How do you BBQ?

ok dudezz
let's talk about the what and the how when you wanna get that good taste on. me i use charcoal cuz that's what i have. not keen on that lump stuff as i believe it's overpriced. i like the kingsford. and i need desperately to branch out from hickory/mesquite chips fer smokin. lately it's been a rub or cure on the mostly chicken thighs, but also pork chops consisting of 1/2 brown sugar 1/2 paprika and salt and pepper, then sauced with homemade BBQ sauce. fine for labor day, but i'm also looking for some new ideas from people as well. perhaps after the weekend we can all post our food pron from the weekend's various bbq'ing activity.

no bbq this year as I'm out of the US and have no grill/smoker but in the USA I smoke pork butts, ribs, and briskets mostly, chickens once in a while, and turkeys for Thanksgiving. I use charcoal + hickory or soft woods like cherry, apple or pecan (mesquite is too bitter, though it's ok for fajitas on the grill). I don't marinate pork or beef but do rub them with a sweet+spicy rub of my own concoction but based on Willie's Rub in Smoke and Spice. Then I baste the fuckers in a sauce about halfway through the smoke and then every hour after that (we're talking 8-12 hour smokes here usually). I marinate birds in a brine/Southern Comfort mix and stuff the beasts with fruit when I smoke them, plus the same rub I use for pork + beef.

One thing I miss about living in an apartment is easy access to a grill/smoker.

what about brine and brining? i have seen a couple recipes from quite simple (2c water, 1/4c kosher salt) and brine for a couple of hours to more elaborate mixtures containing vinegar, herbs and sugar as well as the salty water. does anyone do this? i am trying pork chops in the simple thing mentioned above supplemented with a bit of sherry, sage and honey.

I've had good success brining turkeys for oven roasting, but in general I prefer marinades over brining. I tend to cook meat with adequate internal fat to keep it moist and juicy, so don't want it filled up with water.

and how come you can't just use any old wood for smoking? why it gotta be hickory, mesquite, apple or cherry wood?

Some smoke tastes bad - soft pine for instance, tastes like resin/tar.

Thinking back to burning oak in a fireplace...yeah, I wouldn't want any food that tasted like that.

Funny how oak totally works for wine, and cedar planks for salmon. I have a feeling the smoke from citrus would taste really bitter.

thinkin baout getting a george foreman

grill

I wouldn't want to clean out all the fat that drips down. That's what's nice about a regular grill is that you mostly ignore that stuff.

they come w/ a drip pan.

i want to grill fishes. they're not so fattey.

My parents got a Coleman camp grill with a small propane bottle, not the full tank, that's perfect for a tiny little space. It folds up like an ironing board and everything. You city dwellers, if you have any balcony space at all, it would probably work well.

yeah, no balcony (yet. someday, i hope. it's on the list).

Cast iron grill pan isn't that much different from a George Foreman, except cheaper and can get hotter.

dudes:
bbq in CHICAGO is better than MEMPHIS

I made babyback ribs in the oven last saturday and it turned out much better than expected. coated em with BBQ sauce and baked at 350 for one hour covered, one hour un. delicious.

dudes:
bbq in CHICAGO is better than MEMPHIS

― Shackleton Crater (jdchurchill), Friday, November 20, 2009 1:48 PM (Yesterday)

RONG

Oak is a perfectly good wood to smoke with for some meats. Soft woods don't just taste bad, they will make you sick. Creosote is poison.

Did some baby back rips with a very simple (lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder) rub over plum wood last week, tossed a Buffalo-wings-style sauce (butter + hot sauce). It was good.

mmm. sounds nice. i heard somebody being like oh grill season is about to start and i was a bit incredulous cuz i don't have a particular season for grilling. i was like damn i've grilled like 20 times already this year. but i probably shot it a bit high there. we did some baby back ribs the other day and i used a dr pepper reduction sauce on it that was pretty good.

I don't grill much in the dead of winter, but I don't grill much in July and Aug either. Grill season is whenever it's pleasant enough to sit out on the deck with tongs and a beer and not wish you were dead.

i dunno man there is nothing more satisfying than grilling in a chicago snow storm. or like when it's already so hot yr melting and then you start a fire. i can't get enough; damn you steven raichlen and bbq university!

BBQ'ing brisket for a get together on Sunday. I realized though that the butcher removed the fat cap off of one of the briskets -- what do they think I am making, pot roast!?!?

In any event, I'm thinking of layering bacon onto the brisket during smoking. Good idea? Bad idea? Any other suggestions?

sometimes i layer pancetta on a roast beef

Sounds like I am on the right track.

lard that sumbitch

r u gonna brine it?

I think I'd make that pot roast -- you kinda need the fat cap or it never really gets tender enough, just burns.

I smoke salmon all the way through the winter. It's warm enough near my smoker.

