Hey all - I'm hitting the big 4-0 this year, and I had a big barbecue to celebrate.
My garden has been out of action since September last year as the landlords have been building an extension into the roof of my block of flats, so it was a real relief to get out there and fire up the smoker and grill.
I decided to change my meat supplier this year, having used Tom Hixson (https://www.tomhixson.co.uk/) for my USDA brisket and ribs/pork butt, but this year I'm trying to be a bit more environmentally friendly and so the idea of getting British brisket appealed.
I've used Turner & George (https://www.turnerandgeorge.co.uk/our-meat.html) before for ribs and pork butt, but I took a punt on their packer brisket as well. In the end I bought 1 packer brisket, a pork butt, 2 racks of belly ribs and a 4 bone short rib. This came to £145 ($190). Expensive, but this is all rare breed / heritage meat from assured sources.
I've used Meathead's recipes extensively for rubs and sauces, and so I made the usual KC BBQ sauce which always goes over well. I just use Salt & Pepper on my brisket, I put Memphis Dust on my pork butt and ribs, and used his big bad beef rub for the beef ribs. I wanted to add a bit of heat to those, so I added in a teaspoon of habanero powder to the beef rub.
I also salted the meat for a few hours (about 6) beforehand, which I hadn't done before - I was a bit worried about doing that to pork, as I was concerned that I might get a bacon-y taste, but thought I'd try anyway. It came out really well, and I'll do this again for sure.
I cook on a 57cm Weber Smokey Mountain, with the steel door mod. Earlier in the week I had bought some gasket to try to cure some of the leaks around the door and the lid. I used a few chunks of cherry wood that my brother in law had given me from a tree he had had felled on his property which I had been drying for the past year. I went light on the smoke, as I had been using way too much at the end of last year, which was overwhelming the meat rather.
I cook with Big K Briquettes (https://www.bigkproducts.co.uk/cooki...oal-briquettes) which are expensive, but 10kg will give me easily 24 hours of consistent temperature. The BBQ was fired up at 11pm, and by 12pm it was ready to go, (using the Minion method) so on went the Brisket & Pork Butt. The temperature in the WSM was much lower - before the gasket I could get 225f with the 3 vents at 1/4 or less, but with the gasket in, it was more like 3/4, but overnight the temperature was utterly stable (though it was warm with little wind) which really impressed me.
I put the beef and pork ribs on at the same time, 10am. I cooked the ribs using the 3-2-1 method, and the beef ribs I'd not done before, so I cooked them to 198f when they were probe tender, after about 6 hours.
The brisket had about 14 hours, same as the pulled pork, then about an hour in foil before serving. I was really impressed - the brisket was the best I've had, I must say I prefer the flavour of grass finished beef, and it really came through in the final cook. The meat was moist and juicy, which I was a bit worried about as there was definitely less fat that on the USDA briskets I'd cooked before. I don't think I'll go back to USDA. A smaller USDA brisket is about £75, while a British 6kg (13lbs) brisket is £54.
The pork ribs came out well, and the beef ribs really impressed me. I had cooked them before myself, and they came out incredibly tough and dry - this time they were great, and the extra heat from the Beef Rub was very welcome.
I had 25 friends over for the BBQ, and all the meat got eaten!
I also smoked a load of halloumi - 11 blocks in total - I do it for about 3 hours at 225, and it is golden on the outside and firm but a bit gooey on the inside. I slice it after it's been cooked, as I've found pre-sliced can get too smokey which can overwhelm the cheese flavour. For veg, I did veg skewers on the grill, as well as asparagus and purple sprouting broccoli, which are in season in Britain right now. they were all marinated in an olive oil and cider vinegar dressing before going on.
I'm terrible at remembering to take photos, but here are some: https://imgur.com/a/UFDbc8O all out of order...
All in all, a great cook. I was really pleased with how it went considering I've been smoker free for almost a year!
Feedback, thoughts and recommendations very welcome - it's good to be back into the Amazing Ribs family.
