Chezmatt
Full Fledged Farker
I got to spend a week with my family for the 4th, and I got some cooking in. Being away from my trusty WSM, I relied on a pair of Weber kettles to feed the family (up to 20 people per meal). Here are a few thoughts:
1. Ribeye on a grill is awesome. Ribeye on a grill then cooked in butter is amazing. Following a technique I saw on Bobby Flay's BBQ Addiction show, I did the following: Cooked a few ribeyes over the coals (Cowboy lump) on high heat until they were about 120 IT. Then took them off, and put two cast iron skillets on the grill to get them hot. While those were heating up, I cut the steaks into wide pieces (five per steak). Then I put the steaks back in the skillets, and added a lot (like a whole stick) of butter cut into chunks. The butter melted into a pan sauce with the jus from the steak. After about two minutes, I pulled the steaks, put them on a platter, and poured the butter sauce over them. The steak was amazing. You should try this.
2. BBQ Brethren is the best cooking resource around. (You all already know this, but it bears repeating.) I wanted to find out how to smoke meat on a kettle, and found more threads on the subject than I could read. In particular, I found a great post by aawa on the snake method (http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2935486&postcount=11) which clearly laid out the process. Thanks aawa!
3. For the 4th itself, I smoked a butt using the snake method (a la aawa) and a brisket using a more standard (I think) indirect cooking method. For the shoulder, I used the 2+2+1 snake with some cherry chunks. It was about as fire-and-forget as the WSM. I started it at 7:30 am, it settled in around 280, and by 4:00 I had a delicious butt with an IT of 200. For the brisket, I built a Minion-method pile on one side of the grill (John Wayne brand briquettes and hickory chunks), blocked it off with some bricks, and put a water pan on the other side. The brisket went over the water pan. This method required a lot more temp adjustments, and the addition of some more coals during the cook, but the brisket came out great. Overall, I'd rather use the snake, and will in the future.
4. The above-described indirect method worked great for chicken, except that I replaced the Minion-method coals with hot-burning lump. A dozen chicken thighs went on the cool side over the water pan, and came out perfectly. I didn't even need to turn them. I just let them go until the IT was 165, brushed on a little BBQ sauce, and gave them a minute for the sauce to set up. Best chicken I've done so far.
5. Adam Perry Lang's BBQ sauce from Serious Barbecue is great. Give it a try.
6. Bricks are essential BBQ tools. In one week, I used them to block heat under the butt in the snake method, to form a wall to hold the coals for the indirect method, and to hold a smaller grill above the main grill to create a cooler rack for moving chicken as it was completed. I'm keeping half a dozen bricks with my BBQ gear from now on.
So, to sum up, thanks again to the Brethren for endless good advice, and I hope some of this helps someone else. (Unfortunately, I can't upload pics right now, so no pron.) Thanks!
1. Ribeye on a grill is awesome. Ribeye on a grill then cooked in butter is amazing. Following a technique I saw on Bobby Flay's BBQ Addiction show, I did the following: Cooked a few ribeyes over the coals (Cowboy lump) on high heat until they were about 120 IT. Then took them off, and put two cast iron skillets on the grill to get them hot. While those were heating up, I cut the steaks into wide pieces (five per steak). Then I put the steaks back in the skillets, and added a lot (like a whole stick) of butter cut into chunks. The butter melted into a pan sauce with the jus from the steak. After about two minutes, I pulled the steaks, put them on a platter, and poured the butter sauce over them. The steak was amazing. You should try this.
2. BBQ Brethren is the best cooking resource around. (You all already know this, but it bears repeating.) I wanted to find out how to smoke meat on a kettle, and found more threads on the subject than I could read. In particular, I found a great post by aawa on the snake method (http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2935486&postcount=11) which clearly laid out the process. Thanks aawa!
3. For the 4th itself, I smoked a butt using the snake method (a la aawa) and a brisket using a more standard (I think) indirect cooking method. For the shoulder, I used the 2+2+1 snake with some cherry chunks. It was about as fire-and-forget as the WSM. I started it at 7:30 am, it settled in around 280, and by 4:00 I had a delicious butt with an IT of 200. For the brisket, I built a Minion-method pile on one side of the grill (John Wayne brand briquettes and hickory chunks), blocked it off with some bricks, and put a water pan on the other side. The brisket went over the water pan. This method required a lot more temp adjustments, and the addition of some more coals during the cook, but the brisket came out great. Overall, I'd rather use the snake, and will in the future.
4. The above-described indirect method worked great for chicken, except that I replaced the Minion-method coals with hot-burning lump. A dozen chicken thighs went on the cool side over the water pan, and came out perfectly. I didn't even need to turn them. I just let them go until the IT was 165, brushed on a little BBQ sauce, and gave them a minute for the sauce to set up. Best chicken I've done so far.
5. Adam Perry Lang's BBQ sauce from Serious Barbecue is great. Give it a try.
6. Bricks are essential BBQ tools. In one week, I used them to block heat under the butt in the snake method, to form a wall to hold the coals for the indirect method, and to hold a smaller grill above the main grill to create a cooler rack for moving chicken as it was completed. I'm keeping half a dozen bricks with my BBQ gear from now on.
So, to sum up, thanks again to the Brethren for endless good advice, and I hope some of this helps someone else. (Unfortunately, I can't upload pics right now, so no pron.) Thanks!
