BARDSLJR

I finally found a purveyor who could supply beef plate ribs, so I thought we'd give them a shot. These are like what I remember from our last visits to Austin- the beef ribs in Lockhart and in Austin at LA Barbecue were GIGANTIC. Until now, I've only been able to procure beef chuck ribs, and they had excellent flavor and texture. So we'll see if these brontosaurus-sized beef plate ribs are as good. I will report after dinner, starting in the next hour or so. I put them on around 9 AM at 220F- as usual, the temperatures gradually crept up to 280-300 range (does anyone else have problems with temperature creep in their 32" KK's? If I have to cook something that really requires 225, I don't know what I'll do. It seems like it just wants to go to 300*, even when I have it almost entirely tamped down in terms of air flow.) Scott's "BBQ" sauce- really an Eastern Carolina vinegar/pepper sauce was used to mop the ribs about every 90 minutes from 1 to 4:30PM. Two photos of the final product- with and without Scott's basting sauce. I'll report on results, flavor-wise, later. -Jim in Denver

We lived in Salt Lake City for 16 years before moving here to Denver to retire and be closer to family (grandchildren and their parents). We loved Salt Lake- it is an easy place to live and it is beautiful there, but Denver, as they say "does not suck", overall. Traffic is more of a challenge here, but on the other hand, it is a much larger environment and marketplace, and you can find anything here if you are willing to put in the work and look for it. It says something that the two top-rated cities in the US in the polls for desirability are (1) Austin ( it must be the barbecue!) and Denver (barbecue is getting much better here!). I hope to visit your part of the world at some point when travel is reasonable again.

Thanks- I will send pictures of the leftover project tonight.

Thanks! The leftovers are gong to make wonderful pork enchiladas tonight!

I should have mentioned smoked with cherry wood.

We had a really excellent pulled pork dinner for Father's Day Sunday (thank you, Dennis and Komodo-Kamado!) I had a two-pack shoulder/butt from Costco and prepared them very simply: photos show the raw butt, then slathered lightly with yellow mustard; rub was applied, a mixture of about 1/2 Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust, with some coarse sea salt and restaurant grind pepper added; the butts went into the smoker at about 280* and cooked for about 9 hours at 280-300 before coming off at 6:30 PM, being wrapped in aluminum foil and resting for an hour before being pulled and chopped for serving. The final two pictures were taken about 90 minutes before completion. The bark got several shades darker in the last hour or so...really lovely spicy, salty, smoky crust contrasting with wonderfully moist, sweet meat. The whole family was commenting that this maybe the best pulled pork, ever. Served with my own barbecue sauce (not needed!), corn on the cob, cole slaw, buns, baked beans, and guacamole and chips. Pleasing adult beverages accompanied for the pleased adults....

Yes, these were Costco "organic" black beans....I hadn't thought of using rum, but that would give it an interesting sweet/umami substrate. Contrast well with smoky and hot flavors from the barbecue. Great idea, thanks! Maybe I get it from my years growing up in Miami, and all the Cuban guys in my seminary class, but I've always thought black beans had a great flavor.

Kind of a riff on red beans and rice (my wife is from Louisiana and we lived there for about 15 years), substituting black beans for red and leftover barbecue for sausage. It doesn't have to be expensive to be really good eating.

I was really pleased. They are not cheap- the three racks in the photo were probably $90 at the butcher's (Oliver's, a local treasure in Denver on 6th Ave)- but the results were worth it. My three grandchildren ages 13 (twins) and 10, thought they were so good that they came over after dinner last night to tell us how much they liked them and visit with us for a bit. Always a treat..... As an aside, we used some of the leftover scraps of beef ribs and some leftover week-old pork ribs , chopped up, added to a couple of cans of high quality black beans, and served over rice. It was magnificent...... Recipe: Take leftover smoked meat...could be any kind- pork, beef, lamb, chicken... Saute' 1/2 chopped large onion, several pods of garlic (use your own discretion....) until translucent. Add two (12oz) cans high quality black beans Add any scraps of smoked meat you have left around Add one 12 oz can chopped tomatoes Warm over low heat for about two hours Remove from heat and season ....seasoning could include cumin, fresh lime juice, cayenne pepper, etc. Serve over good rice (Zataraine's for me) and season with some hot sauce (Crystal, Louisiana or Texas Pete's or whatever is your favorite. ) Get ready for some really good eating, costing almost nothing.

Brisket-on-stick......we had a pretty fabulous dinner last night. My daughter and her family will get the bigger rack for dinner tonight.

And here we are about halfway, at 3.5 hours and 170 degrees, on our way to 203*.

First two photos- meat at start, after trimming some of the hard fat off; and same cuts, seasoned with coarse salt and pepper. More to come.

I know, I am sorry....the chicken was beautiful. But I had tongs in one hand and a glass of an insouciant chardonnay in the other....no hand to take pictures.....

Tyrus, I completely agree about the temperature range. In the past, with my babybacks, I've tried to stay in the 225-50 range, and I was trying for 250-75, but had some unwanted temperature creep and as you know, the KK is SO well insulated that it is hard to get temperatures to fall once they reach a level. As for wrapping or not, I think that is a matter of personal preference: I've always wrapped my babybacks using the 2-1-1 method, and they came out nearly perfect every time. I was following the method Aaron Franklin demonstrated in his Master Class on barbecue- and Franklin is, as you know, no schlub when it comes to barbecue of any sort. On a different note, I spatchcocked a whole roasting chicken last night and fired up the KK to use it as a grill, using about 50/50 charcoal and hickory wood, applying my own recipe barbecue sauce liberally in the last 15 minutes, flipping it about every 5 minutes. I hadn't grilled over natural wood in a long time- it was magnificent.

