tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35852988193229804702023-11-16T03:45:07.734-08:00The Backyard SmokerNow in my 2nd summer of smoking anything and everything I can get my hands on, follow me as I document my trial and error and watch me feed all kinds of things to my family and friends and help me figure out if they really like it or if they're just being nice.Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-67633572001090629852011-01-30T16:50:00.000-08:002011-01-30T16:50:38.387-08:00Hot Tamales!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">See amateurish video evidence of an East coast tourist eating tamales in Balboa Park, San Diego.<br />
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Fast forward to the 3:00 mark of this one:<br />
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<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SSKIzL9ws_k?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SSKIzL9ws_k?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yGQK0-y4A4k" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="640"></iframe></div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-42529732423845289442011-01-29T20:57:00.000-08:002011-01-29T20:57:27.956-08:00Restaraunt Review: Phil's Barbeque of San Diego!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDxTGLQrEnWxJq-t5R0hmdYs1CDkmKPPgCixqAp4zuyn3CT1AVMDikSYBV4Sxv_ekTDj0tdUW-P9Inqdn14SrxRaTqaHVslepF1t9W3qF-lB01jdjc4KCQqoiJpcQLlJGGVxzOYTUA7c/s1600/370.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDxTGLQrEnWxJq-t5R0hmdYs1CDkmKPPgCixqAp4zuyn3CT1AVMDikSYBV4Sxv_ekTDj0tdUW-P9Inqdn14SrxRaTqaHVslepF1t9W3qF-lB01jdjc4KCQqoiJpcQLlJGGVxzOYTUA7c/s200/370.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When I travel, I only take the best in rental cars.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So recently having had the pleasure of visiting beautiful San Diego, I thought I would check out <a href="http://www.philsbbq.net/">Phil's Barbecue</a>, which every website in town said was the best around. I was dead set on it, even though my local expert Frank D. tried to steer me elsewhere. More on that later. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">For those of you who are Seinfeld fans, Phil's has a kind of organizational structure reminiscent of New York's infamous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Soup_Nazi">Soup Nazi</a> (more on him <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2lfZg-apSA">here</a>), though the staff was much more cordial. There were two lines. Take-out on the left, dine in on the right. The right line led to a counter where you would order fast food style and then get whisked away with a number for servers to bring you your food. I have to admit this place was quite the hit with the locals. They had to stagger the right line so that seating space could keep up with people coming in. By the time we left there was literally a line snaking around the building, so they must be doing something right. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Word to the wise: next time you visit Phil's, go in through the take-out line, hang a left to the bar, and some lovely bartenders will take your order which gets you out of the dine-in line, which could literally save you a couple of hours and reward yourself with a drink or two in the process.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTN0ZaX7F65RmFTtekeINgYlrPJNOBvgz28ygl7cwXlOF3JXVQzQTerrvAyZwreC3txZDH2bIm4fHf5gGV4H8AigQRFZdiB0SykApJTEYKK_XnM0qLIr_4QH7b7c4sI3-iLN5BQsaTsHs/s1600/475.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTN0ZaX7F65RmFTtekeINgYlrPJNOBvgz28ygl7cwXlOF3JXVQzQTerrvAyZwreC3txZDH2bIm4fHf5gGV4H8AigQRFZdiB0SykApJTEYKK_XnM0qLIr_4QH7b7c4sI3-iLN5BQsaTsHs/s320/475.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38I11UYjBDpCNHcJLcnBocY-ebM9C8xi70IWr_rfdQi-uqOXSW3RCeoOxCZu0OCTCwSHOn0z-qQvndXDHT32HN92MuV5_ORAgbLDPwOu04cAdObM0e9sPPr_S6iNRbktpASuPRU3GEzA/s1600/478.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38I11UYjBDpCNHcJLcnBocY-ebM9C8xi70IWr_rfdQi-uqOXSW3RCeoOxCZu0OCTCwSHOn0z-qQvndXDHT32HN92MuV5_ORAgbLDPwOu04cAdObM0e9sPPr_S6iNRbktpASuPRU3GEzA/s320/478.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thus was the spread for our party: baby backs, beef ribs, 'boneless ribs' whatever they are, awesome onion rings, slaw, beans, fries.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dJcj-h9G32qQF7YJ16XxvTvSdplcN-Qwvi7CrKMZqhNF6l2Bt0SSu54HGOAQXAQnVEhlG-VRag14Xn4g17fxkY-vNeNSfsLZtYGn_CRIYIDHBd4mVgmEeSmlUegi-mU9dWhMzuTk2dc/s1600/494.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dJcj-h9G32qQF7YJ16XxvTvSdplcN-Qwvi7CrKMZqhNF6l2Bt0SSu54HGOAQXAQnVEhlG-VRag14Xn4g17fxkY-vNeNSfsLZtYGn_CRIYIDHBd4mVgmEeSmlUegi-mU9dWhMzuTk2dc/s320/494.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now to get the critical piece out of the way. Frank D. had this 'I told you so' look when I discovered this. I dug into a sizable slab of baby back ribs doused in sauce. The picture you see above is the bottom half rack with less sauce. Your eyes do not deceive you - you see evidence of direct grilling on these baby back ribs, which leads to all kinds of questions. Were the boiled? <<gasp>> Any way you slice it I cannot give Phil's high marks for these ribs. Though they had no natural pork flavor, they were tasty and filling and good for a solid meal, though they lacked that barbecue magic that makes me bother typing blogs at midnight in the first place. I am by no means a purist or barbecue snob, and I do like sauce, but if these ribs ever made it to my back yard I would have a hard time deciding whether I should slingshot them onto the Garden State Parkway on one side or the cemetery on the other. Should have listened to Frank. All is not lost though, keep reading.</gasp></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8AFNc0ef2Y8ntdJvFteKFfaglvBse0XNC2iQj1EbOreDjKGgpHMF8KzkR7AvElySh46lY-m-kD9dbg4qLtWGS6BG6OS10mWoh9HrvSLswC4chsSgwR3pWSCRAV_YZHGlZoP_r_KpzGVk/s1600/485.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8AFNc0ef2Y8ntdJvFteKFfaglvBse0XNC2iQj1EbOreDjKGgpHMF8KzkR7AvElySh46lY-m-kD9dbg4qLtWGS6BG6OS10mWoh9HrvSLswC4chsSgwR3pWSCRAV_YZHGlZoP_r_KpzGVk/s200/485.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frank's full dish of lovely beef ribs</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dJcj-h9G32qQF7YJ16XxvTvSdplcN-Qwvi7CrKMZqhNF6l2Bt0SSu54HGOAQXAQnVEhlG-VRag14Xn4g17fxkY-vNeNSfsLZtYGn_CRIYIDHBd4mVgmEeSmlUegi-mU9dWhMzuTk2dc/s1600/494.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz4MhLIZSUoQ2ABxgyehsoUKvsAAHIr8K0rmpuyW4U2rFbUN58JYMWdv2IPUxiWZYJqE0oRtRAOux-1ktHy-u3dZqhDrIVIYNAtfhAA3C6VEZRbdL3iyJ0D2Gd9ZvdL163vQTjxkH45Nk/s1600/492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz4MhLIZSUoQ2ABxgyehsoUKvsAAHIr8K0rmpuyW4U2rFbUN58JYMWdv2IPUxiWZYJqE0oRtRAOux-1ktHy-u3dZqhDrIVIYNAtfhAA3C6VEZRbdL3iyJ0D2Gd9ZvdL163vQTjxkH45Nk/s320/492.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sides were nothing spectacular. The beans were tasty but probably from a can. Slaw was fresh and fluffy but otherwise unremarkable. See a picture above for some great 'real onion rings' as my dad would say.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And now moving forward. The beef rib has been the elusive white rhino of my barbecue adventures. Below you see one beef rib which they serve a la carte, which I think is a great menu idea. These things were GOOD. It figures that after all my inquiries at supermarkets, meat markets, restaurants, that I can't get my hands on real beef ribs without having to place special orders weeks in advance for something frozen, only to come to California to find an abundance of luscious beef ribs falling from the sky.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLyJGFUMSIKFaGq8pw6tZ_Alt3J3GlX6RPltlyK4gPTWLyRJinjor84z7LjN7_pRSYugqZTvPPi-PpHrbe0OD8oP8JWi1IUjaI2WggQD6lnjujfhORfVNH69L9lI2kaahFJi3Hvo8xPI/s1600/483.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLyJGFUMSIKFaGq8pw6tZ_Alt3J3GlX6RPltlyK4gPTWLyRJinjor84z7LjN7_pRSYugqZTvPPi-PpHrbe0OD8oP8JWi1IUjaI2WggQD6lnjujfhORfVNH69L9lI2kaahFJi3Hvo8xPI/s320/483.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">These things were great and definitely absolved Phil of all his sins. Of course while I was experimenting with a little bit of this and a little of that, Frank went straight for a full order of about 6 beef ribs, about a pound each. While I tasted charcoal I did not taste a whole lot of wood flavor so I cannot say they were smoked to perfection, though they were definitely cooked indirectly. Why the difference from the charred pork ribs? Were the beef ribs less delicate? Different chefs? If so, the Jedi master on the beef pit has a lot to teach his young apprentice on the other side of the kitchen.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAPYdHqIu1ih9lhykiDQ0fp64MyYjKGrlc6igD5S3IL2VI8RqnnnvYnFQk-DSfl-ioXIdjjT3pQ-uS5Y_WCA1h-KMuRzO2vXMretwoT7DI4Z73QFmkF5o-Khk4y23QtkrfKMLGs-wl5EI/s1600/502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAPYdHqIu1ih9lhykiDQ0fp64MyYjKGrlc6igD5S3IL2VI8RqnnnvYnFQk-DSfl-ioXIdjjT3pQ-uS5Y_WCA1h-KMuRzO2vXMretwoT7DI4Z73QFmkF5o-Khk4y23QtkrfKMLGs-wl5EI/s320/502.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These ribs were very good. They had great texture, great beef flavor, were not greasy at all, and were HUGE. Any Flintstones fan would drool at one of these.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So now I am home. I am in the dead of winter and I am thinking about snow blowers a lot more than any of my grills, which by the way are under a foot of snow. When the weather breaks, I will go back to finding a source of beef ribs in Northern New Jersey. Maybe I will go to places like the Iron Bound and Market Street in downtown Paterson, or maybe I will find some holes in the wall and review them like my friend the <a href="http://madmeatgenius.com/">Mad Meat Genius</a>. In any event, I will find some beef ribs by the summer. In closing, Phil's was a good, casual eatery with a ton of local support and I'd go back in a heartbeat. More updates from the SD trip on the way! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjakwoRDLiFzNL1eLsn3kpesCsEUtIZ6UYSOSa_g9Mcm7iAwQFDaIeipwEB2LC2KAGPXEhtknnf9Yk2kJlsWMjuMklnt8A21fc8GqJbGpUnEgxPtqco3ATFKBIkJ9v4M7xi6wpKbuehoYk/s1600/509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjakwoRDLiFzNL1eLsn3kpesCsEUtIZ6UYSOSa_g9Mcm7iAwQFDaIeipwEB2LC2KAGPXEhtknnf9Yk2kJlsWMjuMklnt8A21fc8GqJbGpUnEgxPtqco3ATFKBIkJ9v4M7xi6wpKbuehoYk/s320/509.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6X06ihV7SDfYf6DsiSGhikQxFurOxC33bc5SxlOpeUXFNREgZVMmYpRl7ZkEvMLQKBaBQlhM92rO4W7pkH-QaDw_e0Ug3ml220SpGNhBYmkKhca-BV3zMRsXiVfqcWZbClg13W4AWzg0/s1600/505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6X06ihV7SDfYf6DsiSGhikQxFurOxC33bc5SxlOpeUXFNREgZVMmYpRl7ZkEvMLQKBaBQlhM92rO4W7pkH-QaDw_e0Ug3ml220SpGNhBYmkKhca-BV3zMRsXiVfqcWZbClg13W4AWzg0/s200/505.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-11963662629373280392010-10-17T19:16:00.000-07:002010-10-17T19:16:11.555-07:00Can't Make a Bad Rib, Trust Me I Tried This Time.Hi all, I have to start by apologising for my long hiatus from smoking and blogging, though I would prefer to think of it as more of a <i>siesta</i>, as my friends in Sarasota would put it. It has been a busy late summer/early fall. Aplogies nonwithstanding, for a while I was thinking I should try to smke something with the worst possible ingredients and components, to find out if it was truly possible for something bad to come off of my smoker. For those of you that have been regular readers, you know that I have been experimenting with various brands of lump charcoal and higher-quality natural or competition grade briquettes. I got the perfect first piece of material to test my theory when my brother gave me something well below where I have recently been in the charcoal-quality department, a free 18 lb bag of regular Kingsford charcoal, and if that in and of itself wasn't bad (or good) enough, this stuff has been sitting in his trunk for two years! Nothing better to test my theory than a two year old bag of Kingsford briqs with all their standard chemichal binders and who knows what else to give me some funky pork. I started with two chimneys puored into the remnants of the last lump I used in the WSM as yo can see below.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsQFeLcSsbDh0kEAvGYRsFWuQDdjb1uh2Mx-Tj8g062M5_dU-h4AOxclx2-JlvmeYL7HTfhapaNQ7VdmLMnj9WVHSGf7mayOlRdb4uxLA-xjCqEzaywRDIohQtlJU3rnuPCyVmjDWxQqc/s1600/094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0Wop1XtzyRa_2ZLUfPyCxhEILpXCPvFuwNIH7-tPeTAD46U3qOoLKV8dZFsOkr4mol9Vz6GzM9Euwnc5hFXUhCJBbyFd1d3NiNP-VedIAZcHSeezq_RcDnKI-zKKb2IHudM6f9JHuHg/s1600/100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0Wop1XtzyRa_2ZLUfPyCxhEILpXCPvFuwNIH7-tPeTAD46U3qOoLKV8dZFsOkr4mol9Vz6GzM9Euwnc5hFXUhCJBbyFd1d3NiNP-VedIAZcHSeezq_RcDnKI-zKKb2IHudM6f9JHuHg/s320/100.jpg" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsQFeLcSsbDh0kEAvGYRsFWuQDdjb1uh2Mx-Tj8g062M5_dU-h4AOxclx2-JlvmeYL7HTfhapaNQ7VdmLMnj9WVHSGf7mayOlRdb4uxLA-xjCqEzaywRDIohQtlJU3rnuPCyVmjDWxQqc/s320/094.jpg" width="238" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizCXtTSELAxVNIjpRcL1rFs5wDCi8f8D7nhWrrETNzoEZ47t1LP8yGj-hczBBcm_tgUbWhUAyL-eFij4-25k-Rikn9Hh0pmvH7iLKpb3n4Aaf53PBH1WuSsCWOsfERFoQJ-i8S8C0cNeI/s1600/088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizCXtTSELAxVNIjpRcL1rFs5wDCi8f8D7nhWrrETNzoEZ47t1LP8yGj-hczBBcm_tgUbWhUAyL-eFij4-25k-Rikn9Hh0pmvH7iLKpb3n4Aaf53PBH1WuSsCWOsfERFoQJ-i8S8C0cNeI/s320/088.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now for the preparation of the meat. In keeping with the theme of making something that should be barely edible, I decided to make a crappy rub. This by the way happened a day prior. I went into my wife's spice shelf and put whatever we had around into a bowl. I think this consisted of some of the normal stuff like sea salt, pepper, cumin, parsely, garlic and onion powder, etc. Whenever I read about Texas BBQ, I always hear about people putting coffee in their rubs. Maybe it's something that goes back to the cowboy days, when it was all they had out on the open range at the camp fire. I threw in a handful of coffee and a little brown sugar for good measure.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I always hear about the Kansas City Cut and things like that. I didn't have time to research hopw to do that, so I was pretty fast and loose when trimming my meat. I trimmed the flap, some crap off the top and bottom of the rack. I think I'll call this <i>The Bloomfield Cut.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4b23aAFhuv1cZW8V_45jV3yWxxjOTmxBY91rzDiUZdM_PirG4gxRz6t_u_o16bS7PfPsZenEcArSJiodugCPV_MYRcdGzg4POQNsElAyG5TJE8fU-quy6rvtEkEXqVhkWBE5xBD8tvqU/s1600/091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4b23aAFhuv1cZW8V_45jV3yWxxjOTmxBY91rzDiUZdM_PirG4gxRz6t_u_o16bS7PfPsZenEcArSJiodugCPV_MYRcdGzg4POQNsElAyG5TJE8fU-quy6rvtEkEXqVhkWBE5xBD8tvqU/s400/091.