mguerra

NaCl I put a very light dust of Kosher salt on most meats before applying a salt free rub. This allows me to absolutely control the amount of salt I use. Most pre-prepared rubs have an unknown amount of too much salt in them, it is normally the first listed ingredient. So I make my own, salt free. There are a number of popular rubs oft mentioned here, like the Dizzy Pig. I have no idea how they stack up, salt wise. But if you make your own you have total salt control.

I'm pretty sure that shelf of mine from Home Depot is some cheap Chinese product. If you want a quality American made shelving unit, check out Metro: http://www.metro.com/ Look at all their product lines, not just consumer, you might see something you like for an application around your house or at your business. Not 100% of it is made in U.S.A., but most.

I'm fixing to do something goofy. I'm going to cook some of those frozen fish cake things in the KK. You know, the Gorton's Fisherman things. Not the fish sticks, but those bigger slabs. Just for fun and out of curiosity. I'll throw them on there frozen and see what happens. Maybe with a big hunk of bologna from the deli, too. I mean, what the hell, might as well play with the toy!

Do both Anyone who cooks briskets on the KK should try both methods, low and slow without foil and fast hot with foil. Then you will know when and why you want to do one or the other method. Both methods produce excellent food!

yes I would say at the temps and times you indicate, that is normal.

hybrid Don't forget you can hybridize the hot fast brisket with low and slow. You can do the first unfoiled part at any temp, if you want to lengthen the time in the smoke, and for bark. The first part could be at, say 225, then foil when it hits 165, and then crank up the pit temp to finish up faster. The trick is the tenderizing that occurs in the foil. Part one of the cook will be shorter or longer based on the temp. Part two, in the foil, will be pretty quick in any case. But I will say that even a hot fast part one will have good bark and smoke ring.

heretic Gas?! Not a chance in hell in this house. Even if it's only a little nuance, I want a trace of wood smoke. But hey, it works for you, so enjoy.

We touched on this before, but be careful with veggies and too much smoke. I shut the lid on these squash and zucchini slices to keep the fire from raging out of control. Oh boy, they were WAY too smoky. I think the trick would be to cook them only a few minutes directly exposed to the fire to pick up a little grill flavor; and then pull them off, put them in foil, and throw them back on to finish cooking. That should do it. Or put them on the fire on a piece of foil, cook a few minutes exposed to smoke, and then close up the foil. I put a little EVOO, kosher salt, and pepper on these and that was good, but cooked them all the way to the end in the smoke. Not good. The steaks were so so, not the highest grade; I do believe for steaks you should buy the highest grade of quality you are willing to pay for, as Syz has said. Jalapenos are a crap shoot! Some we get these days are absolutely heat free, more bland than a bell pepper. You never know. These were good and hot, thankfully.

This shelf unit is from the Home Depot. The shelves can only be mounted one way, with the flange or lip down. So the shelf is then flat across the top. I thought I saw some at Container Store that could be mounted lip up, to keep stuff from rolling out, but we don't need that for this application anyway. So the pan is larger than the shelf is deep, but it fits on there fine, so long as you get a shelf wider than the pan diameter. I took off the top extension and the fourth shelf because it was too tall and spoiled my view out the back deck.

menagerie One Black and Tan, three Treeing Walker's, and one Bluetick.

Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg were uncertain whether they preferred pork butts in energy state 1 or 2. It was related to the wave/particle duality of the porky goodness quanta. Ultimately, they just wiped the BBQ sauce off their chins, shrugged, and figured Tesla could work it out, because "he is the oldest."

I don't understand the short nuclear force, either. I'm a scientist. I think, Syz, you are too; at least you seem to be a mathematician. Don't try to understand it. JUST DO IT! Once. It will take 5 hours to decide you like it. And just for fun, get the cheapest, nastiest looking brisket you can for this experiment.

Come to think of it, the coyotes probably hear all that ruckus all the time and steer well clear!

