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Going to start my first butt tonight around 11pm. It is 14lbs before trimming and I hope to eat it around 3pm tomorrow. Think I am going to foil it if i can stay up or get up in time. Wish me luck.
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May 26, 2013 16:53
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Maybe I'm crazy but to eat at 3 I would start it earlier and wrap it up if it was done early. 14lbs is no joke.
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May 26, 2013 17:57
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fps_bill posted:It's really too bad there's no place in Bedford to get meat at 2AM. Otherwise I'd have a few butts on the wsm right now BIG ONES!!!!!!!. I get super crispy skin doing chicken on my Weber kettle just by spatchcocking the chicken and basting the skin every 30 minutes with 1:1 olive oil:lemon juice. It's fantastic.
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May 26, 2013 18:07
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bunnielab posted:Going to start my first butt tonight around 11pm. It is 14lbs before trimming and I hope to eat it around 3pm tomorrow. Think I am going to foil it if i can stay up or get up in time. Wish me luck. Sellouts is right. Start earlier or cut it in half and hold it in a towel stuffed cooler if it finishes early. You're only giving yourself an hour a pound, including resting and pulling. Which seems a bit optimistic, especially if foiling isn't a sure thing. If it ends up taking an hour and a half a pound plus an hour to rest and pull, that's going to push you out to like 9pm and everyone will be dead from starvation.
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May 26, 2013 18:12
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Picked up 400 lbs of charcoal at lowes. That should last a while. Publix had pork spare ribs for 1.99 a lb so I got 4 racks to cook tomorrow. Should be a good day.
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May 26, 2013 19:20
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cornface posted:Sellouts is right. Start earlier or cut it in half and hold it in a towel stuffed cooler if it finishes early. Yeah, recent events have cast the whole loving plan into doubt as I may have to work until noon tomorrow so the woman will have to do most of the smoker sitting. Fortunately this is really just a "test butt" as there is really no one coming over and the plan was to use most of the meat for pork chili later in the week. I may just stay up through the night so I can foil and just be a cranky, smoky smelling bitch at work tomorrow. Really this was an insanely optimistic plan from the get go and if I wasn't so hot to do a butt before I start traveling for work again I would not be in this mess. But the rub is on the pork as of 7am this morning so the die is cast.
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May 26, 2013 19:34
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The fatties were a huge hit, everyone loved them. I thought they turned out really well for my first time doing it, though I think I could have pulled them from the smoker just a bit earlier than I did. They did get a pretty nice smoke ring going on which I was happy to see. Used my new little mini smoker for these, since I was not at my house to do them on the BGE. 
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May 26, 2013 20:58
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Cole's Notes: I'm new. Give me beginner tips for lighting and cooking. Long Version: Hello. I am new to charcoal grilling. I read this thread a couple weeks ago when it was only 1 page. The idea of charcoal grilling intrigued me so I went to Canadian Tire (aka Newfie Speed and Sport) and checked out the products. I tossed the old propane grill before I got into this house, so I needed a gas grill as well as a charcoal. I looked at the komodo grill which looks like a direct copy of the Green egg. $500 for the komodo was more than I wanted to spend for something I wasn't sure I needed, so I purchased those Coleman gas/charcoal combo grill instead. http://www.colemanbbqs.com/en/evenheat_bbq_dualfuel.php It arrived Friday and I completed building it yesterday. I then learned that CT will build it for you for $25. The fucker is huge. Its 6.5' wide with the tables. Anyways, the charcoal side is probably not on par with a dedicated charcoal, but this was a good practical choice. So I had some frozen Costco patties in the freezer. I had no real clue as to how to work this thing, so I figured might as well start with cheap meat. I put 20 or so briquettes onto the tray, lit them with the fluid, waited 15 mins or so and then stuck the patties on the other side, for some indirect cooking. I then realised that it takes a solid 1/2 hour or longer before the coals and ready for cooking. Can someone give me a workflow to get the grill up to 300f for cooking ? For example, do you let the coals burn with the vents open fully until they're ready to cook and then choke off the vents ? Or do you let them burn with the lid open, then once they're ready close the lid and then crack the vents. I'm decent with a gas grill. So once the grill is ready for cooking I am fine. But I am stumbling on getting it to the cooking point. I also bought mesquite chips. I will move over to lump coal, but for now I'm just using normal Kingsford briquettes because I read they are more consistent when you're first starting out.
