Quote :

"Competition BBQ is a whole different game than backyard BBQ. Comp BBQ is a joke."

your first statement is true. i would never cook meat the way i do for competitions to serve for eating.

but it's definitely not a joke. there is tons of science and refinement that goes into it. skills that translate very well into cooking for people to actually eat, and not just for making 6 "perfect" bites for the judges.

2/7/2016 3:18:46 PM

yeah, if you like cold, super sweet, sugar coated meat, then comp bbq is not a joke

2/7/2016 3:31:16 PM

cold my ass. someone must not have done it right.

and yes, it's overly sweet for the judges because they need one bite to pop. that's what they expect in the turn in box anyway. the stuff we serve to people is not.

2/8/2016 7:43:01 AM

Smoked another butt yesterday. Turned out beautiful and delicious. I'm in love.

[Edited on February 8, 2016 at 3:42 PM. Reason : .]

2/8/2016 3:42:26 PM

Harris teeter has $5.99/6.99 porterhouse & t-bone through wednesday. I thought that was a smokin deal

2/29/2016 11:35:45 AM

Tried smoking some wings last night and I think it was a success. They were maybe a tad dry, but it was mostly the smaller ones, so that makes sense. I started late, so it was rushed a bit and I threw them on before the temp was down to where I wanted it to be and it never really got low after I threw on the wood chips. I had them on there for almost two hours between 280 and 300ish. Would have like to kept them on for three hours around 225 and 250...but they still tasted delicious. I was mostly worried that they wouldn't be crispy (just used a dry rub)...but although they weren't "fresh out of the fire" crispy...they were definitely crispy enough.

It was a test run for Bridge Run weekend. While everyone is running the bridge and drinking afterwards, I'm going to be smoking a butt at the house. When they get back around 1ish...I'm going to toss some wings on the grill beside the pork and smoke them for a couple hours so everyone can have a snack before dinner later on. That should work, right?

2/29/2016 11:52:45 AM

next time when you get the temp down a bit more, they will be spot on

goddamn i love smoking wings

[Edited on February 29, 2016 at 1:14 PM. Reason : .]

2/29/2016 1:14:26 PM

When smoking the pork butt, I keep the grill hovering around 225ish. That should work better for the wings, correct? I imagine I can keep them on a big longer at that temp...maybe 2.5 to 3 hours?

2/29/2016 1:54:22 PM

chicken is tender. cooking it for several hours is a waste of time. increases the chance of drying it out, too.

2/29/2016 4:50:52 PM

But smoked wings are delicious.

2/29/2016 6:22:49 PM

they're good if you just go ahead and cook them at 350 or 400, too

2/29/2016 7:33:52 PM

Where da pictures at

2/29/2016 8:37:34 PM

i did some kielbasa from Costco tonight. i don't remember the brand. it's from Texas. 'twas tasty.

2/29/2016 9:22:03 PM

sounds delicious. steers, queers, and good damn meat come from texas. (no homo)

2/29/2016 11:07:16 PM

About time for a new grill. Although I love the convenience of gas for for a quick dinner for just the two of us, looking at maybe going charcoal.

This might be a silly question but how long do the Weber kettle grills hold up without a cover? Looking at maybe getting a Performer Series.

3/3/2016 6:30:37 PM

I have one that is going on 15 yrs without a cover, 1 going on 5. Bigger issue is making sure the top vent is closed when not in use, and that you clean the grease and charcoal out of the bottom after each use. Otherwise the internal part of the bottom vent rusts. The internals are cheap and easy to replace, bought 1 set around the 10 yr mark. If you keep the grates oiled, they will last forever.

3/3/2016 7:54:55 PM

You go in and wipe the bottom out after every use? That sounds like a pain in the ass.

3/3/2016 8:43:25 PM

No, there is a lever on the outside you move back and forth, knocks all the crap into the ash pan. Takes 10 seconds.

3/4/2016 6:11:07 AM

That's the "One-Touch" cleaning system. I'm not sure if they sell any kettles now without it. The older ones just had 3 daisy wheels on the bottom and you pretty much just had to turn the thing upside down to clean it out.

3/4/2016 12:10:47 PM

Yeah that's what mine has. Simple process. I don't wipe anything except the grate with oil before cooking to keep it seasoned.

[Edited on March 4, 2016 at 12:28 PM. Reason : Mine's been uncovered for years with practically no rusting]

3/4/2016 12:27:40 PM

I have a Performer I got used off Craigslist. It is sweet. The table is nice and the propane lighting is awesome.

[Edited on March 4, 2016 at 2:18 PM. Reason : but I keep it in my garage]

3/4/2016 2:18:15 PM

HT has $1.50 Smithfield butts

3/5/2016 6:31:01 PM

sucks y'all don't have a piggly wiggly up there

3/5/2016 8:43:46 PM

I got a Performer Premium toward the end of the season last year. Love it--the size of the side table is really handy and the charcoal bin is a great feature also. Can't speak to how well they hold up without a cover though (too new plus I keep it under cover).

Mine doesn't have the gas-assisted lighting, but using a chimney starter is plenty fast enough.

[Edited on March 6, 2016 at 1:49 AM. Reason : g]

3/6/2016 1:48:49 AM

the trick is to put the chimney over the gas burner. no newspaper, no lighters, ready to go in no time. sometimes i even use it to light lump for my Akorn.

3/6/2016 8:37:30 AM

This looks cool: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/meater-the-only-wire-free-smart-meat-thermometer#/

[Edited on March 7, 2016 at 5:35 PM. Reason : especially for $70!]