My garden has been out of action since September last year as the landlords have been building an extension into the roof of my block of flats, so it was a real relief to get out there and fire up the smoker and grill.
I decided to change my meat supplier this year, having used Tom Hixson (https://www.tomhixson.co.uk/) for my USDA brisket and ribs/pork butt, but this year I'm trying to be a bit more environmentally friendly and so the idea of getting British brisket appealed.
I've used Turner & George (https://www.turnerandgeorge.co.uk/our-meat.html) before for ribs and pork butt, but I took a punt on their packer brisket as well. In the end I bought 1 packer brisket, a pork butt, 2 racks of belly ribs and a 4 bone short rib. This came to £145 ($190). Expensive, but this is all rare breed / heritage meat from assured sources.
I've used Meathead's recipes extensively for rubs and sauces, and so I made the usual KC BBQ sauce which always goes over well. I just use Salt & Pepper on my brisket, I put Memphis Dust on my pork butt and ribs, and used his big bad beef rub for the beef ribs. I wanted to add a bit of heat to those, so I added in a teaspoon of habanero powder to the beef rub.
I also salted the meat for a few hours (about 6) beforehand, which I hadn't done before - I was a bit worried about doing that to pork, as I was concerned that I might get a bacon-y taste, but thought I'd try anyway. It came out really well, and I'll do this again for sure.
I cook on a 57cm Weber Smokey Mountain, with the steel door mod. Earlier in the week I had bought some gasket to try to cure some of the leaks around the door and the lid. I used a few chunks of cherry wood that my brother in law had given me from a tree he had had felled on his property which I had been drying for the past year. I went light on the smoke, as I had been using way too much at the end of last year, which was overwhelming the meat rather.
I cook with Big K Briquettes (https://www.bigkproducts.co.uk/cooki...oal-briquettes) which are expensive, but 10kg will give me easily 24 hours of consistent temperature. The BBQ was fired up at 11pm, and by 12pm it was ready to go, (using the Minion method) so on went the Brisket & Pork Butt. The temperature in the WSM was much lower - before the gasket I could get 225f with the 3 vents at 1/4 or less, but with the gasket in, it was more like 3/4, but overnight the temperature was utterly stable (though it was warm with little wind) which really impressed me.
I put the beef and pork ribs on at the same time, 10am. I cooked the ribs using the 3-2-1 method, and the beef ribs I'd not done before, so I cooked them to 198f when they were probe tender, after about 6 hours.
The brisket had about 14 hours, same as the pulled pork, then about an hour in foil before serving. I was really impressed - the brisket was the best I've had, I must say I prefer the flavour of grass finished beef, and it really came through in the final cook. The meat was moist and juicy, which I was a bit worried about as there was definitely less fat that on the USDA briskets I'd cooked before. I don't think I'll go back to USDA. A smaller USDA brisket is about £75, while a British 6kg (13lbs) brisket is £54.
The pork ribs came out well, and the beef ribs really impressed me. I had cooked them before myself, and they came out incredibly tough and dry - this time they were great, and the extra heat from the Beef Rub was very welcome.
I had 25 friends over for the BBQ, and all the meat got eaten!
I also smoked a load of halloumi - 11 blocks in total - I do it for about 3 hours at 225, and it is golden on the outside and firm but a bit gooey on the inside. I slice it after it's been cooked, as I've found pre-sliced can get too smokey which can overwhelm the cheese flavour. For veg, I did veg skewers on the grill, as well as asparagus and purple sprouting broccoli, which are in season in Britain right now. they were all marinated in an olive oil and cider vinegar dressing before going on.
I'm terrible at remembering to take photos, but here are some: https://imgur.com/a/UFDbc8O all out of order...
All in all, a great cook. I was really pleased with how it went considering I've been smoker free for almost a year!
Feedback, thoughts and recommendations very welcome - it's good to be back into the Amazing Ribs family.
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