The bbq photo & recipe thread

[ibisti]

No, I left it over night. I find with the water bath nice and full to start with and with the vents set correctly it will maintain a steady temp. It takes a bit of hit and miss and it depends on the night time ambient temp. By the time it came out after 12 hours the charcoal briquets still had a couple of hours left in them to keep the pork at 100deg in the container waiting for friends to arrive. Which took the pressure off the other bbq for the burgers etc.

[F-Stop Junkie]

First time using the new Weber tomorrow. Decided I wanted to do ribs, but looking in the supermarket (local butchers were out) they only had quite thin racks which appear to have smaller bones and not a whole lot of meat. I've cooked them ok before in the slow cooker, but I'd expect something thicker that I've had in restaurants.

Is there a specific cut or style of ribs that I should look for? Any known suppliers?

[eastsider]

Morning chaps

First time using my new weber onetouch at the weekend, did a beer can chicken then more typical grilling burgers etc. All went well but I struggled a bit to keep temp up especially during the indirect cooking of the chicken. I use 1 weber chimney full of big K briquettes, they barely lasted 2 hours with the lid on.

My guess is Big K are not great quality(it was all I could get at short notice) what does anyone recommend?

cheers

[Dan_1981]

First use for ours coming up next weekend, planning a chicken and a shoulder of pork.

At the very least it should provide enough food for the next few days for work lunches.

Couple of hours for the chicken and about 6 for the shoulder?

Sound about right?

[Output Flange]

Put some unlight ones in first, then once you've got your chimney ready to go pour that over the top. The lit ones will get the cooking started, and heat the unlit ones up to take over when they're done.

Known as the Minion Method.

[Dan_1981]

Cook wings dry, apply sauce afterwards - just before serving - ideally Franks Hot Wing sauce.

[Dan_1981]

Mix looks good for the wings, if I do wings I'll add flour to the mix aswell.

I'll also dip my wings in milk first - especially if i've got them from the farm shop - ones from the supermarket seem to be "wet" enough for the rub to stick anyway.

Only difference being i'll do my wings in the oven rather than on the BBQ.

Someone else may be able to offer better advice.

[F-Stop Junkie]

eastsider said:

All went well but I struggled a bit to keep temp up especially during the indirect cooking of the chicken. I use 1 weber chimney full of big K briquettes, they barely lasted 2 hours with the lid on.

I did mine with Weber briquettes, but made a series of beginner mistakes!

I did a chimney starter full, forgetting that a lot of fuel makes a fire hot.

I then opened the top vent to try and let the hot air out, forgetting the bottom vent was closed. When it got to the temp I wanted, I shut the top vent too. Fire with no fresh air, not good.

I also left the BBQ unattended while I went for a run without knowing the temp would be ok. I think this requires a bit more knowledge/confidence/experience.

Once me and girlfriend had extensively Google'd and dredged what we knew about fire and thermodynamics, we did half a starter of coals, worked out where fully shut and fully open were on the bottom vent lever, and started again with a smaller fire and more control.

Following that, it's then a case of closing the vents (top and bottom!) quite a long way once you have enough coal for your starting temp, then slowly opening them over time. That said, once you get a steady state, it only changes very slowly over time. Also the Weber briquettes had some graph on the bag showing how they burned long and declined in temp steadily.

The next challenge will be wood chips for me. I soaked, foil parcel, made a hole, chucked on coals and... not sure they ever smoked. Ended up just chucking soaked chips straight onto coals instead. Possibly not the best idea.

Ended up doing 2Kg pork shoulder for about 4.5 hours. Could have done with an hour or two more.

[croakey]

2kg pulled pork at the right temp (240-270f) takes me about 5 1/2 - 6 hours as a guide (although I use an instant read to judge when it's cooked)

I always find foil wrapped chips don't smoke much either - just soak them for an hour before and dump them straight on the coal after they've been drained

Tonight...

