The bbq photo & recipe thread
Discussion
New BGE owner of 10 days or so and have been steadily building up my skills. Today’s effort was short ribs, following their recipe: https://biggreenegg.com/recipes/smoked-beef-short-...
Forgot to take a beforehand photo but this is after two hours of smoking at about 110C
Then finished after another two hours at 190C with a chicken stock and lager crutch.
Very happy with how it turned out!
Forgot to take a beforehand photo but this is after two hours of smoking at about 110C
Then finished after another two hours at 190C with a chicken stock and lager crutch.
Very happy with how it turned out!
Harry Flashman said:
ollie05 said:
illmonkey said:
It's not clear if the first soak is hot or cold water. The 2nd part says "another" kettle of water. But doesn't specify on the first part.
Spot on! Thanks v much!That said, I have never tried boiling water and then simply letting it sit for a couple of hours. Probably has the same effect but all in one go. Report back...
4th July weekend (American wife) Saturday cook.
Sous vide brisket, cooked in the water bath for 16 hours, then finished with 3 hours on the smoker. Aimed for soft steak texture rather than pulled, and it turned out meltingly lovely!
Barbecue set up for snake method (didn't end up using all of the charcoal, just about a third). Chunk of cherry for first smoke and then oak chips scattered for later.
IMG_20200704_154009 by baconrashers, on Flickr
On it goes - re-rubbed after coming out of the sous vide bath, and being patted dry.
IMG_20200704_155245 by baconrashers, on Flickr
Finished.
IMG_20200705_133343 by baconrashers, on Flickr
This is comparatively little hassle compared to a normal 18 hour smoke, but the results are no different. You use less charcoal and run little risk of temperature fluctuations or the barbecue going out, so it is definitely one for when you need a reliable cook and don't want to do any fiddling.
Sous vide brisket, cooked in the water bath for 16 hours, then finished with 3 hours on the smoker. Aimed for soft steak texture rather than pulled, and it turned out meltingly lovely!
Barbecue set up for snake method (didn't end up using all of the charcoal, just about a third). Chunk of cherry for first smoke and then oak chips scattered for later.
IMG_20200704_154009 by baconrashers, on FlickrOn it goes - re-rubbed after coming out of the sous vide bath, and being patted dry.
IMG_20200704_155245 by baconrashers, on FlickrFinished.
IMG_20200705_133343 by baconrashers, on FlickrThis is comparatively little hassle compared to a normal 18 hour smoke, but the results are no different. You use less charcoal and run little risk of temperature fluctuations or the barbecue going out, so it is definitely one for when you need a reliable cook and don't want to do any fiddling.
And Sunday's project is this rack of ribs, also sous vide prepared.
Have used a basket for the coals with a chunk of bay wood this time as the snake was unnecessary for such a short cook, and I couldn't be bothered to saw up a cherry log! I also want to see what bay flavour is like on pork as I normally use fresh bay leaves when brining a shoulder. These have been in the fridge, and gone in cold for better smoke adherence. Will come out at 60C. My first time doing ribs...
IMG_20200705_131108 by baconrashers, on Flickr
Have used a basket for the coals with a chunk of bay wood this time as the snake was unnecessary for such a short cook, and I couldn't be bothered to saw up a cherry log! I also want to see what bay flavour is like on pork as I normally use fresh bay leaves when brining a shoulder. These have been in the fridge, and gone in cold for better smoke adherence. Will come out at 60C. My first time doing ribs...
IMG_20200705_131108 by baconrashers, on Flickr
Some great looking cooks here. Well done all. I am a beginner who got bored doing burgers and dawgs. My equipment is limited to a 47cm Weber Kettle. Thus far i have pulled off semi successful sirloins on a reverse sear, slightly ruined tomahawk which the kids, as greedy wee b*gg*rs wolfed anyway.
Did the above brisket today - a smidge dry but the flavour was excellent.
What BBQ is recommended. I have been ooh-ing and aah-ing over Kamado Joes and BGE for a while, then thought that the Weber Summit might be the way to address having a grill and Kamado till i saw the £2K pricetag. Today I spotted the brand Masterbuilt and their gravity series. Does anyone have comment on what is the best way to go? Ceramic Kamado vs steel Kamado(Weber) vs weird looking black death chamber (masterbuilt)
What's your budget?
Something like the masterbuilt gravity fed get rave reviews (in a similar vein you could look at a pellet smoker like a GMG Daniel Boone - other sizes available). Fully controlled, set and forget. Everything from ultra low and slow up to super high temps.
Kamado are about as good as it gets for a 'manual' home smoker/grill (although you could always add a temp controller fan to pretty much automate it). They're all much of a muchness - I like the kamado joe, it's got some actual innovations and the green egg accessories will fit too. Slightly cheaper is something like the Monolith.
