DIGGER27
In Memory Of
On my journey to become a better outdoor grill chef I pulled out my basic Weber kettle from storage and finally got off the direct heat/wear bandwagon and dove headfirst into the indirect heat/smoking world.
I caught a YouTube video about smoking meats and fish a few weeks ago and became fascinated, since then I have devoured so many vids about cooking all kinds of things on my Weber my eyes are about to fall out...but I am learning.
I realize an actual smoker would be perfect for this application but I have no room for one, actually, I am just too cheap to buy one so I vowed to try to take this ordinary kettle as far as I can take it before I even consider spending money on an actual smoker.
It's just the same as learning a new metal detector to me, a challenge that needs to be met head on then conquered.
All kinds of accessories you can buy to be successful at this grilling game, spin grates, the Slow and Sear, Arteflame, Vortex, other cast iron plates and grates, griddles, ceramic stones, drip pans and even a few different units you can buy to manage and extend the life of your coals, heat and fire like the Flame Boss and the Tip Top Temp.
A ton of vids out there extolling the advantages of using these things but also a ton of vids that say and prove you don't really need them at all and your meal still seems to come out the other end just fine without them...succulent, moist, delicious and still perfectly cooked...with some good tips and experience.
Many of them might be nice to have but buy enough of them and they can definitely add up...also did I mention I am cheap?
Someday I might add something cool here and there but for now I am going with what I got and see what I can do.
I did recently purchase a small, cheap smoking box I can fill up with wood chips after I soaked them thoroughly but they still get used up too fast.
There are two things I will buy to make things a bit easier and more fun when I cook, a decent temperature/thermometer unit so I can get accurate readings on my grill temp and my meat temps and a new grill that has flip up hinged ends that will make it easier to add charcoal and wood for smoking on longer, multiple hour cooks.
I only have one of those little stand up oven thermometers now which works fine to monitor my kettle temps, a manual hand probe to temp and monitor my meats but I have been lifting the grill off the kettle to add coals and wood but that's a drag and lets out too much heat.
Today I saw one lonely Weber hinged grate at Lowe's when I was shopping for some other things so that came home with me.
Might have saved a few bucks if I got the same one from Amazon or a bbq website but with shipping it wouldn't have saved me a lot, if anything, and I just had to have one of these...now!.
Not stainless steel but those can be really pricey and this one should last me awhile.
$29.99 but I bought my Weber about 6 years on sale for about $49 or $59 dollars and that same grill now costs at minimum $99 with the regular one piece grill so I figure I am still ahead of the game.
Can't wait to use my new one.
I also picked up a bag of hickory chunks, no more chips for me and this should last longer in my next cook.
Eventually some mesquite and/or Apple wood chunks will probably be added to the arsenal, too, if I know me.
I am using the banking method, I don't even have the basic charcoal baskets so I just throw the coals against one side and wrapped a few bricks in foil to use as a hear shield across the diameter to help control the heat better and prevent burning.
You have to be careful when doing this, if you use bricks or stones that have any amount of water in them high heat can make them explode but I used a few extra bricks from our home I found around here that are about 100 years old and after several hot fires they appear to be doing the job just fine.
First up was smoked salmon.
Easy peasy and the taste and texture was wonderful.
Then hickory smoked chicken wings, high heat but indirect and they came out moist, flavorful with a crispy skin and super delicious so...yea!
Next was a couple of nice Ribeyes I got on sale, indirect heat for awhile then reversed seared them at the end using the cold grate method...using the section with the coals and spinning the grate around 1/4 turn to a slightly cooler section directly over the hot coals while turning the meat a few times as I did this for a few minutes until they got up to temp.
No grill marks this way but a more even sear everywhere and that means more flavor.
Didn't need a $50-$60 spin grate to do this either, my grate seemed to spin easily by hand and worked fine.
Perfect...medium rare pink, hickory smoked with a nice smoke ring and a beautiful sear over the entire surface.
On Saturday I got ambitious and tried my hand at hickory smoked spare ribs.
I trimmed them and made my own rub and set out to cook them using the 3-2-1 smoking method...
3 hours smoking at 225-250, wrapped in foil with some apple juice for 2 hours to tenderize them then one more hour unwrapped to tighten up the back and the last 20 minutes with a bit of barbecue sauce for one extra level of flavor.
My wife raved about them, they were tender, moist and delicious with a nice smoke ring but as far as I was concerned they were great...but not perfect.
The bark was there and fantastic so thank you homemade rub rub.
I took them off the grill before that last hour was done because there was great pull-back on all the bones and the end bones were literally falling out of the meat, also I didn't use a pan with water under the meat to use as a drip pan and to add a bit more moisture to the interior environment.
As good as they were I know with a few more adjustments the next ones will be even better even more moist and a little more tender.
Perfection, as always, is the real goal.
Also I grilled some corn using this guy's method which worked to perfection.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DvPuJVsXJ8A
I used my standby tiny grill, the garlic butter and a little mayonnaise with a three cheese blend out of a can which I sprinkled on top along with just a bit of kosher salt.
I won't be making grilled corn any other way unless I find a better method but they were fantastic so I don't know how corn can taste any better.
Oh yea...made my own dough and a couple of pizzas yesterday.
Again, my first time and not perfect but they were still tasty and quickly devoured just the same.
So I am starting this journey with a great but basic grill and basic tools plus a few mods but the learning curve seems to be advancing nicely.
Plus, like learning a new detector I am having some great fun learning along the way.
And I am definitely not going hungry or missing eating meals in restaurants.
Next up...Nashville Hot Chicken.
