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Any Time is Grillin Time

Yes on all comments by @Unforgiven . I likely clean my GM once a month and it takes about 20 min of my time. I keep a cover on mine though it sits on my covered patio. I often get horizontal rain in Kansas and I like to keep by cooker dry. My first smoker was an earlier model of the smoker Unforgiven has. The pellet hopper was under the hood which made for smaller cooking area. It was entirely too small. More than two racks required a stand up rib rack. It did a great job smoking but it was a one dish smoker. I next went to a GM smoker that had the same space as Unforgiven's which worked great for most all cooks. I now have the big brother to that GM. Though it does consume a few more pellets per cook, the luxury of multiple dish cooks has made it worth while for me.

I suspect all pellet smokers do a stellar job of maintaining a given temp. Not only will they perform that duty well, they will do it with no effort by the chef. You are free to do other activities with confidence that your expensive cook is going as planned. To me, that is the greatest merit of a pellet smoker. As the smokers have evolved through the years, so has the high end temp. My first two smokers topped out at 450° with my latest smoker 550°. I enjoy that increase in the searing temp though it's not a must. I cooked for years without that higher temp and never received any complaints. Just this summer I attempted to convert my burned out Jenn-Air into a charcoal fueled sear station. It fell short of achieving the temp I was after unless I used a half bag of charcoal. So many years removed from the charcoal scene, I had forgotten just how big a hassle it was to build that fire as well. With the new cooker reaching 550° the old cabinet Jenn-Air is destined to see the local landfill.

Today I'm smoking a tri-tip. My plan is to season it with coarse salt and pepper and a bit of montreal steak seasoning. I will smoke it at 225° until it reaches an internal temp of 130°. I'll then crank up the smoker to 550°. I plan on placing an old cast iron skillet in the smoker with some butter and put a fried reverse sear on the tri-tip. It's a sear that I've longed to try. I'll wrap the meat and let it rest in my hot box once I see 145° internal temp.
 
A pic of the tri-tip as it is brazed in butter. It's resting now so we shall see if it was worth the effort.
Butter Sear.jpg
 
The brazing in butter did nothing more than add a delectable coating to the outside of the tri-tip. The left over drippings and butter made a great au jus, Next time I'll add some onion and worchestershire sauce to my butter but it was outstanding without. I'll definitely employ this finish on more meats. It was way too easy and good to not repeat.
 
I bought a package of cheap steaks at Costco last Saturday and put some grill marks on a couple tonight. Labeled as Beef Loin Top Sirloin Cap Steak... I had no clue what I was buying. I bought mostly for price and was decent looking but on the lean side. They turned out to be a great steak. I marinated them in Allegro, beer, salt, pepper, montreal steak seasoning all day. The meat really absorbed the flavors. I put some serious grill marks on them and served them medium rare. $5.29 a pound with seven 10oz steaks in the package. I vac packed two more meals for the wife and I at basically $7 a meal. I will buy a few packages next time.
 
Tonight I decided to simply grill out some burgers. Nothing special, just old fashioned grilled burgers. I sliced up some onion and wrapped the slices with some butter in foil and grilled those along with the the burgers. I had to toast the buns while I was at it. It was early spring like weather today and it just cried out for burgers and fries.

Tomorrow I'm spicing up and smoking some thick cut pork blade steaks.
 
all my friends call me crazy when i grill while it is cold and rainy. i love to grill in any weather. grilling me some pork ribs....i'm not smoking them. i kind of cheat by pressure coking the ribs in mu ninja foodi for about 15 minute. i then grill them low and slow for about an hour. they turn out great. i get the smokey grill flavor that is fall off the bone, but juicy ribs.

rain or shine does not stop me from using my grill.
 