3/7/2016 5:12:13 PM

Yes, very cool.

3/7/2016 5:33:08 PM

so i'm looking to upgrade my charcoal setup, should i do the Weber performer or some time of kamodo/akorn?

let me get them details

3/8/2016 10:06:44 AM

Depends on how much money you wanna spend. Weber is $120ish new, Akron is closer to $300, and that's by far the most affordable kamado style grill.

3/8/2016 10:23:50 AM

In a couple weeks we've got friends coming in town for the bridge run and I'm going to do two butts instead of just one.

I'm pretty sure that my grill is big enough to where I can put two butts on there without either being directly over the fire. How much space should be between the two and should I rotate them halfway through?

3/8/2016 10:36:09 AM

I rotate when I have just one butt so one side isn't exposed to the fire the whole time

3/8/2016 11:01:20 AM

Well that's settled!

Any other tidbits? I assume the cook time might increase just a bit with an extra butt on there?

3/8/2016 12:00:19 PM

Probably. I learned the hard way enough times to always leave an extra couple hours in your timeline. Way easier to let the meat rest at your target temp for 1-2 hours than it is to crank the heat up to have the meat ready in time, and pull scorching hot meat while under the gun.

3/8/2016 12:04:32 PM

as long as there is enough airflow / distance between them (aim for 3") and they are the same thickness the timing should be the same but safe to add some extra time and FTC if needed

3/8/2016 12:30:07 PM

I've started with two butts less than an inch apart and had about 3" between them by the time the cook was over. Starting out with some decent spacing is fine, but definitely not necessary.

Quote :

"so i'm looking to upgrade my charcoal setup, should i do the Weber performer or some time of kamodo/akorn? let me get them details"

There's nothing really that you can do with one that you can't do with the other. Both will do direct, indirect, hot and fast, low and slow. The Akorn is much better at low and slow. It requires less charcoal and is more temp stable. I can get my Akorn going, set the PID controller, and not have to touch it for 12 hours.

[Edited on March 8, 2016 at 5:56 PM. Reason : asfd]

3/8/2016 5:52:31 PM

I'm bout to Grill.

3/8/2016 6:03:21 PM

yea, i think I'm going to go Akorn. I've had nothing but good experiences with them

3/9/2016 3:05:14 PM

The Teeter had BOGO babybacks yesterday so I'm going to attempt to smoke them this Saturday.

Reading up on them a bit, would everyone agree in using the 2-2-1 method (3-2-1 for spare)?

I'm not a sauce guy, so anything involving that wouldn't be necessary. In the same 2-2-1 article I read, it said to put the rub on the night before. With my pork butts, I salt the night before and put the rub on about 45 minutes before smoking. Any reason for the difference? Thanks!

3/15/2016 11:54:37 AM

i almost exclusively use 2-2-1 for baby backs - i rarely will put the rub on more than an hour before

225 on the egg - i remove the membrane - put a coating of brown sugar - then rub - put on the grill for 2 hours - then double wrap in aluminum foil - inside the foil is a smattering of honey and 1/4 - 1/2 cup of apple juice - after 2 hours - discard foil and baste a fairly light coat of sauce on (if people want more they can add more later) - based on how much the meat breaks when transferring back to the egg or how much bone is showing from the meat retracting determines how much of the last hour is used

3/15/2016 1:05:53 PM

I see the apple juice mentioned everywhere...that won't leave a distinct apply/apple juice flavor? Any reason to not just use water or something similar?

3/15/2016 2:21:59 PM

there is no apple juice flavor on the ribs - they aren't soaking in the apple juice - the bones are touching it and maybe a bit of the meat but not a significant portion - i've never tried with water to be honest

3/15/2016 4:05:59 PM

there was a bunch of old bbq sauce and shit stuck to the side and grate inside my grill so i built a fire with some old wet ass nasty ass charcoal and burnt that shit the fuck out of there

3/15/2016 4:32:54 PM

man that's flavoring

3/16/2016 8:48:11 AM

Somebody has a Weber Performer Platinum for sale in Winston for $150. Trying to keep myself from impulse buying even though I have been eyeing one for a while.

4/1/2016 6:17:03 PM

Picked up the Performer today. Can't wait to try it out tomorrow. Has anybody used the "CharBaskets" in the newer Weber grills? Theyre the baskets you put your coals in and move around for direc/indirect cooking.

4/2/2016 5:57:09 PM

Yes, the baskets are great. I smoked a fatty tonight using them.

4/2/2016 9:20:48 PM

Can I just put the coal in the basket and put it over the propane starter instead of using a chimney? And how long will the baskets last low and slow without adding to them?

Also, looking. For something to cook tomorrow that's beefish but cooks longer than just grilling a ribeye

[Edited on April 2, 2016 at 9:38 PM. Reason : . ]

4/2/2016 9:37:26 PM

Yes, just put the baskets over the propane burner. Depends on what temp you are cooking at, but they should last 1-3 hrs with briquettes. Longer if you use lump.

[Edited on April 3, 2016 at 10:35 AM. Reason : put it's easy to add charcoal to the baskets if you have the hinged cooking grate]

4/3/2016 10:33:56 AM

you should do a tri-tip

4/3/2016 12:33:28 PM

Ordered a Thermopop today. Didn't want to shell out the $90 bucks for a thermapen. Hopefully it still works pretty well. Anyone have one?

4/11/2016 11:13:43 AM