Any Time is Grillin Time

[Unforgiven]

So my FIL butchered a cow this past weekend, and I helped for a couple hours. I do it just to lend a hand, but he usually tosses me a couple ground beef packages, so I'm plenty happy. Anyway, I didn't freeze them, they are going on the grill as burgers tonight.

I don't season at all other than a bit of salt. Hand pressed 1/3 pound patties. This is probably about 85% lean, but that is my FILs trained eye, nothing scientific, but that is right in my sweetzone when choosing ground beef for burgers.

If you ever get a chance to get burger this fresh, it's amazing. It is a whole different flavor profile than factory burger. Oh, I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but if you go o the grocery store, always go for the 80% lean as that is the freshest stuff that is ground in the store. If you see the neat wavy pattern in the ground beef, that is factory ground and packed with nitrogen, and in my opinion is no better than frozen patties.

 

[olbriar]

I do agree that 85% makes a great burger. I've never had ground beef that fresh. I refuse to buy nitrogen packed ground beef. My wife says she can't tell the difference but I certainly can. I can't even hide the bad taste in spaghetti or burritos. I'm a big fan of Costco ground beef though it's almost too lean. The beef is freshly ground and sold as 87%. You have to be careful not to serve a dry burger. Just a bit of pink in the middle and it's a super good tasting burger.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Beef ribs have too big a bone compared to pork. I call them Flintstone Ribs.
Carry on...

 

[olbriar]

Beef ribs have too big a bone compared to pork. I call them Flintstone Ribs.
Carry on...

That's a good name for them alright. Big bone and big flavor. They are some kind of wonderful.

 

[ocnbrze]

That's a good name for them alright. Big bone and big flavor. They are some kind of wonderful.

how long to your cook your beef ribs? its been a super long time since i grilled up some beef ribs. i love my baby backs too much. beef ribs seems too tough compared to baby backs. maybe i'm just not cooking them long enough.

 

[olbriar]

how long to your cook your beef ribs? its been a super long time since i grilled up some beef ribs. i love my baby backs too much. beef ribs seems too tough compared to baby backs. maybe i'm just not cooking them long enough.

I did not wrap them this time.. which speeds up the cook. I smoked them 9 hours at 225°. That varies with the amount of beef on the rib.. wind... ambient temps. I like to pull them when I see 200° or so and let them rest in a hot box. They will continue to cook a bit while off of the smoker.

 

[ocnbrze]

I did not wrap them this time.. which speeds up the cook. I smoked them 9 hours at 225°. That varies with the amount of beef on the rib.. wind... ambient temps. I like to pull them when I see 200° or so and let them rest in a hot box. They will continue to cook a bit while off of the smoker.

9 hours!!!!! yeah i'm definitely not cooking them long enough....LOL

i was thinking maybe try pressure cooking them first and then put them on the grill for 3 hours or so to develop a crust as well as smoke. i'll probably have to cut them into 3-bone sections or so to fit in the cooker so that might also speed up the time as well.....might try this next weekend.

 

[olbriar]

We had beef ribs often while growing up. I'm sure they were way cheap back in the day. My mother baked them in a roaster and they were turned into stew. Stew was turned into soup.
I never had beef ribs smoked until Unforgiven talked them up and I spent over a year looking for them. Costco doesn't always have them but when they do.. I'm a buyer.

I just returned from my local grocer. I was buying the fixins for chicken noodles I'm fixing tonight.
I never shop without walking the meat isle. Sure enough, I found a pork shoulder marked down from $22 something to $7 something. 80% chance of rain tomorrow but I'll be pulling pork before night fall. I just hope it's not windy tomorrow. It's really ripping today.

 

[olbriar]

9 hours!!!!! yeah i'm definitely not cooking them long enough....LOL

i was thinking maybe try pressure cooking them first and then put them on the grill for 3 hours or so to develop a crust as well as smoke. i'll probably have to cut them into 3-bone sections or so to fit in the cooker so that might also speed up the time as well.....might try this next weekend.

I bet they turn out great. I googled boiling then broiling or smoking... seems to be a given technique. Cutting them up won't be easy unless you have a bone saw. For a long time that is the only beef ribs I could find... segmented. Either cut across the rack like a mcrib or each rib cut into thirds. I've smoked both and they do cook faster than a three or four rib rack.

 

[olbriar]

I'm smoking my pork butt today, My yesterday got complicated but it's on the smoker now. I rubbed it up last night and let it season over night. I normally trim up some of the fat and spice them up while my smoker gets to temp. I was bored last night so I thought...why not?

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Wha's Tri? I don't think you grill it.

 

[olbriar]

Wha's Tri? I don't think you grill it.

You are likely talking tri tip. It's a roast cut that I'd smoke slow and reverse sear. I've not cooked tri tip but I'm guessing it is much like a flank steak. Lots of flavor but should be sliced across the grain before serving. Google will be your friend.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

I've seen it online but I thought one of y'all would've ate it. Compare it to well chisled beef please. I love that cracklin'

 

[dontpanicbobby]

The Bachelors cookbook.

 

[olbriar]

I'm grilling some bacon wrapped chicken livers this afternoon. If you like chicken livers, you will love them grilled with bacon around them. The marriage between the two flavors is just incredible.
I always cook them in a baking dish. The bacon renders a lot of grease that makes a mess if not captured and is susceptible to igniting.

 

[Unforgiven]

I'm grilling some bacon wrapped chicken livers this afternoon. If you like chicken livers, you will love them grilled with bacon around them. The marriage between the two flavors is just incredible.
I always cook them in a baking dish. The bacon renders a lot of grease that makes a mess if not captured and is susceptible to igniting.

