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

[RoyGBiv]

Not looking for a fight, looking for education.

<much snippage>

Several sources list LDPE as having a melting point of 221-239°F.

Who to believe??? What to do? What is the risk of consumption of 3-4 meals a day for a couple or three weeks over the course of a year?

pat

I think it's a worthwhile discussion in the context of this thread... not a fight at all...

The melting point quoted above is for raw LDPE. The stuff a factory would use for making plastic parts and shapes via injection molding.
The flimsy bag-quality LDPE has a lower MP, which will depend on the quality of the plastic used by the manufacturer. Same for other types of plastics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyet...mal_properties
Emphasis mine...

The melting point for average, commercial, low-density polyethylene is typically 105 to 115 °C (221 to 239 °F). These temperatures vary strongly with the type of polyethylene.

Reality..... We eat plastic all the time.
Do you use plastic bowls/containers to reheat your food in the microwave? I try not to, but I don't get too worried about it.
My lunch curry was boiling around the edges of my ceramic bowl yesterday. Surely hot enough to soften (and thereby allow leaching from) tupperware.

It's not considered toxic, but, I try to avoid it, especially when an easy alternative is available.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17365139

[UNM1136]

Muchas Gracias.

pat

[CSW]

^^^ PBR!!

A fave for me too!

[Moshjath]

So, apparently I dramatically underestimated the amount of stuff that I own with my recent decision to do a full DITY PCS to a new duty station, and was unable to fit my Weber Kettle/Smoke-EZ converter into the U Haul trailer that I rented. It found a home with a grateful young E5 that lived across the street from me at Polk. So over this PCS leave, I decided to drive down to Columbus and visit a buddy at Benning who I hadn’t seen for the past four years. Over the course of the visit, We decided to check out the Golden’s Foundry downtown after I recalled that they had a new cooker on the market last time I was stationed there. Well, We got a full tour of the foundry, which was pretty cool, and a very convincing sell of their Golden’s Cast Iron Cooker. I showed up the next day with a credit card and a trailer to pick up a new grill.


The basic concept is the same as a Big Green Egg Kamado style cooker, just made out of Cast Iron and completely made in the US rather than Mexico. They are relatively new to the market, entering it within the past five years or so, but the dealer network is growing quickly. I got it with extra cast iron grates so I can have a multilevel Smoke if I want, and I also got a divider which splits the firebox portion in two so you can have a hot zone for direct cooking and an indirect zone as well. It weighs a hefty 450lbs, but should (hopefully) be the last cooker I ever purchase! So far in the couple of days I’ve had it I’ve just made beer can chicken on it and cooked some burgers and dogs on it with the neighbors. Still getting a feel for the amount of lump charcoal it will require for various temps, but so far with the massive cast iron construction it seems very good at regulating temperatures. I’m a fan so far, and will post further updates as I use it more.

[RoyGBiv]

^^^^ Very nice.

What's the recommended care instruction for the outside of the cast iron body?

I've never eaten anything made on one of those types of cookers, but have read about how great they are. I need to convince one of my friends that they need one.

[Moshjath]

^^^^ Very nice.

What's the recommended care instruction for the outside of the cast iron body?

I've never eaten anything made on one of those types of cookers, but have read about how great they are. I need to convince one of my friends that they need one.

The exterior is powder coated to alleviate rusting. I’m obviously keeping a close eye on it. And their recommendation for the interior is to just use it to season the iron. I did purchase their cover for it since I don’t have a roof over my deck.

https://www.goldenscastiron.com

[rob_s]

Got 18 adults and 16 kids to feed on Saturday. I'm counting that as 24 servings (between kids eating less and/or none) so planning on 12 pounds of boneless pork butt.

I'm thinking I may do at least one of the two in nothing but salt and pepper rub. Anyone ever tried that?

[RoyGBiv]

Got 18 adults and 16 kids to feed on Saturday. I'm counting that as 24 servings (between kids eating less and/or none) so planning on 12 pounds of boneless pork butt.

I'm thinking I may do at least one of the two in nothing but salt and pepper rub. Anyone ever tried that?

12 pounds of butt will render to maybe 10 pounds after smoking, de-fatting and pulling the bone Suggest you go bigger, or, add a few racks of ribs for some variety. Kids love meat on a stick and leftovers don't suck. Certain all 34 people are carnivores? Maybe smoke some fish too. Kroger has tilapia on sale here this week. Pretty good with Pecan smoke.

As far as simple salt and pepper rub, I've tried it and prefer the traditional way. If you do try it and find the results too mellow, just sprinkle on your preferred rub after you pull it. Maybe with a bit of ACV to help it distribute.

[rob_s]

12 pounds of butt will render to maybe 10 pounds after smoking, de-fatting and pulling the bone Suggest you go bigger, or, add a few racks of ribs for some variety. Kids love meat on a stick and leftovers don't suck. Certain all 34 people are carnivores? Maybe smoke some fish too. Kroger has tilapia on sale here this week. Pretty good with Pecan smoke.

As far as simple salt and pepper rub, I've tried it and prefer the traditional way. If you do try it and find the results too mellow, just sprinkle on your preferred rub after you pull it. Maybe with a bit of ACV to help it distribute.

it's bone-LESS. So the yield tends to result in about 1/2 lbs raw per person, and about 1/2 person per kid.

reading more about using only salt & pepper it appears that's not great for pork. I'm on a restricted diet right now so garlic and onion are out, so I think I'm going to add just one more ingredient and use light brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Probably do one butt for "me" and one with my normal rub. The recipe I'm going to use for "my" butt is
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/f...-butt-56389621

• 1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

I'm also planning on doing this sauce
https://www.thespruceeats.com/southe...e-sauce-333697

• 1 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (juice of 1 lemon)
• 5 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup vinegar (white or apple cider vinegar)

[RoyGBiv]

it's bone-LESS.

I haven't seen a completely boneless butt around here in quite a while.. My dog LOVES the bone.