Charcoal grill/smoker recommendations?

My brother and I fired up his BBQ pit yesterday....did a couple of racks of ribs, some chicken, and that North Mississippi/Memphis delicacy, BBQ bologna. He likes a sweet flavor for his ribs, so uses apple wood for the smoking. He has a dry rub he makes up, with the "top secret" ingredient being Country Time powdered lemonade mix. It adds a bit of a tart citrus zing to the rub....good comb with the apple wood smoke. He also tried a new trick I have never seen before, he put a raw onion on top of the coals to add an onion flavor to the smoke. You can REALLY smell the flavor as that thing is burning. We probably used 4-5 onions over the course of two hours. As one burned up we would add a fresh one. Turned out great!
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Mark,

Get one of these for your Weber and it'll transform it into a grilling monster!

http://www.cast-iron-grate.com/

 

First try, Saw the recipe for the chicken on a show. It was good, but not sure it's worth the effort over what I typically do with my chicken. I like my own recipe better which doesn't involve buttermilk just a simple rub. My chicken is just as moist. This was all done on the Big green egg. I have a couple of UDS's that I use for bigger cooks.

 

Here's the whole process I did:

1) inject with au jus and beef base marinade,

2) put in pan to sit overnight with more of the marinade around the meat,

3) re-injected some marinade from the pan about 45 minutes before smoking then put on the rub,

4) put on the pit at 8:30am at about 250 degrees +/- 15 degrees for 4 hours,

5) took it out, wrapped the pan with foil, then put it back in the smoker,

6) took it off the smoker when the probe read 200, a little more than 8 hours total time (didn't feel right at 185, 190, or 195),

7) wrapped it in several layers of foil and a big beach towel,

8) let it sit in a cooler for 2.5 hours (guests were an hour late which should have been expected knowing them), served still very warm/hot.

The meat was very tender and tasted great, but was not as moist as I would have wanted. I did reserve the juices that accumulated in the pan after it was done smoking with the intent of siphoning off the fat and using the juice to sauce the meat after it sat in the cooler for a couple of hours, but that didn't happen. Kitchen got too busy and I said the hell with it. Saved the juices to use for my leftovers.

Thank you, but don't need it. I have a separate Weber propane grill for high temp stuff. When I eventually replace those grates, they will be cast iron though.


Mark

 

That's really interesting. I like people who use/try things that are outside the box.

I use vanilla extract in my rib marinades.

I'm the opposite of my friends I do ribs with as most of them like bbq on their ribs. I don't. The only way I do like it, is if it's more of a glaze that gets tossed on the grill for a few minutes to crisp it up.

 

That's the thing....many people mistake bbq SAUCE with actual bbq. The act of cooking meat over a low temperature, smokey (usually wood, but not always) fire is what defines something as bbq, not the sauce. I am more in agreement with you, if you have good meat, a good fire, and maybe some dry seasoning, you don't need a lot of sauce for flavor.

 

+1

I don't like a lot of sauce. I want to taste the meat, the smoke, and the rub too. I don't want all other flavors completely masked by excessive amounts of sauce dripping all over the place.

Mark

 

For sure.

That's why I like to do a marinade. It adds a underlying flavor that balances well with the rub.

I think I've got my marinade down, but my rub is still an ever changing work.

 

Kurt, seasoned venison backstraps with some salt and pepper and then wrapped them in the cheap thin bacon. Smoked for about 2hrs.
And I agree with the rest of y'all. The only thing I like sauce on is a BBQ sandwich. I like dryer BBQ better than the dripping wet sauce only stuff.

Lots of good looking food on here as usual.

 

I like a little sauce glaze on my ribs, especially if it's got some vinegar in it! I think it really brings our the rub and the pork. I don't add any while I'm eating them.

 

Pizza night!
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Brisket Flats anyone?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Nice!

I'm trying my hand at smoking a turkey today. The wife's out of town doing a mother/daughter weekend in Chicago so after doing work around the house and errands all day, I'm now relaxing watching some racing and drinking a beer while the the bird smokes away.


Mark

 

Thanks Mark,

How did the bird come out?

 

It came out pretty good; the dogs and I ate well. I was happily surprised that the bird came out really moist after I had a thermometer mishap. The thermometer stopped reading properly but I caught it not too long after it reached the proper temp so it did not have too much time to dry out. I'll definitely be doing this again but with a new thermometer.

Mark
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Had a rib competition at my friends for the 4th. Out of 5 ribs, mine were voted #1.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

July 4th smoked chicken and ribs below.



Kai

 

Nah, not me. My good German friend Alex.

Kai

 

Salt and pepper rub on the chicken. 3.5 hours in the smoker.

Yum.

Kai

 

I marinade in pineapple-mango juice, Worcestershire (low sodium), two-three tblsp of habanero pepper sauce, a little bit of vanilla extract, and some of the spices from the rub.

The rub is essentially around 15 or so different dry ingredients. Chili powder, ancho chili powder, nutmeg, chinese five spice, brown sugar, red pepper flake, etc.

Everyone else added sauce and/or beer braised them after they took them off the pit. I didn't do any of that, just took them off and let them rest.