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxy8n7uYa1B3gGCDrmuZkULIKgHJzqaXTLPKp_Wv1a-x82ZD179tFYzYfySXov-lxbXvtSeHzW43JTXc1Z1N11qba5vXoBBRXPWJHgNN4c3usfJ513qeg9ZgfbYLucjaRySPdGab1M3Hc/s1600/109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxy8n7uYa1B3gGCDrmuZkULIKgHJzqaXTLPKp_Wv1a-x82ZD179tFYzYfySXov-lxbXvtSeHzW43JTXc1Z1N11qba5vXoBBRXPWJHgNN4c3usfJ513qeg9ZgfbYLucjaRySPdGab1M3Hc/s200/109.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The trimmings and ends made it in as well.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Everything went well. For those of you who have been reading, you know that in the past I had a stash of failed homebrew that I usually use in my waterpan. This time to go along with my theme, I was thinking about going to the liquor store and seeing what malt liquor was in fashion. The waterpan today is filled with none other that Old English. These ribs are going to stink up the place.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikI1PxLuSdFiEg6ZFlxn8yNb7FqlU6HM3_O1EB54Xxsv0jY9bZKpA5QDd3WM27pzOiS5kLXkLNs6XK9aCGHHXrqlU5x4yxq2m6-0PgicbslY2yf96YBgQVdPX0Wz4jCYqH9d3oFCtINuk/s1600/103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikI1PxLuSdFiEg6ZFlxn8yNb7FqlU6HM3_O1EB54Xxsv0jY9bZKpA5QDd3WM27pzOiS5kLXkLNs6XK9aCGHHXrqlU5x4yxq2m6-0PgicbslY2yf96YBgQVdPX0Wz4jCYqH9d3oFCtINuk/s320/103.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> This stuff rubbed up nicely. More on that later.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJHJ0pJ0yh1552ALp8W99xUczpCHKxf_7RwuRkK4Q0PbqHiC_RoE0GyiqIp6rDg_iPGhTc-U1_5Ii-OAMh5pbc25GFuRl9BSyldUzP-VqSlT9aovti07wCjl3q6SAdYiOMp-YyaWjI9E/s1600/107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJHJ0pJ0yh1552ALp8W99xUczpCHKxf_7RwuRkK4Q0PbqHiC_RoE0GyiqIp6rDg_iPGhTc-U1_5Ii-OAMh5pbc25GFuRl9BSyldUzP-VqSlT9aovti07wCjl3q6SAdYiOMp-YyaWjI9E/s320/107.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few hours in, so far, so good. Cheap Home Depot Mesquite chunks on my ribs (yes, mesquite on my pork. I already threw coffee grounds on these things so I thought 'what the hey').</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXQbxtdBmVJyZ0OCX9i2oEkr415oWm4CZO5Br2lhDoqpRUYqg6z-hY6YM0Jo6lhRYgLNhlkRx0_OAK1BrhFAWMFdLRGkx7PjxzxS05z7zFcA31S8xWyTvDF5nyTPsJ1iaV8uJ2VPZcdg/s1600/110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXQbxtdBmVJyZ0OCX9i2oEkr415oWm4CZO5Br2lhDoqpRUYqg6z-hY6YM0Jo6lhRYgLNhlkRx0_OAK1BrhFAWMFdLRGkx7PjxzxS05z7zFcA31S8xWyTvDF5nyTPsJ1iaV8uJ2VPZcdg/s320/110.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A quick mop. I think I used cider vinegar that had been in the house since we moved in.</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWRUe-ituNC8N142YoBKw2bW1ZKToN9QYOlO8jcH8_QStr9DDRZswUcilzVRyWmhwlIBVXFVqiVAOfwEhPXb1l5DLEmU0cZH30SuJuiOu6nYm9WzchBmARmmR5liTAYQcj5WOajzKpZM/s1600/113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWRUe-ituNC8N142YoBKw2bW1ZKToN9QYOlO8jcH8_QStr9DDRZswUcilzVRyWmhwlIBVXFVqiVAOfwEhPXb1l5DLEmU0cZH30SuJuiOu6nYm9WzchBmARmmR5liTAYQcj5WOajzKpZM/s320/113.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A quick refresher.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQVH9F-0vUiU1YfoGeFea-hL2GNuazqbgVgkzjsPmr7Pn9mRfhve7yON3thjDz17YbgxgghlYpXlbcU9KqjJm7z7kVrWjebnqjaHd3_fH5MCdGrATI2bBZbjtxtABxYYCiDEzmbsS8cg/s1600/115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQVH9F-0vUiU1YfoGeFea-hL2GNuazqbgVgkzjsPmr7Pn9mRfhve7yON3thjDz17YbgxgghlYpXlbcU9KqjJm7z7kVrWjebnqjaHd3_fH5MCdGrATI2bBZbjtxtABxYYCiDEzmbsS8cg/s320/115.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF10aRc4KtnFtXfouL6OAy9lcAr-tI0Pc7Qn9ClDjEuWipPTS06-F4I84y669ssx2Dea5QoqCVjXHQ0397RPg8CX7QpwVsBDiLuGOWmQ6bODNxdDmAancGgtycQrAH_54EwjHl6bLQbGM/s1600/121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF10aRc4KtnFtXfouL6OAy9lcAr-tI0Pc7Qn9ClDjEuWipPTS06-F4I84y669ssx2Dea5QoqCVjXHQ0397RPg8CX7QpwVsBDiLuGOWmQ6bODNxdDmAancGgtycQrAH_54EwjHl6bLQbGM/s320/121.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Though this was not going to be my best creation ever, I packed it up in the cooler to rest and brought it to my mother's of all places to get her back from her hippy days feeding me bean sprouts and who knows what else.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj17i7rwlEWDpR7MmrXbFGAbqcPJ9du9PzEjDRsZDK0ZM44y_n68cfogtCklPOe8_fT8hKis74JM9c5wsDvrL5_pMAhOmEJyoi8UiHFvVryNWZRX0Xh8L_Ubg63ENF7XHv9QxTdaHE8QF4/s1600/123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj17i7rwlEWDpR7MmrXbFGAbqcPJ9du9PzEjDRsZDK0ZM44y_n68cfogtCklPOe8_fT8hKis74JM9c5wsDvrL5_pMAhOmEJyoi8UiHFvVryNWZRX0Xh8L_Ubg63ENF7XHv9QxTdaHE8QF4/s200/123.jpg" width="149" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgviBkXRDSXMsdzg8pp_wrKdalDL7GFgQWMuuFzOVCHIcbLBdmu4lHfXgI0YJVEiJNuLiqzsyX7kAXRB7_blFqh97eCbrDejI56hVERBB5zCAA7dNNqN-uOEjzl244kb4ZQRbkwCQCmezk/s1600/124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgviBkXRDSXMsdzg8pp_wrKdalDL7GFgQWMuuFzOVCHIcbLBdmu4lHfXgI0YJVEiJNuLiqzsyX7kAXRB7_blFqh97eCbrDejI56hVERBB5zCAA7dNNqN-uOEjzl244kb4ZQRbkwCQCmezk/s320/124.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close up of a burnt end.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizgBRQLuBN2NaVobWXYQ-41bymHVXz0LLX6lnHVipQXnANYc6vEblgUGTtF45wjZaDAWW2uckQkxgA1SxzTqt7dGdAoOpT7jtHpZjOK4lF7LtvciBeCCgAbwcMk1E_VCdg2fiCkm5O2zw/s1600/128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizgBRQLuBN2NaVobWXYQ-41bymHVXz0LLX6lnHVipQXnANYc6vEblgUGTtF45wjZaDAWW2uckQkxgA1SxzTqt7dGdAoOpT7jtHpZjOK4lF7LtvciBeCCgAbwcMk1E_VCdg2fiCkm5O2zw/s400/128.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hmm... this is a close up of a piece of the nice cut. Does not look too bad if I do say so myself...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4U1Qe2n-ZmXGe2klbdnXu16ZIn_w8Kh1HzrIg2jQI7xhqGJEw_ORMoiqhWRvISmovKEXU3K8Vby_9V2bN-VdUb3yFiBS2ewKDJW-mADE9XRxUBi-CbqRMAt-9PH7y0Q_oagtck41Xic/s1600/131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4U1Qe2n-ZmXGe2klbdnXu16ZIn_w8Kh1HzrIg2jQI7xhqGJEw_ORMoiqhWRvISmovKEXU3K8Vby_9V2bN-VdUb3yFiBS2ewKDJW-mADE9XRxUBi-CbqRMAt-9PH7y0Q_oagtck41Xic/s320/131.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Please don't make fun of my sideways pictures.</td></tr>
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Ok folks, the verdict is in. Despite my best efforts to produce some terrible Que, this was not my best but still pretty decent. There was no acrid flavor, no 'oversmoked' flavor, no evidence of a malt liquor taint, or anything all that negative. The pork flavor was still there and stayed with me into the next day. The biggest complaint I think was that the coffee grounds gave it a weird, gravelly sensation and made it more weird texturally than in a flavoring effect. In my view, these ribs were a 6.25 out of 10, with my usual being an 8.5 and restaraunt ribs being a 4 at best, at least here in New Jersey. I have to say that pieces of the nice, large, trimmed slab came out perfectly cooked and moist. I can't pat myself on the back too much for that one.<br />
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For those of you who read this far (if any), I have decided to take requests. Does anyone have anything they want me to put in the smoker? Give me some fresh ideas in my 'comments' and we'll make it happen.<br />
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CheRenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-56220946355549831352010-08-23T19:39:00.000-07:002010-08-23T19:44:26.848-07:00Smoking on a Rainy Day. Baby Backs and Fatties all around.<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCK5Lmf6-7hDIjqW3ootzdvETnteWE1nn_sVTcTN61e5AWCfargYBH6egB_w-rSpxzyvE1xwLrIZQyt-Uj7VTAMfVd9doTJs1qmFC0QcKmr_mwM9B2qAYWMWCxLcUqfKxnVTXFY1ITYE/s1600/094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCK5Lmf6-7hDIjqW3ootzdvETnteWE1nn_sVTcTN61e5AWCfargYBH6egB_w-rSpxzyvE1xwLrIZQyt-Uj7VTAMfVd9doTJs1qmFC0QcKmr_mwM9B2qAYWMWCxLcUqfKxnVTXFY1ITYE/s200/094.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6W7Qbiofn9MEohLg_6ZQgtBpAH9o9JZBz4-ocUGsXxSCUPJX4O36rMa_6NC38e9X55ZKrbsOpAqTPLhiHY9uyuZdTCNZgmhtBw_aQWGoqmJJaPWuYPTfabx6cVEv7zegIn0XmAJmeuM/s1600/110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6W7Qbiofn9MEohLg_6ZQgtBpAH9o9JZBz4-ocUGsXxSCUPJX4O36rMa_6NC38e9X55ZKrbsOpAqTPLhiHY9uyuZdTCNZgmhtBw_aQWGoqmJJaPWuYPTfabx6cVEv7zegIn0XmAJmeuM/s200/110.jpg" width="148" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6W7Qbiofn9MEohLg_6ZQgtBpAH9o9JZBz4-ocUGsXxSCUPJX4O36rMa_6NC38e9X55ZKrbsOpAqTPLhiHY9uyuZdTCNZgmhtBw_aQWGoqmJJaPWuYPTfabx6cVEv7zegIn0XmAJmeuM/s1600/110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></div><br />
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Welcome to another episode of the Backyard Smoker. Today we have my first attempt at baby back ribs, as well as the concoction known in barbecue circles as a 'fatty'. Here are a few pics of the day's preparation.<br />
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<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">First of all I have to get something off my chest. I can't take myself seriously saying 'fatty' over and over again. If you read message boards and recipes you will see a lot of variety in how these things are prepared. For mine, I took about two and a half pounds of ground pork, flattened it out, and laid down layers of cheddar cheese, asiago cheese, green onion, and fresh chopped mushrooms. This gets rolled into a log, rubbed, and smoked.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVG0Ft2WqNHpSLu3dJk5e823_P2QH3aoMACy4IfqJRm1ZmTFVkkTdeVHcMnDVCnSkrxewbKKfqgUmE6__0JxbnmdEOLwO3nhrAn4abUJBncG8Wt0SIYVYs7ONQdKc-08LxwF7ebL0z6I/s1600/096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVG0Ft2WqNHpSLu3dJk5e823_P2QH3aoMACy4IfqJRm1ZmTFVkkTdeVHcMnDVCnSkrxewbKKfqgUmE6__0JxbnmdEOLwO3nhrAn4abUJBncG8Wt0SIYVYs7ONQdKc-08LxwF7ebL0z6I/s320/096.jpg" width="238" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkDkByszvZtLG1JEqUqJrmg6IqvGekzfx3d0yb3tfrYq617xptfJZDZdWdQM8tUSI-DJXyX6k-6ZLg8g-CcxxUqvDzkPv3F_rWFgzXIza2MaDnE1H6Rm3lH0cLUIQADPMvltCPUiTMU8/s1600/102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkDkByszvZtLG1JEqUqJrmg6IqvGekzfx3d0yb3tfrYq617xptfJZDZdWdQM8tUSI-DJXyX6k-6ZLg8g-CcxxUqvDzkPv3F_rWFgzXIza2MaDnE1H6Rm3lH0cLUIQADPMvltCPUiTMU8/s320/102.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I had some improved performance with my set up today and am really getting the hang of the WSM. I started two chimneys of Royal Oaks lump, emptied the two 40's below into the water pan (next time maybe we'll try something along the lines of Old English), and got some apple chips soaking.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJNFC8ItJikvj8aYK2cBQaQCK4UHLQBy_qvQFxydbQcwD6Ra8IXl_HFBfhXh_uQhB03kONOGiYWy2lf5ri6favNLbXcXFHeCsHG5_UkI4o2pg_b3aFyM-PjrvuUVIKvyarIbRf2weSvE/s1600/105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJNFC8ItJikvj8aYK2cBQaQCK4UHLQBy_qvQFxydbQcwD6Ra8IXl_HFBfhXh_uQhB03kONOGiYWy2lf5ri6favNLbXcXFHeCsHG5_UkI4o2pg_b3aFyM-PjrvuUVIKvyarIbRf2weSvE/s200/105.jpg" width="149" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqvryI04sBsQwCjTtxz6Mb_Alu487X_vljC38PbIBkykPFDOzg6vcVd8J4DtIAveFJMc-uzRDPN3rv3p8HCvNETR2-xQV3oYEepcocL2KYeKsWQJs9oqdrOEu5HY_f4DkxbuquOrEJFD4/s1600/103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqvryI04sBsQwCjTtxz6Mb_Alu487X_vljC38PbIBkykPFDOzg6vcVd8J4DtIAveFJMc-uzRDPN3rv3p8HCvNETR2-xQV3oYEepcocL2KYeKsWQJs9oqdrOEu5HY_f4DkxbuquOrEJFD4/s200/103.jpg" width="149" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwwMem7ThlQh1sfLSUhRu_5bHGevQL617JZfScnkkRsRxgQyCpurE1lGqAmK61w4bfEb6Ii3WV-6OpZI8QBgC2LYiXQg3nebgyigriw0MnAY-QpAtYVtyorLF5KpZXS1VVQZwpjgh5RCE/s1600/107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwwMem7ThlQh1sfLSUhRu_5bHGevQL617JZfScnkkRsRxgQyCpurE1lGqAmK61w4bfEb6Ii3WV-6OpZI8QBgC2LYiXQg3nebgyigriw0MnAY-QpAtYVtyorLF5KpZXS1VVQZwpjgh5RCE/s200/107.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>I put the two fully lit chimneys in with one unlit full chimney. The minion method worked well for me today, and when I was done I actually had enough coals left unlit that it may be enough for our next minion method cook.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_ykPdKgC047b8a7n0uiHIa6-nSJTEc_rj4XetB7hKr3iSnktXtmdwG_PwDRuj5bR0YjAmuDqYdC07wRaEu7vSNfRVQXRoNn6qUNsRbuEdfGq5wTmvyKK2W_6Cg5gapws4jwwAHPQKRg/s1600/114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_ykPdKgC047b8a7n0uiHIa6-nSJTEc_rj4XetB7hKr3iSnktXtmdwG_PwDRuj5bR0YjAmuDqYdC07wRaEu7vSNfRVQXRoNn6qUNsRbuEdfGq5wTmvyKK2W_6Cg5gapws4jwwAHPQKRg/s200/114.jpg" width="200" /></a>I threw together a quick simple rub made mostly of paprika with some salt, black pepper, garlic and onion powder, cumin, and a small amount of cayenne pepper. I mopped about halfway through with cider vinegar.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKk24F-5QAY8jr022ivUvtrQyCurZkeJEdywSRlTuLgBNUv2ccOjsx6qh-9YBP6-_cT6ULNYjXgqV_4FbBtUPqyjSw7UvREwfSWU5zZrhs1YbhmkWCZTe4U5E3UhTsyNe-y-oyEJNZ_E/s1600/123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKk24F-5QAY8jr022ivUvtrQyCurZkeJEdywSRlTuLgBNUv2ccOjsx6qh-9YBP6-_cT6ULNYjXgqV_4FbBtUPqyjSw7UvREwfSWU5zZrhs1YbhmkWCZTe4U5E3UhTsyNe-y-oyEJNZ_E/s320/123.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">While all this was going on my better half wrapped up what I believe was some beets and a squash and put them on the bottom rack of the smoker</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wFaCDybKs1aRFdekw08esr0m2DrfUtG1R8q1kg8OwS2n1f1lfoce4s5wztmqo-zOM2OdbGQu-sX_31X2SGmWYomS4Mcr78Ap2BKQC82aBuyuPhK72dc3_0m5T1dbYJ3IZGzFesDsQVI/s1600/143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wFaCDybKs1aRFdekw08esr0m2DrfUtG1R8q1kg8OwS2n1f1lfoce4s5wztmqo-zOM2OdbGQu-sX_31X2SGmWYomS4Mcr78Ap2BKQC82aBuyuPhK72dc3_0m5T1dbYJ3IZGzFesDsQVI/s200/143.jpg" width="149" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizHYK3Tm3-0mNyecZUX_KwncEdKn6FtANjAay7Iwd2ZMu46rG8rTgt3cC0SGTCuhXwz-iD8eZn2jSmE587AH009TdPFhO29UC2IntxCs2UsXm1I_T8O3lWt3JaFBRx4FfSwZJ8xj34HUE/s1600/148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizHYK3Tm3-0mNyecZUX_KwncEdKn6FtANjAay7Iwd2ZMu46rG8rTgt3cC0SGTCuhXwz-iD8eZn2jSmE587AH009TdPFhO29UC2IntxCs2UsXm1I_T8O3lWt3JaFBRx4FfSwZJ8xj34HUE/s200/148.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFI6O4y2Sd90cwcgkU1uWcnNx889Q5Zxltk3E73KnFqfVeRtnZnbRHhGYr6X1nywbzGqOtwacernvV0N4tRJWRGE9C5MSj0GywjpDEkSd15Co3ACC6r2NApOH3xb76bSD365YPPQbv_sA/s1600/149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFI6O4y2Sd90cwcgkU1uWcnNx889Q5Zxltk3E73KnFqfVeRtnZnbRHhGYr6X1nywbzGqOtwacernvV0N4tRJWRGE9C5MSj0GywjpDEkSd15Co3ACC6r2NApOH3xb76bSD365YPPQbv_sA/s200/149.jpg" width="149" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpQnP8s7Zayc74Ljp89n0KjSw51rM_xXmrX2leBY4-Kmtk9U3a4pYX4zE0IrUziTd51wHhI6kySMWSQaxn0K7SyhGHgpn3bqPJoyNEmfnI7subB0n6haTD2wQOskzfPz9BufVy9lhyphenhyphenCLc/s1600/175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpQnP8s7Zayc74Ljp89n0KjSw51rM_xXmrX2leBY4-Kmtk9U3a4pYX4zE0IrUziTd51wHhI6kySMWSQaxn0K7SyhGHgpn3bqPJoyNEmfnI7subB0n6haTD2wQOskzfPz9BufVy9lhyphenhyphenCLc/s400/175.