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Charcoal grill/smoker recommendations?

Discussion in 'Drink, Smoke, and Fine Dining' started by Nurburgringer, Apr 20, 2011.

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  1. joker57676

    joker57676 Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #176 joker57676, Mar 24, 2012
    Damn it Kurt, now I have to go over to that market. Is that the place over on 27th? I wanted to get something in the smoker today, but couldn't decide what....I was thinking chickens, but now I'm thinking pigs. So many animals and they're so delicious!!!


    Mark
     
  2. Nurburgringer

    Nurburgringer F1 World Champ

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    #177 Nurburgringer, Mar 24, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    LOL wifey should warn me when a photo is coming so I can suck in the gut :)
    Hey never trust a skinny chef!

    Yup 27th and Grange right next to the Pet World.
    Was really funny, right after we "found" it last year I was flipping through an in-flight magazine on Frontier and in a piece on Milwaukee they had a paragraph on the place.
    http://www.onmilwaukee.com/market/articles/pacificproduce.html
    Be sure to get a bahn mi sandwich or two to take home, they're freaking good.

    Smoke status:
    2 hours in, just munched down the first tester piece of pork and effin YUMMMM!!!! Just a touch of thai pepper in the rub really brings the heat, hope bro can handle it...

    91% humidity, 50F outside makes for some slow starting but long smoldering briquettes and chunk hickory. Need a 3/4 full chimney of briquettes and a couple handfulls of wood every 45 minutes or so to maintain 225 on the hot side, 200 on the cool side.
    Last night I bought a $10 (made in the USA!) fireplace grate at Home Depot thinking it may work better than the too-open grate that came with, but not enough area to hold briqs so put down a layer of expanded steel mesh on the original one to hold the fire up a bit. Seems to be working great so far.

    Will throw about 1/2 doz heads of garlic in the smoker during the next fuel load, now mixing up the yakitori marinade for the chicken wings now (1 ½ cups mirin, ¾ cup soy sc, 4 tbls sugar, 1 garlic clove)
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  3. texasmr2

    texasmr2 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #178 texasmr2, Mar 24, 2012
    Words of wisdom! ;)
     
  4. joker57676

    joker57676 Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #179 joker57676, Mar 24, 2012
    Because I couldnt decide between pigs or chickens, I went with both. I've got one beer can chicken and two large "high" ham hocks ready to go once the smoker comes up to temp. The wife's gone all day today judging or coaching (I cannot keep track of what she's doing) the annual moot court competition at Marquette today so I have all day to smoke meat and play with the four dogs at the house right now....today has the makings of a really nice, lazy Saturday.


    Mark
     
  5. texasmr2

    texasmr2 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #180 texasmr2, Mar 24, 2012
    Don't forget the pics Mark, ok? ;)
     
  6. joker57676

    joker57676 Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #181 joker57676, Mar 24, 2012
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  7. texasmr2

    texasmr2 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #182 texasmr2, Mar 24, 2012
    I'll be there in 10mins, don't shoot!!!
     
  8. joker57676

    joker57676 Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #183 joker57676, Mar 24, 2012
    Front door is open, come on in.

    Mark
     
  9. TexasF355F1

    TexasF355F1 Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    #184 TexasF355F1, Mar 24, 2012
    I think he just waved at me.

    :D
     
  10. texasmr2

    texasmr2 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #185 texasmr2, Mar 24, 2012
    "Knock knock!!" :D

    Traffic is a biatch so maybe you could just "rub" that yardbird on your monitor, kinda like "Can I smell your finger?" Tmi?
     
  11. joker57676

    joker57676 Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #186 joker57676, Mar 24, 2012
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  12. Nurburgringer

    Nurburgringer F1 World Champ

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    #187 Nurburgringer, Mar 25, 2012
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    Those look excellent Mark - did you buy the hocks at Pacific Produce or?
    Look like they have quite a bit of meat inside, like the ones I used to treat myself to in Germany ("Haxe", Bavarian style with crispy, crunchy, heavenly skin or Silesian/Polish style that's more stewed).

    Final results from smokeout #1 of 2012 are in: success!
    I mopped down the ribs with orange juice&water starting at hour 4 then three more times. This moistened them a bit, but also served to wash off most of the firey rub.
    Finished with a light brush of Jim Beam BBQ SC and a minute or two over the gas grill.

    Next time I may try a pan of water under the ribs for some or all of the smoking time; they weren't "dry", but experimenting is good.
    The real treat IMO was the beef - they look black on the outside, but no burnt taste as all and inside they were fatty, meaty, just super tasty.
    My nephew almost ate his own weight in ribs....

