I discovered this site about this time last year, but I never took the time to join until a few weeks ago when I finally took the plunge after almost a year of lurking the site. Like many of you, I love barbecue. I especially love ribs and Texas brisket, but until recently, I have been too intimidated to try smoking my own meats. We recently moved from Texas to California and I missed good old Texas barbecue. That motivated me to finally try the recipes from the site to smoke my own meats.
I own a second hand medium BGE I bought from a friend who wanted to buy a bigger one. I use a hardwood lump charcoal I buy from a BGE dealer in Santa Clara, CA. It is the shop's "generic" lump charcoal. For longer cooks, I use the Auber automatic temperature controller with the upgraded K type thermocouple controller sold on the Auber site. This piece of equipment is my "hobby saver" because it keeps my family from getting frustrated with me. It keeps me from having to check the BGE's temperature every 30 minutes. For meat thermometers, I used the Thermoworks DOT and Thermopop.
The information and recipes I learned from this site has made the process of smoking meats less intimidating. I've cooked ribs several times using a rub I bought at my local BGE dealer. My kids loved it, but I cannot wait to try ribs using Meathead's Memphis rub. I've also cooked a pork butt (to test out my Auber) and a brisket. While not perfect (the pork butt [~4.5 lbs.] and brisket [~5 lbs.] took a lot longer to cook than I thought), they turned out better than I thought. Enough that I've avoided trying to quench my barbecue appetite at the local barbecue joints. I still have lots to learn, but I hope to perfect the ribs and brisket soon. I grew up in NJ outside of NYC where my parents used to always take us to Katz deli for the pastrami. I want to make my own pastrami using Meathead's recipe before my parents and brother come out to visit for the holidays so I have objective judges on how close it gets to Katz's recipe.
Thank you for allowing me to introduce myself. I look forward to interacting with the members of this site, learning your techniques, and I look forward to cooking a lot more barbecue.
Ed S.
I own a second hand medium BGE I bought from a friend who wanted to buy a bigger one. I use a hardwood lump charcoal I buy from a BGE dealer in Santa Clara, CA. It is the shop's "generic" lump charcoal. For longer cooks, I use the Auber automatic temperature controller with the upgraded K type thermocouple controller sold on the Auber site. This piece of equipment is my "hobby saver" because it keeps my family from getting frustrated with me. It keeps me from having to check the BGE's temperature every 30 minutes. For meat thermometers, I used the Thermoworks DOT and Thermopop.
The information and recipes I learned from this site has made the process of smoking meats less intimidating. I've cooked ribs several times using a rub I bought at my local BGE dealer. My kids loved it, but I cannot wait to try ribs using Meathead's Memphis rub. I've also cooked a pork butt (to test out my Auber) and a brisket. While not perfect (the pork butt [~4.5 lbs.] and brisket [~5 lbs.] took a lot longer to cook than I thought), they turned out better than I thought. Enough that I've avoided trying to quench my barbecue appetite at the local barbecue joints. I still have lots to learn, but I hope to perfect the ribs and brisket soon. I grew up in NJ outside of NYC where my parents used to always take us to Katz deli for the pastrami. I want to make my own pastrami using Meathead's recipe before my parents and brother come out to visit for the holidays so I have objective judges on how close it gets to Katz's recipe.
Thank you for allowing me to introduce myself. I look forward to interacting with the members of this site, learning your techniques, and I look forward to cooking a lot more barbecue.
Ed S.
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