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">OK, enough with the veggies. The main courses came out beautifully. After about three and a half hours the fatty (ugh) was up above 190 degrees, while the ribs were around 165. I took the loaf off and let it rest in a cooler while I gave the ribs another half hour after being quickly brushed with a little sauce. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNptD1ICevICIWBTC7VUZlE5xXcr0HKy6vkbeQLYcVU5bw3iTaS1gJy1LANwb1LywpuBkw4aA11wwbbGTJ4y0rGmhEGrh4dPeL7Xsu_4k37ef48sUyh4wkFBKLxo8TUNs-4QiRV0V_o5E/s1600/151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNptD1ICevICIWBTC7VUZlE5xXcr0HKy6vkbeQLYcVU5bw3iTaS1gJy1LANwb1LywpuBkw4aA11wwbbGTJ4y0rGmhEGrh4dPeL7Xsu_4k37ef48sUyh4wkFBKLxo8TUNs-4QiRV0V_o5E/s200/151.jpg" width="200" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVwcCqo5jujjcp6E-lzijKz2tWERl4qr8prwNAn_KdNZCgD6HfiKNa_iNyb3lwLXm3WiaCwz7R9kYjV38GH4mDSKHJkhNQNQ0g5BdAvS80t4WKWZdTEC2vxm2huIauLeQKIzI_42qcv7o/s1600/155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVwcCqo5jujjcp6E-lzijKz2tWERl4qr8prwNAn_KdNZCgD6HfiKNa_iNyb3lwLXm3WiaCwz7R9kYjV38GH4mDSKHJkhNQNQ0g5BdAvS80t4WKWZdTEC2vxm2huIauLeQKIzI_42qcv7o/s200/155.jpg" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHzyDkH5MP_0smXKH1flEeC4n3HU1GwKlVwhfx3gf4C2qgENficDUWyQUoYGdrD0E0gK0BnjbML_VnbZhpaZjVgL3HhENJ3MXUicP2_h67vl2hjxO3-c2BcI-_nKDvMV5Hx9koijkmKw/s1600/157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHzyDkH5MP_0smXKH1flEeC4n3HU1GwKlVwhfx3gf4C2qgENficDUWyQUoYGdrD0E0gK0BnjbML_VnbZhpaZjVgL3HhENJ3MXUicP2_h67vl2hjxO3-c2BcI-_nKDvMV5Hx9koijkmKw/s200/157.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">While I don't want to use the word 'dry', the fatty was great with lots of different intermingling flavors. Though it held together well, it could have been maybe a little more moist. I think the move next time will be to add it halfway through whatever else I am cooking. The mushrooms were the star of the show. They went in fresh and dry and came out moist and flavorful. It also had a great smoke ring, perfect to make an amateur meat photographer look like a seasoned pro.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EiXj1jgDVHLm3LNUhwRLgrKTfA61lAunR3RwadgN7m0r5ZqxQdt5nlTpDyCNNTbtsyXGflZH3MmeR1uUv7F6fuMUh9_5UKAVeh0r6HBkALGBQKbB-9l14qFCix9bTnWi6rhjxMnM79M/s1600/170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EiXj1jgDVHLm3LNUhwRLgrKTfA61lAunR3RwadgN7m0r5ZqxQdt5nlTpDyCNNTbtsyXGflZH3MmeR1uUv7F6fuMUh9_5UKAVeh0r6HBkALGBQKbB-9l14qFCix9bTnWi6rhjxMnM79M/s320/170.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlG2pxtl7WtYOai9CWJ5fUbdwgxDPIy48Z41FwyTKD_rj_aa9dZ0a8uCF7_x25VCzHaefIqSmNmIVNEuZGSKpBhbMB2Jps81FAst7DMDXX3cSmSdPvAkhnlXhyLQiPZcWCTxy4bxUnC7M/s1600/178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlG2pxtl7WtYOai9CWJ5fUbdwgxDPIy48Z41FwyTKD_rj_aa9dZ0a8uCF7_x25VCzHaefIqSmNmIVNEuZGSKpBhbMB2Jps81FAst7DMDXX3cSmSdPvAkhnlXhyLQiPZcWCTxy4bxUnC7M/s320/178.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The ribs were good. They were very dense and more moist than my usual spare ribs. They were great though not completely falling off the bone. I might let them stay on until 180 for future menus. Last pic below is the scraps.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgALrHvg_c9VZVkaOJK4EHNMSvk61cr-2gbQJmmH9HZ97RhNxAls26Va9hHLgFMueQWQq6E8OIGBLxYpW6gWIM_ZxNBsuqXCD8rLXLSp0pYhIaVt2VNRI8BjDiXtt9nN53a9i0jCTKYA2A/s1600/182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgALrHvg_c9VZVkaOJK4EHNMSvk61cr-2gbQJmmH9HZ97RhNxAls26Va9hHLgFMueQWQq6E8OIGBLxYpW6gWIM_ZxNBsuqXCD8rLXLSp0pYhIaVt2VNRI8BjDiXtt9nN53a9i0jCTKYA2A/s320/182.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">One interesting thing was when I took the fatty off and left the ribs on,, the temperature flew up through the roof and I had a hard time keeping it under 300, while I was smoking in the 250 range. I guess that's just from the difference in heat-absorbing mass in the smoker pre and post-fatty? Maybe a 1 to 1 lit to unlit ratio is in order.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cheers-</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">-R</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-90111584253283399052010-08-08T19:48:00.000-07:002010-08-08T19:48:49.294-07:00Restaraunt Review! Ruthie's Bar-B-Q in Montclair NJ<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqeW7xzzDCxZK2oCinwurps-UQmlXMaedHe4zIZUZa_A4yX0MaiZOrltZGWbD1UuXOzyaSR_iBJd4EZkx7GxqzeLvC-cNUrYWPUMpebr2CALmgmPLe7KAlWIDyaLkBv6RhShdvItJM8Q/s1600/106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqeW7xzzDCxZK2oCinwurps-UQmlXMaedHe4zIZUZa_A4yX0MaiZOrltZGWbD1UuXOzyaSR_iBJd4EZkx7GxqzeLvC-cNUrYWPUMpebr2CALmgmPLe7KAlWIDyaLkBv6RhShdvItJM8Q/s320/106.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT80yXyXhhWfxLyWRerhuzsQ-8jcAnsrp2i3Doohg5u44NrujeBnG4ErNincDaaVEOOjjSUozxEINKG3uerW8GHZETeZ-fjEKadccJ-N9IU7CHK4-huDhHgogCuX0YHC8PeYPXmFMDa_s/s1600/108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT80yXyXhhWfxLyWRerhuzsQ-8jcAnsrp2i3Doohg5u44NrujeBnG4ErNincDaaVEOOjjSUozxEINKG3uerW8GHZETeZ-fjEKadccJ-N9IU7CHK4-huDhHgogCuX0YHC8PeYPXmFMDa_s/s320/108.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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So my better half and I finally made it to <a href="http://ruthiesbbq.com/">Ruthie's</a> as we have been meaning to for a while. For those of you familiar with Montclair NJ, Ruthie's is a little bit off the beaten path, bout five blocks off of Bloomfield Avenue on the artsy side of town, though still somehow walking distance from more than one if my old apartments, yet I've never made it there?<br />
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Walking in to Ruthie's I was immediately comfortable. The music went back and forth from blues selections that the management obviously cherry picked, to a a blues/jazz/roots program on Newark's own WBGO, and back again. Between that, the 50's style furniture, the deep wood-grained surfaces, and the wall hangings, mostly record covers, autographs, and concert posters from yesteryear, this is a place I could definitely hang out.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pHad_qoSqAjJ-qOglUJustQOQOSvEJSX-j9En1E-T4gXMEXoImUGJThnsaFvbKRwq3NdGuSl9_MCb_VDWCGBg2jApM-Gbz0UJe0w4zKyralkQqtmZlkLpjbe4vdUGkQwpl19oSEb5fE/s1600/126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pHad_qoSqAjJ-qOglUJustQOQOSvEJSX-j9En1E-T4gXMEXoImUGJThnsaFvbKRwq3NdGuSl9_MCb_VDWCGBg2jApM-Gbz0UJe0w4zKyralkQqtmZlkLpjbe4vdUGkQwpl19oSEb5fE/s640/126.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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We ordered the brisket and pulled pork platters. When I say this stuff was good I mean it. The pork tasted like just that. Maybe this is different in other states, but here in New Jersey it is not often that in a commercial environment I taste something advertised as barbecued pork that has the actual pork flavor that I can produce in my backyard. I didn't notice much bark mixed in but it is possible that I was so busy taking everything in that I may have missed it. The brisket was great too. Served, it looked pulled rather than sliced, and while I realize it is hard to know if that was intentional or not it tasted great. It was salty to the right extent that the juices mingled while complementing the sauce. The meat was sauced appropriately, enough to sweeten the deal but not so much to upstage the real stars of the show.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5ly6Tco7U2k21PxFoiEgUaMZiDi3u1dC0dzTg9ngbOKBn41rYR50TnSpKSbZgg_k1_oUB4NIYtxj2gxvfmHcJG2iGye__e_zedu1pH_E5MSxuF8O_C-m950xak1jjjjFxTqpFfLw4uE/s1600/110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5ly6Tco7U2k21PxFoiEgUaMZiDi3u1dC0dzTg9ngbOKBn41rYR50TnSpKSbZgg_k1_oUB4NIYtxj2gxvfmHcJG2iGye__e_zedu1pH_E5MSxuF8O_C-m950xak1jjjjFxTqpFfLw4uE/s320/110.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy77xplDHvQxP4LqkJgijGdLdfD-W552VpgjPAp13qSxxGzS5mXKE_8jAEPj5ImdSvKZfnbUYyQngx5WhuQwvV-s0RAGCHJACfuRYtjwSROj6zWULIsavUM_Jis91dE9X7ZBteHU_Nnzg/s1600/112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy77xplDHvQxP4LqkJgijGdLdfD-W552VpgjPAp13qSxxGzS5mXKE_8jAEPj5ImdSvKZfnbUYyQngx5WhuQwvV-s0RAGCHJACfuRYtjwSROj6zWULIsavUM_Jis91dE9X7ZBteHU_Nnzg/s320/112.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Both were served on metal trays with butcher paper, piled on grilled hard rolls with lots of large seasoned fries which were a delight on their own. In addition to that, they were also accompanied by some slaw. This was no stale diner paper shot-cup mayo-intensive slaw, but a gorgeous red cabbage, vinegar and onion concoction that I don't really know how to explain. It could be a regional style from somewhere my shadow hasn't darkened yet, but it was fresh with crisp veggies and a sharp, tangy flavor that offset the sweet sauce. That and a pickle rounded out each of our plates. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiffYgzMO568qdhyphenhypheni3M9pACFDXtbMEX1hsyhGd0D1Ql-joNh14D0bHDxxHDeSDzkqGG9QzLSjip1Lw8IjxuwYIwRHEz7JsI0DzWNNcyOSV1aaQZkJknGoD1a5C3OgdAuj59WCadNyV-dj0/s1600/115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiffYgzMO568qdhyphenhypheni3M9pACFDXtbMEX1hsyhGd0D1Ql-joNh14D0bHDxxHDeSDzkqGG9QzLSjip1Lw8IjxuwYIwRHEz7JsI0DzWNNcyOSV1aaQZkJknGoD1a5C3OgdAuj59WCadNyV-dj0/s320/115.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHAKeOnddnT2FP_4vpNovgL7edi9yp0Di2z2Kym1aNtFk_Dt8hBlO9jODOgbYc5r3SH5pQ_Yi28rRJ4rGCJoehc46vopmUjjleUNuPp1DTaqqS3b4-kwl0Fc6pxOtLdX2r3fyM4u4wVE/s1600/119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHAKeOnddnT2FP_4vpNovgL7edi9yp0Di2z2Kym1aNtFk_Dt8hBlO9jODOgbYc5r3SH5pQ_Yi28rRJ4rGCJoehc46vopmUjjleUNuPp1DTaqqS3b4-kwl0Fc6pxOtLdX2r3fyM4u4wVE/s320/119.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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For our next time out at Ruthie's, we will take a look at their ribs and maybe some sides like mac and cheese and greens, or maybe something else as they have a long list. We will also shoot for a day when they have some live music on their back patio. This is a BYOB place where I could definitely call a few friends and stay for a while. By the way, they also serve thin-crust pizza which I may review if I ever start a thin-crust pizza blog, which between this place and the Star Tavern I may be thinking about now. If I gave stars i would give this place eleven and a half out fo ten.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 15px;"></span><br />
<table class="ts" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top"><h3 class="r" style="display: inline; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><em style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">RUTHIES BBQ</em> & PIZZA</h3><div style="margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a class="l" href="http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&rlz=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=ruthie's+bar+b+q+montclair+nj&fb=1&gl=us&hq=ruthie's+bar+b+q&hnear=Montclair,+NJ&cid=12649485170784684517" style="color: #1111cc; cursor: pointer;" title="RUTHIES BBQ & PIZZA">Place page</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="width: 21em;">64-1-2 Chestnut Street<br />
Montclair, NJ 07042<br />
(973) 509-1134</div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-45066139112200990642010-08-06T21:15:00.000-07:002010-08-08T19:11:11.442-07:00Missing Videos from 'WSM Test Drive'Now that my first string laptop is up and running again, and the J-V unit is back on the bench, here are the videos missing from two episodes ago. Watch a mysterious man named Ishmael hijack my blog and lots of great video reviews.<br />
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<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/M1MiIHWSkW8&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/M1MiIHWSkW8&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6aYgQo3GrLI&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6aYgQo3GrLI&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-28755408216074845282010-08-06T19:43:00.000-07:002010-08-06T19:43:17.273-07:00Beer Can Chicken, or Lumpy Lessons Learned......<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">I want to start off by saying I don't want to hear any wisecracks about my corny blog title. At the request of my wife I made one of my old favorites, the classic beer can chicken on the WSM. We took a large chicken, marinated it in a mixture of cilantro, cumin, a small amount of olive oil, and garlic. It came out great but I think I learned a lesson along the way that will greatly fine-tune future endeavors.</span></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">I went with the Royal Oak lump this time which had some pieces the size of my foot. More on that later.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOoXVTuNlhzGie3RV9tAHxj_H4KEr9a4J-X6TrjW5WJBW7h1_G5of3ps1LK5iRaUNyHVhINU730PRF20S5kqIK0MaE4ez8o3_SpRp_HcaGxu36dVoKT_ZoLSgZ0ewSDrM_ySZ2Hv2bjI/s1600/047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOoXVTuNlhzGie3RV9tAHxj_H4KEr9a4J-X6TrjW5WJBW7h1_G5of3ps1LK5iRaUNyHVhINU730PRF20S5kqIK0MaE4ez8o3_SpRp_HcaGxu36dVoKT_ZoLSgZ0ewSDrM_ySZ2Hv2bjI/s200/047.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOoXVTuNlhzGie3RV9tAHxj_H4KEr9a4J-X6TrjW5WJBW7h1_G5of3ps1LK5iRaUNyHVhINU730PRF20S5kqIK0MaE4ez8o3_SpRp_HcaGxu36dVoKT_ZoLSgZ0ewSDrM_ySZ2Hv2bjI/s1600/047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;">Here is the bird prior to cooking.</span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhErVTf6NgtkZpWcP-Yh5At7vtmog4RPyAGkCln_7lW28hRNERsI9kjJntLX9SkbL_T59wyxI679hfYUkXRFKHnexT3-NniwvFW9WwJEixQHe6sVeldtk1VppVJqZ5zJlE362MnIvy1QOI/s1600/052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