We have a Hattie B's in my town and if I can come close to theirs I will be real happy.
Wish me luck!
I caught a YouTube video about smoking meats and fish a few weeks ago and became fascinated, since then I have devoured so many vids about cooking all kinds of things on my Weber my eyes are about to fall out...but I am learning.
I realize an actual smoker would be perfect for this application but I have no room for one, actually, I am just too cheap to buy one so I vowed to try to take this ordinary kettle as far as I can take it before I even consider spending money on an actual smoker.
It's just the same as learning a new metal detector to me, a challenge that needs to be met head on then conquered.
All kinds of accessories you can buy to be successful at this grilling game, spin grates, the Slow and Sear, Arteflame, Vortex, other cast iron plates and grates, griddles, ceramic stones, drip pans and even a few different units you can buy to manage and extend the life of your coals, heat and fire like the Flame Boss and the Tip Top Temp.
A ton of vids out there extolling the advantages of using these things but also a ton of vids that say and prove you don't really need them at all and your meal still seems to come out the other end just fine without them...succulent, moist, delicious and still perfectly cooked...with some good tips and experience.
Many of them might be nice to have but buy enough of them and they can definitely add up...also did I mention I am cheap?
Someday I might add something cool here and there but for now I am going with what I got and see what I can do.
I did recently purchase a small, cheap smoking box I can fill up with wood chips after I soaked them thoroughly but they still get used up too fast.
There are two things I will buy to make things a bit easier and more fun when I cook, a decent temperature/thermometer unit so I can get accurate readings on my grill temp and my meat temps and a new grill that has flip up hinged ends that will make it easier to add charcoal and wood for smoking on longer, multiple hour cooks.
I only have one of those little stand up oven thermometers now which works fine to monitor my kettle temps, a manual hand probe to temp and monitor my meats but I have been lifting the grill off the kettle to add coals and wood but that's a drag and lets out too much heat.
Today I saw one lonely Weber hinged grate at Lowe's when I was shopping for some other things so that came home with me.
Might have saved a few bucks if I got the same one from Amazon or a bbq website but with shipping it wouldn't have saved me a lot, if anything, and I just had to have one of these...now!.
Not stainless steel but those can be really pricey and this one should last me awhile.
$29.99 but I bought my Weber about 6 years on sale for about $49 or $59 dollars and that same grill now costs at minimum $99 with the regular one piece grill so I figure I am still ahead of the game.
Can't wait to use my new one.
I also picked up a bag of hickory chunks, no more chips for me and this should last longer in my next cook.
Eventually some mesquite and/or Apple wood chunks will probably be added to the arsenal, too, if I know me.
I am using the banking method, I don't even have the basic charcoal baskets so I just throw the coals against one side and wrapped a few bricks in foil to use as a hear shield across the diameter to help control the heat better and prevent burning.
You have to be careful when doing this, if you use bricks or stones that have any amount of water in them high heat can make them explode but I used a few extra bricks from our home I found around here that are about 100 years old and after several hot fires they appear to be doing the job just fine.
First up was smoked salmon.
Easy peasy and the taste and texture was wonderful.
Then hickory smoked chicken wings, high heat but indirect and they came out moist, flavorful with a crispy skin and super delicious so...yea!
Next was a couple of nice Ribeyes I got on sale, indirect heat for awhile then reversed seared them at the end using the cold grate method...using the section with the coals and spinning the grate around 1/4 turn to a slightly cooler section directly over the hot coals while turning the meat a few times as I did this for a few minutes until they got up to temp.
No grill marks this way but a more even sear everywhere and that means more flavor.
Didn't need a $50-$60 spin grate to do this either, my grate seemed to spin easily by hand and worked fine.
Perfect...medium rare pink, hickory smoked with a nice smoke ring and a beautiful sear over the entire surface.
On Saturday I got ambitious and tried my hand at hickory smoked spare ribs.
I trimmed them and made my own rub and set out to cook them using the 3-2-1 smoking method...
3 hours smoking at 225-250, wrapped in foil with some apple juice for 2 hours to tenderize them then one more hour unwrapped to tighten up the back and the last 20 minutes with a bit of barbecue sauce for one extra level of flavor.
My wife raved about them, they were tender, moist and delicious with a nice smoke ring but as far as I was concerned they were great...but not perfect.
The bark was there and fantastic so thank you homemade rub rub.
I took them off the grill before that last hour was done because there was great pull-back on all the bones and the end bones were literally falling out of the meat, also I didn't use a pan with water under the meat to use as a drip pan and to add a bit more moisture to the interior environment.
As good as they were I know with a few more adjustments the next ones will be even better even more moist and a little more tender.
Perfection, as always, is the real goal.
Also I grilled some corn using this guy's method which worked to perfection.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DvPuJVsXJ8A
I used my standby tiny grill, the garlic butter and a little mayonnaise with a three cheese blend out of a can which I sprinkled on top along with just a bit of kosher salt.
I won't be making grilled corn any other way unless I find a better method but they were fantastic so I don't know how corn can taste any better.
Oh yea...made my own dough and a couple of pizzas yesterday.
Again, my first time and not perfect but they were still tasty and quickly devoured just the same.
So I am starting this journey with a great but basic grill and basic tools plus a few mods but the learning curve seems to be advancing nicely.
Plus, like learning a new detector I am having some great fun learning along the way.
And I am definitely not going hungry or missing eating meals in restaurants.
Next up...Nashville Hot Chicken.
We have a Hattie B's in my town and if I can come close to theirs I will be real happy.
Wish me luck!
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