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

[rob_s]

had the above the following day cold, with mayo, on two slices of the wife's home-made bread. was so good! However, (and I don't know if this is all tri tip) there was one line of fat running through it that makes it kind of difficult on a sandwich. Next time around I'll do a bit of investigating and probably slice it differently.

I also *won't* slice the leftovers and leave it whole. Thataway I can make thinner slices for sandwiches from the leftovers and the fat line probably won't be as much of an issue then.

[farscott]

Two questions for the charcoal users...

1) if you use lump, and you believe strongly in your lump of choice, what is it and why do you love it?
2) whether you use lump or briquettes, what’s your method of starting them and why do you like that method?

No real preference on lump as all seem to be hit or miss. I was using some Brazilian oak until I found pieces with metal screws in them. I usually just use Kingsford bought when Lowe's puts it on sale during Memorial Day and Independence Day and chunks of various fruit (peach, apple, cherry) smoke woods in everything but the stick burner, including the BGE. I just have to clean more often.

As for starting, I use a Weber chimney starter as it is easy to use, allows the coals to start while I do prep work, and adds no unwanted flavors.

[rob_s]

No real preference on lump as all seem to be hit or miss. I was using some Brazilian oak until I found pieces with metal screws in them. I usually just use Kingsford bought when Lowe's puts it on sale during Memorial Day and Independence Day and chunks of various fruit (peach, apple, cherry) smoke woods in everything but the stick burner, including the BGE. I just have to clean more often.

As for starting, I use a Weber chimney starter as it is easy to use, allows the coals to start while I do prep work, and adds no unwanted flavors.

I'm pretty much same right now. I'm interested in possibly switching for two reasons...
1) I'm tired of cleaning out ash, and if I can find a lump that ashes less than the Kingsford briquets I use now, I may be willing to switch (I hear lump fans tout the lack of ash from time to time)
2) my new permanent location for the smoker has a low-ish roof and it's starting to... brown (lol) from the heat coming off the chimney, which has me looking at possible alternative starting methods (like an electric coil, or a heat gun, etc.)


Me being me, I intend to run a test on a chimney full of briquets and a chimney full of lump and see what's left behind in terms of ash.

[farscott]

Me being me, I intend to run a test on a chimney full of briquets and a chimney full of lump and see what's left behind in terms of ash.

Kingsford will leave more ash but not as much as you expect IF you are using it as a smoker. You get less ash from lump when grilling, but I saw about the same for smoking.

For smoking, I now just use my SmokinTex 1400 now as it uses a lot less wood and is easier to prep/clean. I use one chunk in the wood box for ribs, chicken, and turkey and two for beef and pork butt. I now use the BGE for just grilling.

https://www.smokintex.com

[rob_s]

Kingsford will leave more ash but not as much as you expect IF you are using it as a smoker. You get less ash from lump when grilling, but I saw about the same for smoking.

For smoking, I now just use my SmokinTex 1400 now as it uses a lot less wood and is easier to prep/clean. I use one chunk in the wood box for ribs, chicken, and turkey and two for beef and pork butt. I now use the BGE for just grilling.

https://www.smokintex.com

I don't grill over charcoal. Unless I happen to already have the smoker going, in which case it can be pretty easy to grill on my fire box (it's designed to, has a grate and everything).

I'm not quite ready to go back to an electric smoker just yet. If I do go to something that plugs in, it's more likely to be a pellet smoker than a straight up electric smoker, at this point.

Frankly, if my smoker just had an easy way to clear out the ash I wouldn't probably even be thinking about lump or pellets. I'm half tempted to buy a welder and a torch and teach myself welding as a way to add an ash tray to the thing. The problem now is that you have to pull the entire ash tray out the top to clear it, which also means you have to disturb all the un-burnt coals. if it had an ash tray drawer that pulled from the front, like a lot of vertical smokers have, you could stir the leftover coals so the ash dropped down, then pull out the drawer and dump the ash without further disturbing the leftover coals.

I already made a basket out of a finer mesh so I can pull the unburnt out, set it aside, pull out the factory ash pan and dump it, but it's still a pain in the butt.

you can kind of see what I'm dealing with here
https://youtu.be/fTqmvgZZ4W8?t=76

[UNM1136]

Last night Mrs. UNM1136 wanted beer can chicken for dinner. I obliged.

