Show Us What You're Cooking - 7/16/2014 through 3/13/2015

[Jon Solberg]

[smarkley]

OH MY! Yummmmmmy

[cdd315]

Wow, that looks awesome. Nice!!

[eugenek]

Hey all, I'm watching my daughters today so what better way to "work from home" than to make some BBQ! It's the same thing that I always make—short ribs—although this time I've got both the kettle and smoker going with 2 slabs on each. I've actually been having problems with the temp in the smoker but I'm guessing it's because I need to figure out a better way to setup the charcoal. I'm using the snake method since that's what I usually use in the kettle. The charcoals are burning through but I've been adding extra just to keep the temp at 225.







Here's the progress after 5 hours. The temperature seems to be plenty fine in the smoker—the meat has pulled back plenty from the bones! I'm going to have to play around with the probe location, calibrate it, or buy a new thermometer.





Coming down to the wire, 3 more hours have passed and just another 45 minutes or so left. Very pleased with how the smoker has turned out. I'm glad I started out learning on the kettle, but I feel like I've been missing out all this time!

[Huskee]

Well said Eastonbeef. Hey, did you get hammered with snow?

[Eastonbeef]

Take a look at meatheads article on 2-zone cooking. You will be glad you did. Kettle guy here giving real advise...

[eugenek]

Hey eastonbeef, I appreciate the encouragement!

[Eastonbeef]

This summer my wife and I went to a local restaurant/microbrew. Of course I ordered their brisket sandwich. I just told my wife... we can do this better! Its getting cold here in Wisconsin, I have some family coming over tomorrow. My version of the beef sandwiches and my wife's squash soup are on the menu. I will post some pics and recipes!!!

[David Parrish]

Looks great! If you let chuck roast cook a little longer it will go from the above sliceable meat to pullable meat. The trick is to get your pit temp really low (200ish) once the meat hits 200-205F range. You then let it maintain that temp while the rest of the collagen and such melts away. After a while it will fall apart and you'll have something like this:

[Huskee]

Mmmmmmm mmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmm x10

[Smokedstanley]

Todays Boston Butt smoke. Started at midnight and the last one came off at 4:30 pm. All together 12 butts and a full gallon of grease. I am ready for a nap.

[David Parrish]

Beautimous! How many people were you feeding?

[fzxdoc]

OMGoodness, that's a heap o' PB! How did it turn out, tastewise? Any leftovers?

Kathryn

[Smokedstanley]

I have one hidden away for left overs this week. They came out great. When it was time to eat I didn't get any picks because I was to busy keeping the trays full.

[Jon Solberg]

I'm thinking its a good day for some kettle wings...

[Marauderer]

It is going to be a Meatloaf day at the Reade Ranch today with some pepper poppers and whatever else I can dream up.

[Jon Solberg]

Wings inspired by ozrics and duce and thier vortex posts

[David Parrish]

Jon those wings look awesome!

[FLBuckeye]

Camera is broken so no pics . Had my wife's family in town for a baby shower. Had 20 people. Did a picnic ham (9.2 lbs.), 3 slabs of ribs, 24 pieces of legs and thighs. My mother in law had to eat before the normal dinner time so I had to start the cook at 3 AM which meant getting up at 2 AM. Was up past midnight watching my Buckeyes DESTROY the MSU Spartans so I got very little sleep. Started the picnic ham around 2:45 on my NEW WSM. I had the charcoal already set to go using Soo's doughnut. Hickory for the wood. I did 4 seasoning cooks this past week to get ready. Had some temp issues but got those under control by 5 AM. Got my Weber kettle with the Smokenator and Party Q ready to go. At 6 AM, I started making the corn bread (AR sour cream recipe) in my 12" cast iron skillet. Did 2 batches. Made the dessert that was chocolate lasagna. Made a double batch of boursin spread.
Temp dropped a bit so I added 20 briquets. Started the ribs at 9:45. Used MD (brined everything the day before) and hit 225 right away and it remained steady the entire cook. The picnic hit 162 at 7:15 (according to my cooking log as I was getting pretty tired at this point) and I pulled to wrap. It hit 203 around noon and I put it in a faux cambro. I added some lit briquets to the WSM and started the chicken. I use CandySueQ's recipe. It was a tight fit getting that much chicken on the WSM and I lost a few pieces that got burnt. Mac "Crack and Cheese" using the AR recipe. My wife and kids like the Kraft version so I did the creamier variation this time. I substituted half and half for the milk and added 3 oz. of cream chese. Did a double batch and used rigatoni noodles. Turned out GREAT. No leftovers at all .
Chicken finished and I sauced and placed in faux cambro.
Ribs finished at 2:45 and sauced. Put ribs back on the grill to burble a bit while the wife was bear clawing the pork.
Put everything out by 3:05.
By now I was running on fumes. When I do large cooks, I always eat last. I like to watch people go through the line and enjoy hearing people commenting on the food. Had a lot of positive feedback and almost everyone went back for 2nds. I made a stiff drink and headed for the food to make a plate. I can't smell so my taste is impaired but everything seemed good.

I hit the recliner and made it to 8:30 before I crashed. Hard

[The Burn]

That was a whole mess of cooking you did. Just, wow! Sounds like a great feast. I too like to watch and listen to everyone eat when I cook. That's a main reason I do it.

[Huskee]

WOW! I'll second that. I usually stick to the meat, it's impressive that you made sides as well. Nicely done, I imagining the pictures and they look great in my mind!

And I like the word "burble". I may have to use that one...

[FLBuckeye]

Huskee, I stole that term from MH. From his mac & cheese article:Bake. If you used a 2 quart pan and the handle is oven safe, you can bake it right in the pan. Otherwise, pour the whole macaroni shebang into a 2 quart Pyrex or CorningWare baking dish. If you prefer, pour it into individual serving size oven proof dishes or ramekins. Sprinkle with the cheese topping and then the paprika. If you are going to add a crunchy topping, add it now. Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes or until it begins burbling. Keep an eye on it so the top does not burn.

[The Burn]

I did some chicken halves tonight with Memphis Dust, which should be renamed to Memphis Crack. I use it on ribs and pulled pork, but always forget how damn good it is on chicken where it shines through as the main flavor. My Smokenator was a bit too hot still so when I crisped the skin it charred and didn't make for good photos, even though the skin was still tasty, as was the meat.

I've still got some Dust with the salt, so I put the rub on about 3 hours before and did the cook in the low to mid 300s.

[Ernest]

You might think that this is a brisket but it's not. It's actually beef short ribs, meaty

[Huskee]

Must. Have.

[smarkley]

WOW! I have not been able to buy anything like that around here... it looks GREAT!

[Huskee]

My local supermarket recently started carrying short ribs. I
m sure they are leftovers from some other carving work since they shrink wrpaped in the foam tray, not cryovaced. Anyway, I will be doing them soon. I've only ever done beef backs (spares they're called, strangely enough). Can't wait to experiment further.

[smarkley]

Thighs with MMD rub... had to try out my new toy! I reefed the heat up for awhile and got really crispy skin... yummy! Pulled em off right after the pics snapped, the IT had creeped up to 170

[Huskee]

Thighs at 170 will be for the win! Even 180.

[David Parrish]

those look REALLY good!