<img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhErVTf6NgtkZpWcP-Yh5At7vtmog4RPyAGkCln_7lW28hRNERsI9kjJntLX9SkbL_T59wyxI679hfYUkXRFKHnexT3-NniwvFW9WwJEixQHe6sVeldtk1VppVJqZ5zJlE362MnIvy1QOI/s400/052.JPG" width="400" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOoXVTuNlhzGie3RV9tAHxj_H4KEr9a4J-X6TrjW5WJBW7h1_G5of3ps1LK5iRaUNyHVhINU730PRF20S5kqIK0MaE4ez8o3_SpRp_HcaGxu36dVoKT_ZoLSgZ0ewSDrM_ySZ2Hv2bjI/s1600/047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;">Nothing but the best for my friends and family.This can soon went where the sun doesn't shine.</span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOoXVTuNlhzGie3RV9tAHxj_H4KEr9a4J-X6TrjW5WJBW7h1_G5of3ps1LK5iRaUNyHVhINU730PRF20S5kqIK0MaE4ez8o3_SpRp_HcaGxu36dVoKT_ZoLSgZ0ewSDrM_ySZ2Hv2bjI/s1600/047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhohLYbEyF49vGOk4ifjRzy8J15_C3mt34Gt0U_j8jIKkSiWD4HWhU6X95Dl1i-WC6EiO1YOSejy7_vWgORUcldhtGHw3i0SxcxHx0m5_QUVWYZUDTnjxOnbFRxSdulG90HfESFq6b8Opg/s1600/053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhohLYbEyF49vGOk4ifjRzy8J15_C3mt34Gt0U_j8jIKkSiWD4HWhU6X95Dl1i-WC6EiO1YOSejy7_vWgORUcldhtGHw3i0SxcxHx0m5_QUVWYZUDTnjxOnbFRxSdulG90HfESFq6b8Opg/s320/053.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOoXVTuNlhzGie3RV9tAHxj_H4KEr9a4J-X6TrjW5WJBW7h1_G5of3ps1LK5iRaUNyHVhINU730PRF20S5kqIK0MaE4ez8o3_SpRp_HcaGxu36dVoKT_ZoLSgZ0ewSDrM_ySZ2Hv2bjI/s1600/047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhohLYbEyF49vGOk4ifjRzy8J15_C3mt34Gt0U_j8jIKkSiWD4HWhU6X95Dl1i-WC6EiO1YOSejy7_vWgORUcldhtGHw3i0SxcxHx0m5_QUVWYZUDTnjxOnbFRxSdulG90HfESFq6b8Opg/s1600/053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;">I had to scrub up before manhandling this poor thing </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYMFzwFyfep_0JGZzzXCWvSJGCUW21Ie9KwJcEaQhHKtwC-epTYvkwOPK7fbdaOyhyphenhyphenKfqpJLpo7JuzN9CEkfzQtuTO3YRdlfEIuApVXhvfXZqdar37fx66jUdELUjaW8Wf2VzU3XEG9is/s1600/056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYMFzwFyfep_0JGZzzXCWvSJGCUW21Ie9KwJcEaQhHKtwC-epTYvkwOPK7fbdaOyhyphenhyphenKfqpJLpo7JuzN9CEkfzQtuTO3YRdlfEIuApVXhvfXZqdar37fx66jUdELUjaW8Wf2VzU3XEG9is/s320/056.JPG" /></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here we are about halfway through, so far so good. From here on things got a little hairy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZUJslEJcTfXvTEr4f9aVqX_dFnCnjy3PURyF168t7MR_SODA3QhZjT9bxKQoRusfFtQ4TpKevCF6M_ujqiD0XCpi1QfjET0lC66xMUz-PxDppm1Wz_ZGORsZWoR4slewKRvrhUfdwM3k/s1600/058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZUJslEJcTfXvTEr4f9aVqX_dFnCnjy3PURyF168t7MR_SODA3QhZjT9bxKQoRusfFtQ4TpKevCF6M_ujqiD0XCpi1QfjET0lC66xMUz-PxDppm1Wz_ZGORsZWoR4slewKRvrhUfdwM3k/s320/058.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After some time, the temperature took a nosedive in the area of 200 degrees with the vents wide open and the bird nowhere near done. I tried throwing in some hickory chunks to spike the temperature up to no avail, though it produced plenty of smoke. At that point I started up another chimney and added it lump by lump with tongs through the door 15 minutes later, only to have it dive down again after another hour! By then I was glad I had a few spare PBRs around. I eventually had an epiphany and added some straight from the bag to the fire chamber, in a crude but effective version of the Minion method (for information on that click<a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/food/135677_minion20.html"> here</a>). The short explanation is I used a mixture of lit and unlit charcoal to extend the life of the fire and provide even heat than one lit batch would alone. I can only recommend this with lump or other charcoal advertised as 'natural' like Stubb's and Kingsford Competition, and not with traditional charcoal like Kingsford's standard variety, as it will send chemical vapors through your food.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After some time the natives were getting restless. In addition to my wife, I had her cousins over, and I found out the hard way you don't make two hungry Chinese pregnant girls wait for a meal. I caused some consternation by pulling the bird off the can at 170 in the dark meat which I saw on a recipe on TheVirtualWeberBullet.com, and found out that popular opinion dictates I should have waited until 180.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</span></span>It may not be visible in this picture, but they also mistook the smoke ring for a bloody undercooked chicken. I could not catch a break. In any event I enjoyed a drumstick and added one more factoid to my arsenal- to always use the Minion method when cooking with lump.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Cheers-</div><div>-Rene<br />
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</div></div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-11886237017547101922010-08-02T20:15:00.000-07:002010-08-02T20:26:08.439-07:00WSM Test Drive<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5H_vZmzTpwfzXY2FC-YxbY6dsuYLXb5hO7GZCwD7pnDn8OHvalr6anXcQKYTazDdmtTwlbDxJrWUIWXjCGMSJusaEv4lAh_bYwWhyphenhyphen27eNlYrjBAllmH8CY5Ual__e0bViMku0DOmFfjo/s1600/WSM+1st+day+071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5H_vZmzTpwfzXY2FC-YxbY6dsuYLXb5hO7GZCwD7pnDn8OHvalr6anXcQKYTazDdmtTwlbDxJrWUIWXjCGMSJusaEv4lAh_bYwWhyphenhyphen27eNlYrjBAllmH8CY5Ual__e0bViMku0DOmFfjo/s320/WSM+1st+day+071.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Hi all- we had a great day of smoking on the bran new Weber Smokey Mountain known from now on as the bullet. I have to give a big shout-out to <a href="http://aimtogo.com/">AimToGo.com</a>. They have the best deal on the Internet for the WSM right now so if you're in the market right now you should go there first and last. You will notice how many times they get mentioned here and that is because they will literally give you store credit for posting pictures and video of you using their products, so get used to hearing me sing their praises. Special thanks to Mike W. for bringing over some Balashi cans straight from the shores of Aruba. The WSM turned out to be as high-quality a thing as everyone made it out to be, including my buddy Chilebrown of MadMeatGenius.com, completely worth the full retail price even though I didn't pay that. Here is a quick breakdown of it:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3iuMiipIYa9445ntHb3rs-mmg0J8MVPjJYCFXrBlIAYsibe7Qxl6zNWSv1ZE8XQi8EYRPaA17Hq527RM23DtTE-oDnf3W1-ZnDJ_o_OvvCt6nTQLYx3vrSuuj1DAQcThV2ck2K6uRC84/s1600/WSM+1st+day+005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3iuMiipIYa9445ntHb3rs-mmg0J8MVPjJYCFXrBlIAYsibe7Qxl6zNWSv1ZE8XQi8EYRPaA17Hq527RM23DtTE-oDnf3W1-ZnDJ_o_OvvCt6nTQLYx3vrSuuj1DAQcThV2ck2K6uRC84/s320/WSM+1st+day+005.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is the bottom of the WSM. It has a grate for charcoal with a ring to keep it contained, and 3 adjustable vents below.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the middle chamber there is this bowl to hold your liquid. I have heard of people using this for other things like filling it with sand to radiate even heat. My preference is still the skunky homebrew at least until it runs out. It is wrapped in foil for easier clean-up.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPUn8bnZzr-tEoBWvoc_2kyQYjb6uwaXu4zeh7T7WVNYLB1pKQ-sqDpTUvp8jTP4QsFMCdHnquOSafixLtVRfSsvhITUz6IJjnPbzUrXVMa7AquzHFPBBudan1xVixd1Bj_raPfcfF9w/s1600/WSM+1st+day+011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPUn8bnZzr-tEoBWvoc_2kyQYjb6uwaXu4zeh7T7WVNYLB1pKQ-sqDpTUvp8jTP4QsFMCdHnquOSafixLtVRfSsvhITUz6IJjnPbzUrXVMa7AquzHFPBBudan1xVixd1Bj_raPfcfF9w/s320/WSM+1st+day+011.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the middle section which contains the bowl and two grates to hold your food. It also has this nifty door to access the fire and to add wood.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlE6GmK-R3urxpuMdZoffVVgBpl_2J-9UAypoznThx-6uLkRms0sBFS7oQwgyV_vyEg-tudjhF7fA8gvVNzO0qqwV2blUUArJDJ8TfJHuJZzKvdExoZRLkfgwyWgcluXtkYCD-UtIH6c/s1600/WSM+1st+day+014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlE6GmK-R3urxpuMdZoffVVgBpl_2J-9UAypoznThx-6uLkRms0sBFS7oQwgyV_vyEg-tudjhF7fA8gvVNzO0qqwV2blUUArJDJ8TfJHuJZzKvdExoZRLkfgwyWgcluXtkYCD-UtIH6c/s320/WSM+1st+day+014.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is it with the lid. I have to say, it had kind of an ominous presence. One of my other grills said it was giving them the stinkeye.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here are the ribs, two slabs deep. If you get creative with racks you could get a serious amount of food into this thing.<br />
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I knew a guy in college who could blow smoke out his eyes. Here is a close up of smoke coming through the temperature gauge (another thing that made my other grills feel intimidated).<br />
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</div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-89393093145065114332010-07-26T20:01:00.000-07:002010-07-28T21:26:10.417-07:00A Quick How-To: Removing the Rib Membrane ((GRAPHIC CONTENT))<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=theba09-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B001I8ZTJ0&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: white;">UQ78YFDWQANV</span><br />
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So here is a quick piece of instruction for the novices out there. For those of you currently not taking this step, adding it to your process will make your ribs more tender well as easier to separate when properly cooked. I am a huge fan of things like bratwursts, other wursts, high-quality hot dogs like Sabrett's or Boar's Head, any high-quality sausage like product, but I like to reserve the 'snap' for those products only. What I mean is a good rib should do a lot of things, but snapping when you bite is not one of them. Remove the membrane and yours will not.<br />
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Some of the pictures that follow will be considered a little gory except maybe to myself and the three current followers of my blog. I usually start in one corner of the rack and work the edge of the membrane loose, maybe with my fingers, a steak knife, or this weird kitchen tool my wife has. Imagine a large butter knife with a large rounded end and a serrated edge on one side. Once a corner is free I slowly pee the membrane back, being careful to keep it in one piece, and using surgical precision with the steak knife to cut any particularly troublesome sinews. A popular technique here is to use a paper towel between your fingers to get a firm but gentle grip on the fragile membrane (for the record I know that sounded gross). One this is done your ribs are ready for a rub.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4KpTPNRBn7Nh2dcqxOthewMdc9Vlvgb5mTvR6G_KTynk63qH5cQEUFjWpWur-2NCWZCxDjuvP_HuGtPiXpMrynZZMAJWPLUOpVrcn_s5KVbCNAwbFceDdfj6VK8Gop-KEMaj89VG87B4/s1600/CIMG1197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4KpTPNRBn7Nh2dcqxOthewMdc9Vlvgb5mTvR6G_KTynk63qH5cQEUFjWpWur-2NCWZCxDjuvP_HuGtPiXpMrynZZMAJWPLUOpVrcn_s5KVbCNAwbFceDdfj6VK8Gop-KEMaj89VG87B4/s320/CIMG1197.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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And here is a quick peek at what's in store for this weekend:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHUg6Lo2OCfN34OTRsCmfdzh8cGsPTHho9N02JgpxVmb94w1cn_oa_4CVLNiQo3CvTPqi8uLgzTyLxsJq4bi5pQnuMLf8gvLWdt6AZpxiJoqA53KeMjZE6jYwIESQ0e0PDat3Z2F0Lo2c/s1600/DRew+017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHUg6Lo2OCfN34OTRsCmfdzh8cGsPTHho9N02JgpxVmb94w1cn_oa_4CVLNiQo3CvTPqi8uLgzTyLxsJq4bi5pQnuMLf8gvLWdt6AZpxiJoqA53KeMjZE6jYwIESQ0e0PDat3Z2F0Lo2c/s640/DRew+017.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-37160019839192864592010-07-21T19:58:00.000-07:002010-07-21T19:58:35.637-07:00Mid-Week update#1 take a look at this handsome young man chewing on a rib<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7sZ0NQglXOYT5A0feeydxCyob1sMUKIgXfX3qYBRH8FNasEnSdee7MFp2jUCgBdXSOf3CMSoxrM6OYnEd8n4271LYJrj118kyPWKV8B4SHGt1_5fficE8r46u9zop9lK9Rxxxal7HMXc/s1600/2010-07-21+19.27.33%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7sZ0NQglXOYT5A0feeydxCyob1sMUKIgXfX3qYBRH8FNasEnSdee7MFp2jUCgBdXSOf3CMSoxrM6OYnEd8n4271LYJrj118kyPWKV8B4SHGt1_5fficE8r46u9zop9lK9Rxxxal7HMXc/s320/2010-07-21+19.27.33%5B1%5D.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">#2 Read this NYT article. This will be the plan for Drew's 2n birthday.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/dining/21pig.html?_r=1">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/dining/21pig.html?_r=1</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cheers-</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">-R</div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-30773254882292191532010-07-13T19:21:00.000-07:002010-07-13T19:21:28.787-07:00Been Holdin' OutI hope you all don't think I've been holding out on you. The reason you haven't seen much lately is that I have been growing increasingly impatient with the lack of fuel efficiency on my CG. I have been looking into <a href="http://www.weber.com/explore/Grill_details.aspx?glid=8&mid=121">Weber Smokey Mountains</a>, <a href="http://bubbakeg.com/Bubba_Keg_home.aspx">Bubba Kegs</a>, and <a href="http://www.bigsteelkeg.com/">Big Steel Kegs</a>, and the first one of those I find discounted and close enough geographically to get will be featured on this blog.<br />
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Through all this I've been feeling pretty conflicted about rejecting<a href="http://thebackyardsmoker.blogspot.com/2010/06/tour-of-my-pit.html"> my trusty CG</a>, featured in a recent entry. As much as I feel like I'm betraying an old friend, I am tired of going through 10 pounds of charcoal for a 4 hour cook. We do need to save a few of the trees, don't we?<br />
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In any event, a recent backyard barbecue (ashamed to say just burgers and dogs, over some <a href="http://www.lowes.com/pd_297978-37442-71015_0_?productId=3031353&Ntt=stubbs&Ntk=i_products&pl=1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?newSearch=true$Ntt=stubbs$y=0$x=0">Stubb's</a> natural briqs from Lowe's) gave me the opportunity to do a head to head comparison between my CG and the old gasser I got for free from my in-laws. The pics below will tell the story:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqy9eYvgix9IkmS8AbYJD2ELi6ZveIIiaJWjnloxhZZ81scQA2ZvQkLhpXsd2DsK4WjFjaqYTm1yzfJ6B-ABKLfEd5FnAqq5SYsTtmRVfMADYHidsA2HdWXpomydKWJmKfXPjfDVoCXNE/s1600/013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiGNCxaANxIIrGfFPfWphSWpr4SzYE8cLuZItgBuMtAnsBwuEdQVSfy0p57NtEtDmME0SNRNkEN0H3PYzLYxq8o6JNAdbsS0FwDvYcxG4sKT-TuCWbytpvxD6NfIuXx9BDBsOkNgfG-g8/s1600/012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiGNCxaANxIIrGfFPfWphSWpr4SzYE8cLuZItgBuMtAnsBwuEdQVSfy0p57NtEtDmME0SNRNkEN0H3PYzLYxq8o6JNAdbsS0FwDvYcxG4sKT-TuCWbytpvxD6NfIuXx9BDBsOkNgfG-g8/s320/012.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqy9eYvgix9IkmS8AbYJD2ELi6ZveIIiaJWjnloxhZZ81scQA2ZvQkLhpXsd2DsK4WjFjaqYTm1yzfJ6B-ABKLfEd5FnAqq5SYsTtmRVfMADYHidsA2HdWXpomydKWJmKfXPjfDVoCXNE/s1600/013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqy9eYvgix9IkmS8AbYJD2ELi6ZveIIiaJWjnloxhZZ81scQA2ZvQkLhpXsd2DsK4WjFjaqYTm1yzfJ6B-ABKLfEd5FnAqq5SYsTtmRVfMADYHidsA2HdWXpomydKWJmKfXPjfDVoCXNE/s200/013.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">These burgers and dogs were all thrown down at the same time, with the CG open and the gasser closed. The burgers were juicy, nicely charred, had great charcoal flavor, but more importantly done in time that my guests didn't revolt on me and pack up for McDonald's. I love the iron grates What ever I get, the CG is probably the best thing I could ever get for direct grilling, and it will always have a place in my yard. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">By the way, the Stubb's briqs performed much like other natural or 'competition' briquettes, as in they burned very hot for a shorter period of time and with much ash, though they had a very nice flavor,.</div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-24216151823145541512010-06-29T20:49:00.000-07:002010-06-29T20:49:27.699-07:00Pulled Pork, Neckbones, Shenanigans Ensue.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggp2fwYcg4F4nYw9Crar431TlVHRxBDx_4xxVea4rzCoF7D-u6qNC57S6jpjabKXVRgKMVLQr9VhSiQBL__RA0808aZc_m8rtX18-9eBmF16vPE7lAg0nmsPSK3BY2CjhS95nX8DWpIdI/s1600/070.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggp2fwYcg4F4nYw9Crar431TlVHRxBDx_4xxVea4rzCoF7D-u6qNC57S6jpjabKXVRgKMVLQr9VhSiQBL__RA0808aZc_m8rtX18-9eBmF16vPE7lAg0nmsPSK3BY2CjhS95nX8DWpIdI/s400/070.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>This weekend I smoked a shoulder for some pulled pork sandwiches, and while Murphy's law held true as it usually does when I cook, they came out very tasty, smokey, and with a few fun side dishes, one of which was particularly non-traditional but may be my new appetizer of choice when I entertain.<br />
