Cooking some beef short ribs on the grill this morning. First time doing a low and slow on the Akorn and after some tinkering with the vents it has held 230 degrees for the last two hours.

9/1/2014 11:10:04 AM

Is the "Vision Grills" Kamado that Sam's carries any better or worse?

9/1/2014 9:10:40 PM

it's actually ceramic, so that's a plus, i guess. i'm not saying the vision is drafty or anything because i have no personal experience with it, but i'd take the akorn over a drafty ceramic. most folks with the vision kamado seem to be happy with it. another thing to consider is the heavy ceramics are much harder to transport than the akorn, if that matters to you. i can load and unload my akorn by myself.

9/1/2014 9:24:29 PM

Quote :

" i'm not saying the vision is drafty...but i'd take the akorn over a drafty ceramic."

So how is the Akorn insulated?

9/1/2014 9:45:18 PM

it has insulation sandwiched between the inside liner and the outer skin. when you buy an akorn, it comes without the thermometer installed and you can see the insulation in there. it was white and was kinda like fiberglass insulation or something.

9/1/2014 9:50:38 PM

http://bbqjew.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/goldsboro-barbecue-pdf.pdf

awesome article about the history of real eastern NC bbq

[Edited on September 5, 2014 at 6:55 PM. Reason : but wilber's bbq sucks now ]

9/5/2014 6:33:24 PM

haven't been grilling much lately because it's been so damn hot. did some nice thick chuck eyes on the weber performer tonight. they were excellent.

9/15/2014 9:02:07 PM

about to sear some ribeyes on the akorn

9/16/2014 9:03:05 PM

What's your strategy for searing steaks on the akorn? Lid up? Down? How hot do you run it to?

9/18/2014 7:44:48 PM

I run it up to 550 and sear them. I leave the vents open and lid down to keep it hot.

9/18/2014 10:08:54 PM

i have another grate in mine where the smoking stone is supposed to go. i light a fire down low like normal and dump some coals on half of that grate. that way i have a direct heat zone and an indirect zone. reverse sear with lid closed between turns.

9/19/2014 3:33:55 PM

^yeah you had mentioned that before. Haven't done steaks on mine yet... My roommate has a gas grill with a sear burner that I've gotten pretty good with.

Just curious what methods you guys have tried.

9/19/2014 5:48:10 PM

last few times i've done steaks i just lit some kingsford in my weber kettle, got it really fucking hot, and seared them. steaks are easy.

9/19/2014 6:17:47 PM

all geared up for a low country boil tomorrow. bought a new 44 qt stainless pot w/ basket. not grilling, but whatever.

9/27/2014 2:42:51 PM

Time for some fall BBQ.

Yall pussies better get a bigger monitor so you can see the food porn.

10/22/2014 2:09:56 AM

Has anyone attempted to cure and smoke their own bacon? I'm feeling adventurous, the curing step seems fairly easy. Not sure how it will turn out, but I might try to do a belly this fall.

11/5/2014 8:29:45 PM

Any deals on butts out there?

11/20/2014 12:24:30 PM

The Gringo and I did 7 briskets last weekend using cherry and white oak . vacuum sealed and froze most of it. delicious.

Our first competition:


Rig before her cherry was popped:


[Edited on November 20, 2014 at 1:36 PM. Reason : ]

11/20/2014 1:21:39 PM

so how did y'all do? any pics of the meat?

11/20/2014 1:57:41 PM

about middle of the field for most of the meats, but it was our first rodeo and our goal was not to finish dead last (just two of us, both competition virgins)... our brisket scored the best. (probably thanks to our burnt ends)

we learned a lot about fire management on a rig of this size.

I don't have pics of the meat but my buddy does. (i'll get them and post)

This picture was from the rocky mount competition last month... we popped our cherry by using mostly cherry wood we were right beside Christopher Prieto and Prime BBQ who was on BBQ pitmasters.

the briskets were just for us this weekend



[Edited on November 20, 2014 at 2:19 PM. Reason : ]

11/20/2014 2:11:27 PM

Where did you get your cooker? A buddy and I are looking to purchase one for state games and start doing a little competitive cooking. We just have not found the right cooker.

[Edited on November 20, 2014 at 2:40 PM. Reason : asa]

11/20/2014 2:39:46 PM

I can tell you where to get one for around 2k but its not as nice as that one. (similar design though)

http://www.custompits.com/

You can get down there and back in one day long as you dont stop at like cracker barrel and shit, just drive.

11/20/2014 3:00:07 PM

Congrats Smath!

How many competitors were there?

