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
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!
Tried some different things this weekend. Oldest daughter was in town, so we had a full house.
Burgers (kinda smashy, not really) cooked on the gasser with cast iron skillets, and Chorizo sausage and Jalapeno Poppers, on the Pit Barrel, with apple wood for smoke.
I made up some of the Big Mac sauce from over on the free side of the house, and my Big Mac lovin' daughter approved! So that was a hit. I have to say, letting it set for a day in the fridge, really does enhance the flavor.
The poppers were made with the recipe Smoked Jalapeno Poppers Recipe, also on the free side, but I didn't have Boursin cheese and with no time to run to the store, I decided to try the recipe to make my own. Well, I didn't have "Fine Herbs", nor the stuff to make it up, so I totally faked it with some creole seasoning instead (which is made up of vastly different flavors!) and a bit of garlic powder.
They actually came out quote good. Everyone liked them. I had a mix of Jalapeno, red peppers and some others (poblano, I think?). Most everyone agreed, the Jalapenos were the best for that recipe.
The Chorizo was soo good! Brought some in for my boss this morning (we trade smoked food all the time).
We had baked Mac & Cheese, and Pasta Salad to round out the meal. Even sent some leftovers with the daughter, which never happens because she typically doesn't go for leftovers.
No pics of the cook in progress (I just forgot), but here's some of the food plated.
Poppers and Chorizo fresh off the smoker. Wish I had a pic of the sausage cut open. had a really nice smoke ring:
Smashed (sorta) burgers with Big Mac sauce, lettuce, pickle and their choice of red or white onion slices. Wanted Brioche buns for the burgers, but at $5.00 a pack, I was overruled, and cheap sesame buns it was:
Oh, and just so you know, DO NOT try to get the poppers off smoker with tongs. Meathead's recipe says use a spatula, and he ain't lyin! I only totally lost one, but a couple others had to be reconstructed...
Jerod Broussard lol, yeah, that would've been a cook I wouldn't be posting if that were the case! I will admit, the burgers were not as juicy as I hoped, but perfectly edible. I'd mixed some chopped white onions into the meat, along with some SPG, which I think helped.
Seasoned Picanha steaks and let them hang out for while the grill was fired up then stabilized at around 250°F. Placed indirect and cooked until reaching 110°F. Pulled off and let rest while the coals were ramped up good and hot. Seared 1 min per side twice. Pulled off at 130°F for a short rest before slicing. Put down a layer of Hot Giardinayo Sando Sauce on a sliced grilled Ciabatta then added slices of Picanha, carmelized onions, fresh mozzarella and placed back indirect on the grill to melt the cheese and toast up. Pulled off when the cheese was melted, added arugula and another layer of sando sauce to the top ciabatta slice…Sandwich complete…Absolutely DELICIOUS!
Here’s a question. When I cook a pork butt, and have it all shredded and cooled in a foil pan, I end up with the bottom of the pan and pork being solid meat and grease. I even cook the butt in a wire basket over the pan to get rid of as much grease as I can before cleaning the pan and putting the meat back in. This last time, I put the cooked meat back in the wire basket and baked it at 200 degrees for about 2 hours to try to cook out the leftover grease from the meat. That seemed to work pretty good, but I was wondering what you guys do to solve this issue?
The fat = moisture. I make sure to mix the pork up on reheating, and redistribute the juicy goodness throughout. I don't try to avoid it in other words... I have to think the pork you reheated for another 2 hours after shredding ended up pretty dry.
I don't worry about fat being in with the finished product. I usually pour some of the juices from the wrap back into the finished product along with some rub to add some juice and flavor into the finished product.
I don't worry about there being fat in with the meat once it has had a chance to cool since when reheated it will help keep it moist and add flavor.
When packing it to freeze I make sure there is some from the bottom with the extra fat in each package.
Bought two fryers and had them split. Dry brined and smoked them today basting with a melted butter with garlic and herbs I put together. Did in my offset with Michigan wild cherry wood. And they taste very well.
