Show us what you're cooking - 3/13/2015 through 9/9/2015

[The Burn]

So happy the spring weather is back. Starting to use the kettles every night. Sunday night, I did a 2+ lb bone-in rib eye. I had bought a 2-rib prime rib roast, but decided to just cut it in half instead of deboning and cooking it as a roast.



Lots of salt for 24 hours and then did a compound butter with rosemary, thyme & garlic for the reverse sear:



Also did some sweet potatoes wedges that I saw Bobby Flay do on BBQ Addiction - parboiled and then grilled with a little butter brushed on



Tonight was the middle step-daughter's 20th and she requested my fish tacos and grilled peppers and I threw in an avocado relish because I like it





I think Tuesday I'm going to make and grill some sausages and Wednesday I'm going to do a pork butt. Yay Spring!

[Jerod Broussard]

Fantabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jerod Broussard]

Making some Mini-Meat Loaves....Ground beef with some lean bacon chopped up mixed with it. I also applied some bacon love to the bottom and poured over the top. I forgot to mix in some Tony's, so I put some on top, more can be added at meal time.

Raining outside, Pit Barrel running in the 270's.



Sauced one with some Beso del Fuego when it hit 150 internal. Scallop potatoes.

[Jerod Broussard]

Yeah....

[DWCowles]

Jerod Broussard that's what I thought. The wife and I love that stuff

[JeffJ]

I take it you didn't hang your loaves in the PBC.

[Ernest]

LIL Smokey wings. That WSM 14.5 can cook!!



Cajun wings and Cajun fries.

[DWCowles]

@Earnest get one of those Vortex for your Weber. You will be surprise how that thing cooks chicken wings.

[Huskee]

I like 'em all, and those look as good as they can.

[JeffJ]

The food looks great per usual, Ernest. I am firing up my 14.5" WSM this Saturday. I am going to do a 4-5 pound chuck roast on the top rack and a 4-5 pound butt on the bottom rack. They'll be pulled/shredded. The theme is going to be Tex- Mex so they'll go into tortillas. Can't wait!

[JeffJ]

Jerod will be so pleased: MEATLOAF!!!!

I meant to do this on the grill a few weeks ago but i answered the call to watch some March Madness hoops at the bar and had to leave oven instructions for my wife - I planned on doing it on the grill. So, here was my follow up. I wanted the smoke to be subtle so I kept the wood to a minimum. A few chips of mesquite and a few chips of cherry wood. My other decision was that wanted a cooler and slower cook so I used the Smokenator and was able to keep temps around 300 with all of the vents wide open - perfect! In addition to the loaf I cooked up red skins and brussels sprouts in the Performer (more on that in a minute). I whipped up a sticky sauce and glazed the loaf when it hit 150 and again at 155. The loaf itself exceeded my expectations. It really turned out good. It would have been a great dinner experience were it not for the rest of the dish. I was multi-tasking during the cook and used a toothpick to determine doneness of the sprouts and potatoes. Big mistake. They ended up under-cooked. Worse - they picked up more smoke than I wanted (I will be recording this cook into notes for future reference). We didn't have any leftover sprouts, which is good. We had some leftover taters but I am on the hook for making breakfast for my boys tomorrow and I'll sauté them up as hash browns and they'll be good if they soften. The leftover meatloaf will make for great sandwiches.

Here are the pics:



This is just prior to saucing:



This is how the accompaniments looked (undercooked):




This is the loaf when it came off the cooker:



And here it is sliced:

[eugenek]

I tried a slightly modified version of Aaron Franklin's short ribs recipe today. He calls for a straight 8 hours at 285 with no crutch, but I could only muster enough courage to do 6.5 hours at 275 before I threw it in the Cambro. Honestly, I felt it was done enough to the point that the bark was on the edge of being crusty and it started to shred a little as I sliced it. But it was really good stuff. Just straight up beefy flavor.

[eugenek]

Ernest Yeah, I'm not sure how he does it without overcooking. I wouldn't say he's wrong, but maybe it's because of his smoker setup or that he spritzes frequently. I think it goes to show there isn't just one "right" way to do things. I'm curious to see how his recipe turns out for others.

[Ernest]

Ray you gotta try beef short ribs!

[jmott7]

I've been lucky enough to eat some of @eugenek's ribs. And I might get lucky again this weekend.

[richinlbrg]

WOW! A bunch of great cooks have been going on! WHEW!

I think everybody has been upping their game and trying more/different things! WAY cool.

My spring will start Thursday, so I'll be back on it.

[JeffJ]

Just a simple weeknight dinner: Pork loin, broccoli and apple sauce. Pork loin needs to cook kind of quick so although I used the Smokenator I had the vents wide open and used 15 lit briquettes to start which resulted in a hotter fire (375 range). I used one small chunk of apple wood which developed just a hint of smoke. When the meat hit 135 I moved it over the direct heat, sauced and created a glaze. it was around 143 when it came off the grill. It was extremely tender and juicy. Here are the pics:

[Huskee]

NICE! I too like to cook loin (in the form of thick chops) hot & fast(er). I tend to go about same as you, mid to upper 300s and I find it develops a nice Maillard exterior and keeps the interior plenty juicy and heavenly. Same for chicken. Nice cook!

[Ernest]

After seeing eugenek post, I'm heading to the butcher tomorrow!

[eugenek]

If you're up for it, give APL's recipe a try. Best barbecue I've had hands down.

[Spinaker]

It's good to be back. I've been out of the country and miss the hell outta my smokers and this community! I'm doing some chicken quarters on the Pit Barrel and some cast iron au-gratin poes on the KEG. I'm using Slabs chicken rub on the quarters with some butter under the skin. Anybody have any tips on getting extra crispy skin? I cant wait to get back in the game. I missed you clowns!!!