It's BBQ OK you hairsplitters, the hot fast briskie comes out like the best traditional low and slow you have ever had. The first two hours, plus or minus, in the smoke gets you the bark, the smokey flavor, and smoke ring you want. Especially if you throw it on nice and cold. The two hours, plus or minus, in foil denatures the proteins and gets you the tenderness you want. It doesn't come out like something from Grannie's oven, or a pressure cooker, or a pot of boiling water, it's BBQ!!! You can try it in one afternoon, then come back and brag on it like I do. Just follow the directions in the sticky.

You ever heard 5 coonhounds at full bawl? Holy hell, that's a sound! Well, every time a possum or armadillo or skunk or deer or jackrabbit or turkey or raccoon or porcupine or crow or buzzard comes wandering by, we get an earful! So, that's basically all the damn time here in the Texas Hill Country. Actually, I have not seen a coyote. But I know they are out there.

concepts Go buy a cheap brisket and practice a fast, high temp brisket per the sticky post in the "Techniques" section. I get consistent, super moist and tender results this way. Did one Saturday, the whole cook was about 330 degrees. Took 4 1/2 hours. You will NEVER dry out your flat with this trick. The fat cap melting does not penetrate the dense cellular structure of the meat, that is a myth. Put your fat cap down during the first, unfoiled part of the cook, to protect the flat from the "direct" heat of the indirect heat! Sounds funny, I know, but just adds to keeping the flat moister. The fast hot trick exposes the flat to hot air for about two hours, until you foil it, compared to the traditional low and slow, unfoiled technique that exposes the flat to air for 10 or 12 or 14 or whatever long number of hours.

measure You will get the best, most reproducible results on your steaks by measuring the finish temperature , not eyeballing. Use the same thermometer every time. This applies even more to chicken, for safety.

I actually took off the vertical extensions because the thing was unsightly at full height. Well, it's just plain unsightly anyway. Not a bad idea on the granite top, if I keep this set-up. I would much prefer to keep everything enclosed and out of sight, in a cabinet. The fence? Coyotes out and Coonhounds in.

Aluminum from the Home Depot. The 24" model. They have different sizes, and plastic ones as well. Amazon has them also. http://www.amazon.com/Oatey-34078-Alumi ... 841&sr=8-2

One of ya'll recommended the water heater pan to clean your grill. That's a great place to set your grill, also! I have been struggling to get a nice, neat, clean solution to where to store and place my grills, heat deflector, roti basket and such. You need a place to set down hot, filthy, greasy, charcoaly stuff when using your KK. The stainless cabinet I want is over $3,000.00. So for now, I got one of those freestanding wire shelving units and a couple of water heater pans and set that up out by the KK. It is not my aesthetic ideal, but it works! As you move all your equipment around, you have a nice, easily cleanable pan to put stuff in. If Dennis had a cabinet that was 100% stainless or stone on top with no wood, I would prefer that. Ultimately I will probably get the stainless cabinet, but this is an affordable temporary solution.

Howdy Hello, and welcome! You will love it. Sure can't hurt to peruse old forum threads, tons of good info there. So, what color and when do you expect delivery?

slide to Communism That's what we need, the government seizing and controlling natural resources. The egghead ruling class are bound to manage the oysters better than those whose lives depend on them. Right.

tasty Texas is famous for the Fredericksburg peaches, which are ready NOW. That looks too scrumptious for words! I did some just plain grilled peaches before, which were super, but this looks like a winner. Thanks for the recipe.

eco friendly grill cleaner I put my grills down on the porch after they cool off. The 5 coondogs clean them right good. I figure that clean up, plus the heat from the next cook is sufficient. My wife and myself are in robust health and suffer no ill effects from this method.

do it! I love making stuff like that! It's not necessary, but cool and fun. Make one and show us the photos. I mean, if you are going to sort anyway, and lots of Q'ers do, why not have a cool contraption. They use screen sorters in lots of industrial applications.