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Preparation:<br />
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<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfhoat8fmR7_orx77Zs-4uA5pn_CMLUeKkem33XH2Pquqoo5GYADW28tBa8MS9fT7dUMPAxUy8p3XZLKAbKk_RKPgelBAO_88zukJ04-gKmVXAkqbmC_Z2yz28JG5QNsnvDm_4_mvqsI/s1600/054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfhoat8fmR7_orx77Zs-4uA5pn_CMLUeKkem33XH2Pquqoo5GYADW28tBa8MS9fT7dUMPAxUy8p3XZLKAbKk_RKPgelBAO_88zukJ04-gKmVXAkqbmC_Z2yz28JG5QNsnvDm_4_mvqsI/s200/054.jpg" width="200" /></a>I<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"> picked up a 9 pound shoulder from </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"><span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Corrado's</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"> this week, gave it a coat of mustard, and applied some rub the night before. I used the leftover brisket rub from two blogs ago with some brown sugar mixed in, thinking the whole brown sugar thing may add some interesting characteristics as I had never tried it before.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6WcBKJ4-yy5EZH5ZpJTvrAt4Z5rDCg1KNiwkJ0Gs7NjZXGDNXy6xRtwYjn4hdeyAwflU0hjPH3xIECs8lKKaaMKjBG7yZO7papocKGfE3jzpmCkM3axoeMH9Amn6AoVXQatRayaA54o/s1600/050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6WcBKJ4-yy5EZH5ZpJTvrAt4Z5rDCg1KNiwkJ0Gs7NjZXGDNXy6xRtwYjn4hdeyAwflU0hjPH3xIECs8lKKaaMKjBG7yZO7papocKGfE3jzpmCkM3axoeMH9Amn6AoVXQatRayaA54o/s200/050.jpg" width="200" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW2xdHlgJiJoNgzOqN1BI66OClI2J_GWTh7gWRIydu3ndYODp4fp7LbDBXd9SyLF9SpmwVuWvB6umjUeVaSPmbXC9aO8eUWFkZcX-Gw04dfPTi4MjqT_sIgZzB3Vp67EWq2qChnWufAD8/s1600/052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW2xdHlgJiJoNgzOqN1BI66OClI2J_GWTh7gWRIydu3ndYODp4fp7LbDBXd9SyLF9SpmwVuWvB6umjUeVaSPmbXC9aO8eUWFkZcX-Gw04dfPTi4MjqT_sIgZzB3Vp67EWq2qChnWufAD8/s200/052.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
I readied two chimneys full of Royal Oak American hardwood lump coal. More on that later.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz51KyNYdxerSacCULYvWvoFiujonVE9n8CDpIHe5c9b2T2YZQRGxx3ZaUUs-GulxLMnqpoFNtxLOoqVgpn1XlZiNKw4LmeUqGoGvq8cXHjU8VM-YPcW0wvjaFwwdAmaSqJfMgIU-yIvY/s1600/053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz51KyNYdxerSacCULYvWvoFiujonVE9n8CDpIHe5c9b2T2YZQRGxx3ZaUUs-GulxLMnqpoFNtxLOoqVgpn1XlZiNKw4LmeUqGoGvq8cXHjU8VM-YPcW0wvjaFwwdAmaSqJfMgIU-yIvY/s200/053.jpg" width="200" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0eEcYN_DMqNB1SmBqOsS0PRJLkVX_HECpYUErwycRLBRHDeW0kblCfmmkZVMvYmUxMBuBaqtXS6mtNunOD6tyHNO-ix7Fgb4J40IwsW2hrx-_bgTyJo0hAi-JTEmH95JwHFsHYpSdl0/s1600/051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0eEcYN_DMqNB1SmBqOsS0PRJLkVX_HECpYUErwycRLBRHDeW0kblCfmmkZVMvYmUxMBuBaqtXS6mtNunOD6tyHNO-ix7Fgb4J40IwsW2hrx-_bgTyJo0hAi-JTEmH95JwHFsHYpSdl0/s200/051.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>While I was in Bermuda a couple of weeks ago I picked up this box of maple chips. Funny thing, that I had to go to Bermuda to find chips from California, and that I had never seen them in NJ, but go figure. One last part of my prep was a drip pan full of two of my failed <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">homebrew</span> bottles. Not sure what I'll do when I run out of that. Ribs vapor basted in Old English, anybody?<br />
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The actual cook:<br />
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Things went off to a decent enough start. My smoker (detailed in the last episode) quickly came to 225, only for it to go down to around 200 when I put the food on. I wrestled with it for a while and after some effort got the temperature to stay up at times. I didn't want to do this but with the dampers wide open at 200 degrees I didn't have much choice than to add some leftover mesquite chunks I had to spike the temperature up. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get a good sense of the maple chips but the chunks did not hurt the flavor in any noticeable way.<br />
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My aftermarket therm mounted at grill level. This is with a full basket of lump charcoal after an hour being fired up with the dampers wide open.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPgJQn2cyDt3l4XKhAaVBoclzxFv1nxm4RJS5LiwZeTqyax8bHicz7YJKQSeNtsynmFBBXKEMhglIYDs8tWuW5aZznKPYd58H-5_J6wNM9bQPt5amm9GvshqQSPpF1V0y4JyQ-xrgi3Wc/s1600/056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPgJQn2cyDt3l4XKhAaVBoclzxFv1nxm4RJS5LiwZeTqyax8bHicz7YJKQSeNtsynmFBBXKEMhglIYDs8tWuW5aZznKPYd58H-5_J6wNM9bQPt5amm9GvshqQSPpF1V0y4JyQ-xrgi3Wc/s320/056.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Since I had to play with it so much to keep the temp up anyway, I opted to do some basting with apple cider vinegar.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_AFX58gqcsEsa-Q_Jpp_nDEFxjJAAopfMULiJP9KaKKHm_V_18HJshSzYclOrUEZ8VL9BFm08qp-SS268sWRVcxFBJ22FFkBYCpgCkudB2NfzrYI-IPporKRjohZIFaAw7gUFoMGbNGQ/s1600/060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_AFX58gqcsEsa-Q_Jpp_nDEFxjJAAopfMULiJP9KaKKHm_V_18HJshSzYclOrUEZ8VL9BFm08qp-SS268sWRVcxFBJ22FFkBYCpgCkudB2NfzrYI-IPporKRjohZIFaAw7gUFoMGbNGQ/s200/060.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">If someone ever offers a beer and it comes out looking like this, that's when you say 'Oh, thanks but I was just leaving.'</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfDELK9iDTqA33fX7FV9MXMzGIUfVoJpPPwqkqvFwn1I0Q97S41_pbH8CNjpUI7khTR-s-Tcnm-QU4Km0vGdkUB4ZulYkXvcSWFO9DiCs_83i4bL_1H2RY4CH0JQNMrEdnbF2DRDxmsE/s1600/061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfDELK9iDTqA33fX7FV9MXMzGIUfVoJpPPwqkqvFwn1I0Q97S41_pbH8CNjpUI7khTR-s-Tcnm-QU4Km0vGdkUB4ZulYkXvcSWFO9DiCs_83i4bL_1H2RY4CH0JQNMrEdnbF2DRDxmsE/s320/061.jpg" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQZhJCyICeXsmhaaa4Sl3gRSRqvETo9GyVhHCulF1I6JLZWRTvT6tzj3UiE608zZaBOdZfMUUBFXjuTb7XgYMYVFlDLsYL3ueAgetFB6yVHDvOSSlnXTqwB-XfHV0mf29_f3_xPFsldI/s1600/058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQZhJCyICeXsmhaaa4Sl3gRSRqvETo9GyVhHCulF1I6JLZWRTvT6tzj3UiE608zZaBOdZfMUUBFXjuTb7XgYMYVFlDLsYL3ueAgetFB6yVHDvOSSlnXTqwB-XfHV0mf29_f3_xPFsldI/s320/058.jpg" /></a>I had hoped to use this cook to test out my new temperature gauge. I saw it was in the clearance section of Chef <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Central's</span> website, but thought it must be <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">ok</span> as it was made by Maverick. I was way wrong on that one. I popped in a battery, inserted the probe in the meat (no completely clean way of saying that), and it gave me a 'low' reading, not even registering a temperature at all. I swapped that probe out for a spare one I had around, and it read a temp above 200, which I knew could not be right. The above picture is it reading a temp of 161 with the probe in the open air. Will be returning this one and insisting on store credit.</div><br />
While I had this going on, the surprise hit of the day was my rubbed, maple-smoked, sauced pork neck bones. My wife had some around for some reason and I snagged a few to smoke when she wasn't looking. The result was some moist, snack-size pieces of meat that had a handy bone handle, that you could eat and walk around a party in a fashion similar to a lamp chop.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEich1R-lceHEzfOx33euRkDQtrw7UZHEbr8_Lui4ZmsqJc7Tc9VxY8LelsmS4_wc5Xu2dnMuXm6h7N5ULpTrpmmniSxnGcv5YhyphenhyphenOxfnR_7gEW-NbrU_GFJYtOaUAJUUZiCn3SRW1D0zglM/s1600/063.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEich1R-lceHEzfOx33euRkDQtrw7UZHEbr8_Lui4ZmsqJc7Tc9VxY8LelsmS4_wc5Xu2dnMuXm6h7N5ULpTrpmmniSxnGcv5YhyphenhyphenOxfnR_7gEW-NbrU_GFJYtOaUAJUUZiCn3SRW1D0zglM/s200/063.jpg" width="200" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrNDa4QkpYA3MobSNyZfkrLN9u4fh9CG-grViDK80KFvX780-5AVGjT8P6v-K4ER2NKWgVokic2T8kaQMpiRAzqfQqj06u6M4mR-4W2eDVhy0P72dHUa-L_hSeN4zinVu67BeBq42Wd3I/s1600/062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrNDa4QkpYA3MobSNyZfkrLN9u4fh9CG-grViDK80KFvX780-5AVGjT8P6v-K4ER2NKWgVokic2T8kaQMpiRAzqfQqj06u6M4mR-4W2eDVhy0P72dHUa-L_hSeN4zinVu67BeBq42Wd3I/s200/062.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
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Paired with my wife's basil lemonade they made a nice appetizer.<br />
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Here is a video review of the <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">neckbones</span>:<br />
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<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BVreDrOavuU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BVreDrOavuU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
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It's always something with that lady. That was her appetizer. Here is mine:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7svXwGyuR7fPXIfQYa6rtCzEDA-9IXqiIyAaXo77Hgau1XKOpHq3MinmiHBQhzqVWiGh4blcTRp9_MeBVn4mL47HIiiymTpYQQirG-86b6J8m8gOXwNtOC38r_mxCy95jN-mQANtN1YM/s1600/069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7svXwGyuR7fPXIfQYa6rtCzEDA-9IXqiIyAaXo77Hgau1XKOpHq3MinmiHBQhzqVWiGh4blcTRp9_MeBVn4mL47HIiiymTpYQQirG-86b6J8m8gOXwNtOC38r_mxCy95jN-mQANtN1YM/s320/069.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anyway, now for today's finished product:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNf5ydy4_-qJ5rCnEIni-xQrSPfC0zXOCq8kyP6orKBYViKVjjoaTzFtLhGzN309m15-GORHslivffIzDQgkSdb-TJE6SN8oUNSE6jqDtfj7thd3a1vAPWdkNkUeni_EpOHWc90jVypw/s1600/065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNf5ydy4_-qJ5rCnEIni-xQrSPfC0zXOCq8kyP6orKBYViKVjjoaTzFtLhGzN309m15-GORHslivffIzDQgkSdb-TJE6SN8oUNSE6jqDtfj7thd3a1vAPWdkNkUeni_EpOHWc90jVypw/s320/065.jpg" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNf5ydy4_-qJ5rCnEIni-xQrSPfC0zXOCq8kyP6orKBYViKVjjoaTzFtLhGzN309m15-GORHslivffIzDQgkSdb-TJE6SN8oUNSE6jqDtfj7thd3a1vAPWdkNkUeni_EpOHWc90jVypw/s1600/065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjNdDL0b-Chl7YnVf7idzL3ZirdMhMQPPKtjqxJBdaM8Oxr-udQ5T7vErueKjznU5hnKO_OuE8x1Yf_SPww_09QhD4j4YikkSTGN3HqDJ4S0BC1zDzDft89d0Pa_UM0eLqJ6MiCwAyF8/s1600/064.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjNdDL0b-Chl7YnVf7idzL3ZirdMhMQPPKtjqxJBdaM8Oxr-udQ5T7vErueKjznU5hnKO_OuE8x1Yf_SPww_09QhD4j4YikkSTGN3HqDJ4S0BC1zDzDft89d0Pa_UM0eLqJ6MiCwAyF8/s200/064.jpg" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;">After six hours of smoking we had some good pulled pork today. There were some dry areas outside but not many, and the interior meat was very nice, moist, with a refreshingly subtle maple flavor. It was sweet but not overpoweringly so.</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">The sugar made no real noticeable difference from other smokes, so the jury is still out on that one.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I am sad to say this because I had high hopes, but I think I am done with lump charcoal in my Char-<span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Griller</span>. I am having continuing problems getting my smoker to stay at 225 with the vents open. I heard a lot on the forums about how great this stuff was, and it does make great flavor, but if it is going to extend cook times the way is has for the last couple times, I will have to go back to the <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">briqs</span>. Royal Oak is the brand people swear by, and if that doesn't cut it I don't know what will.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Overall, this is still a learning experience. Having found this as a hobby, it gives me an outlet to experiment which my wife prefers to me experimenting on ill-planned home improvement projects. It's also a good excuse to spend an afternoon in the yard with a beer or three with the added plus of making some kick-ass dinner. You will hear more from me as I tweak my methods. Happy smoking</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggp2fwYcg4F4nYw9Crar431TlVHRxBDx_4xxVea4rzCoF7D-u6qNC57S6jpjabKXVRgKMVLQr9VhSiQBL__RA0808aZc_m8rtX18-9eBmF16vPE7lAg0nmsPSK3BY2CjhS95nX8DWpIdI/s1600/070.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggp2fwYcg4F4nYw9Crar431TlVHRxBDx_4xxVea4rzCoF7D-u6qNC57S6jpjabKXVRgKMVLQr9VhSiQBL__RA0808aZc_m8rtX18-9eBmF16vPE7lAg0nmsPSK3BY2CjhS95nX8DWpIdI/s320/070.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-35192400259064519352010-06-27T12:49:00.000-07:002010-06-27T12:51:30.515-07:00A tour of my pit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">By the way, to help put things in perspective I thought it would be good if I let everyone know what I cook on. Here in NJ it's not so common to have a welder in the family, so what I'm inclined to do is pick up something at the store and then do some of my own customizations to it. I have a Char-<span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Griller</span> Super-Pro with a side fire box and several sloppy mods that produce excellent pork. The light color on the <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">SFB</span> is from when I did my mod in there, the raised heat source burned off the paint and it rusted a little. I picked up some spray grill paint, and didn't realize it wasn't black until it was on. I very much like my two-tone smoker.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQkHRHyTOlHwAqA_AvIT4TJh_5YoGHg3HjPRAQfW1npvAfgmXcoeNhl6U45ErjW-9vmByBuM67JVMgXmLgJ9xBDWIio4OERhOoXhq84uh85a0YsGPo5dniaV59xS1Vl6Th8dxzydkZQE/s1600/Grill+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQkHRHyTOlHwAqA_AvIT4TJh_5YoGHg3HjPRAQfW1npvAfgmXcoeNhl6U45ErjW-9vmByBuM67JVMgXmLgJ9xBDWIio4OERhOoXhq84uh85a0YsGPo5dniaV59xS1Vl6Th8dxzydkZQE/s640/Grill+001.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A pair of spare lawnmower wheel make it easier to get around the yard. I <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">fab'ed</span> the axle from a piece of rod, found some brass flanges to make it roll smoother, all held together with cotter pins.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I have a 3 inch aluminum tube to extend the chimney downward to ensure even smoke-flow throughout the main chamber. This picture is when it was a new mod.