Why my bbq cooks are heavily weighted toward April/May/June/July

[Mosca]

My cookers get lonely! The griddle gets used constantly, and the BGE and the Kettle get used occasionally… but only for grilling.

Thing is, it’s just too much food. Even a small brisket: after trimming it might go from 12 lbs to 9. But that’s NINE POUNDS OF BEEF. For two older people. Same with a pork butt; a small butt might be 5-6 lbs, but with not much trim. So that’s FIVE POUNDS OF PORK. Ribs? 13 ribs to a rack. I can eat 3, Mrs can eat 2. So a rack of ribs is 3 meals. But she won’t eat ribs two nights in a row. And ribs make a bold statement flavorwise; it’s easy to eat ribs, but it’s hard to eat ribs every night.

By the end of July, I have the freezers full of apportioned sliced brisket, chopped brisket (for sandwiches), pulled pork, ribs in 3 rib sections, cooked chicken thighs, all those salsas I make, prepped hatch peppers, and all the other cooks I post photos of here. Plus any chilis, pasta sauce, meatballs, soups, stews, anything that I made in bulk. And I just can’t make any more new stuff until we eat the frozen stuff out of the freezer.

That’s it. I’ve cleared 1/2 of one shelf from the side-by-side, and there are probably 2 shelves worth to go, the rest of the freezers being steaks, butts, burgers, briskets, etc. And I have a nice rib roast for the holiday. Once all that stuff is used, I can start having fun again.

[Jfrosty27]

I hear you. I just quit making the big cuts like brisket, pork but, etc. It’s just too much. And I only have the freezer on the fridge for leftovers and such. I can still eat pretty strong but the wifey eats like a bird. These days I lean towards the smaller cuts like pork chops, pork tenderloin, chicken thighs & wings, etc. I leave the big stuff to my son when he invites us over to his place for dinner.

[bmillin]

This why I am considering downsizing from my EX6. Total overkill for a rack of ribs.

[klflowers]

I cook year round because I do smaller stuff like chicken and chuckies. I haven't done a brisket in a few years, and I have pulled pork in the freezer from earlier in the year. Since my son lives with me, "in bulk" doesn't mean what it used to. 2 racks of ribs are gone on a couple days lol

[Mosca]

Yeah, my daughter and son in law stayed with us for 3 months this summer (long story). Stuff certainly moved then!

[Skip]

I'm with you Mosca. I try to cook in smaller quantities too. If I cook something big the Food Saver comes out. I guess that's why I like the Holidays when I can crank it up a bit!

[GolfGeezer]

It's even less for me as my wife does not eat smoked foods, spicy foods, and then like the proverbial "bird" - except pasta! Chicken, eggs, steaks/filets (occasionally), burgers fish, rice, bread and cheese are her mainstays. So that rack of ribs I posted about in the whatcha cookin' thread lasted me 4 meals. A brisket I cooked in the oven, which she will eat once as a hot dish and once as a sammy, lives on in the freezer as chili - for me. Not her thing. So, my BBQ cooking is sparse and spread out during the year.

[Mosca]

Mrs will eat bbq, but she’d rather have something else. If I do ribs, I’ll throw a chicken thigh on at the end sometimes.

[Purc]

Same here since it's only me now. However, I'm doing a 12+ lb. turkey tomorrow for my son, DIL, sister and visiting pasmom before the Cowboys, Falcons game. I have a rack of bb, pork butt, turkey, chicken quarters and some wings in the freezer waiting to be smoked in the near future. I only smoke stuff that I can freeze leftovers. I would love to have a griddle and a pizza oven but when would I really use them. I also don't eat as much as I use to when I was working and was much more active. But I do cook out year round.

[captainlee]

Same but I smoke all year long, probably mostly chicken and ribs in the winter. Brisket once a year with a family visit. We like the pork butts for easy reheat quick dinners for home and camping and for pizza topping. Smoked meatloaf is a great winter meal. With these low temps now I'll start my cheese smoking. We give a lot of that away over the holidays. With all the kids showing up for t giving this year I need to get the cheese going for them to take home.

[Finster]

I mostly cook smaller stuff too. Chicken, tri tip, chuck roast, ribs. I will do corn beef on occasion.
Have only done brisket a couple of times. If I do pork butts, I’ll do a couple of big ones at once, and give a lot of it away to friends or neighbors. In summertime I tend to grill more, and smoke more on weekends the rest of the year.

[realdocBBQ]

I overcook. We give away a lot, send some to college with the kids, and end up throwing a good bit away. I keep things in the fridge, thinking, "I'll make something of that this week." Then I forget, or we don't for whatever reason, and before I know it... trash day is here.

But mostly, I just overcook.

Because I like to cook. I don't eat like I used to -

♫ "I'm half the man I used to be... half the man I used to be... half the man I used to be..."♫

[Duanessmokedmeats]

I make extra. Dinners, work lunches, daughter takes some home for her and fiance, give some to the mailman...
My name is Duane and I am a smoking addict...

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

I give a lot of food away to friends and co-workers. I just really like cooking and experimenting and well there's only 2 of us and I'm not really big on left overs (though I've gotten better, especially when I get to turn a left over into something else)

[TripleB]

I wish I lived by you.

[yakima]

My personal rule: do not freeze leftovers, eat or give away.
In any event, aint got no room in freezers for leftovers.

[Dan Deter]

Between the boy being gone and us losing weight, we have the same issue, just can't eat enough to justify it. Even having moved my mom in doesn't help as she eats like a bird.

[jfmorris]

I hear you. If it's just two, a Boston butt or brisket go a LONG LONG way.

And you are right. You get tired of it after a day or two. I think the most versatile leftover is pulled pork, but even that needs variety. We can eat pulled pork for a day or two, and I freeze the rest in 1# portions in vacuum bags, for emergency taco fillings or to feed the grandkids in a pinch. Same with brisket - you don't want to smoke a brisket unless feeding a crowd. I used to always smoke 3+ racks of ribs at a time, but that was because I had 3 kids and they always had someone else over and I was feeding 8+. Now with just 2, I'm breaking up the 3 packs of ribs, if I buy them that way, and freezing them pre-brined and individually vac-sealed.

I think the best use FOR ME of a brisket for just the 2 of us, is to turn it into pastrami, run it through the food slicer, and vacuum seal it in 1/2 pound bags as lunch meat. Aside from that, cooking smaller amounts for just 2 is what led me to cook more indoors in my wok the past couple of winters, than I did outside on the grill.

This weekend I smoked a 9# butt, 14# brisket, and 4 racks of baby backs. The butt was entirely consumed at a potlock Saturday night, the brisket had 1/2 of the flat consumed by the family of 8 adults + 3 toddlers yesterday, and 1 rack of ribs was consumed. My solution to leftovers? I sent the remaining brisket home with one set of kids (they bought the brisket), and gave the other two sets a rack of ribs each, keeping the smallest rack of ribs for us.

Through the winter, unless we are entertaining, I will likely GRILL at high temp than I will smoke, and it will be smaller amounts. Fish, a few pieces of chicken, or a couple of steaks.

I may also pursue how to perfect the burger, but do it 1# of beef at a time, versus cooking up mass amounts of burgers like I usually do.