Hi. Greetings from Wichita, Kansas, yeehaw!
I confess that AmazingRibs.com has been a go-to site for a number of years, but I felt that that I ought to contribute by joining the Pitmaster Club. I have often recommended AmazingRibs to fellow barbeque nuts, including to a company group devoted to grilling. As an engineer, I enjoy the science, which permeates everything on the site.
My wife and I both are avid cooks. We both enjoy trying new techniques, but she sticks to the indoor stuff. I have enjoyed barbeque for years. My dad had both an old beat-up square sheet metal charcoal grill on wobbly legs, and a Japanese hibachi pot (similar to Kamado Joe or BGE) which he brought from Japan as an Air Force loadmaster on C-124 cargo planes back in the 1960s. I always loved being around when he was cooking out, and so when I left home, I bought a used wobbly-legged square metal grill at a garbage sale, which I used for a few years until someone stole it. Relieved to be rid of it, I replaced it with a Weber kettle, and then added a vertical barrel smoker from the Coleman factory store here in Wichita. That was 40+ years ago, and I still have the Coleman, although the Weber has been upgraded to a newer version. I bought a Vision Grill, similar to my Dad’s hibachi pot about 10 years ago.
With the above assortment, I would usually cook steaks, hamburgers, and chops on the grills, and ribs on the smoker. I began to be much more interested in smoking after I found the AmazingRibs site, and started doing a lot more, especially with the Coleman. However, I was getting frustrated with the amount of futzing around it takes with that smoker, especially once I started cooking ribs. It requires a lot of attention to keep it going for a long smoke. It will hold 200-225° for a couple of hours, then I have to pull it apart to add more charcoal, and fuss with it for another half-hour or so to get it back on temperature.
The local hardware store had a sale on MasterBuilt electric smokers a few years back, so I bought one of those since it had a temperature control. I found it controls the temperature quite well, and it's great for fish or turkey, but the smoke flavor is way too mild for ribs. However, my wife absolutely loves smoked salmon done on the electric smoker.
Of course, with the electronics, I was loathe to leave it out in the elements, so I built a shed to contain all the barbeque grills and smokers, plus space for a patio heater and charcoal and other accessories.
Because the electric smoker did not seem to work as well on beef and pork, after much agonizing, I bought a Treager pellet grill. I got the Pro 575, because it has an improved motor and auger, it has Wifi connectivity, which is convenient, and it’s small enough that it fits in the shed, yet can still handle 3 racks of ribs or a brisket. I’ve been figuring out how to use it over the last year and a half, helped out by the COVID plague, which has kept us largely at home, and by the info available on AmazingRibs.
At first, I was disappointed with the lighter smoke flavor from the Treager, but I have found that if I set the grill to a very low temperature for the first hour or two, say 165°, before resetting to 225°, I get a much richer smoke flavor. And once that's done the only chore is to keep an eye on the pellet hopper so it doesn't run out. I mainly cook St Louis ribs, but also do Brisket, chicken, and even tried a smoked meat loaf. I tried smoked Salmon, but we concluded that the smoke was a bit heavy for that, and we stick with the electric smoker for that.
The other downside to my Treager is that there is no ability with that grill to cook over an open flame; it's basically a smoker/oven. The max temperature is 450°, so a reverse sear requires another grill as an adjunct.
I also just got an Anova sous vide machine, which I have used just once so far, to cook pork chops, which I finished on the Weber. I was disappointed that the meat was not as tender as I would like, and I think I probably need to extend the time in the sous vide bath. This will be the subject of future experimentation and research.
I’m far from a Pitmaster, but hope that this group will help me in that journey.
I confess that AmazingRibs.com has been a go-to site for a number of years, but I felt that that I ought to contribute by joining the Pitmaster Club. I have often recommended AmazingRibs to fellow barbeque nuts, including to a company group devoted to grilling. As an engineer, I enjoy the science, which permeates everything on the site.
My wife and I both are avid cooks. We both enjoy trying new techniques, but she sticks to the indoor stuff. I have enjoyed barbeque for years. My dad had both an old beat-up square sheet metal charcoal grill on wobbly legs, and a Japanese hibachi pot (similar to Kamado Joe or BGE) which he brought from Japan as an Air Force loadmaster on C-124 cargo planes back in the 1960s. I always loved being around when he was cooking out, and so when I left home, I bought a used wobbly-legged square metal grill at a garbage sale, which I used for a few years until someone stole it. Relieved to be rid of it, I replaced it with a Weber kettle, and then added a vertical barrel smoker from the Coleman factory store here in Wichita. That was 40+ years ago, and I still have the Coleman, although the Weber has been upgraded to a newer version. I bought a Vision Grill, similar to my Dad’s hibachi pot about 10 years ago.
With the above assortment, I would usually cook steaks, hamburgers, and chops on the grills, and ribs on the smoker. I began to be much more interested in smoking after I found the AmazingRibs site, and started doing a lot more, especially with the Coleman. However, I was getting frustrated with the amount of futzing around it takes with that smoker, especially once I started cooking ribs. It requires a lot of attention to keep it going for a long smoke. It will hold 200-225° for a couple of hours, then I have to pull it apart to add more charcoal, and fuss with it for another half-hour or so to get it back on temperature.
The local hardware store had a sale on MasterBuilt electric smokers a few years back, so I bought one of those since it had a temperature control. I found it controls the temperature quite well, and it's great for fish or turkey, but the smoke flavor is way too mild for ribs. However, my wife absolutely loves smoked salmon done on the electric smoker.
Of course, with the electronics, I was loathe to leave it out in the elements, so I built a shed to contain all the barbeque grills and smokers, plus space for a patio heater and charcoal and other accessories.
Because the electric smoker did not seem to work as well on beef and pork, after much agonizing, I bought a Treager pellet grill. I got the Pro 575, because it has an improved motor and auger, it has Wifi connectivity, which is convenient, and it’s small enough that it fits in the shed, yet can still handle 3 racks of ribs or a brisket. I’ve been figuring out how to use it over the last year and a half, helped out by the COVID plague, which has kept us largely at home, and by the info available on AmazingRibs.
At first, I was disappointed with the lighter smoke flavor from the Treager, but I have found that if I set the grill to a very low temperature for the first hour or two, say 165°, before resetting to 225°, I get a much richer smoke flavor. And once that's done the only chore is to keep an eye on the pellet hopper so it doesn't run out. I mainly cook St Louis ribs, but also do Brisket, chicken, and even tried a smoked meat loaf. I tried smoked Salmon, but we concluded that the smoke was a bit heavy for that, and we stick with the electric smoker for that.
The other downside to my Treager is that there is no ability with that grill to cook over an open flame; it's basically a smoker/oven. The max temperature is 450°, so a reverse sear requires another grill as an adjunct.
I also just got an Anova sous vide machine, which I have used just once so far, to cook pork chops, which I finished on the Weber. I was disappointed that the meat was not as tender as I would like, and I think I probably need to extend the time in the sous vide bath. This will be the subject of future experimentation and research.
I’m far from a Pitmaster, but hope that this group will help me in that journey.
Comment