Smoked chicken thighs, smoked sweet taters and Mac and cheese 
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That Lang sure makes some mighty fine lookin chicken. -
The Burn I didn't do nothing special except trim them and some of them had my rub on them, some had cajun seasoning and some had Lawry's Poultry rub. Since all three had salt in them I put the rub on them the night before (uncover). I let them cook in the smoker @ 350-375 F.. The skin was nice and crispy.
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Smoked some ribs and stuffed jalapenos to go with beans and potatoes.Comment
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Beautimous!Comment
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Now that looks freakin delicious!!! I love smoked stuffed jalapeñosOriginally posted by Dewayne View PostComment
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Boneless skinless chicken thighs rubbed with Southern Flavor and spritzed with Moores marinade. Cooked on BGE. Served with Orzo pasta cooked in chicken broth with a little lemon juice, fresh chives, fresh basil, and feta cheese added at the end. Oh my heavens out of the park good meal.Comment
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My first attempt at corned beef. Wet brined for two weeks, following the AR recipe precisely. Took the brined brisket from the brine to a water bath for 24 hours, changing the water once. Cooked it today. The usual scum from store bought corned beef was non-existent! The taste is good, a bit understated, but it is dry. Thoughts?Comment
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I may finally be getting the hang of this thing. The remains of shorties on the PBC. I don't know why I put the knife there. It never got used.Comment
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Why are my pics always upside down?Comment
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This evening's feast was a real nice salad provided by my brother-in-law, French onion soup and beef short ribs (my first attempt).
I'll start with the soup...French onion soup consists of few ingredients so it's critical that each one be of utmost quality in order to ensure a special bowl of soup. The bottom of the bowl is bread...so I purchased a bakery ciabatta loaf,cut it into rounds, brushed the rounds with some olive oil, sprinkled it with seasoning and slow baked it at 180 degrees for 3 hours. The end result was flavorful, large croutons. These croutons went into the bottom of the bowl.
The next layer was the broth. For this it's absolutely critical to have a good, scratch-made beef broth. Now, I am talking about a broth where prior to going in the pot the bones are oiled and roasted and then the bones are slathered in tomato paste and along with the veggies they go back into the pan and are further browned in the oven. They go into the pot with a variety of herbs, seasoning, a little basalmic vinegar, salt, water and a whole bottle of drinkable red wine. This potion will simmer and reduce for roughly 6 hours. Good beef stock is more costly, labor-intensive and yields less than a cauldron of, say, chicken stock or shrimp stock. But, for certain applications it's a make-or-break proposition and this soup isn't special without it. The second crucial step is after the onions have carmelized (about an hour over low heat) I use a pint of Jim Beam, add it in thirds, and completely evaporate each third except for the final third where I leave a modicum of liquid. The beef stock is added to these bourbon-onions with a pinch of this and a splash of that and after 20 minutes of simmering the broth is complete. The broth then gets ladled into the bowls (picture with croutons above) and the dried out bread absorbs the liquid. The bowls are then topped with a generous amount of gruyere cheese and thrown under the broiler until bubbly. Here's what it looks like:
Now, the short ribs...
This was the first time I've cooked (or eaten) short ribs. I started by reading Meathead's techniques and developed a basic strategy. From there, the strategy was honed into what I am about to share.
It's important to note that I created a thread in the beef sub-forum regarding these ribs seeking information, tips and advice. Unsurprisingly, the pit members were MORE than up to the task. Some of the decisions I made were influenced by the feedback I received from fellow pit members. I think the end result was better than what I would have produced on my own, especially for a first-time cook. THANKS to all of your for your wisdom and knowledge.
I was cooking for 8, so I purchased 16 shorties and dry-brined them roughly 36 hours in advance of the cook. I used my mini WSM 14.5. I put in a small pecan chunk and a small handful of cherry chips underneath the Kingsford Blue. I pulled out the charcoal necessary to create a hole going to the grate and lit 10 briquettes in my chimney. Once they were going I poured them into the 'volcano' and threw unlit coals on top to fill the ring. I then added boiling water to the bowl, inserted my grill temp probe on the lower rack and waited for it to come to temp. When it hit 230 I added the ribs and the temperature obviously plummeted but it came back quickly. I was very cautious with the quantity of wood. The WSM was very easy to control and at the 5.5 hour mark I hit 199 in my largest rib. I then lightly sauced all of the ribs and let them cook for another 35 minutes.