Thank you. The grill pics are misleading as the back ones were in the shadow of the box. I couldn't stop cutting pieces off of them last night. They had such a great flavor and that smoking keeps all the juice in....
9.5 lb heritage butt. On the SNS Kamado at 10 pm Friday at 225 and off to a 1 hr faux cambro nap at 3:45 pm Saturday. Only regret was no time for an overnight dry brine. Still tasted great and the fam was happy.
My son started high school yesterday. The Jesuits don’t take a day off I guess. They kicked it off with an afternoon mass and then some other orientation stuff. Before mass we had a cross country kickoff party so we were out of the house from 1-8. I tossed these racks in my Grilla and dialed it in At 225°. My daughter was home but was walking the dog when we left. I would’ve showed her how to wrap these. the lid was closed for a solid 7 hours. The ends were dry and the bark was a little dried and crusty on the thinner portions but the meatier middle sections were delicious. I used Meatchurch’s rubs on these.
So mnavarre did a blue corn tortilla taco the other day and I realized I had never had such a tortilla. Well, time to fix that.
I marinated some skirt steak in my usual equal parts soy sauce, lime juice, and vegetable oil for about six hours. I then got that going in a very hot cast iron skillet. Two minutes a side, then flip every minute until 130-135 F internal.
While those rested I got some blue corn tortillas cooking. These are the "fresh" ones that are found in the refrigerator section.
40 seconds one side, then 30 second the other, then a final 20 seconds on the initial side and they are done.
Now to dice up the skirt.....
Let's assemble! On the tortilla I piled on the meat, then some "guacamole" (a small avocado mashed up with lime juice and salt), then some picked red onions, and a bit of cilantro.
Those are arguably the prettiest tacos I have ever made! And some of the best tasting.....the guac is just perfect and long with the pickled onions. This might be my go-to style going forward.
I really like the texture of these tortillas. The yellow corn ones I've been using always come up a bit "gummy" for me.
Smoked 6.5lbs of boneless skinless yard bird thighs today. Used 1/2 to make a quick sesame chicken. The missus will make her semi-famous chicken salad with the other half tomorrow
Recap of the weekend, starting Thursday 8/14 with venison stir fry, the last of the premarinated stir fry meat in the freezer.
Next up is shrimp skewers using two marinades I bought at the farmers market: Jamaican Jerk and one called Tropical Thunder: coconut, mango, and habanero. Neither was overly hot after cooking but the jerk sauce had a pretty strong kick out of the bottle. Served over Hatch and tasso cheese grits.
This is a recipe that Spiceology posted: Smoky Honey Habanero Orange Cinnamon Rolls. It was a poorly written recipe but I got it to work. Really good, very mild background spice and smoke flavor. Mostly the orange came through.
Finally I replenished the premarinated venison stir fry meat: 4lbs packaged into 8 oz packs. Here are seven:
Here is the eighth:
I also made two quarts of shrimp stock and three quarts of pork stock.
Last edited by 58limited; August 18, 2025, 09:01 PM.
SheilaAnn The dough had some flavor too, I cut the icing recipe in half but used the full amount of orange zest in it so the icing has a stronger orange flavor. There is orange zest in the filling and orange juice in the dough along with the Spiceology Smoky Honey Habanero seasoning.
This is my first dinner that wasn't a burger in a week. Back to lean pork, veggies, and simple starches for a bit. Okay, I'll probably stir fry something this week too.
A quick little brag… 😊 I entered a chili contest we had at our Elks Hayride campout and got first place! We had 4 chilis entered total, was supposed to be 6 but a couple no-showed. Yes, of course, I had beans in mine because we’re from Oregon where we normally have beans. Haha! Picture is from next day with what I had left.
Of course the winning chili had beans. One of the times my chili won I let it simmer all night, so it was as close to "leftover" chili as I could get. Looks great.
And some of the best tasting.....the guac is just perfect and long with the pickled onions. This might be my go-to style going forward.
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