an experiment and included several things I simply had never done before. My goto rib cook is a mustard binder and then a generous amount of Killer Hogs The Hot Rub, then cooked in my PBC with cherry and hickory.
Well, I wanted to see just how different pellet grill ribs would be. I also used a Memphis-style dry rub and did not sauce. Additionally, I didn't take the membrane of either of my two racks of baby backs.
Here we are just being put on the smoker. As usual, I put the food on before I start it up, that way I can take advantage of all of that start-up smoke. Cooking temp was 225 F.
Here we are after two hours. I spritzed them with apple cider vinegar every thirty minutes from this point forward, which is also something I have never done. (The PBC is a moist cooking environment so I've never needed to, but a pellet grill, with its convection, can start to dry things out.)
The ribs started to stall out on me (got stuck at 180 F and weren't as tender as I would like) so after four hours, I wrapped them in foil, which yet again, is something I have never done. I let them go another hour, then let them rest in a cooler for thirty minutes.
Here we are plated up!
These very very good. Ridiculously moist and a surprising amount of fat for baby backs. I didn't even really notice the membrane, and when I did, I actually liked eating it, so I think I will keep it on from now on.
I probably should have kept them in the foil for about fifteen minutes less as these are nearly fall-off-the-bone, which is a bit more tender than I prefer. Also, as everyone would expect, yes, there was smoke smoke flavor, but it was far less than what I get on the PBC.
Still this was a very easy and straightforward cook.
Neighbor brought some spare ribs for me to cook up. Very thin at one end and fat at the other, so I cut and started the fat end first, followed an hour later with the thin. These were super tender and delicious. Farmer John brand - first time I've had those; came from Walmart.
Living in the remote reaches of south centr al Colorado in the Sangre de Cristo mountains makes it really difficult to enjoy a proper NY deli pastrami sandwich. So, as is the case with the homesteading lifestyle, we work with the materials that we have at hand. This includes some of the finest mule deer hunting right outside our front door which make for perfect conditions to harvest, dry age and butcher in-house. I know what you’re thinking, venison does not have the fat content of brisket so how good can the pastrami be? The answer is, pretty darn good. We’ve never had anyone that didn’t ask if they could have a to-go bag. The biggest compromise is actually the lack of access to a good Jewish rye bread, but we make do with what we have.
We started out this batch with 2 bottom rounds and 1 sirloin tip from a beautiful 5x5 mule deer harvested in November. Not a lot of deviation from Meathead’s process with the exception of using Ecocure rather than Prague #1 to eliminate the nitrites. Five days in the brine to first corn the meat. Followed by a 12 hour desalination, then 3 days of pastrami rub spa treatment. The final step was out to the smoke shack, fired up the Good One, Open Range smoker with B&B charcoal and post oak wood. I absolutely love the Open Range for its ability to pretty much set-it and forget-it temperature stability on a manual smoker. Five hours got the IT to 150 degrees, then into the fridge over-night to rest before slicing. The meat is tender and super tasty. When we serve, we steam to warm it up, then we typically dress with some Swiss cheese, homemade Thousand Island and whatever rye bread we can find at the store. The burnt ends trimmed off for the slicer are saved and diced up for the morning omelette.
Corned, desalinated, rub applied and ready for a 3 day rest.
The smoke shack is open for business, Open Range is fired up to 225 deg and meat ready for the magic to happen
Out comes the meat after 5 hours in the pit and an IT of 150 deg.
That's our version of Rocky Mountain Katz's Pastrami
Pork Belly on the PBC seasoned with Swine Life Grit, Heath Riles Hot Rub and Apple Rub...glazed with a mixture of Texas Pepper Jelly Apple Habanero, Bone Suckin' Sauce Thicker Style, Apple Juice and Apple Cider Vinegar...
I'm fully convinced of the benefits of a long brisket hold. I smoked a 12-pound USDA Prime brisket from Costco on Sunday, timed for a Monday Memorial Day lunch. After smoking to an internal temperature of 205°F, I allowed it to cool slightly to around 160°F, then held it in my Breville toaster oven at 145°F for approximately 17 hours using a foil boat to preserve the bark. The rendered fat had an exceptional mouthfeel, and the overall result was one of the best briskets I've ever produced—extremely moist, with the lean side staying perfectly juicy.
SheilaAnn I started the brisket cook around 9:00 AM and finished up at 6:30 PM on Sunday. After letting it rest back down to about 165°F, I reboated it with two generous spoonfuls of beef tallow under the brisket to confit the bottom of the flat while preserving the bark on top. Winner winner, brisket dinner. One more note—I positioned the brisket higher in the dome of the Summit Kamado, fat side up, and let it ride between 280–300°F until boating it around 170°F
To me, Memorial Day means ribs.
It was going to be a picture perfect day (has been) so I tossed a rack of BB’s on the RT this morning. Nothing fancy, nothing special. Just me and the wifey today so one rack was enough. Turned out great.
Pit Barrel Cooker
Weber Master-Touch
Blackstone Omnivore 4 Burner Griddle
Thermoworks: Signals, Billows, Thermopens, Thermopops, Nodes, bunch of silicone stuff, and more!
OnlyFire Rotisserie w/ Basket attachment for the Weber
Vortex for the Weber
Both of Meathead's books!
Way too many BBQ related accessories, tools, and doo-dads!
Well…. New (to me) grill this weekend. I’ve always had a Weber kettle, but about three years ago, my 18 year old Weber finally bit the dust. Fast forward to last Friday, and I find a nice Weber for $50. It needed a good cleaning, a top grill grate and new (bizarrely named) “One touch self cleaning system” set of flanges for air intake control. A quick trip to the store and an order on everyone’s favorite overly global shopping cart, I have a fully working 22 inch Weber. Purchased some Cowboy Charcoal for the first cook as well. Chicken thighs. Peeled off the skin, made “cracklins” and used that chicken fat to cook the thighs. Long weekend of cooking.
So here’s the progress, cleaning up the grill, through the cook for the chicken thighs.
Had a heritage pork shoulder from the Heritage Foods USA folks, that I got as part of my gift certificate for my umpteenth order last year. I’m now in the rarified air of being the most addicted. Or longest tenured. I dunno. Doesn’t matter.
Defrosted it, rubbed with Whiskey Bent’s Pecanerry (which I had on hand, but I do not recommend… it’s fine).
I fired up the SnS kettle with a chunk of cherry and a chunk of pecan (see a theme ;-), and let it ride. First time using the water reservoir, which I filled at the start, and topped off once during the cook, then let it go dry when the meat hit the stall.
by 6 pm, probed much like butter, and so it came in.
I made margaritas, and wife wanted tacos, so a portion was pulled, and tabled with some salsa, limes, chopped onion and cilantro, and three hot sauces. El Milagro corn tortillas… even if they’re from the grocery store on a holiday weekend, they’re still really good.
Posed as finished product on the grill.
shot by the wife who knows what she’s doing.
the proof is on the inside. Winner winner, taco dinner.
RecTeq RT-700 Pellet pooper
Weber Genesis 1000 LX gasser w/Grill Grates
Smokehouse Little Chief II Electric smoker
Thermapen ONE
MK4 Thermapen
ThermoPop
IR Gun
2 Channel Smoke Alarm
Green Mountain Grills Wood Fired Pizza Oven(use it on the RT-700)
Outdoors person(Hunting deer & waterfowl, backpacking)
... first rotisserie chicken on new weber gasser. Came out fantastic.
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