mguerra

Re: Hello from Michigan! I tried to add a photo and it said file size too big. It was a 3.2mb file. And I have no idea how to "downsize" it. It was a photo in the iPhoto library.

Re: Not much cooking going on I could not detect a flavor nuance from the pecans. Maybe they would make a more noticeable impact on a chicken. This brisket was super juicy and moist compared to Wednesday's low and slow. Far superior. Foiling at 160ish is THE way to cook a brisket. The first part of the cook was at 215 degrees for six hours til the meat hit 160, then foiled and the temp bumped up to 300. That took about 2 hours. SO much better than an"air" brisket.

Re: hello from marin county Low and slow isn't applicable to everything. 300 to 350 is going to work better for turkeys and turkey parts. There is a huge wealth of info here, browse around the forums and threads. A lot! And welcome, by the way!!! You are going to hear two schools of thought on this, but I recommend you get a Guru or a Stoker for the most foolproof cooking, especially for your boss. His or her jaw is going to drop once you get your KK skills up to speed, the food is unrivaled. Do you cook for just the one client as personal chef?

Re: Not much cooking going on I'm doing a hot fast brisket smoked with whole pecans, it's out there right now puffing away. Actually, it's the hybrid method. About 225 to 250 until the meat hits 165, then wrapped in foil and the temp kicked up to 300 until finished. It has been a long time since I did a low and slow brisket, but I did one Wednesday for a funeral on Thursday. Low and slow the whole way. What a reminder! The hot fast method is SO much juicier. I'll never do a low and slow brisket again. What I really am curious about is using the whole pecans for smoke, as I normally use mesquite. Taste report to follow tonight or tomorrow.

Re: Say Goodbye to this Red forum No, not replied to so I guess just not read yet. Thanks for the heads up.

Re: Say Goodbye to this Red forum I have messages sitting in my outbox that have not been sent, one from Nov. 2009. How do you make them go? Most of them have been sent, but a few just sit there.

Re: Bronze Behemoth Game On! 2 Anyone ever try using pecans as smokewood? I picked up a bunch at the golf course and thought about tossing them on the fire for a chicken or some pork. The whole pecan, shell and all.

Re: Say Goodbye to this Red forum OK, I will make myself an appointment with myself tomorrow!

Re: Say Goodbye to this Red forum Yep, definitely need the "view unread posts" on every page!

not yet No, but since you bring it up, the weekend is here... If I can get a round roast to come out tender, I'll be surprised, but you did it so it's obviously possible. It does occur to me that one reason roast beef is often sliced super thin is to make a tough roast more chewable than eating big thick hunks of it.

G-3 Slicer The Global knife is super! I can't compare it to lots of others since I can't buy a lot of different brands, but I'll just say it cuts like a dream, looks great and feels wonderful in hand. I liked my Cutco slicer, but this far surpasses it. Yes, I got suckered by my neighbor's kid in to buying Cutco. They are not as bad as the internet flamers suggest, we still use them daily.

gobbler Get a proper thermometer, a ThermaPen if you can afford it, and cook to a specific finish temp as Cook said. This is critical for safety, and flavor also. You should cook several turkeys trying both sub 300 and over 300 cooking temps. I like 300 to 350 for a turkey, but you can go in the mid to high 200's for more of a smoked effect, as has been said. If you keep opening your KK to baste, you are losing moisture and heat. Don't do it. I only check the temperature of the bird in the thigh joint and don't bother checking the breast. When the thigh is 180 plus, it's done! I have not tried icing the breast before, but will do it this year. Check out last years Thanksgiving and turkey posts for some good brining tips.

advice Get the 23 unless you absolutely need a smaller footprint. You will definitely be cooking for more than three once you get a KK! You are going to be having BIG parties to show off your new cooking skills. Believe me.

Thanks! Eight 5 yr olds.! Yikes. You'll have fun for sure. Cooking on the KK, and feeding everyone else, is actually a nice present to myself. It's like Dennis Tom Sawyered me. Except this is better than whitewashing a fence.

blowout Tomorrow we're having a big birthday bash for myself, one of my sisters, one of my nieces and my twin nephews. I'm smoking a ten pound beef tenderloin on mesquite; while that rests I will grill up a big batch of shrimp. Some of you remember my shrimp technique, for those who don't, here it is. Soak the shrimp in a big pot of ice water and a good concentrated dose of shrimp and crab boil. Liquid or powder, it doesn't matter. Let that soak for at least half an hour. Then throw the shrimp in a grilling wok and put them on a good hot fire indirect. Shut the lid. Toss them a bit at about the five or six minute point, and look at them and estimate about when you think they might be done. I like to cook them for at least 15 minutes. They take a little longer to cook this way and so pick up a fair bit of smoke flavor. The combo of the boil flavor and the grilling flavor is out of this world! And I get to try out my new G-3 knife.

