Super Best BBQ

Discussion in 'Food and Drink' started by Mshenay, Jun 19, 2017.

  1. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    Only active tube based ones are any good!
     
  2. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Never heard of that mod before. Might be for the future.

    I'm just using the smoker expect without the water pan. It actually gets really hot as it has a chimney effect.
     
  3. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    I don't have much experience with pellet grills. My first question would be do you have access to good cooking grade pellets?

    There is a lot of upside to pellets grill. The auto feeders really do take the guess work out.
     
  4. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    So for fathers day I had the following menu:

    -prime tri tip steaks (seasoned with salt, pepper and rubbed with garlic)
    -Santa Maria style salsa
    -beef fat roasted potatoes

    41584D18-2FBF-44DD-BC40-10EDFF81481F.jpeg

    Reading about how tri tip is cooked, I discovered that they use red oak and adjustable grates to keep the flames from completely burning up the meat. Using wood appealed to me but never seemed like an option with a regular charcoal grill. The Weber Smoky Mountain however has two levels a fair distance from the coals, which I figured would keep things out of reach of the flames. I used a mix of coals and wood chunks and removed the water pan.

    IMG_2292.JPG IMG_2294.JPG

    Now I somewhat assumed that the increased height from the coals would make it a bit cooler and I was doing this mainly for the smoke flavor. Later on I would remove the stack and just put the grill directly on the bottom layer. Turns out the opposite occurred and it was far hotter then I expected. II am sure many of you that use a chimney starter for charcoal are familiar with how red hot the coals get with little effort, well cooking like this creates a megasized version. Some hairs on my fingers were singed while flipping the meat and I needed to use BBQ gloves the rest of the time. I think with some modification this is also a good way to simulate a tandoori oven. Or just get a ceramic smoker like a Big Green Egg.

    For a nice browned exterior without overcooking the inside you need to have as high a temp as possible. People have even resorted to using blowtorches to brown the outside. Well if you have a Weber Smoker, I would seriously consider this method as it doesn't require any special equipment. The results speak for themselves:

    IMG_2297.JPG

    Now some consideration needs to be taken when carving a tri-tip. The fibers don't run along the length, so I find it's best to split it into two parts before slicing:

    IMG_2299.JPG

    As this is one of the tougher cuts of meat, be sure to slice thin. Serve with salsa and potatoes

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    Also wanted to include a review of the Lavatools Javelin Pro thermometer. I bought this awhile back since it was cheap and I wanted a good pen-style thermometer. I cooked the steak until the thermometer said it was 125f expecting a nice rare to medium-rare. However cutting into the meat it looked far closer to well-done. Luckily tri tip is one of those cuts that is okay cooked a bit more, but I am very disappointed in the performance of this thermometer. Because of this I CANNOT RECOMMEND the Javelin Pro.
     
  5. bixby

    bixby Friend

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  6. westermac

    westermac Friend

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    This past weekend I was excited to finally try out a Cookshack electric smoker that I recently found and repaired. Long story short, the smoker functioned perfectly and the ribs were the worst I've ever had (I lived in Memphis for awhile so my standards are pretty high).

    Lessons learned include not going overboard with the wood (resulting in bitter, acrid flavors) and not relying solely on the thickest part of the rack to judge temperature/doneness. Might work for drumsticks, brats, etc but the rest of the rack was toast. Ah well... nowhere to go but up, right?
     
  7. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    For meats that will certainly be beyond well done (ribs, brisket, pork shoulder), I find that feel is a far better gauge than temperature. For brisket I only use a thermometer when I'm resting the meat or maybe to check if I reached the stall.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
  8. Velomane

    Velomane Acquaintance

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    I've been using a Cookshack for a few years now. 4 ounces is the most wood I'll put in it. That's about two chunks worth.
     
  9. bazelio

    bazelio Friend

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    Traeger pellets are easy to find. Not sure if they work in Rec Tec grills, but Amazon delivers Rec Tec pellets free.
     
  10. BillOhio

    BillOhio Friend

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    I made cornbread muffins this morning, not the boxed ones, and it turns out that honey and butter and sugar is delicious. Also, I took a trial run at baked beans and also crock pot herb roasted potatoes last night, also delicious as is that seasoned corn on the cob in the crock pot.

    I'm thinking a corn and black bean salad to round out the sides menu and tortilla with a couple different home made salsas, maybe along with the corn bread muffins as 'hors d'uerves'.

    So... yeah.
     