    1st pic is 4 hrs in, next ones are 6 hrs
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  13. Nurburgringer

    Nurburgringer F1 World Champ

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    #188 Nurburgringer, Mar 25, 2012
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    Made a tiny but effective mod to the Smoke Hollow: cut a ~3/4" long piece of rubber tube (could also use a spring) to exert a little pressure on the smoke-chamber's damper handle. This eliminated all leaks in this door, even when it was closed.

    Also, a public service announcement:
    WARNING: This ***** is HOT!
    About 1 tbls in enough rub for two full racks took it to spice level 7.
    Zesty taste and slow burn would have been perfect for me and the Mrs, but if I hadn't washed most of it off 3/4 way through the 6 hour smoke my brother and kids would have been in pain....
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  14. joker57676

    joker57676 Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #189 joker57676, Mar 25, 2012
    Everything looks great Kurt, good work. Yes, I did get the hocks from the Pacific Market, that place is great especially for someone like me who loves seafood. I'll definitely be going back there when I need meat, etc.

    Mark
     
  15. Far Out

    Far Out F1 Veteran

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    #190 Far Out, Apr 4, 2012
    You guys make me look for the house prices in my area right now because I'm not allowed to do anything barbecue related in the apartment building I'm living in...
     
  16. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #191 Fast_ian, Apr 4, 2012
    Given your stellar success with microwave chocolate cake, I can't help thinking that's a good thing! :p :D

    Cheers,
    Ian
     
  17. Far Out

    Far Out F1 Veteran

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    #192 Far Out, Apr 4, 2012
    That was ALL Andrew's fault!!! *finger pointing to the UK* :eek:
     
  18. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #193 Fast_ian, Apr 4, 2012
    :)

    Although it would be a little impolite to question Andrews recipe - Seems some did have "limited" success with it after all, I'm not aware of anyone else blowing up their microwave in the process...... ;)

    My only point was if you can do that much damage in a little microwave, BBQ & smoking should probably only happen in a "controlled environment" if you're in charge. :D

    Cheers,
    Ian
     
  19. Far Out

    Far Out F1 Veteran

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    #194 Far Out, Apr 4, 2012

    Hey, the microwave didn't explode... it just smelled like a crispy rodent... for half a year...:eek:
     
  20. Nurburgringer

    Nurburgringer F1 World Champ

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    #195 Nurburgringer, Apr 8, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Not to pat myself on the back too hard, but damn I'm getting good at searing steaks on the IR station.
    Can't do more than 2 at a time (thinking about adding another burner, there's plenty of room if I move the one over and put another next to it), and a really wide steak will hang out away from the heat source, but with strategic placement and attention to any variations in thickness it does one hell of a job.
    Last night seared zucchini and squash then 2 thin-ish boneless ribeyes with a side of rosemary potatoes, sauteed shrooms and a horseradish sour cream sauce with some minced smoke garlic.
    I suspect the LP tank is getting low, have to swap her out for a full one before our next party in 2 weeks...
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  21. speedy_sam

    speedy_sam F1 Veteran

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    #196 speedy_sam, Apr 18, 2012
    I just bought a UDS (ugly drum smoker).

    Did a full 360 from original thoughts of a propane smoker. I went to Gander Mountain to check out the smoker that Kurt's got - it's feature rich but unfortunately too big for my patio. The UDS is pretty cheap, compact and effective.

    I will keep my CharCrap gas grill for grilling and use the UDS for barbecueing.

    I have cooked with charcoal on a basic Weber kettle very briefly about 6 years back- it wasn't pleasant memories - mostly inhaling soot and burnt meals. I gave up to go to gas grilling. Hopefully, I will have a much better experience this time around.
     
  22. vincent355

    vincent355 F1 Veteran
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    #197 vincent355, Apr 18, 2012
    I have two UDSs that I built. They put out some great Q. Once a year I pull them both out and do about 80 lbs of pulled pork.

    The BGEgg I use for every day stuff and the weber for grilling steaks when I want that perfect sear.
     
  23. texasmr2

    texasmr2 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #198 texasmr2, Apr 19, 2012
    I prefer using the gas grill for steaks and smoker for everything else.
     
  24. Nurburgringer

    Nurburgringer F1 World Champ

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    #199 Nurburgringer, Apr 20, 2012
    It's 4/20, so happy 1 yr anniversary to this thread!

    Been some great stories/recipes/photos here, let's go for a 2 years!

    My Smoke Hollow isn't quite 1 yr old, but has seen a good amount of use: 8 smoke sessions (>75lbs of meat total), 2 times direct charcoal grilling, >15 using the gas grill for brats, veggies and fish, and >12 times using the gas IR searing station for steaks.

    Next weekend for a party I'll be grilling habenero brats and maybe some yakatori.

    smoke-em if you've got em!
     
  25. joker57676

    joker57676 Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #200 joker57676, Apr 29, 2012
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