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BBQ GAF - Smokin' Your Meat, USA Style

ColdPizza

Banned
Thanks. Used zbarron's information from the previous day as the basis for making it work in the cold. Might cause me to do more cooking in that 20-30 degree weather next fall/winter. Helped that I beat the snow last night.

Snow doesn't matter that much, it's the the winds that usually accompany it that will cause your problems.
 

Chris R

Member
Tried this place this weekend since I live in an apartment and can't do my own BBQ:

http://www.turnagainarmpitbbq.com/

Dang good, but I got so cramped after. Does anyone know why that happens? Only when I eat BBQ at restaurants, never when homemade.

Did you get it from the Old Seward location or the one on the road down to Girdwood?

And as someone who lives in an apartment in Anchorage, just BBQ in your parking spot. Only issue would be if you don't have any storage space for the grill when it's not in use.
 

TI82

Banned
Did you get it from the Old Seward location or the one on the road down to Girdwood?

And as someone who lives in an apartment in Anchorage, just BBQ in your parking spot. Only issue would be if you don't have any storage space for the grill when it's not in use.

Old Seward, and nah poor student so I can't really invest atm
 

Chris R

Member
Old Seward, and nah poor student so I can't really invest atm

Hmmn, never had the cramping issues with the Old Seward location (or for any BBQ). It's not my favorite style of BBQ though since it needs a lot of the vinegar sauce to help the moisture levels.
 

TI82

Banned
Hmmn, never had the cramping issues with the Old Seward location (or for any BBQ). It's not my favorite style of BBQ though since it needs a lot of the vinegar sauce to help the moisture levels.

What's some of the other places in town you like? I tried the "pit" on dimond and it was horrible lol.

Also, I think I recognize your name from the facebook world of nintendo group!
 

Chris R

Member
What's some of the other places in town you like? I tried the "pit" on dimond and it was horrible lol.

Also, I think I recognize your name from the facebook world of nintendo group!

It's probably been 8 years since I tried the Pit but it was "ok" then.

AJs is the best in town, but I'm not even sure if he's still open. Used to run his setup out of a motorhome on Lake Otis down almost at Abbott. Since I moved a few years ago though I don't visit that side of town as often as I did before.

And that's not me since I'm not on Facebook.
 

Applesauce

Boom! Bitch-slapped!
I'm tempted to get this Ballistic Griddle even though I've got something similar that I made at work. Mine is really heavy and kind of a pain to move around but this one is made of stainless steel. It basically turns half the cooking surface on a 22.5" kettle into a flat top, which imo is the best way to cook a burger. It is also designed to fit the craycort cast iron grates if you have them.
 

TI82

Banned
It's probably been 8 years since I tried the Pit but it was "ok" then.

AJs is the best in town, but I'm not even sure if he's still open. Used to run his setup out of a motorhome on Lake Otis down almost at Abbott. Since I moved a few years ago though I don't visit that side of town as often as I did before.

And that's not me since I'm not on Facebook.

Ah my bad, another person named Chris R on Facebook from anchorage and into nerdy stuff so I took a shot. Thanks for the info!
 
My wife bought me a Chargriller Smokin Champ for my birthday!

Going to smoke my first set of ribs tomorrow. Been looking at a lot of tutorials online and think I got the process down okay.

Rub, wrap, refrigerate, get the smoker to 250, mop it every hour, wrap it in foil after 3, finish it with sauce.

Also smoking a few fatties too, wrapped in bacon. I'm so fucking excited. Tomorrow is my birthday too.

Welp, it wasn't exactly a disaster, but it didn't go well.

-despite waiting till the coals were white, the wood kept catching fully on fire. Closing all the vents didn't help, nor did spraying water made it worse. Everything burned super quick and I had to get my wife to bring me more hickory on her way to the house.

-tried soaking the chunks first but it only slightly delayed the burning.

-temperature kept wildly varying from 180 to 325 as I tried to manage the heat and opened the smoker to adjust, etc.

-hardly any smoke at all throughout the process.

-the fatties and ribs cooked for 5-ish hours and while fully cooked, the ribs weren't tender AT ALL.

Really frustrated and feel like I spent half of my birthday fucking up some beautiful ribs and getting a sunburn.
 

zbarron

Member
Welp, it wasn't exactly a disaster, but it didn't go well.

