Gratuitous Grillin' Thread 2015

[femurphy77]

We changed directions for our planned smoke yesterday, (I didn't want to get up at 2 a.m. after a long work week) we did ribs instead of butts and they turned out quite nicely. This truly is a hobby that demands practice to get it right though. I'm now to the point with our chargiller that I'm not have trouble getting enough heat out of it but am now learning which thermometers are legit. Trying to get an even heat throughout the cook chamber is probably a bridge too far so I've learned to just average them for a representative reading. I use a couple of wireless thermometers to stab the meat and give me chamber temps when doing butts, the little analogs we installed in the lid just look cool at this point as they aren't really accurate.

The great thing about this hobby is that when a project only turns out so so it's still pretty damn good!!

 

[Caleb]

I have wanted to try one. Maybe for the next smoke.

My one pet peeve about ham is the ungodly amount of salt the meat has. Wish walmart had steaks, so much for procrastination.

 

[Joe G]

Thanks! For this particular smoke I used cherry wood and during the first and last hour to maximize my smoke I soaked the wood in water ahead of time. I use a bed of lump charcoal and add a few pieces of charcoal and wood as needed to regulate my temp.

Oh yeah. Cherry will give a nice dark coloring all by itself.

I don't soak my wood after reading a lot about it. For 95% it's not needed and actually does more harm than good because it smolders producing mostly harsh white smoke until it dries vs the coveted TBS (thin blue smoke). My 30" Digital MES is doing much better making TBS with dry wood vs soaked chips.

 

[ghuns]

No lump charcoal?

I use lump in my small smoker where I want low heat and long burn time, but not for whole hog. For that, just need something that makes fire. I open the lid every 45 minutes or so to turn it, inject it, and add more charcoal.

Never got a good after picture. Things were getting hectic around the time he came off. Here he is when he went on in his foil and chicken wire wrapped glory...

 

[nsolimini]

Well I bought a smoke box for my gas grill and gave smoking a try. I used a mixture of Apple & Hickory for the smoking.

Some lessons learned, the smoke boxes do not work very well at all, but for $9 it was worth it. I also made my own pork rub, I used too much cayenne pepper.

Smoked this pork loin for just about 4.5 hours at about 250. Then I thin sliced the pork, put it on a bun with sauce and coleslaw.

 

[SkinNFluff]

Well I finally got tried of not having a grill, so I just made one. It's on the small side but we never have company anyway.

View attachment 39771

 

[foszoe]

Well I finally got tried of not having a grill, so I just made one. It's on the small side but we never have company anyway.

View attachment 39771

So how many cars on blocks are in Your front yard now?

 

[SkinNFluff]

So how many cars on blocks are in Your front yard now?

None (as of this moment). Car was sold for scrap. Kept the wheels because they had brand new tires that never saw the pavement. Tires are now on my truck and decided to make this instead of selling the wheels for scrap. I am working on building my reverse flow smoker using a couple air compressor tanks. It will take me a little longer to build though.

 

[PUalum04]

Well, I just read through this entire thread and I must say, there are some talented cooks in here!!

I am a Weber fan and currently run an 18" Kettle and an 18" Smokey Mountain Cooker. I love cooking with the Smokey Mountain and have gotten to a point where I am pretty confident with pork shoulders and spare ribs. My plan is try a packer brisket before the end of the month. I will definitely have to remember to take pics of the process and share them in here.

So, all you lump burners in here, what is your brand of choice? Do you still use smoke wood with the lump?

I burn Kingsford with some apple splits for smoke. The Kingsford is consistent however I would like to use something more natural.

 

[Fargo]

I've found that the Gordon Food Service brand lump is both cheap and far better than anything else I've tried including Royal Oak, Kroger, or Cowboy. I also don't find chunks of stone and concrete like I have in RO and Kroger.

While you get a bit of smoke off lump, I still use chunks of hickory or fruitwood.

 

[w_ADAM_d88]

I use Cowboy brand just because it's what I've found locally (in Greenfield) that works the best for me but I also use wood for the majority of my smoke.

 

[nsolimini]

Im starting to get pretty good at this. Back ribs and Andouille sausage.

 

[Clay]

Smoked my first baby backs this weekend for a family reunion. My aunt always over does it for this thing every year. She brought me racks. I tried to convince her we didn't need anywhere near that. I wanted to do 7, but ended up doing 12!! Had my egg knock off Akorn and my pellet smoker both filled up. They turned out AWESOME!!!!!!! I think I ate a 1/2 rack during the process of saucing the ribs

 

[chezuki]

^^ Those babies look great!

