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Any Time is Grillin Time

Nothing special here, but Spring hasn't quite arrived, but baseball season has. :)
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You gotta love grilling in the snow. I had a thunderstorm roll through while I was smoking yesterday. Was very happy to have a cover over the patio.
 
Okay, what were you smoking? Had to be better then my brats and hot dogs. Although these were Klements Bratwursts, second only to Usingers in quality and taste if you are limited to American. The absolute best bratwursts are in Colberg Germany.

New addition to the grill, the light that goes on when the lid is open, essential in the winter when it is dark before 5:00.
 
I was smoking a couple of racks of ribs. I tried something a bit different for me. I normally smoke em low and slow. This time I kept the temp around 225f for six hours. I then wrapped them in foil with some apple juice for an hour and a half. No complaints.

I use a pellet grill/smoker and was smoking with apple pellets. The hotter the smoker the less smoke. I like smoking slow to drive more smoke into the meat. 185f for the first four hours and then I turn the heat up to 225f. They turn out with more smoky but they weren't bad cooking faster.. when I'm in a hurry.
 
Tomorrow I have an appointment with the smoker. It's a boston butt that's going to be smoked and pulled for sandwiches. I'm smoking it very slow and will wrap it and steam with some apple juice to finish it up. I'll bake some beans with my favorite bbq sauce, onions, and a bell pepper. I've got to have potato salad too :) Nothing special about my potato salad. Very little mustard and no vinegar. I use mayo and not a salad spread and onions and sweet relish.
 
There's a large and growing contingent of the BBQ community that go hot and fast. The hot and fast guys are winning competitions just as often as the low and slow traditionalists and they get more sleep while doing it. I've been moving that way too. With ribs, I still stick to the 200-225 range, but for butts an brisket I'm at 275. I still get just as much smoke, I just wrap a little later in the process. With ribs, the hotter temp reduces the window between done and overdone a bit more than I like. FWIW, smoke doesn't penetrate the meat very deeply, nor do rubs or marinades, they sit on the outside of the meat. There's been a few scientific studies that have shown all the "penetrates the meat" applications are mostly imagination. A smoke ring has absolutely nothing to do with smoke either, though it does demonstrate proper cooking. I guess oxidation ring doesn't sound as appetizing?
 
I'm still a big fan of the slow smoke method. With the pellet smoker it doesn't take much baby sitting. I rubbed my pork butt down the night before. I got up way early and put the meat on. It just takes a couple of minutes for the smoker to get to the right temp. I then went back to bed. :) I got up a few hours later and sprayed it down with some apple juice and then went to work for a few hours. I got home and tented it up with some apple juice, turned up the heat, and put my beans on. An hour and a half later I'm eating.

The last time I did ribs I rushed the process. I can honestly say that they turned out just as good as they always do. There is something to be said for less time at the smoker. I'm normally in no hurry however so low and slow works most the time for me.
 
I had Thanksgiving Turkey done on the grill a few years ago. It was a gas fired grill, with a pan of wood chips placed down with the lava rocks. Turned out dynamite!!

I haven't had the marbles to try it myself, because I'm a charcoal and wood griller. Last grille I got had the gas components removed and thrown in the corner. :D
 
I've never tried grilling a turkey but I've smoked a couple. Not only is it a fun thing to do the end product is so much better than oven fresh. I don't know why grilling a turkey wouldn't be just great. As long as you kept the temps low so the bird didn't get way done on the outside long before the inside cooked. Let me know if you do one. I'm curious how it turns out.
 
