jordanhojo wrote:Plus, ralph macchio and Alfonso ribeiro like it, so if eating one can help me master the Carlton or the crane kick, sign me the f up.

Thank you for spelling their names right so I could google them in 9 seconds. I'm old and outta touch.

kenji wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote: I think I'll skip it.

=R=

oh jeeze, it's a 3 buck sandwich. You gotta try one. I enjoy when McRib shows up and have one or two during the promotions.

I'm an all-the-time omnivore.

I like your moxy. Maybe I will.

=R=

kenji wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote: I think I'll skip it.

=R=

oh jeeze, it's a 3 buck sandwich. You gotta try one. I enjoy when McRib shows up and have one or two during the promotions.

I would need to be very drunk to try that, and if there happens to be a burrito place between me and the nearest Wendy's I'll get sidetracked.

Mariano's has recently been selling game animals, and while it isn't a huge selection (about 3' of a floor fridge) there are a few interesting things in it. One thing that grabbed my attention was "Wild Boar Back Ribs". Obviously they were smaller than pork ribs, about 8" long and 3-4" wide, and came in packs of about 2 lb.s. I got a pack a week or so ago to try out.



They are much leaner than pork, as to be expected, but had a decent amount of meat on them. I recently restocked my apple wood supply and decided to do them Memphis style on apple wood, and mop them with an apple cider/vinegar mixture. Since they were so lean I mopped them more frequently than I do with pork, and while that certainly helped them, they were still a bit drier than I would have liked.



Since they were so small the cook time at 225-250 was pretty short - about 2.5 hours. All in all the flavor was great, and I'll definitely be trying them again. Next time I'm going to try something different to try to get them to be a bit more moist - maybe some bacon on top of them, or even trying to braise them instead of smoking. I served them with grilled polenta, burnt tomatoes, and griddled mushrooms as sides. A really nice meal overall!

That looks fantastic Chris!

This ribs look yummy. How was the flavor compared to the feedlot pork we get at the grocery stores?

Would smoking at a lower temp help retain moisture in the meat? Use 200-220 instead of 225-250?

Thanks!

kenji wrote:This ribs look yummy. How was the flavor compared to the feedlot pork we get at the grocery stores?

Would smoking at a lower temp help retain moisture in the meat? Use 200-220 instead of 225-250?

The flavor was a bit fuller, and deeper. Maybe less sweet than regular pork is a good way to describe it. Definitely closer to country ribs than pork baby back ribs.

I've mostly gone with lower temps to get a better texture, and the texture of it was fine. A little bit of tooth, but pulled from the bone easily (just the way I wanted it). Right now I'm thinking of adding fat during the cook or using a brine, but keeping the temp lower could be worth trying as well.

Attrill wrote:Mariano's has recently been selling game animals, and while it isn't a huge selection (about 3' of a floor fridge) there are a few interesting things in it. One thing that grabbed my attention was "Wild Boar Back Ribs". Obviously they were smaller than pork ribs, about 8" long and 3-4" wide, and came in packs of about 2 lb.s. I got a pack a week or so ago to try out.



They are much leaner than pork, as to be expected, but had a decent amount of meat on them. I recently restocked my apple wood supply and decided to do them Memphis style on apple wood, and mop them with an apple cider/vinegar mixture. Since they were so lean I mopped them more frequently than I do with pork, and while that certainly helped them, they were still a bit drier than I would have liked.



Since they were so small the cook time at 225-250 was pretty short - about 2.5 hours. All in all the flavor was great, and I'll definitely be trying them again. Next time I'm going to try something different to try to get them to be a bit more moist - maybe some bacon on top of them, or even trying to braise them instead of smoking. I served them with grilled polenta, burnt tomatoes, and griddled mushrooms as sides. A really nice meal overall!

Camel meat, fit for a sultan's feast, is now in the freezer case at Mariano's.