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May 26, 2013 23:35
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Taxes posted:Awesome, I haven't seen this topic before. Now that its BBQ season I want to join y'all. If'n you have a Gator Pit, you should use it every time. /Gator Pit designer, web guy, photographer, video guy, etc.
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May 27, 2013 00:08
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jonathan posted:Cole's Notes: I'm new. Give me beginner tips for lighting and cooking. I would spend a few bucks and get a chimney starter. You basically just fill it up with briquettes and shove a sheet of newspaper or paper towels with a dab of oil on them in the bottom. Light the paper and let it go until the coals start to ash over and dump them in the grill. Shut the lid and leave the vents open until it gets up to temp then use the vents to regulate. It's easier than lighter fluid and won't add a weird flavor to the food.
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May 27, 2013 00:32
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cornface posted:I would spend a few bucks and get a chimney starter. You basically just fill it up with briquettes and shove a sheet of newspaper or paper towels with a dab of oil on them in the bottom. Light the paper and let it go until the coals start to ash over and dump them in the grill. Shut the lid and leave the vents open until it gets up to temp then use the vents to regulate. Great. Thanks! I was looking at that yesterday. Do you leave the chimney in the grill till the coals are ashy or do you let it burn outside the grill ? I did some chicken today. New issue: how do I reduce the temperature ? I used 20 briquettes, and after 2 hours, with the lid closed the temp was still a little under 400f. That's with the vents closed and lid closed. Edit: I was just grilling chicken breasts so the 400f degrees was fine, however I want to do low n slow ribs soon. Its been 3 hours and now the temp is down to 250 degrees. 1) how do I reduce temp? 2) 3 hours is way long to wait for a low temp. Thoughts ? 3) how do I know when the charcoals are almost out of fuel? 4) when the charcoals are out of fuel, how do I add more? Just throw some new ones over the old ? Will that spike the temperature ?
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May 27, 2013 02:41
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The butt was placed in the smoker at 10:30pm EST. The temp at gate is at 214 and I am going to go to bed when it is at 225 and seems stable. I have to leave for work at 5am. Please say a prayer for me and Janice. Which is what we named the butt.
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May 27, 2013 03:49
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bunnielab posted:The butt was placed in the smoker at 10:30pm EST. The temp at gate is at 214 and I am going to go to bed when it is at 225 and seems stable. I have to leave for work at 5am. Top up the water pan when you leave.
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May 27, 2013 03:52
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jonathan posted:I did some chicken today. New issue: how do I reduce the temperature ? I used 20 briquettes, and after 2 hours, with the lid closed the temp was still a little under 400f. That's with the vents closed and lid closed. The monstrosity you bought isn't really designed for low heat cooking. The picture doesn't make it clear, but it looks like the gas side and charcoal side are completely separate compartments, which makes it hard for you to offset your meat from the charcoal/heat source (usually required for low temps). Usually what you would do to maintain low temperatures is only light a few briquettes at first, and then put them in your cooker along with unlit briquettes, giving you lower temps for a longer amount of time (the minion method). I'm not sure you can manage that with what have. I could be wrong... maybe you can figure out how to open a space from the charcoal side to the gas side through the lids. Then you could use the charcoal side as a 'firebox'. Load it up with briquettes, wood, etc. and then put the meat on the other side to smoke. You'd need to rig an exhaust vent if there isn't one already.