Or, spend a similar sum and go for multiples. Keep your kettle for grilling. A bullet smoker such as a Pro Q elite or a Weber Smokey Mountain. Could probably also throw in a tabletop pizza oven too!
Something like the masterbuilt gravity fed get rave reviews (in a similar vein you could look at a pellet smoker like a GMG Daniel Boone - other sizes available). Fully controlled, set and forget. Everything from ultra low and slow up to super high temps.
Kamado are about as good as it gets for a 'manual' home smoker/grill (although you could always add a temp controller fan to pretty much automate it). They're all much of a muchness - I like the kamado joe, it's got some actual innovations and the green egg accessories will fit too. Slightly cheaper is something like the Monolith.
Or, spend a similar sum and go for multiples. Keep your kettle for grilling. A bullet smoker such as a Pro Q elite or a Weber Smokey Mountain. Could probably also throw in a tabletop pizza oven too!
cavey76 said:
Some great looking cooks here. Well done all. I am a beginner who got bored doing burgers and dawgs. My equipment is limited to a 47cm Weber Kettle. Thus far i have pulled off semi successful sirloins on a reverse sear, slightly ruined tomahawk which the kids, as greedy wee b*gg*rs wolfed anyway.
Did the above brisket today - a smidge dry but the flavour was excellent.
What BBQ is recommended. I have been ooh-ing and aah-ing over Kamado Joes and BGE for a while, then thought that the Weber Summit might be the way to address having a grill and Kamado till i saw the £2K pricetag. Today I spotted the brand Masterbuilt and their gravity series. Does anyone have comment on what is the best way to go? Ceramic Kamado vs steel Kamado(Weber) vs weird looking black death chamber (masterbuilt)
You can cook up to 700f too, if you fancy burning some th8ng, or as low as 175f
Only 2 downsides I see, 1 it takes the art out of smoking, it’s so easy it’s almost cheating and 2, I’m not sure how long the electronics will hold up on an outside bbq, I see it as waiting for something to go wrong,
But those aside, I can’t see why you would chose anything else, it even has charcoal capacity for.around a 12 hour smoke to keep th8ngs really simple
It also gets to temp in10 minutes from cold, I love it and only point 2 concerns me
Harry Flashman said:
4th July weekend (American wife) Saturday cook.
Sous vide brisket, cooked in the water bath for 16 hours, then finished with 3 hours on the smoker. Aimed for soft steak texture rather than pulled, and it turned out meltingly lovely!
Barbecue set up for snake method (didn't end up using all of the charcoal, just about a third). Chunk of cherry for first smoke and then oak chips scattered for later.
IMG_20200704_154009 by baconrashers, on Flickr
On it goes - re-rubbed after coming out of the sous vide bath, and being patted dry.
IMG_20200704_155245 by baconrashers, on Flickr
Finished.
IMG_20200705_133343 by baconrashers, on Flickr
This is comparatively little hassle compared to a normal 18 hour smoke, but the results are no different. You use less charcoal and run little risk of temperature fluctuations or the barbecue going out, so it is definitely one for when you need a reliable cook and don't want to do any fiddling.
Looks splendid, though if I may add one little morsel of advice; Sous vide brisket, cooked in the water bath for 16 hours, then finished with 3 hours on the smoker. Aimed for soft steak texture rather than pulled, and it turned out meltingly lovely!
Barbecue set up for snake method (didn't end up using all of the charcoal, just about a third). Chunk of cherry for first smoke and then oak chips scattered for later.
IMG_20200704_154009 by baconrashers, on FlickrOn it goes - re-rubbed after coming out of the sous vide bath, and being patted dry.
IMG_20200704_155245 by baconrashers, on FlickrFinished.
IMG_20200705_133343 by baconrashers, on FlickrThis is comparatively little hassle compared to a normal 18 hour smoke, but the results are no different. You use less charcoal and run little risk of temperature fluctuations or the barbecue going out, so it is definitely one for when you need a reliable cook and don't want to do any fiddling.
Meat essentially stops absorbing smoke at 140 degrees, which is why most pit-nerds will smoke first, and crutch in foil after (essentially just slow clooking) to finish off. The rub will still take on some smoke, but the pink smoke ring that permeates the meat occurs best at the earlier stages of the cooking..
All personal preference, of course.
I’m out of touch on the slow smoking front, now that I don’t have my ceramic smoker. I can heartily recommend any of the ceramic cookers, however. I’m particularly interested to try the new(ish) Weber Summit - an alternative that essentially uses vacuum walls as opposed to ceramic.
Budget is variable but since looking into the Masterbuilt Gravity now it seems a lot of grill for the $. It seems you can do everything, grill, smoke, low and slow etc, seemingly very very well while still being less than the price of a branded Kamado or the super priced Weber Summit. I've five kids and regularly entertain. Has anyone considered the 1050. Looks a beast.