  11. luckybaer

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    I have a Camp Chef smoker that uses pellets. I've done baby back ribs, beef brisket, pork butt, and pork shoulder. Its a winner. Lots of recipes online, pellets available through amazon (if you can't find them locally or if you are lazy, like me), hard to screw up if you follow directions. Everything I've made has been a hit with the family. Oh, and they are pretty easy to maintain.
     
  12. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    Your family or your smoker or both?
     
  13. luckybaer

    luckybaer Friend

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    Both! Haha... I just took a look, and my pronoun usage was poor.
     
  14. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    All the best to you, your family......and the smoker :)
     
  15. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    DSC01890.jpg

    I really, really suck at photography...

    But I wanted to talk about my 4th of July pork loin roast. I used a local, but mostly atypical bbq seasoning that features brown sugar and smoke flavorings. I then added smoked paprika and black pepper on top of that. I was having a hard time keeping the temperature down at 225 where I like it. It was a hot and windy 4th here, so I was mostly hovering at 250 instead, which brought the cook time down to 3 hours 15 minutes. That was way faster then I planned for this 7 pound roast.

    I only had time for one spritz of cranberry juice, but I would normally do two or three. When I hit a temp of 145, I coated it in a South Carolina style mustard bbq sauce, wrapped it, and took it off the heat for a longer then planned rest.

    The smokiness and mustard played quite well together, and will use this flavor pairing again. Oh and FYI, I added some applewood to the charcoal for a light smoke, since I didn't want to overload the smoke flavor with something like mesquite.


    I know someone was talking about their negative experience with a budget thermometer, and I'd like to share a more positive review. I believe this was my 5th time using my ThermoPop, and its been super consistent. It seems to always be 2 degrees higher then my Thermoworks Smoke temperature monitor. And I really like its rotating display. It feels like a baby Thermapen. I mean the auto on/off and self rotating display are a plus for the $99 thermometer, but at $29, I have no desire to spend the extra money right now....
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2018
  16. Gofspar

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    sorry for the image spam, but heres what I've been making out on the RECTEC.
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    CANT FORGET THE CHICKEN.
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  17. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    That's some great looking smoke penetration. Now I want to make ribs too...
     
  18. aamefford

    aamefford Nothing like chamberpot coffee

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    RecTec - Nice! I’ve been honing my chops on a Weber Performer kettle - the regular 22.5” kettle with the nice table and cart and the gas charcoal lighter. If you must have only one - a Weber kettle is tough to beat. I use a Slow-n-Sear pretty religiously with it. Lots of tri tip and rib eyes, only one round of ribs so far. A pork butt and a brisket are on the challenge list for this summer. I splurged and we got a Weber 4 burner gas grill this year as well, for the instant on burgers, quick, thin steaks and for all the side dishes like corn, onions, potatoes, asparagus....

    Oh, thermometers - a couple of thermoworks dots and a thermapen for me. So far.

    Once I cook a brisket and a pork butt successfully, I’m looking at the Kamado style grills to round out the collection. Maybe next year. Apparently if I cook, I get a semi-free pass on barbecue equipment.

    Wow - sorry for the BBQ life story. I like barbecuing.....
     
  19. eastboundofnowhere

    eastboundofnowhere Facebook Friend

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    Review of Kamado Joe:

    I can add food stuff later but wanted to throw this out there in case it helps anyone.

    I have lived with the Joe for ten months now. I use the grill at least once a week and frequently two too three times a week. This is almost as therapeutic as audio and as an added bonus I can listen to music while I work, not eat out for really good food, and it’s just really fun.

    When I got into this I was torn between stick burner, charcoal, or pellet grill. I went with this style because it is more efficient than a traditional charcoal grill yet less labor intensive than a stick burner. Personally, I am a hamburger fanatic so a good sear ultimately made me go this route. Burgers are always best this way, my opinion.

    I wanted a grill/smoker for burgers and brisket; now I have discovered pulled pork, seafood and chicke. I hate chicken. But, it is cheap and healthier and it is very good once you can cook it right. The ro
     
  20. eastboundofnowhere

    eastboundofnowhere Facebook Friend

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    The rotisserie attachment is a must! I wrote a much longer review on this but it got erased. Bottom line is that I have used this more than any audio component. If you have a family larger than four and cook veggies as well as meat get the larger kamado. If you are pressed for time get a pellet grill. I am getting a rec tec, price to performance ratio is off the charts per research.
     

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