Been trying out new cuts of beef. I don’t normally purchase at our local butcher. Tonight was Merlot steak, a lean cut of beef taken from the heel (bottom round) near the shank.
Dry brine in the fridge, cooked over charcoal directly in my Yak grill to 110 and rested to 120/125. Flipped every 30 seconds. Used a premade mix of SPG from Al Frugoni. Tasted similar to skirt steak. Def will cook again.
I did manage to get a photo of the smoked pork belly on the 26 kettle , but no pictures of tonights rice beans and pork belly bowl… but enjoying a nice evening and a pour out on the patio tonight.
There was a small flank steak in the freezer that I took out to defrost this morning so I could make steak tacos tonight, (Nan has shrimp tacos made with shrimp left over from last night). The steak tacos turned out great, and Nan enjoyed her shrimp tacos. She cooked her shrimp before I cooked the steak and ate her tacos while they were hot. She finished before the steak was done, so no photos.
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)
Cheesesteak on the grilla primate. Beef came from end trim off two whole prime ribeyes I bought during Costco sale. Pepper, onions and Cooper sharp white American. Lidl Italian bread was perfect (scooped). I was worried this wouldn’t be worth the effort as we have no shortage of great cheesesteaks in the area but wow this was a knockout! Also took me back to my 20s working the griddle in a pizzeria (if there were 15 more and wings in the fryer)
bbq_esq - I’ll look for the Copper Sharp, maybe I can make these next weekend for the wife and I. But I’m like you - no wiz for me. I like it just how you made it, placed on top as a finish with the bun over to steam and then one swoop of the spatula to load up that bun!!!!
The bread is really important. I went with an Italian bread that was soft inside but had enough of a crust to hold up. This was from Lidl with some bread scooped out (more filling plus it’s low carb now, so it’s healthy?)
Looking good
I started to Traegerize a Chuck roast for pulled beef today at about 8:00.
You inspire me to cook the next one, in the instant pot.
The chuck roasts come two to a package at Costco.
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!
So tonight was Chuck Roast. Followed the instructions here. The video that was at the bottom had the roast at about 194, the recipe was 180. So I split the difference. 185/86. The chuck roast was almost 2in thick, so I knew it would take some time. Used Pecan and Hickory for the smoke.
Dry brined overnight in the fridge, then coated about 2+ hours before cooking with Penzey's Mitchell Street Steak Seasoning.
Don't have a slow n' sear, but instead just used a charcoal basket on the weber kettle, no water, but honestly, moisture wasn't a problem.
Wrapped it at about 150, intending to go up to 185. Also, injected with butter, Worcestershire sauce, and KC BBQ Sauce, preheated so there wasn't a big drop in temp. Prior to injecting.
Lots of good juice leftover. That became an "Au jus" for the beef slices, which ultimately became a sliced beef sandwich.
Here's the cut. Decent smoke ring (hard to see in that light), and very moist.
I had some sourdough, and horseradish. So that's where it all ended up! It was good! Not tough at all, but the asparagus I threw on at the last minute was a bit overcooked. My fault, I literally forgot I had it thawing in the fridge. Ate it anyway, as it was spiced enough not to care.
The cook finished about an hour over what I figured. Mostly because the grill was losing heat, and it needed restocked. No worries. Finished the night up by the fire pit with some whiskey and lemon-lime seltzer. (Sadly, I was out of cigars).
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
I've been wanting to try my hand at making calzones, so I gave it a try last night. I followed Brian Lagerstrom's recipe and technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJMnL0qSUss
Saturday, I made the dough exactly as he did. This is a very easy to work with dough. Very supple. In to the fridge they went to cold ferment for 24 hours.
Yesterday, I made the sauce. He makes a point to puree crushed tomatoes, then reduce it down significantly. The idea is that this will help it stick to the calzone when you are dipping it. Here's my sauce reducing away....(and don't tomato sauces just go everywhere?)
I didn't get any photos of this next part, but you take one of the fermented rounds (that have warmed up to room temperature) and roll it out into a circle, or as best a circle as you can get. I liked not having to worry about the edge as when you are doing a pizza.