When i first got my 47cm kettle it was on special offer so was happy to take it but realise now it was a mistake versus getting a 57cm.
I get the point about you losing the "art" of manual control. This is pistonheads afterall ;-) manual gearboxes and all that. I'll pull the trigger soon and report back results.
When i first got my 47cm kettle it was on special offer so was happy to take it but realise now it was a mistake versus getting a 57cm.
I get the point about you losing the "art" of manual control. This is pistonheads afterall ;-) manual gearboxes and all that. I'll pull the trigger soon and report back results.
Hi, In my “learning to do more than just burgers“ journey i’ve bought £18 of deboned pork belly. I’ll send pics later bit it looks very fatty whats the opinion of the pit experts here on what to do with it.
I am still driving a mere 47cm Weber kettle. So nothing so exotic that it challenges my tools.
I am still driving a mere 47cm Weber kettle. So nothing so exotic that it challenges my tools.
Beef short ribs from John Davidsons, cooked at 270f until done. Quicker cook than I anticipated, expected these to take around 7-8 hours but were done in just under 6.
Made smoked potato salad from DJ BBQs recipe and grilled up some chorizo sausages and corn. The salad is a favourite of mine, made it many times and always good.
Ribs were so soft and juicy, absolutely glorious. Took them off the bone and sliced after taking the photos to make it a bit easier to scoff.
Made smoked potato salad from DJ BBQs recipe and grilled up some chorizo sausages and corn. The salad is a favourite of mine, made it many times and always good.
Ribs were so soft and juicy, absolutely glorious. Took them off the bone and sliced after taking the photos to make it a bit easier to scoff.
I bought some 'restaurant grade charcoal' recently, however really struggling to get on with it. This stuff to be precise:
It looks great, lovely big chunks that should give a nice long burn. But I'm really struggling to get it going. I normally use a woodwool firelighter with a chimney starter and it's all white hot within 20 mins. With this stuff, after 20 minutes I could feel some warmth but barely any whiting on the charcoal. I left it for an hour and it had barely done anything, so gave up and dumped most of it out and left what was lit to go out by itself. Within another hour, what I had left in the starter was scorching white hot, now ready to go 2 hours later! I've persevered a few times but been the same.
Anyone got any experience, and if so is this par for the course with restaurant grade compared to the supermarket stuff, being bigger chunks and perhaps a different wood? And perhaps the trade off for a longer burn time? I can see if you actually are running a restaurant getting your charcoal lit 2 hours in advance is probably no bad thing, but a bit of a pain for doing a BBQ at home. Or perhaps I've just ended up with a bad batch.
It looks great, lovely big chunks that should give a nice long burn. But I'm really struggling to get it going. I normally use a woodwool firelighter with a chimney starter and it's all white hot within 20 mins. With this stuff, after 20 minutes I could feel some warmth but barely any whiting on the charcoal. I left it for an hour and it had barely done anything, so gave up and dumped most of it out and left what was lit to go out by itself. Within another hour, what I had left in the starter was scorching white hot, now ready to go 2 hours later! I've persevered a few times but been the same.
Anyone got any experience, and if so is this par for the course with restaurant grade compared to the supermarket stuff, being bigger chunks and perhaps a different wood? And perhaps the trade off for a longer burn time? I can see if you actually are running a restaurant getting your charcoal lit 2 hours in advance is probably no bad thing, but a bit of a pain for doing a BBQ at home. Or perhaps I've just ended up with a bad batch.
Not a fan of the blue bag stuff, sparks a lot when lighting in the chimney and it stinks. Usually bits of rubbish in the bags too (bits of twine etc).
I was a long time user of Ever Burning Charcoal but when they stopped selling a while back had to source elsewhere though they have since restarted selling.
Fogon is decent, nice big chunks, burns hot but doesn't last that long really.
https://www.fogonuk.co.uk/#shop
Recently bought some from Globaltic which I'm using at the moment and it is good stuff. Nice clean, hot burn, lasts a while and if your bbq is shut down properly after use leaves plenty left for the next cook. Works well in the kamado too, really big chunks in the bags. Does tend to generate a bit of light, floaty ash, especially when you tip a chimney out. Not a big deal.
http://globaltic.ee/charcoal
I was a long time user of Ever Burning Charcoal but when they stopped selling a while back had to source elsewhere though they have since restarted selling.
Fogon is decent, nice big chunks, burns hot but doesn't last that long really.
https://www.fogonuk.co.uk/#shop
Recently bought some from Globaltic which I'm using at the moment and it is good stuff. Nice clean, hot burn, lasts a while and if your bbq is shut down properly after use leaves plenty left for the next cook. Works well in the kamado too, really big chunks in the bags. Does tend to generate a bit of light, floaty ash, especially when you tip a chimney out. Not a big deal.
http://globaltic.ee/charcoal
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