The grocery chain started carrying the delicacy two months ago to beef up its wild game selection. Fourteen of the company's 28 stores now stock the meat, which is sold ground for $12.99 a pound.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20141008 ... xotic-meat

Hi all, still working on my skills with the Weber Bullet and trying to get in a few more smoke sessions before Old Man Winter commences his 5-month continuous ass kicking in Chicago. I smoked up a couple pork shoulders for a housewarming party this weekend:


On the left is a standard BBQ rub from the Spice House, on the right is my personal favorite WALKERSWOOD jerk paste. I think I probably praise the product too much but it's truly never-fail. You could put it on a rubber boot and it would taste great.


I am still having some trouble maintaining target temp for the entire smoking time. Right after I took the pic the temp took a nosedive to about 200F and stayed there no matter what I did. Opening up the vents and burning a fresh chimney of coal only lifted it to about 215F before it dropped again.


I would call this smoke session a 50% success. Half of each shoulder was nice and pull-able, while the other half was not. I ended up pulling one half and thin-slicing the other, which made a nice contrast for sandwiches. The sliced pork was tender and juicy but since I was going for 100% pulled I still need to work on my temp control.


Thanks

Did you flip the butts a couple of times while cooking? If not, that could account for the difference between the two halves.

walkerswood slays, wish i was eating one of those jerk pork sandwiches right now

stevez wrote:Did you flip the butts a couple of times while cooking? If not, that could account for the difference between the two halves.

I did not, but I will try moving them around next time.

eating while walking wrote:

stevez wrote:Did you flip the butts a couple of times while cooking? If not, that could account for the difference between the two halves.

I did not, but I will try moving them around next time.

Every few hours, flip them over and also rotate them every once in a while so both sides get exposed to the outside of the smoker equally.

eating while walking wrote:......trying to get in a few more smoke sessions before Old Man Winter commences his 5-month continuous ass kicking in Chicago.......

Some of us are looking forward to cooler weather. As a cold smoker, I have three bellies in the freezer, waiting for cold weather, so I can cure them and let them hang in the smoke for a full day or two, without rotting in the heat. I'm hoping to get a real smokehouse built before winter sets in. As usual, too much to do this time of year!

Your shoulders look great. I think the funnest and most frustrating part of cooking or smoking, is when you get close to being perfect, and just need a tweak to dial it in. Hang in there, once you figure it out, you'll have people lined up at your table.

After 3 years, I finally have the cure figured out for our bacon, now I'm working on the smoke. We've eaten some pretty marginal stuff over that time, but none of it was so bad it had to be thrown out.

Since winter takes up almost half the year, you should dabble in cold smoking. Embrace the cold!!

Tim

Freezer Pig wrote:
After 3 years, I finally have the cure figured out for our bacon

Don't Bogart the recipe.

post up.

Heck of a smoke ring there....

how much wood are you using ( does the % or # of pounds of wood determine the smoke ring) if not was does? I never get that deep of a smoke ring on my BGE

I'd be curious how you are building your initial fire if you are having temp issues. If using the wiviott or minion method id probably let more of the base coals ignite than you are possibly doing to allow the smoker to cruise at 225-240 for hours or all night.

Suggestion re: the shoulder. Get a larger one 8 -9 lbs. bone in. The bone will pull clean when it's ready.(or approx 200 degrees internal) to pull. I always foil and toss the butt in the cooler for a couple hours before pulling as well. Where did you get those small shoulders, or maybe you cut a larger one in half.?

Almost tempted to get the WSM out the garage and put it back on the deck with the weber kettles and smoke some pork.

stevez wrote:Every few hours, flip them over and also rotate them every once in a while so both sides get exposed to the outside of the smoker equally.

jimswside wrote:Suggestion re: the shoulder. Get a larger one 8 -9 lbs. bone in.

Couple of additional tips:
Clean the WSM after each use
Use lump charcoal.
Don't reuse charcoal
Check to see if your charcoal, lump charcoal, is damp or has absorbed moisture.
Don't use the very small pieces or lump charcoal or dust that may be in the bottom of the bag.
Use just a few fist size pieces of dry debarked wood
Make sure, visually check, when you add charcoal no pieces fell outside of the charcoal ring blocking the lower air vents.
Do not place the WSM in a windy area. It looks like you were on an upper staircase in your picture.