We held back two racks after giving the rest to to the neighbors. Ours was rather dry and crispy...I have another one in the fridge for later use, so we will see how the second one goes. The neighbors all had good reports on theirs. More later...

A few photos from yesterday's cook...first time doing St Louis style ribs..... Pre-cook....slathered and dusted with Dizzy Pig Southern BBQ-style rub; halfway through cook (the smoker is maybe a little crowded with 9 racks) and then two pictures of the finished product. The rack Daneta and I kept for ourselves was smaller, thinner, and maybe on the outside and more exposed to direct heat: it was a bit dry and crispy in places. My neighbors all report that theirs was juicy, fall-off-the-bone and delicious. We kept another thicker one for ourselves that we will reheat tomorrow night, so more reports then. I would say the taste was pretty good: nice spice, nice smoke. Lastly, two photos of the finished product. I cooked this batch at 275-300 for three hours ( I was not trying for 300...I find I still fight temperature creep with my 32"KK and obviously still have much to learn about using the KK effectively), spritzing with a 50/50 cider vinegar/water mixture 3-4 times. Then as I wrapped them, spritzed again and a light slather of diluted (with water to thin it out) barbecue sauce. The sauce largely disappeared in the second phase of the cook, which lasted 2 1/2 hours. Next time I will probably try for 2 hours for the second phase and do something to keep the temps between 250-275. The wood used was 2/3rds apple, 1/3rd pecan. smoke flavor was good.

Looks delicious!

Yours looks exactly like mine. You are off to a great start. If you get the teak side tables (quite helpful in my experience) and I would get some Danish Oil or Tung Oil or some other sealer-protectant on them right away.

Yup, the mustard (lightly) slather goes on tonight with the Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust. I love these guys....the ADD anal-retentive, purity-obssessed rub developers. I have been with them since they made the jump from the amateur bbq circuit to opening as a business. LOVE their stuff. If you don't know them, well worth exploring. Great on-line service, too.

That is a really good point about using the KK versus an offset. I traded off my Lang offset (dual 36") to return to the Kamado style. I think the airflow and turbulence is completely different between the two. Hmmmmmm.

Let me say my neighbors have been, and are great: my nextdoor neighbor Keith even risked a hernia helping me get the 32" Big Boy up a ramp and back onto the new patio...coming through in the clutch, as we say. I want to keep them all happy, too!

Well, in these times when we need to be cautious about social distancing, it is more a matter of delivery, door to door, than cookout. I've used the 2/1/1 method on babybacks for maybe ten years to near-perfect results. It wasn't always perfect: way, way, back, when interest groups and chat rooms on special interest projects formed, I had joined one of the very early generation barbecue forums. I was told at the time that the "perfect" rib recipe was the 3/2/1 method - three hours in the open, 2 hours wrapped, 1 hour open to finish. I tried this at least three times using babybacks and they turned to toothpaste-level mush. Finally, I wrote back on the barbecue forum and asked what I was doing wrong- the answer came back: "Aw, man, that is the recipe for ST LOUIS RIBS. For babybacks, it is 2/1/1. " I switched and the ribs have been somewhere between very good and near perfect since. I will probably start them dry-marinating in rub the night before. I usually use Dizzy Pig's Dizzy Dust as my go-to.

Hey, peeps.....we just finished a long week of two concurrent home improvement projects: new quartz countertops, (and Wolf cooktop) and on the side yard- about 15'x75' - turning an ugly dirt yard into a "New Orleans-style courtyard" (according to my wife), and have thus been torturing the neighbors with plumes of concrete and quartz dust, noise, workmen running in and out, parking our cars on the street in front of their houses, and generally being pains-in-the-butt for all the neighbors. So, to make up for it, I am cooking St.Louis Style ribs for everyone on Saturday and could use any recommendations or suggestions y'all have from your KK experience. I will be using my 32" Big Boy, which seems to get better and better each time I use it. I am thinking cooking them about 250-275 using the 3-2-1 method, spritzing with cider vinegar, lightly saucing them before I wrap them (Aaron Franklin's method) and finishing them kind of moist. Probably using a combination of oak and apple wood for this one. SUGGESTIONS?

Interesting, I will have to look for New Zealand lamb....you are correct, lamb is an afterthought here in the US, lagging far behind beef, pork and chicken, and closer to bison and elk in popularity. Thanks for the reality check, also, I wasn't aware that there was so much variation in the taste. I understand that mutton has a much stronger flavor but is also typically tougher (there is a region in the state of Kentucky where mutton is the preferred meat for barbecue, and it is smoked and slow-cooked. I've had some really great fresh baby lamb (was that redundant?) from the Cache Valley (Logan area). I'm guessing we will have some good locally raised Colorado lamb here - will have to start looking for it.

Well, I think when you get the hash part mostly cooked, you just crack a couple of eggs over the top , put the cover on for 5 minutes and you achieve the same thing as poaching.