BBQ

billbradley

God damn I love BBQ. I mean smoked meats and not grilling over charcoal. I like charcoaling too but that's not what I'm talking about here. There is just something about that smokey flavor that can't be beat or duplicated. After having some world renowned BBQ over the years I have always wanted to try making it myself. Then for my 10 year wedding anniversary in March my wife game me an offset firebox smoker. I got up before the crack of dawn yesterday to get the fire going and spent the day relaxing on my deck enjoying the weather. It was a near perfect day. Anyone else into smoking meat? :pasue:

CousinLarry

My wife got me a smoker last year. I just find it hard to make time for it. It takes all day and we usually have a lot to do on the weekend. We have a great bbq place called Q, which is close to home. Everything they do is great. Their pork ribs are the best I have ever had. It is our regular Saturday dinner spot. My daughter loves it too.

billbradley

Finding time to BBQ is definitely the hardest part for me too. Especially when making brisket which takes much longer. The entire process is relaxing though. The worst part of it all to me is stinking like camp fire for hours on end. The end result is worth the effort though.

DOR

The other night I was watching one of the latest Anthony Bourdain eps. It was a BBQ in Kansas City masterpiece.

The only thing wrong, was that I was watching it at 2 in the morning and my mouth was watering without the ability to do anything to have decent BBQ.

jjfad027

I was recently cutting back a bunch of english ivy at my house and was plesantly suprised to find a smoker buried inside the vines. SCORE!

billbradley

Nice one.

billbradley

DOR said:

The other night I was watching one of the latest Anthony Bourdain eps. It was a BBQ in Kansas City masterpiece.

The only thing wrong, was that I was watching it at 2 in the morning and my mouth was watering without the ability to do anything to have decent BBQ.

I saw that episode and chuckled at the one chef's comment, "we have the intelligence to cook more than one type of meat".

LaserWolf

Right now I am using indirect heat with a weber grill.
I have made some great smoked meats.
Typically I avoid southern/texas/midwest style bbqing.
Instead I like doing pastrami, turkeys, Viet flavored meats.
Also Columbia River salmon, salt & sugar brined, until just done. (Too many people make jerky out of it.)

I just had a disastrous experience with a turkey. Problem is, in the cold and the rain the weber wont hold heat and my temperatures are constantly rising and falling. Also I ordered a 10-14 lb bird, but got a 16+ bird. Should have cut it in half but didn't.

Anyway, after a few years of checking my options I plan to get a real, insulated, temp control electric smoker, or a big green egg. Not sure which yet. Waiting till I have the dollars.


http://www.cookshack.com/store/Smokers_2/Smokette-Original-Model-SM009-2
With this you can load it and not check it for hours on end.


http://www.biggreenegg.com/eggs/sizes/

billbradley

A friend of mine has the X-Large big green egg. All of the meat that comes out of it stays super moist.

batmon

I dont own a smoker but i can smoke meats on my grill.

Pimento wood chips for a slow and low Jerk Pork Butt.

pcmr

i will be getting an egg soon and it will be worth the wait and $$$ but i just gotta get through one more summer without a proper smoker

Snagglepus

Yeah ... I've been smoking with my charcoal grill as well. This may be the year that I step up to the real deal, but I've had some great results with the Weber ... ribs, pork shoulders, beer can chickens, etc.

Whatever you use, nothing beats the smells and flavors of proper BBQ. Well worth the time involved.

LaserWolf

On one of the smoking forums someone posted that they were thinking of the big green egg and wanted to know the down side.
He complained that at the BGE forum people only said positive things.
The consensus was that there are no complaints about the BGE.

Pizza at 700o+ or low and slow it does it all.

vintageinfants

DOR said:

The other night I was watching one of the latest Anthony Bourdain eps. It was a BBQ in Kansas City masterpiece.

The only thing wrong, was that I was watching it at 2 in the morning and my mouth was watering without the ability to do anything to have decent BBQ.

outside of making the long trips around southern Ontario chasing the traveling 'ribfest'.... do we even have a legit LEGIT BBQ spot here in toronto? ontario? canada?

DOR

vintageinfants said:

DOR said:

The other night I was watching one of the latest Anthony Bourdain eps. It was a BBQ in Kansas City masterpiece.

The only thing wrong, was that I was watching it at 2 in the morning and my mouth was watering without the ability to do anything to have decent BBQ.

outside of making the long trips around southern Ontario chasing the traveling 'ribfest'.... do we even have a legit LEGIT BBQ spot here in toronto? ontario? canada?

I wish there was one great spot.

Friends keep telling me to try this place.

http://barque.ca

But the only place (IMO) I have had decent BBQ in this city is Stockyards.

http://www.thestockyards.ca/NEWMENU.html


BBQ is one of the few things Toronto is lacking in the food area.

sneakyp

Didn't start smoking seriously until I "stole" a smoker about 5 years ago from a well known NYC chef. It was abandoned at his previous restaurant and neglected over the course of 2 or 3 NYC winters. The owners eventually tried to ditch it to clear room in the garden area and he was given fair notice to come pick it up. He never did, so I did the right thing and gave it a home. I live by it. I've cooked everything from pizza to paella. I use Oak, Apple, Cherry, and some Hickory because that's what grows on the land. Of course the smoke adds an uncompromised and mysteriously intriguing element, but it also just comes down to the ritual of building the fire, coaxing it, and letting time and smoke take it's course. You smell like a campfire for sure, but that's all part of it. Over the years I've come to discover what history already tells us--Pork and smoke is one of the greatest culinary syntheses of all time.

HarveyCanal

Yeah, you got a smoker. But do you have a smokers jacket?

CBear

That Anthony Bourdain KC BBQ episode led me to typing "burnt ends" into Yelp and immediately going to a local BBQ place for 1/2 pound of burnt ends brisket. So delicious:

LaserWolf

Sneakyp, I hope to be in your league some day.

Yemsky

I only have a Weber and got a bit jealous when I saw some of your photos. But then a second thought crept into my head, which I already have to drown with a couple of beers every time I light the Weber: Isn't BBQing an ecological disaster? I mean, not only that it's meat, but it must be one of the most uneconomical as well as least eco friendly ways of preparing it....

batmon

Yemsky said:

I only have a Weber and got a bit jealous when I saw some of your photos. But then a second thought crept into my head, which I already have to drown with a couple of beers every time I light the Weber: Isn't BBQing an ecological disaster? I mean, not only that it's meat, but it must be one of the most uneconomical as well as least eco friendly ways of preparing it....

where is the sheeeeeiiit graemlin?

LaserWolf

Burnt and smoke food is also unhealthy.

Everything in moderation.

dollar_bin

LaserWolf said:

On one of the smoking forums someone posted that they were thinking of the big green egg and wanted to know the down side.
He complained that at the BGE forum people only said positive things.
The consensus was that there are no complaints about the BGE.

Pizza at 700o+ or low and slow it does it all.

Cooks Illustrated gave the Big Green Egg a kind of meh review, although the BGE lovers feel like they didn't quite get how the BGE was supposed to be used. They also dinged it for its price and weight, which I could see, but if you have lots of money and don't need to move it up or down stairs, you don't have to worry about that.