While a smoke ring as deep as eating while walking's looks nice it indicates a couple of potential problems to me:
A fire that is not burning cleanly depositing sooty smoke on the meat
Manually stirring ashes to stoke the fire resulting in ash deposit getting on the smoking meat
Wet wood / damp charcoal
Air vent blockage.

Have fun, keep practicing and don't put your WSM away just because the temperature is dropping.

Wow, lots of great tips here, thanks everyone. To answer some of the questions: I did clean out the smoker and check the vents before lighting the fire. I am using Kingsford briquettes right now, as the one time I tried lump I was not able to get a long-lasting consistent burn. I will graduate to lump someday. I used the Minion method with 1.5 chimneys of unlit charcoal in the chamber, 4 fist sized pieces of cherry wood buried in the chamber, and 1 chimney of lit coal spread over the top.

I wasn't paying attention to the charcoal dust so a good amount probably fell in the chamber. I'll keep it out next time. I also added ½ lit chimney about halfway through which may have stirred up some coal dust.

The "two" shoulders are actually one shoulder cut in half, good eye jimswside. But I'm not sure how going to a larger single piece of meat will help my internal temp problems. If I'm already having trouble getting the whole shoulder to 180F, wouldn’t a bigger chunk make it worse?

eating while walking wrote:Wow, lots of great tips here, thanks everyone. To answer some of the questions: I did clean out the smoker and check the vents before lighting the fire. I am using Kingsford briquettes right now, as the one time I tried lump I was not able to get a long-lasting consistent burn. I will graduate to lump someday. I used the Minion method with 1.5 chimneys of unlit charcoal in the chamber, 4 fist sized pieces of cherry wood buried in the chamber, and 1 chimney of lit coal spread over the top.

I wasn't paying attention to the charcoal dust so a good amount probably fell in the chamber. I'll keep it out next time. I also added ½ lit chimney about halfway through which may have stirred up some coal dust.

The "two" shoulders are actually one shoulder cut in half, good eye jimswside. But I'm not sure how going to a larger single piece of meat will help my internal temp problems. If I'm already having trouble getting the whole shoulder to 180F, wouldn’t a bigger chunk make it worse?

imo more fuel in the ring/chamber to start should get you hotter, longer, stable burn -- for a pork butt I fill the whole ring to the top and top it with 1 chimney of lit - i have the wood chunks buried in the charcoal in the ring like you do.

With a full ring a full pan of water and light winds that lasts 10 hours or so.

a 7 - 10 lb butt takes me 10-15 hours - all are different.

I take mine to 200-205 degrees for pulling

mhill95149 wrote:Heck of a smoke ring there....

how much wood are you using ( does the % or # of pounds of wood determine the smoke ring) if not was does? I never get that deep of a smoke ring on my BGE

Thanks, but I don't think the smoke ring has much to do with the amount of wood you use. Actually, I have gotten a pink "smoke ring" on oven-roasted meat before so I'm not sure it has anything to do with smoke or barbecue at all.

eating while walking wrote:Actually, I have gotten a pink "smoke ring" on oven-roasted meat before so I'm not sure it has anything to do with smoke or barbecue at all.

I was under the impression that the smoke ring was a result of carbon monoxide in the smoldering smoker fire... something which would be very undesirable in an oven which resides indoors.

http://bbq.about.com/od/barbecuehelp/g/gsmokering.htm

eating while walking wrote:Wow, lots of great tips here, thanks everyone. To answer some of the questions: I did clean out the smoker and check the vents before lighting the fire. I am using Kingsford briquettes right now, as the one time I tried lump I was not able to get a long-lasting consistent burn. I will graduate to lump someday. I used the Minion method with 1.5 chimneys of unlit charcoal in the chamber, 4 fist sized pieces of cherry wood buried in the chamber, and 1 chimney of lit coal spread over the top.