This is how they looked just before saucing:
This is how they looked after being sauced and continuing to cook for a half hour longer:
I wanted this sauce to be a subtle enhancement to the ribs. So, I started by throwing a TB of tomato paste into a small sauce pot and letting it brown. I then deglazed it with 1/3 cup of cider vinegar. To this I added a TB of mustard, a TB of ketchup, 2 TB of worcestershire, 2 Tb of soy sauce, 2 TB of my homemade hot sauce, a cup of beef broth (store bought) and a teaspoon of sugar. I brought all of this to a boil, reduced to a simmer and added a TB of horseradish. The flavor was pretty much where I wanted it. However, it was too thin. So I added 2 more TB of tomato paste. After about 20 minutes of simmering the added paste not only mellowed the assertiveness of the sauce, but it also added just a hint of viscosity that I was looking for.
The ribs were textbook good, for the most part. I nailed the difficult stuff - the proper cooking temperature was maintained though-out, tenderness, bark, juiciness...all of it was there. I had 2 x-factors: The amount of sauce and how long to let it cook, and - the amount of wood/smoke. For the sauce I was looking for a subtle-layer, and nothing more. The sauce delivered. It was the not only the right mix of ingredients, but was also applied judiciously enough that it was a background to the beef. The only thing keeping this first-attempt from being a home run was the smoke. It was barely noticeable - to - not even present. I put the wood in before I dropped in the hot coals and water and then waiting for the whole thing to come to temp before adding the meat. Whilst I thought I built enough "minion" layer of protection between the heated coals and the wood via in-between briquettes...I do know that when I put in the meat the steam coming out of the WSM was smokey-sweet. I will do these again, in my mini WSM, over Memorial Day weekend (perhaps before as well). I really don't think my quantity of wood was insufficient. Perhaps next time I should withhold the wood and add it through the charcoal door of the WSM just after adding the meat?
I am desperate for advice on this - these ribs were probably an 8.5/10 and with the right amount of smoke would have been a 9.5/10.
Perfectionism aside, the dinner was really good.
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I meant to include a picture of the meat on the plate. Here it is:
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JeffJ Do another run before Memorial day (even just 4 singles) do two with sauce and two naked. Was the smoke bellowing when you put the meat on?
Here's what I do. I pour the lit coals right on top on the wood chunks. This way they get preburnt while cooker comes to temp. By then I get a nice blue smoke stream when the food goes on.
Your ribs look just fine, may be the 35 minutes was too long with the sauce on?Comment
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So you are thinking that perhaps the sauce masked the smoke flavor? It's an interesting possibility. I like your suggestion. If I don't have an opportunity to do these again before Memorial Day I will sauce the top rack and leave the bottom rack naked. Out of sheer laziness it's easier to do it that way not to mention for the scientific reason you were alluding to.
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Pit Boss - I agree regarding under-smoked vs over-smoked, especially with these shorties as they already have big flavor on their own. I was actually very pleased with how they turned out and got rave reviews from the other diners (my brother-in-law ate 5 ribs).Comment
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One additional note...I filled a tea kettle with water, brought it to a boil and poured it into the water bowl. When I wrapped the ribs for the cambro rub came off on my fingers. This means I didn't develop bark, although you wouldn't know it by looking at my pictures. A couple of weeks ago I did a side-by-side with my mini WSM and my Bradley electric using baby backs. The WSM produced better ribs and one of the differences is they pulled away from the bone more easily; they just seemed more cooked and I really do believe the steam played a role. Now, I know that Soo doesn't use water in his WSM (although he spritzes often once the bark has taken hold), nor does his mentor, Ernest. At some point I'll try going without water but for now I like the role that it plays. What I think I need to do is cut back on how much I use. It seems like it's great to use early in the cook as it helps with smoke adhesion and I humid cook chamber has some advantages. Perhaps I should only fill it half way? That way it provides its benefits and after it all evaporates and the air in the cook chamber is drier a nice bark will develop - sort of like a reverse sear.
Just thinking out loud.Comment
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Did Meathead's Pastrami on Saturday. Came out great. Couldn't let it sit after smoking...the family demolished it hot!! Had to save about an inch and a half for my daughter; otherwise she'd been eating bagel bites or something. Really tasty.
Used Meathead's rub for the pastrami; looked good enough to eat right then.
Sliced up and ready for sandwiches. It was so tasty the wife bought two brined corned beefs the next day.
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