[richinlbrg]

And we clowns have missed our leader!

Welcome back. Look forward to seeing your cooks!

[Huskee]

Welcome back! Wondered where you've been. Thought maybe you shot a man in Reno.

[_John_]

Welcome back, those potatoes sound great.

[1buba]

After glancing through this thread, I'm almost embarrassed to post... you guys are AMAZING!
Since my SmokinTex just came in yesterday, I seasoned it last night, and made a quick run to Sam's club tonight to pick up some butts. Two seven pounders, dry brined and rubbed. Will sit in the fridge for about 24 hours, then hit the smoker tomorrow night. I'm guessing at about 14 hours, but will plan them to finish a couple hours before we eat, just incase. :-)

[Huskee]

Last night's chicken wings a la Weber 22".

Two 3lb(?) bags wings each about 15 wings/drummettes, $6 each. The small ones, flash frozen individually for frying.

Indirect setup with two bricks, no water pan. Got temp to ~325 to start. 1/2 chimney well-lit Kingsford blue on top of some leftover coals from last cook.



I under estimated how many lit coals to use, so my temp dropped to 250s after adding the wings (thawed of course). It was about 60 out, so I figured I could use less coals then I had been accustomed to, and under-did it by a little. No worries, just added some cook time is all.


Flipped 'em after about 15 min.




It took me about 30 min to get the temp from 250s up to 325+. My total cook was about an hour instead of 20-30 which would be more typical.

Originally I started out thinking I'd use no wood, just lit coals. But I couldn't resist, about halfway through I added a leftover chunk of half burnt peach wood, about golf ball sized. Typically we'd add wood at the start. They still had just a kiss of smoke flavor and they were wonderful!






Normally I like to use Buffalo Wild Wings' sauce on wings, but I also like regular Frank's Buffalo sauce. That's what we used tonight. And some buttermilk Ranch. My kids raved. My one son mixed the Franks and ranch and called it "Franch". So that's our new "wing night" sauce, Franch.

Dee licious, and about 1/4 the price of taking the family out for wings.

[The Burn]

They look great! I think wings may have taken over as my #1 favorite food off the grill/smoker. You definitely need the smoke flavor to take them over the top. As usual, apple works well and cherry gives them the nice color.

[LSUBBQFan]

Beautiful pics of those wings, Huskee. I just ate dinner and that still made me hungry!

[Huskee]

bbqoaf The Burn LSUBBQFan thanks guys. They were a huge hit, kids love love the fun factor and I can't lie I do too. One of my all time favorites as well.

[Huskee]

Pork butt today, on the Weber. Been on since 4:10 am. (yawn)

Got 9 hrs' run from one full chimney of unlit Kford with 12 lit on top. 2 bricks, off to the side making 2-zones. Vents averaging 1/3 to 1/4 each, temp avg 230. Just had to reload about 15 min ago. Can't beat that longevity.....or can you......

16hr cook unwrapped. 4:15am to 815pm (later dinner, but us pitmaster know a little something about that.)




It hit 189 IT at 12hrs, but then the second stall kicked in and it actually dropped back to the 170s.

I could only get the temp up to 194 in another 4 hrs, but at 8pm it was dinner time.

It fell apart as I put it in the bowl, I'd say it was done enough. Enough time in the 180s-190s and 200 isn't needed.



Very barky, almost jerky bark. But soft juicy interior, yum!



On a toasted buttered bun, with a cold beer...mmmm.



It was a gorgeous day in central MI- 76, sunny and only the tiniest of breezes. I had some time to cut some more apple wood and now some maple to add to my stash.

#tired #longday #beertotherescue

[JeffJ]

I hope I didn't botch this. I do have a couple of things going for me for this cook. First, I have a set of bear claws, so even if they aren't fall apart tender after 8-9 hours I should still be able to shred with those beasts. Second, they (along with grilled shrimp) are the fixings for a taco bar so as long as they shred and are reasonably tender they should still be really good when in a rolled tortilla with accompaniments and condiments.

I've got my fingers crossed. The temp is at 262 and I am going to let it stay there for a while.

[JeffJ]

It's 3 PM and the meat is still stalled. I just bit the bullet and wrapped. Hopefully I can get the meat up to temp over the next 2-3 hours. I am going to unwrap by 5:30 and let the temp in the cooker rise a bit. I still had a little bit of water in the pan so I had yet to develop bark due to all of the steam. I am going to have to try and develop bark at the end of the cook. Note to self: Allow a LOT more time even for small cuts like these, or wrap shortly after the stall.

[Huskee]

JeffJ yep, time is your best friend for these cuts. Even if they happen to finish early (and they rarely do) you can hold them for hours. You can't really speed 'em up though.

[Ernest]

Was looking forward to seeing steak night but nature had other plans...

Salted last night, using chardonnay barrel smoked sea salt.



After 24 hour dry brine.



If it rains again tomorrow I'll do an indoor skillet steak.

[Huskee]

Ooooh, yum

[LSUBBQFan]

Hey gang, anyone cooking through the night tonight? I'm about 2.5 hours into a 4# boston butt on my 22" Weber kettle. I'm planning to take it as far as I can on the grill until about 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. when I need the grill space for 2 racks of baby backs. I plan to move the butt into the oven, but am wondering how to modify MH's "fast method" since it will have cooked on the grill for roughly 8.5 hours (vs. 2). So far I'm averaging around 230 degrees grill temp.

As always, I appreciate all the great info this site and the members provide. I wish I had more time to fully participate in forums more often.

BTW - I'm not sure I'm posting this in the proper place, so my apologies if not.

Thanks