Who's smoking meat this weekend?

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Yeah, it's pretty impervious to conditions. They love 'em in the Great White North because they hold temp amazingly even in subzero weather.

Not that I worry about that in SoCal though ☀
Would cracking be an issue with rain and temp changes?
 
Finally splashed out on some commercial and home made rubs. Ill post more later, but spoiler alert, imho nothing has come close to 2 to 1 sugar and salt. Now I see why bbq sauce is so popular. I never used or needed bbq sauce until using rubs. Now, with most rubs it seems mandatory. A s.... ton of salt and sugar and good meat smoke needs no sauce, I know this to be true. That said I do like some of these flavors. They just need a lot more sugar. Also, the rubs do a fantatstic job of covering the meat and smoke taste. They sure do look pretty though, that bright red. But the covering of the meat and smoke taste is less enjoyable imho. Maybe Ill do a side by side next smoke. One with a commercial rub and one with heavy sugar salt crust. Ymmv!
 
Would cracking be an issue with rain and temp changes?

No, the ceramic grills don't have an issue with the exterior cracking. It's very common for the internal firebox (which is a ceramic piece) to develop cracks, but good grill vendors like BGE and Kamado Joe replace those under warranty for free. But if you figure a grill can withstand 600-700 degree temps, going from 35 degrees to 80 degrees isn't going to bother it.
 
I picked up a standing pellet smoker and got it put together last night. Going to run it through a seasoning cycle today and do some wings this weekend. Nothing too fancy on it until I get the hang of it.

Seeing all the GFI issues you guys are noting, I might be in for some with the circuit I was planning on using...

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No, the ceramic grills don't have an issue with the exterior cracking. It's very common for the internal firebox (which is a ceramic piece) to develop cracks, but good grill vendors like BGE and Kamado Joe replace those under warranty for free. But if you figure a grill can withstand 600-700 degree temps, going from 35 degrees to 80 degrees isn't going to bother it.
For sure. Thanks for the info. I don't make as much in advance, but I have a lot of variety on hand and well kind of miss smoking. I have less reason to because its already made. Anyone ever feel that way? I might start smoking less just so I can more! I enjoy it. Well and of course keep a little stockpile; )
 
Brisket, smoked, then pulled with half a bottle of porter added and smoked for another hour
Omg wow! That sounds amazing. I wonder what would happen if you did the same thing with pineapple, idk, just throwing that out there. Any thoughts on this technique much appreciated. Brown sugar and bourbon?
 
Finally splashed out on some commercial and home made rubs. Ill post more later, but spoiler alert, imho nothing has come close to 2 to 1 sugar and salt. Now I see why bbq sauce is so popular. I never used or needed bbq sauce until using rubs. Now, with most rubs it seems mandatory. A s.... ton of salt and sugar and good meat smoke needs no sauce, I know this to be true. That said I do like some of these flavors. They just need a lot more sugar. Also, the rubs do a fantatstic job of covering the meat and smoke taste. They sure do look pretty though, that bright red. But the covering of the meat and smoke taste is less enjoyable imho. Maybe Ill do a side by side next smoke. One with a commercial rub and one with heavy sugar salt crust. Ymmv!
Honestly, I find just the opposite - that with a good rub, and good meat to start with, I never need sauce.
It's bad meat and bad prep (and bad smoking) that needs sauce to cover it up.
I don't care for most commercial BBQ sauce anyways, they all have that liquid smoke, that always tastes like chemicals to me. I do make my own, of course.
 
For sure. Thanks for the info. I don't make as much in advance, but I have a lot of variety on hand and well kind of miss smoking. I have less reason to because its already made. Anyone ever feel that way? I might start smoking less just so I can more! I enjoy it. Well and of course keep a little stockpile; )

Most things I throw on the smoker aren't for long-term storage. Pulled pork definitely is, because it's so versatile in so many ways. Brisket gets frozen as well, but that's more based on the fact that I rarely have enough people eating it to finish a whole brisket. So if I have leftovers I freeze it, and I usually buy one of the larger briskets at Costco so I'll have leftovers. But I don't smoke brisket with the intent to save it.

Although I gotta say... If you have leftover brisket, you can make brisket grilled cheese... And that's a good thing.
 
Honestly, I find just the opposite - that with a good rub, and good meat to start with, I never need sauce.
It's bad meat and bad prep (and bad smoking) that needs sauce to cover it up.
I don't care for most commercial BBQ sauce anyways, they all have that liquid smoke, that always tastes like chemicals to me. I do make my own, of course.
Sure, I am curious though how many times you have rubbed meat with one cup sugar and a half cup salt. Soon I will be smoking ribs with killer hogs rub and a cup of sugar and half cup of salt. Ill do indepth pics and tastings. Maybe I need to use more rub, Ill try that next time. After at least 75x having smoked meat with nothing more than sugar and salt I can say that the smoke flavor seems different or perhaps the massive sugar stores the flavor. Not sure why really. Using the same exact method year in and year out, cup sugar, half cup salt, hickory and cherry mixed, I think made any subtle difference much more obvious. Next I think I will also try my base with spices to make my rub more flavorful. I think there might just need more sugar and salt in the rubs I have tasted. Not saying the rubbed meat is bad, just different.
 
Omg wow! That sounds amazing. I wonder what would happen if you did the same thing with pineapple, idk, just throwing that out there. Any thoughts on this technique much appreciated. Brown sugar and bourbon?
I would do pineapple maybe with pork instead, mix the juice with some stout maybe.
I use a Finnish brand of rubs (poppamies) as most American brands tend to lie on shelves and warehouses so long that half the flavour is gone.
This was Apple wood and some sugar cubes for smoking
 
I would do pineapple maybe with pork instead, mix the juice with some stout maybe.
I use a Finnish brand of rubs (poppamies) as most American brands tend to lie on shelves and warehouses so long that half the flavour is gone.
This was Apple wood and some sugar cubes for smoking
Wow that poppamies is interesting. I need to convert the page because it was in finnish. The finnish apparently know their bbq sauce to.
 