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May 27, 2013 04:14
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For what it's worth I recommend getting the Weber fire starter blocks. Newspaper is so ashy, the fire starter blocks are cheap. Makes it a lot easier to me. I hate to say it but combo units like that are usually just mediocre at 2 things and not great at anything. Holding specific temps is going to take a lot of time to understand where each vent needs to be set. If you were at 400f with all vents closed and lid closed, you have air leaking in somewhere. Figure out where that is. Also don't open the top so much if you are as it raises the temp every time.
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May 27, 2013 07:03
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My dad recently bought a BGE and his birthday is coming up. He's got a wireless meat thermometer but he's mentioned he'd like to get a wireless sensor for the dome as well. I checked a few BGE forums and they mentioned this Maverick setup. Does anyone have any recommendations?
bij fucked around with this message at 17:20 on May 27, 2013 |
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May 27, 2013 16:08
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Potential BFF posted:My dad recently bought a BGE and his birthday is coming up. He's got a wireless meat thermometer but he's mentioned he'd like to get a wireless sensor for the dome as well. Does anyone have any recommendations? I checked a few BGE forums and they mentioned this Maverick setup. Does anyone have any recommendations? I just got that same Maverick setup this past weekend, and I am really happy with it so far. Only done one cook with it, doing another today but it worked great. Very pleased with it.
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May 27, 2013 16:28
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Potential BFF posted:My dad recently bought a BGE and his birthday is coming up. He's got a wireless meat thermometer but he's mentioned he'd like to get a wireless sensor for the dome as well. Does anyone have any recommendations? I checked a few BGE forums and they mentioned this Maverick setup. Does anyone have any recommendations? I have that one and it works great. No problems with it at all.
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May 27, 2013 16:37
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sellouts posted:For what it's worth I recommend getting the Weber fire starter blocks. Newspaper is so ashy, the fire starter blocks are cheap. Makes it a lot easier to me. Thanks for the info. It was only $600 and seems like a quality unit for general grilling. I can choose propane or charcoal. I will play around with lighting less coals and see if I can control air better. It has an inlet and exhaust. If worse comes to worse I can always get an electric smoker with the digital readout. And then use those pellet things to smoke.
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May 27, 2013 17:20
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Forgot to mention I've been spraying lighter fluid all over the briquettes and then lighting them with a lighter. Is this part of the high heat problem ? If I light just a few without lighter fluid and some sort of slow burning solid fuel like mentioned above will that keep the heat down ?
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May 27, 2013 17:24
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Got home at noon, the coals were mostly gone so i lit a starters worth and added them. Shot up to 280 then got it back down to 226 in like 10 min. Pork is at like 155-170 depending on where I poke it. On my second beer about to crack a third
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May 27, 2013 17:47
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jonathan posted:Forgot to mention I've been spraying lighter fluid all over the briquettes and then lighting them with a lighter. Is this part of the high heat problem ? Yes, google "Minion method." The basic idea is that it's better to bring the temperature up slowly because it is a lot easier to catch it on the way up than to try to cool it down after the fact. Also if the ash from lighting newspaper in your chimney starter annoys you, spritz a few paper towels with vegetable oil and light the chimney with those. They burn almost completely and you won't have to buy starter cubes.
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May 27, 2013 17:53
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Can I use methanol ? I have an unlimited supply. I can't tell from the msds what it does when you burn it though. I generally use it to light fires in my fire pit. About the chimney, if I use that to light the briquettes, wont they all burn and be too hot ? Edit: OK read the minion method and some methods on choking down the fire. I will give it another go tonight perhaps with some chicken thighs and drumsticks. jonathan fucked around with this message at 18:05 on May 27, 2013 |
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May 27, 2013 17:57
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May 27, 2013 18:01
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jonathan posted:
Just don't fill it all the way. One trick you can use is to turn the chimney upside down, so the grate is closer to the top. Then it holds a smaller amount of charcoal, usually the perfect amount to start a minion method.
