Retired, living in Western Mass. Enjoy music, cooking and my family.
Current cookers Weber Spirit 3 burner with a full insert griddle added. A 22" Kettle with vortex, SnS and a Smokey Joe. The most recent addition is a Pit Barrel Jr with bird hanger, 4 hooks and cover. ThermoWorks Smoke 2 probe, DOT, 2 ThermoPops and a Thermapen MK4. A Thermoworks RFX Gateway 2 probe meat thermometer.
Sirloin on the Kettle. Hickory wood chips. Indirect 90, flip 110. Then direct to sear to 130. Salt and pepper combo my daughter gifted me for Father's Day.
The side is noodles and cottage cheese. My wife makes this. I like to take my portion and broil to get a nice burnt crust.
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)
Oven fried wings with a sichuan/xi’an style spice mix
Dry brined wings this morning with salt, baking powder and cornstarch and left uncovered in the fridge. Had the wife stick the pan in the oven while I was on the way home from work. Made a quick spice mix when I got home with sichuan peppercorns, cumin, Sichuan chile flakes, brown sugar and some salt. When the wings were done I quickly heated up a wok with some oil and tossed the wings with the spice mix until fragrant. Some fresh cilantro finished them.
They were super crispy, spicy and tingly and are my favorite non-buffalo wings
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
So.... last night, while Yvonne swam with the 4 and 2 year old granddaughters, I hopped out of the pool and made good use of the Camp Chef to make a batch of smash burgers - first I think this year. I used those Prime Rib slider patties Mosca I think told me about last year. Good stuff!
First you gotta TOAST those buttered buns! I went with whole wheat as Yvonne somehow thinks those are healthier...
Then its time to wipe the butter off the griddle and get to SMASHING. Lodge CI press + parchment paper spreads those slider patties (about 2.5 oz each) out to the perfect size.
Seasoned both sides with some Uncle Chris (thanks to fzxdoc I now love this stuff on all things beef!).
I ended up doing 2 batches, one with, and one without cheese, as the girls raced from end to end of the pool in a frenzy of activity.... while I SWEATED over the hot griddle....
Second round of burgers got cheesed on the flip. And sadly, I found exactly ONE slice of American Cheese in the fridge. So I had to make a bag of shredded cheddar+monteray jack work. Doesn't melt the same, but the kiddos did not complain! And all those little shreds toasted up on the griddle and were a chefs treat after I scrapped them up with the spatula!
All in all these patties were SO flavorful and crispy. I used two, and ended up going back for another burger. I used Duke's, pickles and some Wickles Red sandwich spread in place of ketchup. So good!
Only side was watermelon and fries I kinda overbaked in the oven, but we like them crispy, and the kids didn't complain, so all was well. I can't wait to lunch/dinner and another burger!
Lesson learned? Make smashburgers more often!
Second lesson - that pack of slider patties had 18, not 9, in it, so I should have fired up more burners to avoid cooking in two batches. Not that the girls cared. They were swimming! And I had less surface to clean...
Thanks, Jim, for the additional info. And thanks, Mosca for inspiring Jim who paid it forward to me.
I'm paying the butcher shop $9/lb for ground beef made from their steak cuts. I'll compare burgers made with that mixture with the Sam's Club Prime Rib burgers/sliders. I love burger taste tests!
Cookers:
Oklahoma Joe Offset (older thick steel version!)
Camp Chef Woodwind
OK Joe Bronco
Weber Genesis
Ooni Karu
Weber Kettle
My goal is to eventually have at least one of every style of cooker….. I have work to do. Lol!
Thermometers:
ThermoWorks Thermapen MK4
ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE
ThermoWorks Thermopop
ThermoWorks RFX
ThermoWorks IRK-2 Infrared
Maverick XR-50
TempSpike Plus
Other Gear:
Megaforce 3000 Meat Grinder
Weston 7-pound sausage stuffer
Jerky Gun for making poppers. (Game changer!)