-despite waiting till the coals were white, the wood kept catching fully on fire. Closing all the vents didn't help, nor did spraying water made it worse. Everything burned super quick and I had to get my wife to bring me more hickory on her way to the house.

-tried soaking the chunks first but it only slightly delayed the burning.

-temperature kept wildly varying from 180 to 325 as I tried to manage the heat and opened the smoker to adjust, etc.

-hardly any smoke at all throughout the process.

-the fatties and ribs cooked for 5-ish hours and while fully cooked, the ribs weren't tender AT ALL.

Really frustrated and feel like I spent half of my birthday fucking up some beautiful ribs and getting a sunburn.
How did you set up the charcoal? Did you do a meatless practice run? I'm sorry it didn't work out. It gets better once you are more familiar with your system and you'll look back on this and see how much you've improved. Learn from your mistakes.

As for specifics: you shouldn't close all your vents or you'll get nasty tasting smoke. Was smoke leaking out of places it shouldn't? You also shouldn't soak woods chunks, and were probably making too big of adjustments and opening it up to often.

Normal mistakes. Don't get discouraged.
 
How did you set up the charcoal? Did you do a meatless practice run? I'm sorry it didn't work out. It gets better once you are more familiar with your system and you'll look back on this and see how much you've improved. Learn from your mistakes.

As for specifics: you shouldn't close all your vents or you'll get nasty tasting smoke. Was smoke leaking out of places it shouldn't? You also shouldn't soak woods chunks, and were probably making too big of adjustments and opening it up to often.

Normal mistakes. Don't get discouraged.

Thanks for the advice.

Yeah I was definitely opening it up way too much. I hadn't done a practice run because I didn't want to deal with the cleanup and what not first. There was surprisingly very little smoke leaking. Whenever I did get some smoke going it was really nice and moved through the stack without leaking out of the sides or anything.

I looked up a lot of YouTube tutorials and I think I got the main process down, but yeah, I messed with the wood too much, it was super windy, and I was too stressed to think clearly. I set up the coals in a small pile in the center of the smoker section, spread them flat once there were white, and then placed just a few large chunks on, opened my vent and closed the smoker.

Next time I think it will go better, but
 
Hey Guys,

Made some BBQ meatball bombs. Throw these bad boys in a submarine sandwich roll add some cheese and fixings and you got yourself a kick ass meatball sub.

2WpF7Kp.jpg



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wztWNHJ.jpg



F5noCP3.jpg
 

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
Thanks for the advice.

Yeah I was definitely opening it up way too much. I hadn't done a practice run because I didn't want to deal with the cleanup and what not first. There was surprisingly very little smoke leaking. Whenever I did get some smoke going it was really nice and moved through the stack without leaking out of the sides or anything.

I looked up a lot of YouTube tutorials and I think I got the main process down, but yeah, I messed with the wood too much, it was super windy, and I was too stressed to think clearly. I set up the coals in a small pile in the center of the smoker section, spread them flat once there were white, and then placed just a few large chunks on, opened my vent and closed the smoker.

Next time I think it will go better, but

You will learn. Wind makes a HUGE difference. I think it matters more that it being cold outside. So you have to adjust cooking times and use alot more fuel to keep things going. I know people who want to smoke an award winning brisket right out the gate and it just doesn't work like that. You have to get experience under your belt first and learn your equipment, learn your surroundings and how they effect your cooks, get used to dealing with fire, etc. The best way to learn is to ruin alot of perfectly good meat, lol.
 

zbarron

Member
Hey Guys,

Made some BBQ meatball bombs. Throw these bad boys in a submarine sandwich roll add some cheese and fixings and you got yourself a kick ass meatball sub.
Thats really clever using the onion like that. I want to try it.
You will learn. Wind makes a HUGE difference. I think it matters more that it being cold outside. So you have to adjust cooking times and use alot more fuel to keep things going. I know people who want to smoke an award winning brisket right out the gate and it just doesn't work like that. You have to get experience under your belt first and learn your equipment, learn your surroundings and how they effect your cooks, get used to dealing with fire, etc. The best way to learn is to ruin alot of perfectly good meat, lol.
This.