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYivG4f4M07Jx51Kq604avRyF3T5NhwuCPlASXFDJdGRl1o5tDp-f6Tgfi4kKOsNssiszN60QsoOo0uMSZtvOycv34fypdWvHWm6sVN9fSIRxLR_C5PVld0ZbfL37DqSa5StZEV68Hhyphenhyphenw/s1600/096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYivG4f4M07Jx51Kq604avRyF3T5NhwuCPlASXFDJdGRl1o5tDp-f6Tgfi4kKOsNssiszN60QsoOo0uMSZtvOycv34fypdWvHWm6sVN9fSIRxLR_C5PVld0ZbfL37DqSa5StZEV68Hhyphenhyphenw/s320/096.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is a little more recent.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTPvootVxJVUKhdQVLDkZW7n2Q-IipOx2q2U_amo_hEC0FNGtp-uxcQ4ZjiFOIMbh-QFQzU_c395ZSDvJYLrILIB0zez4jMHVrQMRp1EBUW1uigqGgZ-Q0XERHg75YUorHcwqFoG3DLfg/s1600/Grill+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTPvootVxJVUKhdQVLDkZW7n2Q-IipOx2q2U_amo_hEC0FNGtp-uxcQ4ZjiFOIMbh-QFQzU_c395ZSDvJYLrILIB0zez4jMHVrQMRp1EBUW1uigqGgZ-Q0XERHg75YUorHcwqFoG3DLfg/s320/Grill+004.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My charcoal tray. Those of you familiar with the Char-<span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Grillers</span> will be familiar with these. I think the heat from some occasional direct grilling is making these bars pull apart. If enough of them go I may order a new one, for now I'm finding creative ways to hold it together. For now when I smoke things this tray holds drip pans and pans full of beer.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KB3g_bjvD6dI7OB18szQKqB8sit_-i348m8btiaje4dFvzoYqo3yZHBTtsmKs2N8eE316Js05OBgSHpg-t-TlsqA7JheXFcn2JgNCaFCbbJLmcOCTHm1bggxrinuHAYjhC0-u8riKyQ/s1600/IMG00171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KB3g_bjvD6dI7OB18szQKqB8sit_-i348m8btiaje4dFvzoYqo3yZHBTtsmKs2N8eE316Js05OBgSHpg-t-TlsqA7JheXFcn2JgNCaFCbbJLmcOCTHm1bggxrinuHAYjhC0-u8riKyQ/s320/IMG00171.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">At one point my wife noticed she kept getting burned pieces of rib, I concluded that high heat was coming through the <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">SFB</span>, and made this heat shield so it would not blast directly on our food. So far, so good with it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk7Ah-Ljp0Xx571oSUPqAg1RhYbEvebKgAf_IgcoM2UqLhHQ-Sa_8sxQFrLgdJrP5zpgmbagRqC3N3sJb-FXVYV-g6QUN80lqhla75qyuNVIiZOLJew-WutkGjauQIAzp7t3FUgDhgo7k/s1600/Grill+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk7Ah-Ljp0Xx571oSUPqAg1RhYbEvebKgAf_IgcoM2UqLhHQ-Sa_8sxQFrLgdJrP5zpgmbagRqC3N3sJb-FXVYV-g6QUN80lqhla75qyuNVIiZOLJew-WutkGjauQIAzp7t3FUgDhgo7k/s320/Grill+003.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is my newest mod. I made my charcoal box (next pics) a while ago, and used them for a long time on top of the <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">SFB</span> grates. I recently pulled those out and bolted in these pieces of plumbers strap to lower the box a couple inches. Now those grates will go camping with me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3VSnNntGCVDir5qmiWUoaK93kj6VuYHEn1CylB7k8bghm0infIhb946QFrYNWhxfwIAejE0GCsNUjEj9LIt9Jny7LtID4CeSUCBejkPshUWgRINB0yOVng6-v6l9D0odkgchyphenhyphenGFqbYcI/s1600/Grill+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3VSnNntGCVDir5qmiWUoaK93kj6VuYHEn1CylB7k8bghm0infIhb946QFrYNWhxfwIAejE0GCsNUjEj9LIt9Jny7LtID4CeSUCBejkPshUWgRINB0yOVng6-v6l9D0odkgchyphenhyphenGFqbYcI/s320/Grill+005.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is the charcoal box, made of expanded metal and sheet metal pieces, bolted together. Again if I ever learn to weld I may make something better but this is serving me well for now.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCY7JnaSiuaHWkwV6_Tj8LzFoZdPtWjiFVfoIqGVdHgT71XfUySyqRU7rfbEs6ihZ2AYUZoQsFUxAnNzsIUlvYSBcSI6PC0IANTtgMsXz72hLttG4LW31EEBzh5uFpghl21998dNbN44/s1600/Grill+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCY7JnaSiuaHWkwV6_Tj8LzFoZdPtWjiFVfoIqGVdHgT71XfUySyqRU7rfbEs6ihZ2AYUZoQsFUxAnNzsIUlvYSBcSI6PC0IANTtgMsXz72hLttG4LW31EEBzh5uFpghl21998dNbN44/s320/Grill+006.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A grate-level thermometer</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucpMQo7tx0qCYcbfljmmpJM6AT9PaUaYNX2PuwqWyULTJYX74XnY_CXU9Bn1qqLwXNhcqiLsCTJen45shXxYNoxFnTYPDX_HderILrmGvojXjP7K4vDaWQCOx2VprvoAyIe4UDIKcIzw/s1600/Grill+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucpMQo7tx0qCYcbfljmmpJM6AT9PaUaYNX2PuwqWyULTJYX74XnY_CXU9Bn1qqLwXNhcqiLsCTJen45shXxYNoxFnTYPDX_HderILrmGvojXjP7K4vDaWQCOx2VprvoAyIe4UDIKcIzw/s320/Grill+002.JPG" /></a><br />
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So that is the grand tour. I think these mods are all pretty standard for the Char-<span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Griller</span> line. If anyone out there has there own method about getting optimal, even heat, please comment as I always like to try new things. More news soon! Cheers-<br />
-R<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-72738775696888681222010-06-06T07:49:00.000-07:002010-06-06T07:49:36.461-07:00Here's one for the ladies -Some quick lamb chops, copper river salmon, and eggplant before the vacation.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Going out of town for a week but before I go here are some quick grilling pics from the other night. My wife and mom enjoyed copper river salmon and grilled eggplant. My dad and I had some very nice thick lamb chops, that came out nice and rare. We used the <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Corrado's</span> Argentine lump charcoal that worked great, got very hot, and stayed that way for hours, maybe I should give smoking another shot with it. Here are some quick pics. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">I'll check in in a week, If I see any good barbecue while I'm away I'll try to snap some photos.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Cheers-</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">-R</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5ocmkQMnuKUTEiGZOal34KHvGRXeZxWnUbCTIh4bn6GDRFSGOew-A3TdQIb92O0C4kw27ZgOyR3apvjcCBai16dU00jsbOl1rMetb3thYN9gJc5iLo8JJzCyGpdtyppYl7y01Mn0N6I/s1600/Before+the+cruise+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5ocmkQMnuKUTEiGZOal34KHvGRXeZxWnUbCTIh4bn6GDRFSGOew-A3TdQIb92O0C4kw27ZgOyR3apvjcCBai16dU00jsbOl1rMetb3thYN9gJc5iLo8JJzCyGpdtyppYl7y01Mn0N6I/s320/Before+the+cruise+003.JPG" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUvRuWDZsLzDRiLxR-BL3Bct1pGyXsc76yDGkUMckJ8-zx5_Z5vdDONr_E0tKb7J04ri0ChhhekfiVnmgjVxQSLVMZ6fFrzAWAhzyjo2nO0jmPhQ4vytY3yRar1TDRYOaylH8KTgHEhb0/s1600/Before+the+cruise+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5XI6ER7P0xzIKtm1bmKg6x964kIoY0xP-WEp4lLdfESD5cKXLT-Bh0J5NwG_GtrUD-X5cI05nuZItqRQsryfHKVIDROBmX3TOKCsa-wbF0mmgae7T5zAf59q2iXpda5EWKviY9mun_BQ/s1600/Before+the+cruise+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5XI6ER7P0xzIKtm1bmKg6x964kIoY0xP-WEp4lLdfESD5cKXLT-Bh0J5NwG_GtrUD-X5cI05nuZItqRQsryfHKVIDROBmX3TOKCsa-wbF0mmgae7T5zAf59q2iXpda5EWKviY9mun_BQ/s320/Before+the+cruise+004.JPG" /></a><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUvRuWDZsLzDRiLxR-BL3Bct1pGyXsc76yDGkUMckJ8-zx5_Z5vdDONr_E0tKb7J04ri0ChhhekfiVnmgjVxQSLVMZ6fFrzAWAhzyjo2nO0jmPhQ4vytY3yRar1TDRYOaylH8KTgHEhb0/s320/Before+the+cruise+002.JPG" width="320" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I wonder how you rotate pictures on <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">blogspot</span>? I'll figure it out next week.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitOp9LNRbyN9HYprlpsN3HzQ3bqdW6V9vYNieybrNNvbpjKla5mbx7TBSSLfAWpgpBvgfqVPlmgI2DL7Ss5kT9qVWEr4IuUlm0WRIigyi9qGuVRnlh6HQB9EkDXv-OIiwDcCK43VjFrPo/s1600/Before+the+cruise+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitOp9LNRbyN9HYprlpsN3HzQ3bqdW6V9vYNieybrNNvbpjKla5mbx7TBSSLfAWpgpBvgfqVPlmgI2DL7Ss5kT9qVWEr4IuUlm0WRIigyi9qGuVRnlh6HQB9EkDXv-OIiwDcCK43VjFrPo/s320/Before+the+cruise+005.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXC51FZsZTtd01UBamsYd5qYctWoYsY3Io1fb_9PNCdZwA8YHcDAXgPhhDt2Vwl8LvjgkSqNww6K0FJHh_1nWMgdr1JuI8AOzqQbIp3V4gyI74CJGb4Tmc49GBl1tgXZ9Maj2hrWw8yb0/s1600/Before+the+cruise+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXC51FZsZTtd01UBamsYd5qYctWoYsY3Io1fb_9PNCdZwA8YHcDAXgPhhDt2Vwl8LvjgkSqNww6K0FJHh_1nWMgdr1JuI8AOzqQbIp3V4gyI74CJGb4Tmc49GBl1tgXZ9Maj2hrWw8yb0/s320/Before+the+cruise+006.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEvmvwh7m3eBn93LCO8SVKU8wihM3J2Kg8DqeuHruuwuVLzcI6ArLubCjgJrmLiKMej8zq0EEczUH_efiZWwIXh9fSGdvQ9zDIhlce6L_qtBfLKETBsYKvXYoJ78JcZRHs7MF6uKG03pA/s1600/Before+the+cruise+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEvmvwh7m3eBn93LCO8SVKU8wihM3J2Kg8DqeuHruuwuVLzcI6ArLubCjgJrmLiKMej8zq0EEczUH_efiZWwIXh9fSGdvQ9zDIhlce6L_qtBfLKETBsYKvXYoJ78JcZRHs7MF6uKG03pA/s320/Before+the+cruise+009.JPG" />We lost an eggplant in the grate.</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8o5AoAh7hQs2gvbqf2oHA0kVIpURYODDPyj-VFELPWsEIv4gKx50ZgCuHcGEtfQJ2Ck5rD2LMFleUnpkEPw9DTltJvrGCzLPjO9roMkAw6KKT7eY1CneU5_BpqFSX904U-_NnGRGTes/s1600/Before+the+cruise+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8o5AoAh7hQs2gvbqf2oHA0kVIpURYODDPyj-VFELPWsEIv4gKx50ZgCuHcGEtfQJ2Ck5rD2LMFleUnpkEPw9DTltJvrGCzLPjO9roMkAw6KKT7eY1CneU5_BpqFSX904U-_NnGRGTes/s320/Before+the+cruise+007.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4e-IAqgoi5er3l5ItphtfRWMaMi1W4wH-SFqr8aFFRkHaz7Ghe47zMt3hJcDczo4VUpBqs80FYBC-SJo7PF-Gzu6kAbABiZWe8Su1wljwwd-N8o438U3JMoGYNFNrJgYtjWZGcgGOu_s/s1600/Before+the+cruise+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4e-IAqgoi5er3l5ItphtfRWMaMi1W4wH-SFqr8aFFRkHaz7Ghe47zMt3hJcDczo4VUpBqs80FYBC-SJo7PF-Gzu6kAbABiZWe8Su1wljwwd-N8o438U3JMoGYNFNrJgYtjWZGcgGOu_s/s320/Before+the+cruise+008.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here is one of the local panhandlers<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowluBLRcio7Gy72rc1XXNuaPbMV58gtI67QVTuO0Kpfmvnx-42mOaOCqWusRZzGfSnTtv-cVRRHzX1RIh3Ydu0OAwLe2UdLjicI2smaRagDcPObOf3jHwcE0ndDbLo9sxLTcOfJ0Eur0/s1600/Before+the+cruise+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowluBLRcio7Gy72rc1XXNuaPbMV58gtI67QVTuO0Kpfmvnx-42mOaOCqWusRZzGfSnTtv-cVRRHzX1RIh3Ydu0OAwLe2UdLjicI2smaRagDcPObOf3jHwcE0ndDbLo9sxLTcOfJ0Eur0/s320/Before+the+cruise+010.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr3NGYWlncNwDSWrAFYS7KBcBOmfQJj-lymmBH2R9hA6bOkdYkByGVxtwcSBOznEGxmNFXp-2sOnHE9re3d5HJj9_W_IMNOewx_3Q1yWCFqvv_DLuuepNMrA-iS53XFUlzs9QJwDnXtRk/s1600/Before+the+cruise+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr3NGYWlncNwDSWrAFYS7KBcBOmfQJj-lymmBH2R9hA6bOkdYkByGVxtwcSBOznEGxmNFXp-2sOnHE9re3d5HJj9_W_IMNOewx_3Q1yWCFqvv_DLuuepNMrA-iS53XFUlzs9QJwDnXtRk/s320/Before+the+cruise+013.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Looks good<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0e_ZJr3cwkayiOYbyJDGBqg-fiQkrN1__4lWKDFkEwISGa-xOtrQXavYIvfVop7bmiuJHWgTCbsgziJlQ4UnU57vKXSID_6scXGyet02g1CaYcvoBisONe8saF4LTibb1og3J52woNqY/s1600/Before+the+cruise+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0e_ZJr3cwkayiOYbyJDGBqg-fiQkrN1__4lWKDFkEwISGa-xOtrQXavYIvfVop7bmiuJHWgTCbsgziJlQ4UnU57vKXSID_6scXGyet02g1CaYcvoBisONe8saF4LTibb1og3J52woNqY/s320/Before+the+cruise+014.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Rare meat turns me into a caveman, eating with my paws.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYWVTu6vLLu7kpf7Whyphenhyphen3AZ-g-aPM3rYFwbbPPii4gtJieO0L_6YvVDxK3J555A-9T3sDpaNMT6_t0bcqD7wyqncpGBz_4SQmox4b8rIjFwawC2Lh3CTJEw_vh1H9PQAvTa5oGkd-pKKVM/s1600/Before+the+cruise+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYWVTu6vLLu7kpf7Whyphenhyphen3AZ-g-aPM3rYFwbbPPii4gtJieO0L_6YvVDxK3J555A-9T3sDpaNMT6_t0bcqD7wyqncpGBz_4SQmox4b8rIjFwawC2Lh3CTJEw_vh1H9PQAvTa5oGkd-pKKVM/s320/Before+the+cruise+015.JPG" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">See you next week-</span></span><br />
</div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-46341261376673354272010-05-31T13:34:00.000-07:002010-05-31T16:46:29.739-07:00Memorial Day WeekendLet me start off my saying a big thanks to all the service men and women, the vets, and their families.<br />
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Next order of business- I'm thinking of changing the name of my blog. The Backyard Smoker was good to get things going but I think it's a little blah. So give me some suggestions in the comments section. Something Northeastern, to let people know who I am, where I am, and that I'm not inclined to let other regions corner the market on smoke. The smokey yankee? Give me some ideas.<br />
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So this was probably my most ambitious smoking day to date. Two each of rib racks and briskets, ne of each rubbed and one au naturale. and some smoked cheese grits that my mom made. THis was also the biggest gathering of friends and falimy I ever smoked for, about 12 people?<br />
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I rubbed one rack with the last of my turmeric rub you've hear me mention before, and left the other rack rubless, to help accomadate differing tastes and dietary limitations in our group. I picked up two thin-cut flat briskets at Corrado's, thinking if anywhere would have a good meat selection, it would be there. One was rubbed with this <a href="http://bbq.about.com/od/rubrecipes/r/bl50713d.htm">Texas-style rub from about.com</a>, the other was bare. I put the briskets on about an hour and a half earlier than the ribs, then let the whole thing go another four and a half hours, burning Trader Joe's natural briqettes, smoking with mesquite chunks and soaked chips. Here is a rundown of the action:<br />
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Here are some action shots of things as they transpired on the scene<br />
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Everything went pretty well. The Trader Joe's natural briqs appeared to give a nice even heat, but much like the Kingsford Competition they burned fairly quickly and produced a lot of ash that made me dump the ask pan at one point, letting air back in to my fire. Is that just the deal with 'natural charcoal'? Feel free to comment and let me know your own experiences.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GFCHpgHgrHGTyhHZdMkz1oP5-ggtlTFmaoffLQeRYc5Nc__uEu9zf2kjyk2pJO9wt5VRZRZ09eI0escG-8_0Rl4arMhdKiw-wBjYItgeyJSDiDHckJGq0ZKTE8WiSlSJIOxwwsAwjrc/s1600/Memorial+day+weekend+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GFCHpgHgrHGTyhHZdMkz1oP5-ggtlTFmaoffLQeRYc5Nc__uEu9zf2kjyk2pJO9wt5VRZRZ09eI0escG-8_0Rl4arMhdKiw-wBjYItgeyJSDiDHckJGq0ZKTE8WiSlSJIOxwwsAwjrc/s320/Memorial+day+weekend+005.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZsRYNwiM5B67fiOxMP75JKmaYPrSoN6OqtL2HEgrKvp0mSnK6EMMJcsr_r6__2awfZyUg75OKnGGdei52E3Noj6dgJmKb28aVxlTaK9IxV7WQpnFM64ryjB-OHSdulBzs9HzVXmOIhE/s1600/Memorial+day+weekend+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZsRYNwiM5B67fiOxMP75JKmaYPrSoN6OqtL2HEgrKvp0mSnK6EMMJcsr_r6__2awfZyUg75OKnGGdei52E3Noj6dgJmKb28aVxlTaK9IxV7WQpnFM64ryjB-OHSdulBzs9HzVXmOIhE/s320/Memorial+day+weekend+008.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnQcacNNS_VmtGsrtfs_xXRsPIps7yZTTCLAhwNW2u_z3gfsxMIGH2kd0cQ-W6mKuSpK3yYa0KRDH9Ponka87BPmO0fdcOffAckdTyGBAGOerAwrpklwUwTuaYJ1gbLRFsXILs9uLQuI/s1600/Memorial+day+weekend+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnQcacNNS_VmtGsrtfs_xXRsPIps7yZTTCLAhwNW2u_z3gfsxMIGH2kd0cQ-W6mKuSpK3yYa0KRDH9Ponka87BPmO0fdcOffAckdTyGBAGOerAwrpklwUwTuaYJ1gbLRFsXILs9uLQuI/s200/Memorial+day+weekend+006.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
