Outdoor Cooking (smoking, grilling, barbecuing, open spit, etc.)

[rob_s]

I only put a small amount of stock in the bottom. Cover maybe half an inch of meat. As the chuck cooks and renders out the fat you'll fill your pan with plenty of juice. That also preserves bark on at least one side.

I think I may actually be over-filling the pan.

First one I filled about halfway and it didn’t shred, so over-filled this one.

Next one I’ll put less stock in the pan but make sure it gets up to 210°.

[littlejerry]

I think I may actually be over-filling the pan.

First one I filled about halfway and it didn’t shred, so over-filled this one.

Next one I’ll put less stock in the pan but make sure it gets up to 210°.

It'll eventually shred, just takes time and heat. The one I just cooked was tough AF at 195.

[UNK]

Smoked chuck chili

[CSW]

Ribs in the rain last night!

[Mitch]

Since my post a few months ago about getting a new grill and/or smoker I did a whole lot of research and ended up doing precisely nothing, which is pretty typical for me. Like usual though it also paid off because I’m glad I didn’t get any of the options I was considering at the time.

Long story short for smoking duty I’m sticking with the Weber Smokey Mountain. Pretty much all of my complaints were user error that I’ve worked my way through now. For strictly venison stick and jerky duty I do wish I had an electric smoker sometimes, but not enough to buy one. Really for all my smoking wants the WSM checks the boxes.

Which leaves me with a decision on grills to make. My nexgrill propane grill is pretty much done, and I killed the last propane tank tonight. Thankfully it died out before the meat went on, so I used my Smokey Joe charcoal. Honestly, it was awesome. The steaks turned out perfect. It drove home the point that I really like cooking over charcoal. Except that for a weeknight dinner it takes about 3 times as long. So right now it’s down to the Weber Genesis or Kettle grills. The kettle is cheap enough that I probably should just get both since I’ll have charcoal around anyway for the smoker. But I don’t know if I want to do that and even though it’s not THAT much to do I don’t enjoy the cleaning and upkeep of a propane grill.

I want the kettle, but this is still closer to an appliance than a hobby to me so part of me knows that the quick start of the gas grill will be nice far more often than the cleaning annoys me.

[CSW]

I've been a kettle grille die-hard for over 28 years. We got 15 years out of the first one, and would probably still be using it if a tree limb hadn't crushed it.
We use it alot. Replace the grates as necessary.
We smoke in it, bake in it, grille in it.

This year's Thanksgiving turkey was done on the Weber. While the skin gets darker than in an oven, the meat's always moist and delicious.

Yeah, there's some prep time with waiting for the coals to come to temperature, but the end result is preferred over propane. We owned a Weber Genesis, and it was a fine grill, but it wasn't the same as the kettle.


About 5 years ago, the Mrs. won a Treager pellet smoker. It's ok, but it's not a grille. More like an outdoor oven. Does make awesome ribs tho.

[45dotACP]

Now that I have a house, my parents brought my WSM up to us. I bought it probably in 2017 and it's not been used much so it's still going. They also brought the accessories (including the wood chunks I used previously) so I figured I'd try to make some Beer Can Chickens on Christmas eve. Cooked for about 5 hours at 225-250 with some wood chunks and half a chamber of charcoal. By the time I came to the end of the cook though I was starting to lose temperature. Probably not enough fuel for it being cold outside and the Chicken had just barely made 165.

Upside is, the chicken was good. Downside is, the skin sucked. Way too rubbery...probably too low of a temp. Also, using the wood that was over 5 years old was probably not gonna give a great smokey flavor, but it wound up being kinda sorta OK.

The house we bought had a grill that was hooked up to natural gas, but the grill was old and busted so we tossed it and now I need to think about what to get to replace it. Same idea as some posters above that I already have Charcoal and I might as well just get an affordable Weber Kettle...but I'm trying to decide on a 22 or 26"

[CSW]

I've always used the 22", for our needs.
We have the master touch now.

[Mitch]

I bought a Weber 22” kettle tonight. It was the one I really wanted and the only downside is the start up time when I need to throw something together quickly. But I think there’s going to be another solution for that.

Next purchase will be a Blackstone griddle. Main reason being I have a family of 5. It’s not uncommon for breakfast on the weekend to consist of a pound of bacon and a dozen eggs. Cooking that on a regular stove with skillets is a pain in the ass. This will give me way more cook space to do everything all at once (and gives me an excuse to go outside with my morning coffee). And on top of it all, if I want just a quick burger or steak for myself, that griddle can fill the same niche in a pinch that my propane grill did.

[rob_s]

Had a boxing day party. Way more people than expected showed up so I didn't even get to eat any of this.

Brisket-style (Meat Church Holy Cow over a Mayo binder after removing skin) bone in Turkey breast and a boneless butt.

People were absolutely raving about the turkey.