Sure, I am curious though how many times you have rubbed meat with one cup sugar and a half cup salt. Soon I will be smoking ribs with killer hogs rub and a cup of sugar and half cup of salt.
Fair enough. I haven't used that specific mix - Depending on what meat it is, I will use the mustard / brown sugar / rub layering, or salt and pepper - usually 33%/67%. I also do a pastrami / Montreal smoked meat based brisket which is Montreal Steak Spice, with extra garlic and coriander. Maybe next rib day I'll try your blend and see how it comes out. Just the S&S, no mustard etc? White sugar or brown?
But my point was when you said that any rub needs sauce - I generally don't find this to be so (YMMV)
 
Hanging the half birds turned out great. Done in 1.75 hours then rested another hour in a cooler to keep warm before dinner. Finished of under the broiler to crisp up the skin.
 
I put a rack of back ribs on my Green Egg Saturday with chunks of pecan wood from my son's pecan orchard. I cooked them 3 hours at 210F and they were perfect. I didn't even wrap them for the last hour like i usually do and they were perfect.
 
I put a rack of back ribs on my Green Egg Saturday with chunks of pecan wood from my son's pecan orchard. I cooked them 3 hours at 210F and they were perfect. I didn't even wrap them for the last hour like i usually do and they were perfect.

Wow... I've never had ribs get done that quickly at that temp...

On Saturday I had 3 racks on at probably 225-250, 3 hours unwrapped, 1 hour wrapped, 1 more hour unwrapped, and they were just a shade tougher than I like (and certainly not "fall of the bone")...

Is there anything particular you did to these, or did you just get lucky?
 
Wow... I've never had ribs get done that quickly at that temp...

On Saturday I had 3 racks on at probably 225-250, 3 hours unwrapped, 1 hour wrapped, 1 more hour unwrapped, and they were just a shade tougher than I like (and certainly not "fall of the bone")...

Is there anything particular you did to these, or did you just get lucky?
Me neither. But I've burned the last two racks I smoked so I watched it like a hawk.Maybe I just lucky. I had to get a new thermonmeter for my Egg a couple of months ago, the original wasn't reading correctly at all-when it said 220 2 other digital thermometers were reading over 400F
 
Wow... I've never had ribs get done that quickly at that temp...

On Saturday I had 3 racks on at probably 225-250, 3 hours unwrapped, 1 hour wrapped, 1 more hour unwrapped, and they were just a shade tougher than I like (and certainly not "fall of the bone")...

Is there anything particular you did to these, or did you just get lucky?
I've noticed that anything I brine cooks a lot faster, but not that fast. I'm betting it was just perfect fat distribution.
 
Wow... I've never had ribs get done that quickly at that temp...

On Saturday I had 3 racks on at probably 225-250, 3 hours unwrapped, 1 hour wrapped, 1 more hour unwrapped, and they were just a shade tougher than I like (and certainly not "fall of the bone")...

Is there anything particular you did to these, or did you just get lucky?
The ribs were room temp when I put them on, I wonder if that made a difference. I went out to wrap them after 2 hours 45 minutes but when I check the internal temp they were already at 195 so I closed the egg, finished up the sides and we ate.
 
The ribs were room temp when I put them on, I wonder if that made a difference. I went out to wrap them after 2 hours 45 minutes but when I check the internal temp they were already at 195 so I closed the egg, finished up the sides and we ate.

Yeah, I could see that knocking at least 30 minutes off the finishing time if they were already room temp.
 
The ribs were room temp when I put them on, I wonder if that made a difference. I went out to wrap them after 2 hours 45 minutes but when I check the internal temp they were already at 195 so I closed the egg, finished up the sides and we ate.
I don't know the bge on a personal level, but depending on the temp probe placement in relation to grate surface can be significantly different. Alternatively, the ceramic insulation may make it very temperature stable with a low swing.

Comparing my cookshack, my friends MES and another friends pellet pooper (cabelas?) We had a 20, 40 and 35 degree temperature swing on either side of the set temperature. If the BGE stays close to a 5-10 swing, it may cook that fast.

Also, I think @corkybstewart is in France, not sure how their pork ribs compare to domestic in fat, thickness, size, but that certainly could affect cooking time.
 
I don't know the bge on a personal level, but depending on the temp probe placement in relation to grate surface can be significantly different. Alternatively, the ceramic insulation may make it very temperature stable with a low swing.

Comparing my cookshack, my friends MES and another friends pellet pooper (cabelas?) We had a 20, 40 and 35 degree temperature swing on either side of the set temperature. If the BGE stays close to a 5-10 swing, it may cook that fast.

Also, I think @corkybstewart is in France, not sure how their pork ribs compare to domestic in fat, thickness, size, but that certainly could affect cooking time.
You mean pigs outside the US aren’t feed an excessively high caloric and waste driven diet possible to get them to a weight a year earlier than they should be? Lol. Sorry just a little US ag humor lol
 
Also, I think @corkybstewart is in France, not sure how their pork ribs compare to domestic in fat, thickness, size, but that certainly could affect cooking time.
Unfortunately because of the coronavirus I did not get to go to my house in France this summer. French pork is much leaner than American, and the pigs appear to be much bigger. Lat summer I ordered 3 shoulders for a family cookout-each one averaged 7 kilos. The ribs I cooked this weekend were just grocery store rbs, uninfected with flavor solution.
 
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