Bone in rib-eyes were on sale. so I grabbed a stack of those today. I'm going to air fry some sweet potato fries and steam some carrots for sides.

 

[olbriar]

Bone in rib-eyes were on sale. so I grabbed a stack of those today. I'm going to air fry some sweet potato fries and steam some carrots for sides.

I went to Costco the other day looking for some more ribeyes. They had some but none that looked that great for the money. It's difficult to beat a good ribeye.
I just finished my deep clean of the GM smoker. Good grief, I have neglected my duties. Just sucking the burn pot out from the external port is handy and I do that often. But the ash and accumulated grease inside the cooker needs to be done now and then. My smoker hadn't seen a deep clean all winter. I think the cold smoker box and the grease content in the smoke across the winter creates a build up that I should address more often. I have no doubt that I would have experienced a fire if I had ramped up the temp for a cook. Fire under a covered patio is not a good thing.

 

[Unforgiven]

I went to Costco the other day looking for some more ribeyes. They had some but none that looked that great for the money. It's difficult to beat a good ribeye.
I just finished my deep clean of the GM smoker. Good grief, I have neglected my duties. Just sucking the burn pot out from the external port is handy and I do that often. But the ash and accumulated grease inside the cooker needs to be done now and then. My smoker hadn't seen a deep clean all winter. I think the cold smoker box and the grease content in the smoke across the winter creates a build up that I should address more often. I have no doubt that I would have experienced a fire if I had ramped up the temp for a cook. Fire under a covered patio is not a good thing.

I regularly vacuum ashes out of my smoker, but I have never degreased it. I probably should.

 

[olbriar]

I regularly vacuum ashes out of my smoker, but I have never degreased it. I probably should.

Most of my grease was just at the back of the grates on the back wall, the grease trap the tray drains into, and an unanticipated amount of grease in the smoke stack. Everything below the grease tray was just covered in ash. My burn pot was clean. I vacuum it regularly from the external vac port. I gave the grates a heavy duty cleaning and wiped down the unit inside and out.
Emptied the grease pot for good measure. It was the most detailed clean the cooker has seen.

 

[ocnbrze]

gonna smoke some crab for dinner tonight. Costco had some Alaskan king crab that i could not pass up. i'm also going to make some curry butter to go with it......gonna be insane!!!!!

 

[Unforgiven]

I'm making some stuffed burgers tonight (I guess in the midwest they are knows as Juicy Lucys). I'm doing caramelized onions and cheddar on the inside, topped with lettuce, thick cut bacon, and BBQ sause.

It's a bit of an experiment for me, so we'll see how it goes.

 

[ocnbrze]

I'm making some stuffed burgers tonight (I guess in the midwest they are knows as Juicy Lucys). I'm doing caramelized onions and cheddar on the inside, topped with lettuce, thick cut bacon, and BBQ sause.

It's a bit of an experiment for me, so we'll see how it goes.

that sounds delicious......make sure you use good cheddar. i forget the name, but Wholefoods has this delicious aged white cheddar that i absolutely love. what bbq sauce are you using? homemade? or comes in a bottle?

 

[Unforgiven]

that sounds delicious......make sure you use good cheddar. i forget the name, but Wholefoods has this delicious aged white cheddar that i absolutely love. what bbq sauce are you using? homemade? or comes in a bottle?

So I got a premium cheddar, forget the name, but not Kraft or store name. Good stuff. I used Sweet Baby Rays for BBQ. They probably would have been better with homemade or a targeted flavor BBQ, but they were out of this world as they were, so it's all good.

I cooked thick cut bacon in my largest cast iron skillet. I dumped all but a tablespoon or so of bacon fat and caramelized my onions in the remaining fat. I set both of those aside. I made 1/4 lb patties out of fresh 81% ground beef, topped with a bit of cheddar, onions, another layer of cheddar, then another 1/4lb burger patty. I sealed up the edges, seasoned with Kosher salt, and grilled for 6 minutes a side at 450 on my Treager (that's my max temp on the old girl).

These we delicious and I already have requests to make them again. Pics below behind a spoiler tag.

1/4lb patties with cheese

Spoiler

A layer of caramelized onions and more cheese

Spoiler

Another !/4lb patty and the edges sealed up.

Spoiler

And the finished product...

Spoiler

 

[olbriar]

Everything tastes great when at the cabin. Friday I grilled out some pork steaks. Saturday I smoked a little ham. We were working outside both days and the weather was great. Perhaps a bit windy on Friday but eating out on the deck sort of weather. We got a lot done and ate like kings.

 

[olbriar]

I spent last weekend at the cabin doing some work. Grilled out burgers and brats for the workers and generally had a great time. I did miss an event that I had intended to attend however. It was a celebration of life for a friend's father who passed late last year. The event was held at an air museum in Wichita Ks. Kegs, games, live music, and a smoke off among other social activities.
My son attended and said it was a great gig... to honor a great guy. One of my mow customers also attended and came home with four cases of Cashman's Famous Barbecue sauce. The Cashman family came to the event from Ohio or such and I'm not certain how my customer ended up with the BBQ sauce. She gave me a jar and then I bought three more. Never heard of the sauce but it's spicy hot instead of sweet. I'm anxious to mop up some baby backs this weekend with the stuff. Put a sweet rub and then a hot glaze. The sauce on chicken might take poultry to a new level as well. Anyone heard of the stuff? Story has it that it was an old family recipe that ended up marketed by the dad. He since has passed and one of his grandchildren decided to take up the reins.