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The food came out great. The ribs were juicy, they had an acceptable level of doneness because the natives were getting restless, but my real preference is to leave them on longer, I never like using a knife to cut them apart, I prefer to pull them into pieces with the tongs, and even though they weren't falling apart to that extent they tasted great. The rub added some nice heat.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicQP05krU0Zkkx7tt9u5p8MK3tN3WA7-1M8o4kql9nTNW9Y9Twk07PdTdAunLhdQrMPNz1HdHFYlkXDnRi4VoHW_8JgzOe-Zh3wop-8A-gkCElH77hNR7QKqMnQiXQYzIJskLOcxPDYpM/s1600/Memorial+day+weekend+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicQP05krU0Zkkx7tt9u5p8MK3tN3WA7-1M8o4kql9nTNW9Y9Twk07PdTdAunLhdQrMPNz1HdHFYlkXDnRi4VoHW_8JgzOe-Zh3wop-8A-gkCElH77hNR7QKqMnQiXQYzIJskLOcxPDYpM/s320/Memorial+day+weekend+015.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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This was my second time ever making brisket, and while I'm not 100% positive they came out the way brisket is traditionally served I had no complaints. When I was trying to slice it it started coming apart much like pulled pork, and was a little oilyer (is that a word?) than I expected. In any event they tasted great and everyone was asking for more.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7CCpOdzkxvBZAUZ9zXfbDeOMu5OgRnPqegkKRbSz2VD16Qgt3QFZSz8Z33kVJwT6O3vfsQS5HdL4IFkcL2Th0ORzhJ9S4T8R2lvS3JWxDwsveGfkHjxk8CEg1Z7Q2Y63NH8vucttsC4U/s1600/Memorial+day+weekend+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7CCpOdzkxvBZAUZ9zXfbDeOMu5OgRnPqegkKRbSz2VD16Qgt3QFZSz8Z33kVJwT6O3vfsQS5HdL4IFkcL2Th0ORzhJ9S4T8R2lvS3JWxDwsveGfkHjxk8CEg1Z7Q2Y63NH8vucttsC4U/s320/Memorial+day+weekend+011.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg76fcdZPrds0UZhqCocPeKDHXhP5fmXASEFHf_4VzBG207Wb3zR2V60stG_nvvVH8Pfp0bjDztbo7vMKdKibsGwxSkT50V9LR_1KAiqa6-ws11ili0jQfZ-FcFsyfat6oM1k7fPCCa0Z8/s1600/Memorial+day+weekend+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg76fcdZPrds0UZhqCocPeKDHXhP5fmXASEFHf_4VzBG207Wb3zR2V60stG_nvvVH8Pfp0bjDztbo7vMKdKibsGwxSkT50V9LR_1KAiqa6-ws11ili0jQfZ-FcFsyfat6oM1k7fPCCa0Z8/s320/Memorial+day+weekend+013.JPG" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zH3EBfn-soHoCZ9Yv88fwFz4g6Ykc85i5sWIB8IykgzpW9w9kSy0b19YJp03S634hVTrUEkS31m9GFfq6ypLIW7GPuVuNoN7Zgp7WRzF7mbMUSxwLPaEuswD6fcuOrosNmFqCeFdTw0/s1600/Memorial+day+weekend+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zH3EBfn-soHoCZ9Yv88fwFz4g6Ykc85i5sWIB8IykgzpW9w9kSy0b19YJp03S634hVTrUEkS31m9GFfq6ypLIW7GPuVuNoN7Zgp7WRzF7mbMUSxwLPaEuswD6fcuOrosNmFqCeFdTw0/s320/Memorial+day+weekend+010.JPG" /></a>The grits were the real surprise hit of the day. My mom made some real Louisiana style cheese grits, we pit them in the smoker for the last hour and a half, they took on the mesquite flavor nicely, and while I think they boiled down a little bit, they came out thick, gooey, smokey, cheesey, and left an awesome burnt cheese crust in the pan that I gnawed on for about 10 minutes. We also had some great potato salad, brocolli-bacon salad, spinach dip, key-lime pie, cookies, and blackberry streusel pies that were a huge hit.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicQP05krU0Zkkx7tt9u5p8MK3tN3WA7-1M8o4kql9nTNW9Y9Twk07PdTdAunLhdQrMPNz1HdHFYlkXDnRi4VoHW_8JgzOe-Zh3wop-8A-gkCElH77hNR7QKqMnQiXQYzIJskLOcxPDYpM/s1600/Memorial+day+weekend+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicQP05krU0Zkkx7tt9u5p8MK3tN3WA7-1M8o4kql9nTNW9Y9Twk07PdTdAunLhdQrMPNz1HdHFYlkXDnRi4VoHW_8JgzOe-Zh3wop-8A-gkCElH77hNR7QKqMnQiXQYzIJskLOcxPDYpM/s320/Memorial+day+weekend+015.JPG" /></a></div><br />
All- in all, good day out.<br />
Here are some reaction videos. Please pardon my father who had some criticism of the services. He might have just been mad for having to wait 5 hours to eat. The other os my friend Ray, I'm not sure if he had the chance to read my previous posts but we had to remind him this was a family website:<br />
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<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/B5TKPVS_L8I&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/B5TKPVS_L8I&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
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For my next steps, while I figured out it's not hard to make a tasty brisket, I need to learn how to make one that will stay sliced. I'm still on the hunt for whatever will be my regular charcoal.<br />
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CHEERS-<br />
-R<br />
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Here are some shots of the crowd including two lost vegetarians who found their way into my yard:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZY8nTImkcv6mbmf85XvS5svX661ppEJtkFRfNP7oML9YkCzWC7rhX8Fwz18kx1WBWRIsONzt4zSkYRcBlvK6xj8QSHI5iIw6VYBfgq-hEW1vZhpp2ObSYec_OV4pgDuYZFqA-b2wYKo/s1600/Memorial+day+weekend+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZY8nTImkcv6mbmf85XvS5svX661ppEJtkFRfNP7oML9YkCzWC7rhX8Fwz18kx1WBWRIsONzt4zSkYRcBlvK6xj8QSHI5iIw6VYBfgq-hEW1vZhpp2ObSYec_OV4pgDuYZFqA-b2wYKo/s320/Memorial+day+weekend+016.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZ2ASOnal2_ePQw-PBb3Q2RbNLo9dErgi_CWtczplb4Sv70Nv7d1ccqkAh81ZdkzUGvAHWAJJaqJeIHDGybXxGXFoacyRECDUFLDpToJC_c457kHlmTv1svXErvpYLdipXfcUuoma57c/s1600/Memorial+day+weekend+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZ2ASOnal2_ePQw-PBb3Q2RbNLo9dErgi_CWtczplb4Sv70Nv7d1ccqkAh81ZdkzUGvAHWAJJaqJeIHDGybXxGXFoacyRECDUFLDpToJC_c457kHlmTv1svXErvpYLdipXfcUuoma57c/s320/Memorial+day+weekend+017.JPG" /></a></div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-46565528922751868662010-05-21T19:38:00.000-07:002010-05-21T19:39:44.794-07:00History of Barbecue in New Jersey<div>First of all let me just put this out there</div><div><br />
</div><div><img height="254" src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:VvCNEDp6fk-e1M:http://newjersey.mercatus.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/nj-flag.jpg" width="320" /></div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>So this weekend with my better half's work schedule I will be putting all my attention towards my 10 month old son and not smoking anything. In lieu of anything to document this weekend, I though it was important that I address some recent comments and highlight important developments and personalities in New Jersey's rich history in barbecuing.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>A little known fact is that prominent New Jersey Resident Thomas Edison, in cooperation with Henry Ford, invented the charcoal briquette as we know it</div><div><br />
</div><div><img alt="Charcoal Briquette" src="http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/0/F/_/charcoal2.jpg" /></div><div><br />
</div><div>There are some counterclaims that a guy named <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Zowyer</span> held a competing patent but since he was not from NJ I will elect not to publish or promote his whole deal. Edison and Ford went on to sell their formula to Ford's brother-in-law, a certain Mr. <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Kingsford</span>.</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
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The Portuguese community of the greater Newark area produces some kick- ass barbecue. While 'm not completely sure if it's actually smoked or just grilled, whatever they do comes out great. Much of it is minimally spiced and there is no sauce except on the side if you ask for it, but it is VERY good stuff. They have a ton of variety in their repertoire and I strongly recommend checking it out if you have not yet.<br />
<img height="200" src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:JuCNSjnh7BV_XM:http://www.asudems.com/images/60.jpg" width="145" /><img height="201" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/11/15/nyregion/15dinenjspan-1/articleLarge.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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I would also like to congratulate the 2009 New Jersey State Barbecue Champion, Fat Angel<br />
<img src="http://www.localsmokebbq.com/fatangel/photos/americanroyal09.jpg" /><br />
I'm sure he will be competing again at the <a href="http://njbbq.com/">2010 New Jersey State Barbecue Championship</a>, taking place this July in <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Wildwood</span>.<br />
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Feel free to tune in next week when I actually smoke something. In closing here is a photo montage of many notable members of the NJ hall of fame. If you don't believe, look it up. I'll start with the famous recording artist and <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">kung</span>-<span class="goog-spellcheck-word">fu</span> master <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Shaquille</span> <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">O'neal</span><br />
<img src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:JvlCAfdmveYveM:http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00000054C.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" /><img alt="http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/Jon-Bon-Jovi-Poster-C10050342.jpeg" height="200" src="http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/Jon-Bon-Jovi-Poster-C10050342.jpeg" width="144" /><img src="http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/pics/phil_rizzuto_autograph.jpg" /><img alt="Lou Costello statue." src="http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/images/nj/NJPATcostello.jpg" /><img height="200" src="http://www.audiography.com.au/images/Albums/S_A050217-02_Paul%20Robeson_The%20Mighty%20Voice%20Of%20Paul%20Robeson.jpg" width="194" /><br />
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</div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-7992826348901161332010-05-10T17:44:00.000-07:002010-05-10T19:11:57.289-07:00All's Well that Ends Well on Mother's Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So even though it was going to be a busy weekend and it was Mother's day, my better half had to work and I knew she'd rather stay in to eat than go out. We had a rack of ribs in the fridge with her name on it. As you will read on, today's story is full of unexpected twists and turns and probably should not have turned out an edible food product, but it actually turned out some nice ribs. My wife and my mom are usually the biggest critics of my backyard shenanigans including barbecue, but neither of them had any complaints.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">One running theme in my short lived blog is that I'm experimenting with different charcoals and that I havn' found anything I liked. I've been thinking lately about lump and after the reviews I saw of Cowboy at <a href="http://homedepot.com/"><span class="goog-spellcheck-word">HD</span></a> and the cost, I picked up some Argentinean lump, 20 pounds for ten <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">bux</span>. More on that later.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgopGHURA8TsZOba5UE-6cWAsddYhAZro1QJ2XxKBMMdo4l3dQJyru9soNJQMTmXt6tH5tLhQu8Y-57hCtSvjoHQCfbWdigMiiwe7-Jw7kDfDKgnYaQhSU9o_JYYs28-cz44UQYD1GriUw/s1600/IMG00169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgopGHURA8TsZOba5UE-6cWAsddYhAZro1QJ2XxKBMMdo4l3dQJyru9soNJQMTmXt6tH5tLhQu8Y-57hCtSvjoHQCfbWdigMiiwe7-Jw7kDfDKgnYaQhSU9o_JYYs28-cz44UQYD1GriUw/s320/IMG00169.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A close up of the lump</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCaMqIof4bsGE7N5nhr1AZWqsUdCE97I7jHsrByR-Z2fXlQFwP6WjaSLTOEfzNQJFRY4DbDZED1PtSYJIdO2TswKy8GiD_vxGDq1_KGssU3kXCyD9dr6gjzNc-DcgZueApYkQMgzzGkR0/s1600/IMG00170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCaMqIof4bsGE7N5nhr1AZWqsUdCE97I7jHsrByR-Z2fXlQFwP6WjaSLTOEfzNQJFRY4DbDZED1PtSYJIdO2TswKy8GiD_vxGDq1_KGssU3kXCyD9dr6gjzNc-DcgZueApYkQMgzzGkR0/s320/IMG00170.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">For those of you familiar with the <a href="http://chargriller.com/">Char-<span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Griller</span></a> brand, I had to do some last minute <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">MacGyvering</span> on my charcoal tray, because the end rail- the one with the indentation for the hook to attach- broke loose. I drilled a hole and attached it to the next one using some bare wire I had around. Stuff like this makes me want to learn to weld.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKYYLtEU5iJaCDRyAIdZbv4SvAxO_u5o8HXJBzgDLXL3mQVbFQmelaVRNMKASPKIYHohAYjduDCKzcHbOqdtVkKB4FOM0oTc7dijmixhpJS5fXCFYM6rbQEcMrEVAAVebRpe5sM1UCiQ/s1600/IMG00171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKYYLtEU5iJaCDRyAIdZbv4SvAxO_u5o8HXJBzgDLXL3mQVbFQmelaVRNMKASPKIYHohAYjduDCKzcHbOqdtVkKB4FOM0oTc7dijmixhpJS5fXCFYM6rbQEcMrEVAAVebRpe5sM1UCiQ/s320/IMG00171.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Last year's <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">homebrew</span>- not fit for human consumption but fit for vapor-basting my ribs.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMRmsjxcRbnlrzH43Y6vF6b2DaqW_3fBGB9ehL2rKDTAQrCjBEcG8ramdflhJlB4eymTP0DuNGhZbVWzZmtgY12n0bLABCM7yyLa-VnO7GMc7pWIvJIhCmNfpiDVSeCHb-FfIZD6Af_Dc/s1600/IMG00172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMRmsjxcRbnlrzH43Y6vF6b2DaqW_3fBGB9ehL2rKDTAQrCjBEcG8ramdflhJlB4eymTP0DuNGhZbVWzZmtgY12n0bLABCM7yyLa-VnO7GMc7pWIvJIhCmNfpiDVSeCHb-FfIZD6Af_Dc/s320/IMG00172.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">These ribs were rubbed with what I call my turmeric rub. Go to about.com, find their<a href="http://bbq.about.com/od/rubrecipes/r/bl40228a.htm"> recipe for 'best odds rib rub'</a> I think it's called, and substitute turmeric for mustard. The first rub I ever made- I found it, wanted to make it, and made do with what I had around the house. Gives nice flavor and a nice bark. Some rainy weekend I'll elaborate on it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOVJoE-0il8UJEfo-ggMf0ZlNQXmo7LFCu6o5VHjnekLYtHLmgW1E5vJxOgHC4SGy4hWtuIEUkbBzJOS3vANs8MGRZDuoPkObr3PSH-w5wL45U7VtiLQ1CdfNN4LqQ1zdpq2yDF4soedg/s1600/IMG00173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOVJoE-0il8UJEfo-ggMf0ZlNQXmo7LFCu6o5VHjnekLYtHLmgW1E5vJxOgHC4SGy4hWtuIEUkbBzJOS3vANs8MGRZDuoPkObr3PSH-w5wL45U7VtiLQ1CdfNN4LqQ1zdpq2yDF4soedg/s320/IMG00173.