Two birds from warehouse club store, because it is just as easy two cook two birds as one, and I have overtime tonight, so leftovers are welcome. Got them home, unwrapped and laid them on a sheet pan with a rack. Rubbed them generously, will rub with oil first next time. Thought that since I was peeling the skin back, rubbing, and then putting it back into place that the rub would adhere better. Lost probably a quarter cup of rub trying to hit everything. Let them sit for 5 hours or so, knowing that they would have been better wrapped in plastic and chilled overnight, then air dried for an hour or two before tossing in the smoker. Chopped an onion, added it with a couple minced cloves of garlic and about a table spoon of rub to about half a can of locally brewed Mexican lager. Added a couple ounces cider vinegar to the can. Bought a couple of beer can chicken stands, because the smoker loads different than my old grill, and I don't like ripping skin and tipping birds with 8-10 ounces of simmering liquid and fat poorly contained even less than I dislike unitaskers in my kitchen. Assembled and stuck the birds in the smoker over pecan. Smoked to temp (about 1.5 hours to 165 in the thigh. When She Who Must Be Obeyed got home from work she commented on how great the neighborhood smelled. Tented while I prepared my side dishes of mashed potatoes and stir fried garlic and ginger broccoli.

Wife thought the bird could have done with more time, she thought the breast was a little undercooked. Sixty seconds in the radiation cube fixed it. Success!

This morning I got up and eyed a leftover thigh. Peeled the skin off, chopped it up and nuked it till crispy and all the unsightly chunks of smoked fat had rendered. Pulled the chicken thigh, added it to a bowl with the skin and schmaltz. Added a chopped apple, dried tart cherries, and some slivered red onion. Added a block of low fat cream cheese, a couple generous tablespoons of homemade mayonaise, and I wanted more creaminess, so about the same amount of sour cream as mayo. Checked the fridge for grapes and pomegranate aerils, no luck. Salt, black pepper, ground ginger to taste, and a scant quarter teaspoon of mass produced curry powder. Folded it all together. Maybe a sprinkle paprika and chopped chives on top. Chilled a couple hours in the chill chest. Served it to The Mistress of the Household on tortillas, but when she finished she grabbed a bag of pita chips and is just dipping them.

Smoked chicken salad success! With leftovers!

Tonight shredding the other bird to make tacos before I get cleaned up for work.

pat

[UNM1136]

This morning I found a smoked breast and thigh left over from last week's birds. Chopped up. Combined with corn chips, eggs and salsa for one of my new fascinations: migas. I know, I know. My wife and kids don't care for corn tortillas, so I rarely have them in the house. But I almost always have corn chips. Bit of oil in the pan, crushed corn chips added. Diced chicken added. Stirred till the chicken was heated through and the chips were browning. Added 8 eggs, scrambled, with salt, pepper, and a bit of whole milk. Stirred till the eggs were almost done. Splash of salsa, till just heated, topped with cheese, chopped scallions, and thinly sliced radishes. Total time, including prep and cook: 20 minutes. Served to rave reviews from three notorious picky eaters.

Smoked chicken migas. Big success.

pat

[NPV]

Taking a lot longer than expected I’m around 3 hours I’m almost there but I planned on two max........oh well

[NPV]

Both came out great. Personally I preferred the chicken seasoned only with salt, pepper, dried thyme, and cooked whole. But half of the family preferred the spatchcocked version with the rub I put together.

[rob_s]

Ready to redeem myself with beef ribs. Went bigger and better!

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Got nervous and pulled the ribs too early I think. More fat than I’d have liked. Coolered them for a couple of hours that totally should have been cooker time.

Also, kept it about 230-250 all day. Probably go hotter next time too.

The meat, however, was fantastic.

I *think* that cooking hotter to a higher internal temp would be better. After my beef back ribs debacle I was very worried about cooking at too high a temp, and watching them shrink down so much on the bone led me to pull them off too early.

Next time I’m going to shoot to cook them at about 275, and not pull them off the s over until they hit 205 confirmed at multiple check points.

Here’s how this batch looked when I started slicing. Took them off the smoker about 3:30 and started slicing about 5:30 after two hours wrapped in butcher paper in a cooler. The good news is that all that resting didn’t seem to hurt the crust at all. I’m finding that wrapping in butcher paper vs foil (as I used to) makes a ton of difference in that department.

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Quoting myself to remind myself "don't fuck up" with the two racks I picked up at Wild Fork yesterday (along with a picanha I'm dying to figure out...)

I think the rib plan is

smoke at 275
remove at 205