I probably mentioned before, my brother and I once smoked a turkey for Thanksgiving. We improvised a smoker using garbage cans and bricks, charcoal and applewood chips. We cooked it a few hours in the oven first, to get it started. Turned out great!
 
olbriar said:
Sometimes the improvised method of cooking is the best. I do believe the best pork I ever ate was cooked in a hole in the ground. :)
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Pit pork is very good. :)

We've been deep frying turkeys at the field office. The Boss has a really good injection recipe, garlic teriyaki I believe. The job pretty much shuts down when we do one, and nothing gets done afterward. :p
 
Tomorrow I'm cooking out a prime rib for mother's day dinner. I spiced it up today and have it bagged up resting. Rub consisted of a garlic rub, worcestershire, montreal grill seasoning, and a bit of my own rib rub. Tomorrow I'll pull it from the fridge and let it get up to room temp. My plan is to braze it for around 45 minutes at 450 degrees and then turn the grill down to 225 for around two and a half to three hours. During the slow cook it will be in a throw away pan with some beef broth and a few crushed garlic cloves. Target temp is 130 degrees. When reached I'll pull the meat and wrap it in foil and let it finish cooking as it rests.. about a half hour. It will be served with the remaining au jus and a horseradish dip.
 
This weekend I'm grilling some pork chops on one night and salmon on another. I have a special lemon/lime marinade I use for the chops. For the salmon, I'm using a recipe from grilling.com. I am so looking forward to grilling.
 
Look who stopped by for the grill out, momma bear and her 4 yearlings, which aren't nearly as cute as they were last year. actually, they were here earlier this afternoon.

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I thought I might update everyone on the status of my Traeger pellet grill. I'm in love with this grill/smoker which I'm sure everyone is convinced if they have read this thread. I use it at least four times a week and generally smoke something every weekend. I have learned some about the art of smoking but basically the unit has made me seem a much more accomplished backyard chef than I am in reality.

Now to cut to the chase.... Over the 4th a good friend who is an accomplished smoker was coming into town to visit family. He and I have discussed my smoker and he asked if he might use it to do a turkey for his gathering. I graciously accepted and looked forward to spoiling him with the ease of use of the pellet grill. He was over early AM with his prepared bird and over a cup of coffee we started the smoker. Murphy played a huge part in this... the cooker would not fire up. It has a hot rod that starts the pellets and it would not get hot. Bummer bummer! So, with raw bird in hand, he returned to his family's home to bake it in the oven. Talk about a bad impression.. sheesh!

The cooker is under warranty so a new hot rod was installed after the holiday. I went to smoke a rack of ribs and set the temp to 180 degrees for some slow smoking. To my disappointment and shock I found the temps continuing to rise and didn't level off until it was near 300 degrees. Unacceptable! I called the repair shop and they came out once again. He thought it was this or that but ultimately decided to replace all of the control electronics so I can have a fresh start. I'm waiting on those parts now. :(

I'm smoking a pork butt today. I have found that setting the temperature around 50 degrees less than the desired temp will keep the smoker in the ball park of desired smoking. I'm looking forward to it being worry free again to say the least.

My point in all of this is to inform / warn all that might be interested in a pellet grill. I am still in love with this thing and would recommend it to anyone interested in a smoking alternative to wood. Be advised that the pellet option has it's problems with all of it's electronics as well as mechanics. My unit has never been abused and is under a patio cover as well as a fitted cover. It has likely been used more than the average grill but hey.. I love all things grilled and smoked. It is still something that might be problematic and something to consider before making the pellet choice.

Happy grilling...
 
Ok... I'm up for an adventure today on the pellet smoker. I've had this notion to attempt to smoke a meatloaf and today is the day. Prepping my loaf as I would for the conventional oven but adding a smoking twist to it should prove interesting. I'll let you know how it turns out. The plan is to smoke for an hour or so and then turn up the temp to finish it off. Meatloaf is meatloaf lol.... but hey, it might be decent


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Update:

You can easily bake a meatloaf on a pellet smoker but there is not much point in it.... it still tastes like meatloaf lol
 
At the EAA (Experimental Aircraft) fly-in this week, in Oshkosh, WI, they have the world's largest grill/smoker. It can handle 2000# of meat at a time!

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