With perfect spring weather, I'm grilling out the other half of the cheap Costco Beef Loin Top Sirloin Cap Steaks. The are soaking in marinade and beer now and I'll grill them up after bit. My store was out of the marinade I normally use so I'm trying something different. My go to is the original Allegro but tonight it's Hickory Smoke Allegro. I've never tried it so tonight is the night. I'm cooking some fresh asparagus spears to go with the steak. I'll break off stems at the joint, wrap them in tinfoil with butter and grated parmesean cheese. Perhaps just a dash of garlic because I like it that way.
 
I got a deal on some quahogs so I'm making some stuffed clams tonight. I grabbed a dozen, so if I don't bust any shells I should end up with 24 stuffed quahogs. I've only ever done steamers, so this is new to me for cooking (I've eaten them before). I'm leaning towards doing them on the Traeger, but I'm not sure yet. I'll see how the rest of the prep goes.
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hmmmm i almost bought some oysters at Costco to grill as they were pretty cheap. but i passed on them and went for some ribeye instead. i love eating bivalves. maybe i might go to my local asian market as they have great seafood there. been thinking of doing a seafood stew of sorts with oysters, mussels, some kind of clam like yours and maybe some snapper.
 
I must sat that looks very very good! I was at Costco today and stocked up on some needs. I took a quick look though the meat department but did not buy. I had a late appointment there and had planned on dining at my favorite Mexican restaurant on my way home. I didn't want my meat sitting in the car all that time so I came home without any perishables. I'm off next week so I may have to run out there and do some serious shopping.

I have to ask, what are your clams stuffed with. A picture tells a thousand stories and the stories your pictures tell is all YUMMY.
 
olbriar said:
I have to ask, what are your clams stuffed with.
Click to expand...
I based it off this recipe.
https://capecodlife.com/recipe/stuffed-quahogs/

Obviously the first item was off as I had 12 massive ones instead of 22 medium. I used a little more bacon and skipped the lemon juice because my son doesn't like it. For the bread I used a fresh baked italian loaf from the grocery store. I made the stuffing from the inside and ground up the crust for fresh bread crumbs instead of the dried stuff in a can.

If I did it a little different, I'd let the quahogs freeze a bit longer after they are removed from the shells for a bit less mess.
 
Turned my brisket after four five days. Another week of brining, then 10 hours of smoking, and we can comence nom noms.
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In the meantime, some rib eyes were on sale, so we'll have these for supper tonight.
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That all looks good my friend. My son came over this afternoon and besides solving most of the world's problems we managed to clean out my bar fridge. Time got away and I didn't get to smoke or grill anything. :( For the first time in three or four years, my wife decided we'd do a fast food dinner tonight with Arby's being her preference. I now painfully remember why I swore off eating fast food. And then I take a long look at those pretty steaks....
 
My local Stop&Shop (Mission Hill) had 1/2 inch thick New York Strip last Thursday. I admit I cooked it in a cast iron pan but All I can image is how Smoky it would have grilled on a Hibachi.
Still haven't found a cast iron Hibachi.
Help me @olbriar. Your my only hope!
Under a grand please which should be really easy because I only grill for two. I leave the barbeques to the young folks.
 
OT: @olbriar Do you work for Google? It's uncanny. I've been near Charles Street many times in the past couple of months visiting my Goddaughter at MGH. She hasn't been in all that time but because of Sickle cell even a cold can flair a crisis.

Back to Grillin'
I have another hardware store showing the same thing that is actually on my bus route to work everynight. My first springtime grill is happening in 2020.
 
dontpanicbobby said:
OT: @olbriar Do you work for Google? It's uncanny. I've been near Charles Street many times in the past couple of months visiting my Goddaughter at MGH. She hasn't been in all that time but because of Sickle cell even a cold can flair a crisis.

Back to Grillin'
I have another hardware store showing the same thing that is actually on my bus route to work everynight. My first springtime grill is happening in 2020.
Click to expand...

Something you might find interesting, my ace place has the exact grill for ten bucks less. Your state enjoys an inflated price. I'm guessing it enjoys an inflated wage base as well. Interesting...
 
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