I'm not a bbq expert like the others on this board but I have used my WSM quite a bit up here in MN. I bought Gary's "Low and Slow" and felt it may have been the best investment I made before tackling the WSM.

I've had the same issue as you in the past. At one time, I was disappointed in low temps and maintaining heat. Here are a few things that the board helped me out with along with some other things I tried.

1. The biggest change I made was to let the coals burn before "closing" up the the WSM. I was filling the ring with lump, then dumping the hot coals over but not letting them ignite long enough to get hot. I was probably suffocating the fire, resulting in the low temps. Now, I fill the ring, dump the hot coals over and let it burn for another 15 minutes or so before putting the top of the WSM back on for the smoke.

2. I had some crazy inconsistencies with lump charcoal. I tried a bunch of different brands and I feel that the Royal Oak that they sell at Menards for about $5 a bag is the best mass produced (easily sourced in MN) stuff for my application.

3. I've also been moving towards briquettes - Kingsford competition, that I buy at Costco in the spring. They seem to burn hotter and more consistent than lump (and longer). I do think that the "smoke" is a little different than lump but I don't have anything to back that up.

I also noticed that you're smoking on a wood deck. You may want to put something down - either a grilling mat or a piece of cement board. I'd be cautious of burning the deck, myself.

One more thing - smoking a shoulder takes time. Maybe the longest smoke out of the basics (ribs, brisket, etc). I usually give myself up to 16 hours for the actual smoke and if it's done early, I do the same as Jim W. and foil and throw it in a cooler that I've rinsed with boiling water to maintain the heat for a couple of hours.

Good luck and keep smoking...

^ I will definitely have to check out Low Slow BBQ as I have just been learning by trial and error up to this point. Chicken legs were on sale for $.59/lb at the corner market so I decided to lay in a supply of smoked chicken for the freezer. Chicken is a never-fail option in the smoker; I have undercooked shoulder and overcooked ribs but chicken comes out great every time. Trimmed the ankle tendons and skin lollipop style for a nicer presentation. This also gives you a clean place to grab when eating.


Mopped 3 times during the 3-hour 250F-300F smoke. I used a quick modified Moo and Oink bottled sauce cut with rice vinegar.


Ready to eat



These were some big, tough chicken legs which made them perfect for low and slow cooking. All those gnarly tendons melted away in the gentle heat and made them super tender. If anyone's interested the sale is at Los Portrillos grocery 3624 W Belmont Ave.

Thanks

eating while walking wrote: I used a quick modified Moo and Oink bottled sauce

Moo and Oink sauce? How old is that bottle?

kenji wrote:

eating while walking wrote: I used a quick modified Moo and Oink bottled sauce

Moo and Oink sauce? How old is that bottle?

Hm, I bought it a couple weeks ago at Jewel Osco. Not bad for a bottled sauce if you cut it with acid. Why do you ask?

eating while walking wrote: Why do you ask?

Moo and Oink the stores all closed in 2011. I wasn't aware it was also a brand name for grocery products. I thought you had a bottle of sauce from 2011!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moo_%26_Oink

Texas BBQ makes it's way to Paris:

http://parisbymouth.com/beast-bbq-paris/

"Last night in Paris, a Frenchman opened an authentic BBQ joint. His name is Thomas Abramowicz and his restaurant The Beast is the culmination of a year spent training and tracking down everything he would need (meat, wood, Bourbon) to open the first authentic smokehouse in Paris. "

Texas BBQ makes it's way to Paris:

http://parisbymouth.com/beast-bbq-paris/

"Last night in Paris, a Frenchman opened an authentic BBQ joint. His name is Thomas Abramowicz and his restaurant The Beast is the culmination of a year spent training and tracking down everything he would need (meat, wood, Bourbon) to open the first authentic smokehouse in Paris. "

Funny coincidence - a couple that took my BBQ101 class in our Pit Room last year is now living in Paris, and is considering opening a BBQ joint there. They just emailed me last week to inquire about me consulting with them, and they're coming to Chicago in December to talk shop and see where it goes. BBQ is taking over the world !!