I then placed a decent amount of ricotta (apparently this is typical with calzones) cheese, 3-4 large deli pepperoni slices (no need for the cupping ones here), then a generous handful of grated HEB smoked full-fat low-moisture mozzarella cheese on one half of the dough circle.
I then carefully brought the side up and over and did the fancy crimping job that Brian demonstrates in the video. I think I did a pretty good job for my first attempt!
Brush the calzone with an egg wash and make two snips in the top with scissors. Bake in your preheated 550 F oven until golden. (My oven clearly runs hotter than Brian's....my calzone was perfect in eight minutes and my parchment paper is burnt!)
Grate a silly amount of parmesean cheese over it. Let cool for a moment or two, then slice in half (try not to crush it, let the weight of the slicer knife do it) and serve with the sauce.
YUM. Brian insists that a properly made calzone is not simply just folded over pizza, but its own thing and I absolutely agree with him. I was skeptical about the ricotta cheese; after all, I don't put that on pizza, but wow is it ever good. The pepperonis balanced out the cheeses and even a hint of the smokiness of the mozzarella came through.
(HEB has several smoked cheeses they carry in the deli now. And they are legitimately smoked, not injected with liquid smoke or something.)
The dough was delicious....as nearly all homemade doughs are.
I was also skeptical of not putting the sauce in the calzone, but keeping it as a dip is the right move. The sauce inside probably would make it soggy.
Can't wait to make it again tonight with the dough at a two-day ferment.
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.
Well, in the interests of lean and healthy protein, I picked up a pack of chicken thighs (bone in, skin on) at Publix on Saturday, and grilled for lunch Sunday. We will eat these for a couple of days, with salad and other veggies.
NOTHING beats Vortex chicken for crispy skin. I sprayed these with EVOO, after having seasoned with my own mix of kosher salt and a Turkish inspired chicken rub I made up with spices I brought back from the Spice Market in Istanbul.
Done, and ready to carry into the house....
And this shot is just to show HOW MUCH BETTER the Performer cart was before Weber RUINED it this year with the new models. SO MUCH SPACE. SO MUCH STORAGE. I always have a 20 pound bag of charcoal in that charcoal bin, and have NEVER EVER had wet or damp charcoal, even if I dump it in loose.
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!
Chicken Leg Quarters tonight. Had the day off (burning up some time before it resets), and these have been vacuum packed and in the deep freeze since January.
Used "Best Bird Rub" from Grandpa's Cheese Barn from our visit last August. Finally used it all up. It's a good rub, bit sweet, so it caramelizes a bit when cooking, makes the skin look a bit dark, but it's still very tastey.
Used apple and pecan wood for the smoke. I prefer that on chicken, I've decided. It's Weber and the Only Fire rotisserie for this cook.
After sitting in the fridge for several house, ready to go on:
Grill was set for about 275. Got away from me a bit, got up to 300, but some damper magic and it was back under control. Ran about 285 through the rest of the cook.
Like I said, skin looks dark, but I'm pretty sure its due to the sugar in the rub. Was not overdone, nor bitter at all.
Thought I had a pic from the plate, but guess not! Tender, juicy, and no vegetables were harmed with tonight's experiment!
Edit: I had intended to use Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce on these, but literally forgot! Next time!
bbq_esq our local Kroger seems to put a 10lb bag of them on sale about every two to three weeks. They're about $8-$9 Too cheap to pass up, but I've already got several vac-bags full at this point.
Michael_in_TX my standby is to roll fillet a loin (not tenderloin) season with Tony's then stuff with pepper jack, boudin, then crawfish tails. Roll up, wrap in bacon. Let sit uncovered on wire rack in fridge about 24 hours, then smoke with hickory at 325° until the (stuffing) hits 135°. Remove e and let carryover cooking do its thing. Slice into thick medallions and serve with jalapeno cheese grits, often with a cream based sauce.
Last edited by texastweeter; April 30, 2026, 10:00 PM.
I mention the sides in case you couldn’t figure it out….🙄
Comment