Maybe go back to the butcher and demand some fat, and let it sit on top of the brisket while it's smoking.

dudes: beer can chicken tonight!
dig this nerdy version

actually that nerdy version is done in the friggin oven! oh boy . . .
but the link at the top of the article is for beer can turkey, which is basicly the sames but bigger

If it weren't for spatchcocked chicken, beer can chicken would be my favorite way of cooking chicken on the grill.

when spatchcocking, do you use smoke?

No. The chicken isn't on long enough.

burgers tonight y'all

You can smoke a spatchcocked chicken if you want. Why not? I smoke parts sometimes -- they are good -- and Panther Bobby Seale has an amazing recipe for smoking-then-frying chicken out there.

The point of spatchcocking, though, is to make a whole chicken grillable, and it's easier to keep chicken moist if you don't splay it open -- with a beer or soda can up in there (try ginger beer sometime), or some citrus fruits and onions stuffed in. But grilling over fragrant smoke is totally legit as well, so you can throw a couple soaked hickory chips on the briquettes -- it will make a subtle, but pleasant difference.

Not saying you can't smoke a spatchcocked chicken. You can. I just don't. The chicken is on an open grill for maybe 30 minutes? The difference will be as you mention subtle. You could get more of a smoked flavor by starting the bird on the grill and covering the top and then finishing it with more lit charcoal on an open grill.

I like spatchcocking because it's a faster way to cook a whole bird and I like the way it turns out with the charring. Definitely beer can chicken yields a moister bird -- but if I'm coming home late from work it's much easier and quicker to take the backbone out and throw the bird on the grill.

i just like to use the word 'spatchcock'

ayo anyone do chx wings on they grill? if so lemme in on how you do cuz i wanna tonight

jdchurchill -- Here is a link approximating the best chicken wings I have ever had from Pok Pok here in Portland.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/ikes-vietnamese-fish-sauce-wings-cocktails-2008

I did these last year on the grill instead of frying. Just omit the cornstarch. Really you just grill the wings until done. I didn't steam out the fat beforehand or anything. You might want to ring the charcoal around the grill and place the wings in the middle in order to avoid flareups. I also boil down the fish sauce on the grill so it isn't quite as stinky in the kitchen.

thanks broskheims!

ayo righteousmaelstrom: that wings suggestion=OTM
delish

I need to put my grill back together (had to replace a gas line fitting) and get back to cookin'.

oh snap went to chicago firewood and got some cherry chunks which is really putting my bbq into the sublime

also holy hell peoria packing has ribs for $1.5/lb! i think we all know what that means: i gots to make up a nice rub and get summa dat for next weekend

Made 2 flat cut briskets at a joint b-day party for me and Darin (who runs the 80's horror movie polls on ILE) along with smoked chicken for pulled chicken sammiches. One of these days I'm going to smoke the brisket the whole cooking time instead of finishing it up in the oven. Unfortunately I don't feel like getting up at 6 in the morning to start it.

A couple of Saturdays from now I'm hosting a bunch of family and will be doing cherry-glazed pork spareribs. I'll try to get pics uploaded. $1.50/lb. is a great deal. I've seen them at Costco for $1.89/lb.

http://www.bbq-porch.org/faq/

also righteousmaelstrom: what do do yr bbqing on? i have been using the 22" weber kettle, and before that their smokey joe model. am thinking abt scrounging up some barrels and doing things like making charcoal and also perhaps making a smoker. but i always have too many ideas and not enough time/follow through

It's a Chargriller with a side fire box. Here is pic of the setup on Saturday. On the left is a 22" Weber kettle someone left next to a dumpster by my house.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BK9wDWI4qisSIaMJnP5quwpYwPrKyVuQD51z2w0ITjg?feat=directlink

Hmm...picasa doesn't like bbcode. I'll see about finding another way to post the pic. Stay tuned.

actually i busted out the measuring tape and found my grill was 18" :(

yo like this 'un?
http://images.netshops.com/mgen/digimarc.ms?img=master:CG010.jpg&h=400&w=400

Yeah, except it doesn't have the little counter on the front.

My dad has one of those! Once, he left the chimney open over the winter & birds made nests in the barbecue. His kids would not let him grill anything until all the baby birds were gone. He'd open the grill & just swear at the birds sometimes.

Better late than never, I suppose. I have lost the cover to the chimney but no problems with birds yet!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4816795628_6bc4c34a64.jpg

you could easily fashion one out of a sock or beer can

And the brisket -- 2 flat cuts. Pardon the mess: I got lazy and didn't bother to brush the grill down before BBQ'ing. Mmm...carcinogens.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4099/4816795442_c73d5582b3.jpg

holy shit is ninety five out in chi and i am going to peoria packing to get some ribs for 1.5usd/lb and i am going to grill them sumbitches and probably drain all the beer from earth

report: spare ribs were $1.79/lb. i saw the $1.5/lb on a cut of spare rib which still had the skin and chickened out. still a damn good price tho. i wonder if it would be a good idea to buy the ones with skin and then remove it to render or save to season the grill . . .