Chris Lily mentioned he likes the Forschner Cimeter and the Forschner Granton edge slicer. So a butcher and a pro BBQ'er like Forschner. Good testimony. I might have to try one.

Global I got a Global G-3 carving knife yesterday, haven't tried it yet. But it feels great in the hand, very lightweight and balanced. My other knives are slippery when wet or greasy so I don't suppose this will be any different. You can just wrap a couple rubber bands around the handle for wet or greasy cutting. It's beautiful to look at, too. I just held it and stared at it for a while. http://www.global-knife.com/products/im ... ge_G-3.jpg

Slu, I was just a kid!!!

Hey Conodo; My grandparents used to live in Harrisburg. They took us to the Hershey factory once, I'll never forget it. As a kid, I had never been exposed to big time industrial production. We walked in there and saw those giant multi thousand gallon vats of molten chocolate and I just sh.t!!!! I was stunned to see it. Thoughts of jumping in and swimming and scarfing chocolate all at once danced through my head. I still think of it. Probably around 1964ish.

Larry; Sometimes a torch will go out when turned over to light the coals. That is not a design phenomenon. To prove it, turn the torch over while holding it out in open air. The flame will not go out. What happens is you use up all the combustible oxygen when holding a torch deep down in a grill, unless you have all the vents wide open, and all the ash knocked out if using a previous bed of coals. You just need plenty of fresh air and good air flow to sustain the flame.

My chimney has holes in the bottom plate. I shoot the fire up through the holes sequentially, while holding the chimney at about a 45 degree angle. Some chimneys have a wire bottom which is easier to shoot through.

moisture I'll partially agree with Syz. A finish temp of 190 with a cook at 225 will be more tender and easier to pull than a finish temp of 190 cooked at 300. I know, I have done it. Even though the finish temp is the same, the longer 225 cook breaks down the proteins more. I have never had a butt or shoulder either over or under done when cooked to 190 at 225. So I use the finish temp as my gauge as to when it is done. This is ONLY because I don't want to open the lid! If I could somehow reach in there and do a feel test without opening up the cooker, I would probably do that. In fact, that is precisely how we do the fast hot brisket! We open the lid and check for tender. But, in that case, the brisket is wrapped in foil so losing a vessel full of moist air is of no consequence. The butt or shoulder is not foiled and I don't want to open that cooker. Having said all that, I presume Syz gets good results opening his cooker to check. So maybe everything I said is moot!

unpredictable Tough call. A big pork shoulder is unpredictable. The oft mentioned time on BBQ websites is 1-1/2 to 2 hrs./lb. If true, you need 30 to 40 hours. Trying to work backwards from party start time is a dicey proposition. In a perfect world, you will pull the pork shoulder off the fire one to eight hours before party start, foil, wrap in towels and place in cooler. Well insulated, it will still be hot after up to eight hours. So, if you buy the cooking time above, you should start it 41 to 48 hours ahead. Thing is, it might cook faster. If it were me, I would start it at 41 hours ahead. If it got done way early, I would hold it in a 170 degree oven tightly foiled til pulling time. This is the problem with a party low and slow. What you really don't want is to have everyone expecting to eat at a given time and not get your meat done for 2 or 3 or more hours after that! Better to get done a little early and hold. By the way, you are cooking to a finish temperature, right? 185 to 200 will be perfect. Here's option B: Cook it several days ahead, pull it, bag it, freeze or refrigerate it, then reheat it in the oven or KK. It's about 99% as good as same day Q. But it's way more cool and "partyesque" to have your guests watch you pull it and grab little bites of the fresh steaming pork as you go!!!

a long duration fire Your cook may go substantially longer than 18-20 hours, start with a FULL charcoal basket. Normally I don't arrange my charcoal, just dump it in, but for this cook you want to ensure a good transfer of fire from piece to piece throughout the (likely) prolonged cook. Therefore I would arrange it so there is good contact as well as air spaces between all the pieces. You might want to dump out several bags of lump on a tarp or similar, and pull out a basketful of similar sized pieces. Start one or two coals in three or four spots around the basket, to ensure you don't get a central "core burn down". You don't want to start a lot of charcoal, however, the fire will get too hot. Let us know how it goes!

Got it, you have to leave out the quotation marks.