Hickory smoked beer can chicken

[pokethepope]

I've been reading a lot of the amazingribs site and theres lots of very good tips on there, e.g. have the lid positioned so the top vent is above the meat and on the opposite side to the coals, this way the smoke is drawn over the meat before it exits through the vent.

http://www.amazingribs.com/

I really need to get a digital thermometer with a probe on a lead so i can leave it in, I tested a dial oven thermometer on the grill and it was about 80 degrees fahrenheit too low versus a digital thermometer.

[jogon]

Had a little bbq myself today, the main show was the beef so a before and after for you





Cooked this direct with lid on about 2 mins each side turning over 4 times in total then rested for 20mins. Turned out well

[Pferdestarke]

jogon said:

Had a little bbq myself today, the main show was the beef so a before and after for you





Cooked this direct with lid on about 2 mins each side turning over 4 times in total then rested for 20mins. Turned out well

That just shows how a good piece of meat, properly cared for whilst cooking and rested for an appropriate time yield excellent results.

[Dan_1981]

Just a nice simple beer can chicken along with corn n salad.

[brissleboy]

Well, finally attempted some indirect cooking on Saturday with a shoulder of pork cooked long and slow for 5-6 hours. I smothered the pork in mustard on Friday night then applied a dry rub and let it marinade overnight in the fridge. On Saturday morning I lit the Weber (Minion Method), put some soaked Applewood chips in a foil container on the hot coals, whacked on the pork then covered with the vents directly overhead to draw the smoke over the meat. There it stayed until the internal temperature was correct (82c) though I did spritz it every now and again with a apple juice/water/cider vinegar combo!

Some observations... I struggled to get the temperature to 225f, think I put on too many hot coals, will try just a handful next time. Also, the water didn't seem to help temperature control either and ended up just catching the meat juices, any advice? I had the bottom vents open just a fraction and the top ones fully open. I also left it on there a little too long (was 89c) as the wife insisted we go out for a walk with the dog so I think that dried it out a little.

It was AMAZING though, I was very proud of myself as BBQing like this is a bit of an art and requires practice, the meat had a lovely bark on it and pulled very well indeed. I made some BBQ sauce (Weber recipe), mixed it all up, stuffed some white rolls and it was epic! Will be warming the remainder up tonight and repeating!

One other question - do you leave the fat on top of the meat or remove it first (mine was all trussed up so left the fat on and removed it prior to pulling) and do you turn the meat during cooking?

Cheers guys

[smack]

brissleboy said:

One other question - do you leave the fat on top of the meat or remove it first (mine was all trussed up so left the fat on and removed it prior to pulling) and do you turn the meat during cooking?

Remove the fat. It is going to render during the cooking process, at around 160F, at which point the internal temp in the meat will stall, until it has passed the rendering cycle, then the temp will rise again. This rendering takes energy, so when you take off the fat, it speeds up the cooking time.

If you had fat on the pork when pulling, you didn't cook it for long enough, as you want the internal temp to be 190-200F, at that point all the fat and connective tissue will have broken down.

I turn mine every few hours.

[Dan_1981]

Chicken went well last weekend.

Wed night i'm doing wings for myself - how long roughly do they take to be cooked indirectly / smoked?

Sunday its pork shoulder and ribs for four.

How big a shoulder would people recommend?

Is 5 hours going to be long enough?

and last question - do peopl add unlit coals to the BBQ or get them going in the chimeny first and add one covered in ash?

[Pooky67]

Can anyone point me in the direct of the cheapest decent chimney starter? For some reason I can't seem to spend £20 odd quid on a proper Weber one (although it probably is the best VFM).

[escargot]

I got one from aldi a few years ago for £6. It's lasted fine so far.

[giblet]

Wilkinsons have some for a tenner

[s1962a]

Pooky67 said:

Can anyone point me in the direct of the cheapest decent chimney starter? For some reason I can't seem to spend £20 odd quid on a proper Weber one (although it probably is the best VFM).

I've had a cheap b&q one and now the weber, and the weber is definately much better in it's construction. The handle is more 'reassuring' when lifting up a bunch of hot coals and I think it's a bit bigger as well. I didn't really want to spend £20 on it, but reading positive reviews about it convinced me.