If you make your own pork stock, the skin really adds body. But also, you can just score the skin on the ribs with a sharp paring knife in 1/2" strips to get awesome crackling.

don't usually make pork stock, pretty much chx or veg. into this crackling idea tho

I did a slow-roasted slab of side pork that way - scored skin side up, rubbed with herb/spice stuff, roasted at 250 for a long time (or you could hot smoke it maybe?), then cranked the heat up at the end for 20 min or so to really crisp the crackling.

yea i have been lusting after a proper smoker ever since i got some cherry wood chunks a couple of weeks ago. not to mention the fun i could have with the charcuterie i should be producing . . .
lately i have been loading the wood/coals all on one side of the kettle and putting the meat on the opposite. took some temps while doing the spare ribs (with a candy thermometer through the top flue) and was reading in 250-300 range with the bottom flue about halfway shut and the top a quarter way shut. also i don't have a rib rack so i have to do rotations to ensure even coooking. those spare ribs went almost 3 hr but the temp was way higher before i closed down the flues.

do you guys read/follow this book?

guess which dude wrote the cookbook
http://gwiv.com/LowSlowDolinsky4.jpg

smoke...both a charcoal and electric.

I just got an electric Brinkman to try out, might set it up this weekend. Has anyone tried smoking vegetarian sausages, like tofurky kielbasa? I don't eat things like that, but would it be a thing to do for vegetarian guests?

yes thats the one i have, the red one?

It's the black smoke 'n grill one

kind of related, I bought some supermarket filet mignon to grill for my dad tonight. any tips? I know I gotta let it rest after the grilling. grill + sear then finish in oven? finish on the side of the grill? grill with cover on or off? (small charcoal weber)

Did you get the whole filet, or is it a steak cut? Depending on how thick, we usually heat the grill way up then sear for 3-5 min each side for rare, then let rest for 10 min. Leave the cover off.

steak cut (roundish, thick little thing). I'd say about 1.5-2 inches thick. yeah, was planning on putting them on right after the charcoals get all the way flamed up.

Dry them off really well before hand and let them warm up some and you'll get a better sear. I set them on layers of paper toweling for 15-20 min before grilling. 1.5 - 2" thick, I'd go for 3-4 min/side for rare/med. rare.

filet migs are a bitch to cook, dyao. it's like trying to grill a softball. basicly you have to treat it kinda like a cube and no matter how hot or how long they are either going to be bloody as hell or overcooked. my advice is get a temperature probe and sear them on 2 sides (as jaq wrote) and see where you're at. 130 is rare 160 is well done. good chance to practice yr poking for doneness technique. also i would suggest the 2 zone fire where you put all the coals on one side and have the resting side where it can get the 'oven' action but not licked by flames then when steaks get towards blackened but are not 130 yet you can put them on the cooler side and let them finish. this is a good cut of meat for folks who like the black and blue

and with the cover off the grill counterintuitively you are likely having a hotter fire fyi
i'd use the cover

holy shit dudes my boss got a 69# pig and we're roasting that bitch sunday

did my first pork shoulder yesterday. pulled pork sammies!

at sea with this pineapple soy onion garlic thing for smoked chicken thighs i have done it once with the chicken just marinated for abt 2hrs and it was almost like i didn't marinate. so tonight its a version that marinated all day. got some cherry wood for smoke and it smells like heaven. pretty much worship this wivott guy: http://www.lowslowbbq.com/

I'm craving some ribs so bad, but the only decent barbecue place in town only does ribs on Friday and Saturday. Might have to make my own.

yes i suggest making your own ribs, WmC. no matter what happens you will benefit

Ever since the first time my LP tank ran empty just as I was getting the grill preheated, I've been skittish about making anything that involved several hours of cook time. I'm seriously thinking about having a plumber come out and run a natural gas line to my back deck so I can say goodbye to propane.

dude if u like it the bbq then ditch propane and gitcher self a real burner. buy a chimney starter and some charcoal and get wood chunks to add smoke. u will rejoice with the taste

^^^^^real talk

I mean, we held onto a gas grill thinking that we would use it for quick weeknight meals when we didn't want to fire up the big green egg, but since we started over charcoal/wood chunks, we have never gone back to gas. Not once! With the chimney starter it is really no big thing.

I was fully invested in charcoal for years, but am happy enough with gas now. Zero hassle compared with getting charcoal lit, even with a chimney; making smoke packets/trays is as easy for gas as for charcoal; more temperature control with gas.