I really should have mentioned. Fuck high winds. They suck, Also dskillzhtown is right. For your next smoke may I suggest a pork shoulder. They'll still be good if the temp gets high or low, too much or too little smoke, etc. It is very forgiving.
 

zbarron

Member
Super easy to make - I got the recipe from heres

I made some adjustments due to my diet but no matter what you do they always come out great.

P.S These also work in the oven in case the grill is not available
Thanks.
Holy fuckballs.
That's a much better name.

I grilled some burgers and portobello caps tonight with a side of grilled cabbage. It was good even though the cabbage was underdone. I noticed something interesting though.

I didn't use all of my charcoal and wood last time I used the smoker so I shut both vents to snuff it out and save what I could. I saved some charcoal briquettes which I was expecting but what I wasn't expecting was the wood I used basically turned into lump charcoal. Is there a way to make lump charcoal intentionally with a Weber? Would it be as simple as getting the wood lit and burning good and then shutting all the vents and leaving it overnight?
 

ColdPizza

Banned
Going to finally be springlike up here in Buffalp this weekend. What should I make? A little porked out this week from country ribs.

Might be chicken leg quarters.
 

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
Going to finally be springlike up here in Buffalp this weekend. What should I make? A little porked out this week from country ribs.

Might be chicken leg quarters.

brisket is always a good thing, but chicken quarters or wings are always good.
 

zbarron

Member
Brisket is always good but have you smoked a chuck roast before? It has a good amount of fat, great flavor, and can often be found for cheaper.

Edit:I should also mention it's easier to get right and faster.
 

HawkeyeIC

Member
WSM acquired (18"). Was wanting to try ribs this weekend. Seems like those and chicken are about the easiest to not mess up for beginners? Any essential reading or tips so I don't mess them up?
 

ColdPizza

Banned
Brisket is always good but have you smoked a chuck roast before? It has a good amount of fat, great flavor, and can often be found for cheaper.

Edit:I should also mention it's easier to get right and faster.

Does it shred? Was thinking like a chuck roll.
 

zbarron

Member
Does it shred? Was thinking like a chuck roll.
Beef chuck is shoulder meat. It helps to think of it as the beef version of pork shoulder/butt. Chuck roll is the beef version of a pork butt. It's the same area. You can make pulled/shredded beef, or you can slice it. It depends on what temperature you take it to. Like pork butt it is also cheap. fatty, easy to smoke, and tasty.

http://virtualweberbullet.com/chuckroll.html
Here's some instructions but you can do it the same way you do pork butt just using whatever wood/rub you'd use for beef. You might want to go Texas style with a salt&pepper rub.
 
Finally decided to try smoking a pork butt on my Weber kettle using the 'C' layout described on Amazing Ribs. Been on for over 8 hours now with only very minor intake adjustments every hour or so. Really looking forward to doing this more often this summer.

5kopq24l.jpg
 

zbarron

Member
Finally decided to try smoking a pork butt on my Weber kettle using the 'C' layout described on Amazing Ribs. Been on for over 8 hours now with only very minor intake adjustments every hour or so. Really looking forward to doing this more often this summer.

5kopq24l.jpg
That's the Snake/Fuse Method. It's the only way I've smoked on my Weber Kettle and I love it. Did you rotate your top vent throughout the cook to put it on the opposite end of the active charcoal?
 

DrSlek

Member
I just did my second brisket ever. Overwhelming success despite odds being stacked against me. Forgot to take pictures though.

Technically it was 2 briskets, as I ordered 3.5kg of brisket and the butcher gave me 2 slabs of meat. After trying to work out the best way to smoke them both with a small area to work with, I settled on the simplest option. Apply the rub to one side of each and place them back to back.
 
I just did my second brisket ever. Overwhelming success despite odds being stacked against me. Forgot to take pictures though.

Technically it was 2 briskets, as I ordered 3.5kg of brisket andcthe butcher gave me 2 slabs of meat. After trying to work out the best way to smoke them both with a small area to work with, I settled on the simplest option. Apply the rub to one side of each and place them back to back.

Were the two pieces just where the butcher separated
The point and the flat?
 

Travo

Member
My leg quarters didn't go too well. I think I'll bake them for twenty minutes then put them on the grill next time.
 

