I just fired up the chimney at 3PM PDT. I'll try to post as time goes on if there is anything of interest. In the meantime, here is what the hunk of meat looked like after I trimmed it up and added a light coat of my basic beef rub (garlic salt, black pepper, dill weed and celery seed.)
Oh, of course our Border Collie is wondering why she can't have some of it now.
3Photos
Last edited by boftx; July 15, 2014, 04:18 PM.
Reason: Changed mustard seed to celery seed. I'm out of mustard right now. Typed that out of habit.
Put the meat on about 3:20 or so. Here are some pics of what is going on.
My rig might not be pretty (bought in 2008) but it can cook anything I want. The captions didn't come along from the gallery, but most are self explanatory. The thermometer pic shows why you simply MUST have a digital thermometer. (By the way, the meat probe is reading the air temp just before I put the meat in.)
If you were wondering if the rig is not level, just look what the Vegas sun did to the wheels. I hang the transmitter under the rig to protect it from the sun and the heat that leaks from the lid.
And finally, Molly still can't understand why she has to wait.
The meat has been on for about an hour and twenty minutes now and is at 102 internal temp. I've allowed the cook chamber to drop to 190 except for when I put a small stick in for smoke (mesquite) then it will come up to about 215. My wife will kill me if this is done before 5:30 so ... gonna be close.
I'll open the lid a bit when the meat gets to 115 and start getting a HOT bed of coals in the firebox to put the grates over for searing when the meat hits 120. I'll call it done at 128 or so.
5PM and the internal temp is at 113 with the cook chamber at 194. Told my wife it will be ready between 5:30 and 6PM. Closed the damper down a bit but this is cutting it close. I'll take a pic of the meat before I start the sear just so I can stall the cook for a few minutes while I do that.
Trust me, if I didn't watch her like a hawk it wouldn't make it to the grates. She is an expert at snagging' meat off the counter without breaking stride, and so is my oldest dog (he must be 14 now, pound rescue), Buddy. He once snagged a nice piece of steak and then just stood there looking at me as if to say "Okay, I won, can I keep it?" Nothing I could do but let him have it, not gonna waste food and he is a member of the family after all. I did cut it up into thirds and cooked it rare so Molly and Angie could have some, too.
Did I mention that the better I know people, the more I love my dogs?
It was a close thing for timing, but here is what I did.
When the meat was at 117 I opened the lid, moved two of the grates over to the firebox, and started about a 1/3 chimney of lump charcoal. I used lump because it starts faster and i don't need to wait for it to ash over. This effectively stalled the cook other than some carry over cooking which took it to about 121 by the time I started the sear.
When the coals were hot i removed the grates from the firebox, added the new coals to the firebox, spread them out evenly with what was there, and placed the grates back over the now very hot coals. there might have been 2" at most separation between the coals and the grates.
At this point it was pretty hectic. I put the meat on the almost red-hot grates and started flipping every 30 secs or so. I had a couple of flareups, but I could deal with those by lifting the meat off. I checked the temp with the meat probe every few flips and pulled it at 127.
The pics tell the story. And if you notice, the two older dogs know when to get involved. Angie is the fat one on the left, with Buddy on her right. (Yes, the ugly old fart who doesn't know what a haircut is, is me.)
People can talk bad about a COS, and most of it is justly deserved. But I feel once you learn to tame one of these beasts you got a pretty good idea of what BBQ is.
After dinner my wife was wondering what to do with the leftover meat (not that there was very much even from THAT hunk.) Usually, we would have enchiladas or chili or even a stew with it. But we just had enchiladas from Saturday's pork butt last night, and it's really too hot here for a stew or chili.
That leaves only one obvious choice: Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches! (with horseradish sauce)
Last edited by boftx; July 15, 2014, 08:34 PM.
Reason: Corrected the spelling of "Philly Cheesesteak". Thanks for spelling it right showing everyone how dumb I can be, Pit Boss! :)
I'm gonna slice it up by hand, but we have TT, pork loin, brisket and similar cuts such as London broil often enough that I want to get a regular meat slicer sometime to make it easier to slice up sandwich meat. And yes, it *was* good eatin' tonight, even if I say it myself.
BTW, the pic doesn't really show it, but Buddy and Angie are actually standing between me and the kitchen door while Molly was looking for a way to make a flank attack.
That looks fantastic...I like your dogs in the pic too, all the black and white reminds me my of my newfie trying to trip me over and every time I bring food in from the grill...
I do mine similar. growing up in So California im a pursist. I cook over white oak when i can. and use salt/pepper/garilc on top and thats about it. Get it to a nice med. rare and im set. Yours looks damn tasty.
Gas Grill: NXR Tabletop/Portable Propane Charcoal: Weber Performer Silver (i.e., 22.5")
Charcoal: Weber OTG 22.5" Kettle Accessories: Slow 'n Sear, Smokenator and Vortex and bound to be more on the way Smoker: GOSM Propane 38" 2-drawer
Pellet: CampChef/Browning Deluxe PGP24LTD Thermometer: 2 Mavericks, Red backlit Thermapen
Anova Wi-Fi Sous Vide
Sure do wish I could get Tri-Tip here in PA, so I could try my hand at some Santa Maria-style BBQ. Even have some California Red Oak coming that is supposedly the secret ingredient. When I lived in So Cal, I would go to the various fairs just to have some.
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