Some garden goodies from this past weekend... With a 16oz NY strip of course.

 

[steveh_131]

since my wife has declared herself to be anti-charcoal, I cooked some burgers and dogs on my piece of garbage brinkwomann grill this weekend.

here is my recipe:

• 1lb hamburger meat, lowest quality possible since you're ruining it anyways
• cheap off-brand hotdots to better absorb the taste of failure
• chinese cheese slices (since gas grills are un-American)
• 3 tsp of your own tears

Steps:

1. Rub the rust off of your crappy gas grill
2. Put all 7 pounds of rust in a bucket to haul off for scrap
3. sculpt that meat into something resembling patties, without washing your hands
4. Turn your grill knobs to somewhere between 'hotter than the blazes of hell' and 'colder than your wife's heart'
5. Accept that there is no in-between with this horrendous contraption
6. Use a lighter to light it since your grill is a piece of crap
7. Glance mournfully at your weber kettle grill, cast off to the corner of the deck
8. check the lid thermometer to make sure that it is still a worthless piece of crap
9. put the food on, try to avoid the hot spots and cold spots that comprise 98% of the cooking surface
10. tell your drum smoker that you're so sorry for neglecting it
11. cook your crappy food until it is charred in a passive-aggressive attempt to change your wife's mind
12. season generously with your tears of failure as a man
13. plate the food. garnish with some grass clippings, since it is now more suitable for animal consumption

"Oh, I'm sorry honey, I thought you liked your food destroyed like a gas station in a Michael Bay movie."

 

[ghuns]

"Oh, I'm sorry honey, I thought you liked your food destroyed like a gas station in a Michael Bay movie."

And if she's anti-charcoal, she would surely not even get the Michael Bay reference. Pfft, women.

We're here for ya man.

Have you tried marriage counselling?

 

[phylodog]

Somebody get Steve some rep for me, it won't let me and that was some funny ****!

 

[ghuns]

Somebody get Steve some rep for me, it won't let me and that was some funny ****!

Already done.

Laughing at another man's crumbling marriage is cold though.

 

[w_ADAM_d88]

So when are you serving her with divorce papers?

 

[femurphy77]

since my wife has declared herself to be anti-charcoal, I cooked some burgers and dogs on my piece of garbage brinkwomann grill this weekend.

here is my recipe:

• 1lb hamburger meat, lowest quality possible since you're ruining it anyways
• cheap off-brand hotdots to better absorb the taste of failure
• chinese cheese slices (since gas grills are un-American)
• 3 tsp of your own tears

Steps:

1. Rub the rust off of your crappy gas grill
2. Put all 7 pounds of rust in a bucket to haul off for scrap
3. sculpt that meat into something resembling patties, without washing your hands
4. Turn your grill knobs to somewhere between 'hotter than the blazes of hell' and 'colder than your wife's heart'
5. Accept that there is no in-between with this horrendous contraption
6. Use a lighter to light it since your grill is a piece of crap
7. Glance mournfully at your weber kettle grill, cast off to the corner of the deck
8. check the lid thermometer to make sure that it is still a worthless piece of crap
9. put the food on, try to avoid the hot spots and cold spots that comprise 98% of the cooking surface
10. tell your drum smoker that you're so sorry for neglecting it
11. cook your crappy food until it is charred in a passive-aggressive attempt to change your wife's mind
12. season generously with your tears of failure as a man
13. plate the food. garnish with some grass clippings, since it is now more suitable for animal consumption

"Oh, I'm sorry honey, I thought you liked your food destroyed like a gas station in a Michael Bay movie."

Send this photo to the owner of the Indy Fuel and you may just get a fat contract supplying pucks for the season. If it makes you feel any better I made up 45 hamburger patties last night for an upcoming family reunion. Some onion soup mix, some teriyaki sauce and some garlic salt. Patty them out to just over normal bun size using about 1/4 lb per burger. Preheat grill to HOT. Throw burgers on for about 4-5 minutes on the first side minutes on the first side and 3-4 minutes on the second side, cheese as necessary then close the lid for about 20 seconds and them bad boys are good to go. Fast cooking them over high heat sears the juices in good and you don't end up with charcoal lumps on your bun. Even the GF who wants all of her meat cooked to just this side of Hiroshima LOVES them this way.

Damn now I'm getting hungry!!