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's where my problems started.. After taking forever (40 <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">mins</span>) to get ready in the chimney, moved it to the Side Fire Box. The temperature reading on the grill level (not stock) thermometer would not go above 150- After a while I added a 2nd chimney of the lump with the same result. Pissed me off. I eventually dumped my coal box inside the main smoker chamber to one side and separated it from the meat with my home made heat shield. I supplemented that with the rest of the <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Kingsford</span> Competition Ive been bitching about which got my heat where it needed to be and higher.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPm5V0UHPxniI_3WQ_dQurUMUdymBTymX9LHKluqFWABDPuBRtDFvQLUHUKkJoyx9L_rk2NZWgEZkck5FCzVFIITNKaQrl6_oyxoxV1oUy5eAR3pERqSq_a1ESfv1CX9Izeb_wz-NZMM/s1600/211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPm5V0UHPxniI_3WQ_dQurUMUdymBTymX9LHKluqFWABDPuBRtDFvQLUHUKkJoyx9L_rk2NZWgEZkck5FCzVFIITNKaQrl6_oyxoxV1oUy5eAR3pERqSq_a1ESfv1CX9Izeb_wz-NZMM/s320/211.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This was all taking so long I was starving. I took advantage of having a hot side of the grill and threw on some frozen puck burgers for my parents who were over and I. These things were so frozen I had to grill them for a minute or two to separate them. Even then if took some elbow grease and the <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">WMD</span> I use as a spatula.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9ebaEKi88VehoSrZc7u1cCitDPnzcc7TC4pfcBI9JRbzC7k7PJT0q1EU5KIpNPcjkN1utRhw5fqPhSV40o-VJcWUYziLo6X2AACRa_E7PnfdBlBZtP3qP5lr44M3qtpMHYHpcN98aPI/s1600/212.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9ebaEKi88VehoSrZc7u1cCitDPnzcc7TC4pfcBI9JRbzC7k7PJT0q1EU5KIpNPcjkN1utRhw5fqPhSV40o-VJcWUYziLo6X2AACRa_E7PnfdBlBZtP3qP5lr44M3qtpMHYHpcN98aPI/s320/212.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">On top of everything else my thermometer was dodgy. The plug the probe goes into recently pushed itself into the housing of the device, so I took it apart, found the plug part, and <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">superglued</span> it in place. A couple of other bits and pieces fell out but who's counting? Now the thing turns on and off at will and the temp it reads varies by a range of about 30 degrees. What you see below is after about 2 hours of cooking- 191- highly unlikely.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivBXhp221IXrknEFTLj-jKk2eI916V2mi5N0CvUjLP7I1Z_pLGOCbKK9uncbMHTejsbRybaKehINm83nTdb0zIUsZo1JIvh74xnEzGVs4qk2YsTnPoe59jEwZNpAYtsMgzueRjLpciLBc/s1600/214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivBXhp221IXrknEFTLj-jKk2eI916V2mi5N0CvUjLP7I1Z_pLGOCbKK9uncbMHTejsbRybaKehINm83nTdb0zIUsZo1JIvh74xnEzGVs4qk2YsTnPoe59jEwZNpAYtsMgzueRjLpciLBc/s320/214.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">All in all a thin area at the end was crispy but the rest turned out to be a good rack of ribs for Mother's day.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdWgJg5XuZDoZgI8N2sOuezpstE4thjVEkiv7FSfYJLzOU226iB_WaZ03UFzUU_gg_Xejo0Kv9z0UT3ZGFgkeqjDPKowboGKHUUzvcI-JZ67dDmeMKl3BgOP0GiCCl3u2N0y7eoZo5C1w/s1600/215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdWgJg5XuZDoZgI8N2sOuezpstE4thjVEkiv7FSfYJLzOU226iB_WaZ03UFzUU_gg_Xejo0Kv9z0UT3ZGFgkeqjDPKowboGKHUUzvcI-JZ67dDmeMKl3BgOP0GiCCl3u2N0y7eoZo5C1w/s320/215.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGq8dIHMjJMS0aUJi7zZ7303SJy61QfBsMLWuVF4mvqcebAPHfrLwlyG6sJu1wcET2TYXVIyvBTcwiKCnrUKfnzBtZdvr3L6qv4cokMJTx0tZ7g_q_djChAlYaRz3sJBbBPcDyIr4Zea8/s1600/216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGq8dIHMjJMS0aUJi7zZ7303SJy61QfBsMLWuVF4mvqcebAPHfrLwlyG6sJu1wcET2TYXVIyvBTcwiKCnrUKfnzBtZdvr3L6qv4cokMJTx0tZ7g_q_djChAlYaRz3sJBbBPcDyIr4Zea8/s320/216.JPG" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Turned out good. The end.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lessons learned:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">-The lump charcoal was a good deal price wise, and made some nice burgers, but does not produce enough indirect heat at least for my smoker. Does anyone else have experience? Please comment away-</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">-The <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Kford</span> Comp I was complaining about saved the day. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">-Even when things <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">zig</span> when you think they will <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">zag</span>, you can still get a decent meal out of it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Wondering now what my next fuel source experiment should be. I'm going in on a cord of firewood with some guys, all hardwood supposedly. I'll have to get my boy scout field guide and try to identify some hickory or mesquite in it, maybe cherry would be more likely here in NJ. Maybe I should forget about charcoal and go caveman style with the logs.</div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-26865356714199521172010-05-08T19:38:00.000-07:002010-05-08T19:38:59.216-07:00Off topic- grilling post= GRILLED BEEF TACOS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFUKx2TmcZ-dApVjDemWdXIjeGshuuc_LmRoW5LuD7uA-S2VocUgZp3_HtXryhNAmAPfi-Zpr_XEmpnqf-nHvD-QyobEhByKpE2ni_IazsqkORTXUiUiYPnVonwzsG4i-nXqAI7r_lC2g/s1600/IMG00156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFUKx2TmcZ-dApVjDemWdXIjeGshuuc_LmRoW5LuD7uA-S2VocUgZp3_HtXryhNAmAPfi-Zpr_XEmpnqf-nHvD-QyobEhByKpE2ni_IazsqkORTXUiUiYPnVonwzsG4i-nXqAI7r_lC2g/s320/IMG00156.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cIj6sYGK9tA&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cIj6sYGK9tA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br />
A bit off topic but here is a post on some grilling I did. I had some errands to run today and knew my schedule wouldn't be conducive to smoking, so I did something different. My better half picked up some tortillas and queso fresca hoping I would make her some enchiladas, but it's backyard cooking season and I wasn't into that. I set the Char-Griller up for direct grilling, filled a large chimney with some of the remaining K-ford Comp, and threw a london broil on and seared it with the coals at the highest position. The thick iron grates put some great marks and char on the meat. I did that for a few minutes each side, lowered them to medium heat, left it for a few more minutes, and it came out rare and gorgeous (see the pics below). From there I let the meat rest and then it got sliced.<br />
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Following that, I used the remaining heat in the coals (which was waining by that time, again thanks to the 'competition' briquettes) to heat up some tortillas, just a few seconds each side. I would throw one on, flip it, throw on a few slices of beef, a little gucamole my wife made (she's big on avocados), some pico de gallo (fresh onin, tomato, cilantro, and lime juice), some of the aforementioned queso shredded, and would squeeze a lime over the whole thing. I should brag I only had a few seconds to do all that because of how sensitive the tortillas were and I pulled it off it was AWESOME. From there some quick work with the tongs flipped it closed, a couple more seconds each side, then you had to start eating straight away. This is the kind of stuff that makes me a little cocky about my backyard cooking.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">As a segue to my next episode, I picked up a bag of Argentinean(sp?) natural lump charcoal at Corrados in Clifton. Does anyone have experience with this stuff? If its good this will become my regular stuff as I hear great things about lump charcoal and it was dirt cheap. We'll find out soon enough-</div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585298819322980470.post-36726314695499627502010-05-02T15:07:00.000-07:002010-05-02T19:24:44.704-07:00Ribs and Mac n Cheese<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8KtP8KJe4iBkTm20i7caE2rr70XiOVUKKCySvUyPeppGJWNRGWpZ229PjEM2900ClMYt3kIePJy3B7_GGrNaZ2E7qSZhkAVROYWhM08ckJtl2T8Rg5LzbafjNRDPJZ4AV7caHyxFtXE/s1600/IMG00155.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8KtP8KJe4iBkTm20i7caE2rr70XiOVUKKCySvUyPeppGJWNRGWpZ229PjEM2900ClMYt3kIePJy3B7_GGrNaZ2E7qSZhkAVROYWhM08ckJtl2T8Rg5LzbafjNRDPJZ4AV7caHyxFtXE/s320/IMG00155.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466806712998509570" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQxnmYGelpegMakNJgn6IfJdCQ8iM6SQiW7WQ4LF8C3eovUQUYxTQyeMY9H5Nm4OCTkq-XyMOuErRW-eXvx6KveHfRLOFjDYDQVeNc9pcu3c-cZBzou702W08WXZBAp8vPzmiBOn1LnU/s1600/IMG00154.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQxnmYGelpegMakNJgn6IfJdCQ8iM6SQiW7WQ4LF8C3eovUQUYxTQyeMY9H5Nm4OCTkq-XyMOuErRW-eXvx6KveHfRLOFjDYDQVeNc9pcu3c-cZBzou702W08WXZBAp8vPzmiBOn1LnU/s320/IMG00154.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466806613176123666" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuuhFgVKeZSH6s4jcnqc941rhZ0zASPQblTSB95SmbhCqECOPlLHSmY1VOQoi3AvueqkrXSYvzt12BhTMi6N6tR63FfEeYvLpg6-4QvOrpVN3JpbXGAhrXB5Jr7xOzy2XtxB0KALKW_GM/s1600/IMG00153.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuuhFgVKeZSH6s4jcnqc941rhZ0zASPQblTSB95SmbhCqECOPlLHSmY1VOQoi3AvueqkrXSYvzt12BhTMi6N6tR63FfEeYvLpg6-4QvOrpVN3JpbXGAhrXB5Jr7xOzy2XtxB0KALKW_GM/s320/IMG00153.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466806440342841762" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS65F0t9XCtumvsfIC8LHWdrn4G4AdNI_wzKyBAZ0T3xpFN2WdjT5KpR0grLkQQ8jksVvYyLcbELNUK9aEWs0upVvsjYcMGFfr5XxCtaM0un9t_w6kYzfhhcHv50LUHgCyW6AV8NhQQvc/s1600/IMG00152.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS65F0t9XCtumvsfIC8LHWdrn4G4AdNI_wzKyBAZ0T3xpFN2WdjT5KpR0grLkQQ8jksVvYyLcbELNUK9aEWs0upVvsjYcMGFfr5XxCtaM0un9t_w6kYzfhhcHv50LUHgCyW6AV8NhQQvc/s320/IMG00152.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466806312543305570" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5puLB681g9q3w3D26R3jFjwAbVllThc7-5Wq5Iiun54tao4uZK1GIHSwcxjqhPYK6Fyogov3IeinoOGdoo-jjOgFgayhp7i_9ERGMRSdoprUW6nI4x3ME94G40s43gD4UpcHWN_PQK2o/s1600/IMG00151.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5puLB681g9q3w3D26R3jFjwAbVllThc7-5Wq5Iiun54tao4uZK1GIHSwcxjqhPYK6Fyogov3IeinoOGdoo-jjOgFgayhp7i_9ERGMRSdoprUW6nI4x3ME94G40s43gD4UpcHWN_PQK2o/s320/IMG00151.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466806170912074530" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVfTg2aBfCCfQtBeEYAyMzmBlgR8s8AV7W_DxpysEmdwSHlWTZ-8w4K9JFwKqZOPtjnaZ75S2Qpe44_0wLb8vr5bHUS7Y379hhTAFMGuNbHOU2y3dHCOK9nq8ilW8hBF0bm5Jf6_it9A/s1600/042910.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVfTg2aBfCCfQtBeEYAyMzmBlgR8s8AV7W_DxpysEmdwSHlWTZ-8w4K9JFwKqZOPtjnaZ75S2Qpe44_0wLb8vr5bHUS7Y379hhTAFMGuNbHOU2y3dHCOK9nq8ilW8hBF0bm5Jf6_it9A/s320/042910.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466799793570348018" /></a><br />So we had a gorgeous day today, I had big plans for some ribs that were in the fridge rubbed, and had been sitting in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ACV</span> (apple cider vinegar) 24 hours prior to that. After 4 hours of smoking they came out <i>pretty</i> good, more on that later. When I did the shopping, I went to the store late and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">pickins</span> were slim, so you can see from the pictures that these cuts were a little smaller than what I usually do. <div><br /></div><div>I used my usual rub, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">tumeric</span> rub (you can find the recipe on the tracker once I figure out how to upload it). I used soaked hickory chips in boxes on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">briqs</span>. Had my stinky <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">homebrewed</span> beer from last summer in drip pans under it to self based, did it all on my modded CG which I will detail on a later episode. Brushed with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">SBR</span> (Sweet Baby Ray's) about a half hour before coming off the grates, rested about a half hour before eating.</div><div><br /></div><div>I used <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Kingsford</span> competition <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">briqs</span> which my wife bought on sale at Costco. I had high hopes for them because they were supposed to have less binders, crap wood etc and I expected a higher level of performance than from regular K-ford. These <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">briqs</span> were OK and doable for my application but not great. They had a higher cooking temp, but burned through pretty fast. I learned soon that I absolutely HAD to use the minion method if I wanted my temperature not to dip below 200, they just burned out too fast to get another chimney lit and going. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">They</span> produced so much ash that I had to dump it at one point to keep air flow going and I almost started a garbage fire.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall the ribs came out <i>pretty</i> good as I said before. The 24 hour <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">ACV</span> soak turned out to be too much, and the pork flavor never got past the vinegar left in the meat. Mike and Mike loved them and had no complaints, my wife picked on them and I think noticed the vinegar. Other than the vinegar the results were good. They were moist, tender, had the right amount of bark, were not burned in any place thanks to the new heat shield.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another experiment that came out great, I saw somewhere someone smoking macaroni and cheese. I thought this sounded good so just to try, I took one of those store-bought macaroni and cheese boxes, I think from whole foods, made it, shredded and mixed in a healthy amount of real cheddar, and put it in the smoker for like the last 40 minutes. This stuff came out GREAT!! The smoke flavor in the cheddar was good, next time I'll use a good mac n cheese recipe and leave it in longer, maybe with mesquite.</div><div><br /></div><div>All in all a decent day out. Lessons learned:</div><div><ol><li><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Kingsford</span> Competition is probably great for grilling but not great for smoking.</li><li>A 24 hour <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">soak</span> in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">ACV</span> is too much.</li><li>The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">theory</span> that anything tastes better coming out of a few hours in the smoker has been supported this week by MAC N CHEESE. </li></ol></div><div><br /></div>Renehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691932316881372806noreply@blogger.com2