Irobot82

Member
Yeah, charcoal grill in this case.

I use my vortex and sear the chicken then put it on the outside edges of the grill and let the temp rise up.

Or.

I slow cook it with the vortex. I make the vortex go narrow and I put the chicken in a circle on the edge and slow smoke it that way.
 

ColdPizza

Banned
Yeah, charcoal grill in this case.

Okay. Don't bother with the oven. Make a hot side and a "cold" side to your grill. Instead of baking, just put your chicken on the cold side of the grill until like 150 or so. Then towards the end you can crisp up the skin as you like.
 

ColdPizza

Banned
Chicken and sausage. Will dump the coals from my WSM into my kettle and get them screaming hot so I can try to get the chicken skin crispy.

4ueh9Dl.png
 

Chris R

Member
Snake method looks awesome, going to try that out weekend after next, much better to set it and forget it than having to check it every 30 minutes.

edit: ^^^ Oh man that looks SO DAMN GOOD
 

zbarron

Member
I have the worst luck with chicken with the bone in. The outside can get charred while the inside is still red.
A reverse sear should solve your problem from the sound of it. Use an instant thermometer, and if you don't own one buy one. You can find cheap decent ones for under $5 at Walmart or the grocery store.

Pour a chimney full of lit charcoal on one half of your grill. Put the grate on and close it for 5 minutes to let it heat up. Open the lid and clean the grate with a grill brush. Now put the chicken on the side of the grill without the charcoal under it. Flip it as often as you feel like, it doesn't matter as much with indirect heat.

Now check the temperature. Once it hits about 140*F move the pieces over to the side with all the charcoal. Cook over the charcoal flipping the pieces every minute or two until you get a good char on the outside. At this point the chicken should be around 160*F. The carry over heat will make it hit the 165*F target.

Enjoy perfectly cooked tasty chicken with a great sear.

Edit: Nice Coldpizza. What rub did you use for the chicken?
 

ColdPizza

Banned
A reverse sear should solve your problem from the sound of it. Use an instant thermometer, and if you don't own one buy one. You can find cheap decent ones for under $5 at Walmart or the grocery store.

Pour a chimney full of lit charcoal on one half of your grill. Put the grate on and close it for 5 minutes to let it heat up. Open the lid and clean the grate with a grill brush. Now put the chicken on the side of the grill without the charcoal under it. Flip it as often as you feel like, it doesn't matter as much with indirect heat.

Now check the temperature. Once it hits about 140*F move the pieces over to the side with all the charcoal. Cook over the charcoal flipping the pieces every minute or two until you get a good char on the outside. At this point the chicken should be around 160*F. The carry over heat will make it hit the 165*F target.

Enjoy perfectly cooked tasty chicken with a great sear.

Edit: Nice Coldpizza. What rub did you use for the chicken?

I totally cheesed out this time. Bought a store bought rub. Was way too busy today for anything else so I bought Dinosaur BBQ Cajun Foreplay rub.

Any other time I always make my own.
 

zbarron

Member
I totally cheesed out this time. Bought a store bought rub. Was way too busy today for anything else so I bought Dinosaur BBQ Cajun Foreplay rub.

Any other time I always make my own.

I may just buy a rub next time I hit the store. My current shaker's holes are very small and I realized it was filtering out the bigger spices so I'm going to buy a rub and just reuse the container. Did yours have nice big openings?
 

ColdPizza

Banned
I may just buy a rub next time I hit the store. My current shaker's holes are very small and I realized it was filtering out the bigger spices so I'm going to buy a rub and just reuse the container. Did yours have nice big openings?

I'm digging the alternate sizes they provided here.

uMdGYcG.png
 
I'm about to buy a new gas grill (propane). Any recommendations? I'm looking at the Weber Genesis 310 to replace the Kenmore grill I got three years ago that has rusted to absolute crap.
 

ColdPizza

Banned
I'm about to buy a new gas grill (propane). Any recommendations? I'm looking at the Weber Genesis 310 to replace the Kenmore grill I got three years ago that has rusted to absolute crap.

Weber all the way man. I still have my Weber Genesis from 2003. Parts are still available. They just last forever. You pay more up front but you can see where the money goes.
 
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