Amaz-N-Tube
Original SnS with drip n griddle
Weber Chimney
Fuels Used:
Splits/Chunks, whatever I can get. Usually B&B competition. Favorites are Cherry, Apple, Post Oak, and Hickory.
Pellets, Lumberjack.
Charcoal, whatever is on sale. Currently have a bunch of KBB. Will eventually try B&B. Use whatever lump is on sale in my Ooni.
Propane, Blue Rhino.
Rubs:
Usually make my own riff’s on Memphis Dust and BBBR. Also use Meathead’s commercial rubs and occasionally try something new. I like a couple from Tuffy Stone and Kinder’s. After several surgeries, I’m very sensitive to “spicy” stuff, so I need to be careful about heat levels.
So the Wife and Kids are out of town for a few days……. Dinner tonight? Prime Ribeye! ….and I guess some veg. Lol. Cooked on the pellet rig until about 120 internal then pulled and seared in cast iron on the stove in some Wagyu Tallow.
. after a short rest, I threw it under the broiler with some blue cheese.
. plated up! SO GOOD!!! Finished with Icelandic Lava Sea Salt.
. it was also Labra-Mutt approved. ….though I’m not sure she even bothered chewing. Lol.
bbqLuv, she is a well loved and cared for Lab to be sure!!!! We usually don’t feed her from the table or from our plates, but since it’s just her and I and I had a good end piece after carving, how could I say no to THAT face?! Lol.
Andrrr , we shall see what I come up with!!!! I am working some awkward hours, but will likely find time for my grills, even if it is in the wee hours of the night!
Hulagn1971 - This one I just brushed with olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper, and chopped garlic, and then put it right in the cooker. I’ll sometime salt ahead of time, but I’m finding that it isn’t necessary much anymore.
Curing some Bacon to smoke and since the pork belly I bought came skin on I decided to make some pork scratchings. Unfortunately the wife has agreed&decided that it smokes out the house when I do them in the oven. So on a whim I decided to try it on my Treager Ironwood. Did it at 450 F. Turns out it is actually quite capable of that temperature!
Tried my hand at smoked meatballs today. Started with Malcom Reed's recipe for his meatball subs, but served them over spaghetti instead of on a sub roll. I got a pound of 50/50 ground beef & pork from my local butcher, and mixed it with an egg, bread crumbs, grated parm, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and a dash of crushed red pepper.
Ran them in the Pit Boss pellet rig with the set point knob at 225/107 after the first half-hour on the low-temp "smoke" setting. At that point ITs were about 90/32. Then about an hour at full temp, by which time ITs hit about 155-160/68-71, and pulled them out and into a foil pan.
Meanwhile, I'd been heating up some Rao's marinara on the stove, and poured that in to bathe the meatballs, then back into the cooker for another 40 min or so. Plated with spaghetti and a simple salad. I put together some garlic bread but plumb forgot about it in the toaster oven and it burned big time.
Dig the adorable little smoke ring
These were totally delicious! Excellent smoky note, and you just can't go wrong with Rao's sauce. Filling as all get-out too, I could eat only two of the three on my plate and only a bit more than half the spaghetti before I threw in the towel.
Got half a dozen of these left over, so they'll feature in something before long... maybe sliced up as a pizza topping?
Finster I wish it were full retirement... but I still need to bring in some income for a few more years given the unplanned nature of my departure from federal service. Got a few irons in the fire, and I'll get to mix and match, it won't be a full time gig anymore... I reckon I'll restart that process in a couple-few weeks.
Kamado Joe Big Joe III
Pit Barrel Cooker
Camp Chef Flat Top 900
Weber Performer 22
PowerFlamer Propane 160
Meater +
Thermoworks Smoke
Thermoworks Thermapen
Temp Spike
Miso glazed Salmon first soaked in @Meathead's Salmon brine from the free side. A salad with honey-lemon-dijon vinaigrette, and some Jasmine rice with sesame seeds.
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