What other meat did you turn in?

11/20/2014 3:14:09 PM

My buddy got it from http://www.shirleyfabrication.com/

they are located in Alabama and are very good to work with... the welds on this thing are fantastic. and it is HEAVY. They fully customized it and would communicate back and forth during the build.

We turned in Chicken, Ribs, Pork Butt, and Brisket. Our best was brisket, worst was chicken (wasn't surprised on that one... we left the damn chicken skins at home )
There were just over 50 teams ranging from a couple of guys with green eggs to mega-trailers with professional smokers.

[Edited on November 21, 2014 at 8:32 AM. Reason : ]

11/21/2014 8:30:50 AM

Quote :

"mega-trailers with professional smokers"

All propane, right?

Post more pics when you can...especially of turn ins if you have em.

You de-skinned your chickens?

[Edited on November 21, 2014 at 10:33 AM. Reason : ]

11/21/2014 10:31:22 AM

oh no... no propane allowed.

Yeah... deskin chicken thighs, scrape some of the fat off, marinate chicken without skins so they absorb flavor better, then re-skin when you cook. labor intensive but supposedly makes the "bite" of the chicken skin better. (that is of course assuming you remember to bring the skins with you to the competition )

11/21/2014 10:46:47 AM

Quote :

"oh no... no propane allowed. "

Not in the big rigs? When they had that ribfest thing downtown it sounded like all those huge trailer rigs used propane...maybe one or two used charcoal. http://www.raleighribfest.info/

^interesting on the thighs...i'll have to try that.

11/21/2014 10:52:41 AM

i would never do that if i was just cooking for eating. it's just the particular requirements that competition bbq has (such as ribs that are way too sweet tend to score better than ribs you would sit down and eat a rack of)

11/21/2014 10:54:36 AM

What was the name of the competition?

11/21/2014 11:13:44 AM

can't remember but it was in Rocky Mount in October... it was a KCBS comp.

11/21/2014 1:15:29 PM

What's that brick and mortar gun store in apex or garner that's pretty good?

12/5/2014 12:16:08 PM

Do they also sell BBQ sauce or something?

12/5/2014 12:42:44 PM

shoot your meat with a shotgun to tenderize.

12/5/2014 12:45:12 PM

Lol oops fat fingered that one...

12/5/2014 1:30:35 PM

Question for hunter folk on here... has anyone done bbq deer? I know it's lean, but is it any good smoked?

12/5/2014 10:23:13 PM

Into jerky yea but otherwise I would cook it with some sort of fat.

12/6/2014 12:24:55 AM

Low and slow is a surefire way to ruin deer

Hot and fast works if you wrap it in thick bacon, but even then it's not that great.

12/6/2014 9:21:33 AM

that's what I thought. I have no experience cooking deer other than ground up in things like chili. What about deer sausage... I bet that would be good smoked since you add fat to it anyway. (just thinking out loud here)

12/6/2014 9:51:39 AM

Yeah, deer sausage with pork fat ground in is fine. I cook steaks from the loins and the tenderloins like a beef steak in a frying pan.

12/6/2014 1:36:39 PM

f this weather

12/8/2014 8:48:01 PM

http://slickdeals.net/f/7852515-maverick-et-733-long-range-wireless-dual-probe-bbq-smoker-meat-thermometer-set-newest-version-green-for-59-99-free-shipping-amazon

5/13/2015 2:07:54 PM

^ i have an older model and love it

5/13/2015 3:14:04 PM

Also use the Maverick and it has been great. Highly recommend.

[Edited on May 13, 2015 at 4:49 PM. Reason : a]

5/13/2015 4:40:04 PM

Yah after trying a few cheaper ones that sucked, I was happy to learn about this series.

5/13/2015 6:13:53 PM

732 is only $40. What does this do that the 732 won't? I know it says "beef" and "pork" and such, but most folks have enough sense to figure that out on their own, especially folks who are in the market for a remote thermometer.

5/13/2015 8:36:31 PM

Quote :

"732 is only $40."

Nice sale. Where at?

5/13/2015 9:13:12 PM

Used to be able to get the Remington (same exact thermometer) for $40, but I looked and it's $60 on prime now too. so 733 and 732 are same price now I guess. My apologies.

5/14/2015 12:06:08 AM

http://www.ourstate.com/nc-barbecue-styles/

5/18/2015 6:29:46 PM

What's everyone grilliin' over this holiday weekend?

5/21/2015 10:19:54 AM

Also if anyone spots any great meat sales post 'em here plz!

5/21/2015 11:01:45 AM