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May 27, 2013 18:20
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niss and cornface posted:Maverick thermometer feedback. Thanks, looks like I'll be picking one up!
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May 27, 2013 21:09
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PhotoKirk posted:If'n you have a Gator Pit, you should use it every time. I love my Gator Pit, but on many days I am not around all day to tend to it, and it needs some degree of babysitting.
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May 27, 2013 22:06
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Taxes posted:I love my Gator Pit, but on many days I am not around all day to tend to it, and it needs some degree of babysitting. Are they really worth the kind of money they ask for them?
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May 28, 2013 00:45
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niss posted:I just got that same Maverick setup this past weekend, and I am really happy with it so far. Only done one cook with it, doing another today but it worked great. Very pleased with it. Why this over the Heatermeter? Also building a table for the BGE is no joke. I am exhausted and I just finished cutting and putting together, yet less sanding & standing. and I gotta find an 18" paver, locally only 16" were easy to find
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May 28, 2013 06:10
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sellouts posted:Why this over the Heatermeter? Obviously a Heatermeter or one of the other devices with automatic temperature control is going to be superior. For not spending extra money for a prebuilt unit, or tackling building one myself I think the Maverick is a good compromise. I'll eventually either get up the nerve to tackle building one or just go lazy and buy one of the prebuilt units.
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May 28, 2013 12:50
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VERTiG0 posted:Are they really worth the kind of money they ask for them? Full Disclosure: I am biased. I have a Gator Pit, I work for Gator Pit. Yes. Check out our YouTube channel and you can see the build quality. Our door are fully flanged, our pits are MINIMUM 1/4" steel, they don't leak smoke or heat. If you are in or near Houston, I'll give you a tour of the shop.
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May 28, 2013 17:04
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PhotoKirk posted:Full Disclosure: I am biased. I have a Gator Pit, I work for Gator Pit. What part of town?
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May 28, 2013 17:38
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cornface posted:What part of town? West side, Beltway 8 and West Little York.
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May 28, 2013 19:04
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For memorial day I made a brisket! I also made smoked a chicken and cooked some corn on the smoker, but didn't get a chance to take any pictures. Here's a picture or two:  IMGP9942.jpg by HolyDukeNukem1  IMGP9946.jpg by HolyDukeNukem1
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May 28, 2013 19:10
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VERTiG0 posted:Are they really worth the kind of money they ask for them? It really all depends on how much you barbeque and if you like the idea of buying an offset vs a Kamado or Drum. As far as craftsmanship is concerned, I do think they are worth the price, yes. It is incredibly sturdy and they will customize it any way you like. With care, it should last a lifetime.
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May 28, 2013 19:23
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My butt turned out ok.  Took about 16.5 hours. In the future I will do two small ones instead to get more bark I'm the mix. Also will try to foil to cut down on cooking times. Also also did a fatty because I was drunk.  It was not super good, my bacon was too think and maybe the whole idea is overrated. Or maybe I was just drunk.
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May 28, 2013 19:23
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We recently purchased a propane grill because my girlfriend wanted to use it not bother with charcoal  . Is it possible to smoke with a propane grill? I've read about putting wood chips/chunks in slightly vented foil and throwing that right on the heating elements. Will that work?I know it won't be as good as a real smoker (or even a charcoal grill), but I'd really like to do some smoking this summer.
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May 28, 2013 20:35
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Totally possible to smoke, I've done it with a small smoker box on my Broil King. The hard parts are getting the temps low enough and keeping them stable.
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May 28, 2013 20:39
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bunnielab posted:Took about 16.5 hours. In the future I will do two small ones instead to get more bark I'm the mix. Also will try to foil to cut down on cooking times. How large was the butt? That's quite a long time.
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May 28, 2013 23:00
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bunnielab posted:My butt turned out ok. Butterfly it along the bone and it will cook quicker.
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May 29, 2013 00:23
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