mguerra

Re: Fully Open Top Damper Cooking Method (experiental) Actually I think my description was inaccurate. With the vent openings I described the fire would get hotter than 300 -400. What happens when I cook the chicken is the temp is increasing while cooking. You just get a good result in the end. About the time the temp is really getting hot the chicken is getting done.

Re: Must Read "physicist-cracks-bbq-mystery" For myself, I don't care about the stall. It's an interesting phenomenon, but nothing more.I just find the hot, fast, foil trick makes a juicier, less dried out flat. As a secondary benefit, you can get it done faster if that suits your time needs. I suggest everyone try it both ways. You can get a partial bark by extending the pre-foil cook using something less than 300 degrees for that part of the cook. A really juicy tender flat more than makes up for any partial bark!

Re: Salting Steaks My fajita adventure was a bust. It had nothing to do with the salt. Skirt steak isn't very tender, but can often be purchased tenderized. I bought the non-tenderized; and wound up with tasty shoe leather. If you live in Texas, buy the HEB seasoned and tenderized fajitas, they are superb. Straight, non-tenderized, non-seasoned fajita meat is not. Of course you may have an effective method to tenderize it. The salt crust did not achieve this. I'll try it again on another cut.

Re: Salting Steaks I'm trying this tonight on some fajitas. They are salting now and I will give them 30 minutes in the salt, then rinse. Then a light brush of olive oil to hold the fresh cracked Madagascar pepper and minced garlic. Thence on to the fire with a piece of pecan smokewood, wrapped in foil with a little vent hole, facing down in to the fire. It's my el cheapo quickie version of Syz's iron pot and pasted lid smoke pot!

Re: Flashback The Mallard reaction?! Mount your Benelli to your shoulder, aim, lead, shoot, collect duck. Oh, wait, you said MAILLARD! I dunno.

Re: It's here! Put a piece of granite or other stone under that front ash door. Protect that nice wood deck. And don't burn the place down! The bronze metallic is over the top beautiful, no?

Re: Must Read "physicist-cracks-bbq-mystery" This explains why the hot fast brisket is so much juicier, less dried out than an unfoiled low and slow. Vindication.

Re: Some truly valuable information..... A dollar three eighty.

Re: Some truly valuable information..... 150

Re: Bronze Behemoth Game On! 2 I cooked it indirect all the way, no sear, til it hit 135 internal. It was perfectly done to our liking. It wasn't tough, but it wasn't tender. I sliced it properly. For leftovers tonight I sliced it real thin and it chewed a little easier. Delicious! I will be doing these again. And if SuziQ ever gets some pinquitos, we'll try those too.

Re: low and slow beef brisket Go ahead and do a low and slow. Then do a hot fast and see which you like better! For the l/s cook indirect(with the stone) at 225 until the meat hits about 190. For the hot fast see the sticky under "Techniques"

Re: Bronze Behemoth Game On! 2 Wow. That was some of the most flavorful beef ever. Not particularly tender, but super tasty. The combo of the beefy flavor, salt, pepper, and mesquite was wonderful. Definitely a keeper. I might try to foil it after it hits 100 or something next time to see if that will make it more tender.

Re: Bronze Behemoth Game On! 2 I have my first tri-tip on the fire. No pinquito beans nor red oak, so it's not Santa Maria. We're in Texas, so it's the de rigeur mesquite! I marinated it for a short time in worcestershire, soy sauce and garlic; then rubbed it down in a big load of fresh ground Madagascar pepper and Kosher salt with a little more garlic powder. Cooking indirect at 350, I'll flip it once, with a target finish temp of 135. I might give it a quick reverse sear. Stay tuned...

Re: High Temp Coffee Cardomom Brisket Leave the fat in it (or skim it) and mix it in with mashed potatoes. Add a little to your dogs dry food. Saute some asparagus in it. Brush it on buns that you toast for sandwiches, burgers etc. Obviously, make gravy. Drizzle it on green beans. Use your imagination.

Re: High Temp Coffee Cardomom Brisket Look at all that juice! That stuff is good for so many things. It's one of the advantages of the foiling. Hope you kept all of it. I kind of forgot about doing chuck rolls since I started the high temp briskies. We will have to try a comparo here soon.

Re: VersaGrill I can't get a PM to send, Fetz, so I want one too. PM's are just stuck in my Outbox and won't go!

Re: Cooked 8 Pork Butts/Shoulders for my Brother... Maybe your top vent was closed down too much. Or spun down on its own. Also be SURE you have your Stoker fan plugged in right side up! The little swinging door needs to have its' hinge up. I'm sure you know all this: For a Stoker or Guru cook close all the bottom vents. The device IS your bottom vent. For a low and slow be sure the top vent is just cracked so that when the fan is off, a little smoke is escaping; and when the fan is on, a fair bit more is obviously being blown out. Don't know if any of this is a factor, just throwing out some possibilities.

Re: Running Out of Fuel on overnight cook I use Royal Oak exclusively and have never had this occurrence. Maybe you had an aberrant batch. Do fill the basket all the way. It looks like you had WAY too much airflow, but you are pretty sure that's not the case. So I think just an odd batch of charcoal.

Re: House-cured pork shoulder and sous vide beans Sous vide and injection molding, there's a match made in heaven.

Re: Opening Day Babybacks Someone correct me if I am wrong; I believe a 3-2-1 cook is three hours unfoiled in the smoke, two hours foiled, and an hour back out of the foil. I suppose the 3-2-1 numbers can be modified somewhat.

Re: Opening Day Babybacks I need to try a #-#-# cook for ribs. Yours look great! I just put on a rub and cook 4 hours; but the foil works so well on brisket, and it sure is an accepted technique for ribs. I think a rack of St. Louis later this week...

Re: Smoked Pork Belly Peppered Bacon You can use the Alton Brown trick. Put a hot plate down in your KK, with a pan full of smoke wood chips. Should be easy to keep a low temp that way, no runaway fire. Probably good for smoking cheese too.

Re: Future KK owner looking to touch and feel your KK! Mark, here's your due diligence: Just buy it! Trust us.

Re: Smoked Pork Belly Peppered Bacon Slicer, what restaurant?

Re: V Pills for those on the go "hard to get a hold of" Should be the new Viagra catch phrase.