Majestik

I think it must have been a flat, then. Nothing veiny or gross to deal with. I guess I'm not as hardcore as I thought. And Curly, sorry about that... it's outta my hands!

See, we're all calmed down and talkin' about Q again. ... We are talkin' about Q, right?

Uh oh, I'm not prepared for any technical questions. My brisket was... about 18" x 12" x 3" thick and roughly triangular...?

I dunno, that brisket I had last week was easy as pie... and D-Lish. But I am keen to try a chuck roll... when I find one.

Hey Tony, Can you post more pix of the seals?? That looks different than what I had imagined. I was picturing an interlock kind of thing, where the top would have a lip that extended down into a groove on the bottom... like this: You picture looks like two gaskets that create a sort of similar effect. More pix please. Mike

Hang in there, FM, I pulled off that brisket/spareribs last weekend through 8 hours of thundershowers. It's always easier to to brave the storms in ceramics, isn't it? Though I can't guarantee your tile, I'm sure the tuna will be great. Gosh, tuna sounds good right now. And just two hours after some brisket/rib leftover sandwiches. Alas, I'm not gonna get to cook for the holiday weekend, we'll be off in Dallas visiting the in-laws... ...I'm starting to feel a little like Jasen... sigh.

Looks beautiful, Tony. I'm feelin' a bit envious over here. --Mike

No, no, call it off! Make it stop! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!

Sounds like y'all are a little delerious from all the smoke? Making your own lump: cool to read about, but not gonna happen. Dang, I hardly have time to start the coals for a routine cook! --Mike

David, What is IN that cabbage? It looks kinda good... Mike

You know, I haven't done brisket or ribs in at least 5 years. What a crime. I think I have an underlying fear of the fire going out and coming back to find raw food sitting in there. Must have happened in previous life or something. Well, this weekend was all work. As I was going to be outside in the heat & humidity and occasional downpours for hours on end, I needed something I could walk away from, so I opted for those ribs and a brisket. This was quite adventurous for me... not like you guys who do this kinda thing all the time. Anyway, got the K going and full of lump, rubbed the meats down, put 'em in and left for the day. When we got home that evening, there they were, just waiting to be eaten. K was just pluggin' away at 225F, regardless of the intermittent thunder showers. Gotta love it. Did the rib-twist test and it just flaked apart. Spareribs over Brisket: The brisket probably could've gone a few more hours (it was in for 8 hrs), but it was tender and juicy, just not falling apart. VERY tasty though. Excellent smoked flavor-- Royal Oak lump with hickory chunks. Brisket: The ribs were amazing-- flaky, juicy... perfection. Ribs: All told, a very successful day. A Meal (cole slaw, zuchinni parmesan, brisket, ribs, and nice cold Modelo Especial): Considering I almost scrapped the whole thing when my stupid electric fire starter broke, I'd say everything turned out very well. I'm sick of those stupid electric starters... constantly crapping out on me. I actually went back to the tried-and-true chimney starter. Glad I did... had to cook something decent while Drunk_J was going without, if only to taunt. BTW - Firemonkey - Those chicken rolls and kabobs look amazing. --Mike

Thx, Porkchop. I looked for a roll today at our local warehouse club (BJ's) but didn't see anything specifically called a chuck roll... but there were some cryovaced chuck roasts or something or other... probably the same or similar. In the end I chickened out and got a small brisket... Only because I haven't done one in... oh... 4 years? I'll have a slab of spareribs over it, so it should be a fine meaty day.

Tell me about chuck rolls... I'd like to do some beef that is similar flavor/texture-wise to brisket, but maybe more compact, more like a pork roast in terms of "ease of use". Is the "chuck roll" the answer? Why haven't I noticed them before? What sizes/temps/times do you recommend? Thx, Mike

Dennis, Do you sell the E-Z Que Rotisserie? Like something we can opt to have included? Or would I pick it up at Home Despot? I'm asking without doing ANY research on my own, because I am feeling lazy today. Thx, Mike

Yeah. I think I might prefer a rounded, curvy handle as well. But actually I'm mostly posting to see if you can link a picture to your signature line.... did it work? Apparently. Cool. --Mike

I tried to find a picture of heatbeads but only came up with something that looked like standard charcoal briquets. Is that what it is, or is it something akin to "pellet fuel"?

This was the recipe I was trying to find: ______________________________________ Basic All American BBQ Sauce Recipe By : The Thrill of the Grill by Chris Schlesinger 4 Large onions -- chopped 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil -- for sautéing 1 28 Oz Can tomato puree 3 28 Oz Cans tomatoes -- with juice 2 1/2 Cups white vinegar 4 Tablespoons packed dark brown sugar 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar 2 Tablespoons salt 2 Tablespoons freshly cracked black pepper 2 Tablespoons paprika 2 Tablespoons chili powder 4 Tablespoons molasses 1 Cup orange juice 2 Tablespoons Liquid Barbecue Smoke® 8 Tablespoons brown mustard -- Dijon-style In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, sauté the onion in the oil over medium-high heat until golden brown, about 7 to 10 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered at the lowest possible heat for 4 hours. (This long cooking removes as much acidity as possible from the tomatoes.) Puree sauce in 2, 3, or more batches to prevent it from spilling out of your food processor or blender. Will keep 2 weeks, covered, in the refrigerator. ________________________________________________ This makes a thicker red sauce. When I did this I skipped the "liquid smoke" which is lame (in my opinion)... and I used apple cider vinegar, which I prefer. From the ingredients I know I'd prefer a little more spice in there... some cayenne or jalapeños maybe. Maybe a touch more brown sugar. I'd probably substitute dry mustard for the dijon. And I might skip the orange juice. It's been years since I've tried this though... so you're on your own.

Here's a good sauce recipe I found in my archives. I remember this being quite good... but I was also trying to find another recipe I had called "American BBQ sauce".... from the old K forum days... I'll let you know if I find it because that sounds closer to what you're looking for. In the meantime, try this: ______________________________________________________ JJ's B-B-Q DIPPING SAUCE 1- cup chopped onion 4 - tablespoons dark brown sugar 2 - tablespoons paprika 2 - teaspoons salt 2 - teaspoons dry mustard 1 - teaspoon chili powder 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 4 - tablespoons Worcestshire sauce 2 - cups cider vinegar 2 - cups tomato juice 3/4 - cup catsup 1 - cup water Saute the onions until they become transparent. I use olive oil to saute them in. Then place onions and the rest of the ingredients into a sauce pan and simmer. Stir often. Taste after about 20 minutes, adjust sweetness or tartness to your liking. The longer you simmer the better the taste. You will have to add water to the sauce while simmering as it will get too thick. I use the sauce to dip my Q in rather than baste with it. Put it into a large mason jar and store in fridge until next Q time. I take some sauce put it into small glass bowl and micro- wave till hot. (Really great stuff! However, I would suggest not using so much vinegar - I have cut ours down to 'bout 3/4 cup and when simmering, if it looks like more liquid is needed early on, I add 'bout a quarter cup of red screech.) ___________________________________________________________ I believe JJ was from the BGE forum? I don't know who's comment that is about reducing the vinegar, but I recall taking their advice and adjusting the vinegar level up as needed. Also, you might consider throwing in chopped jalapeños for zing. What is red screech? --Mike

"Veddy simple veddy easy... I'm Chef Tell" There used to be a show called "PM Magazine" that had cooking spots with "Chef Tell". It was a long time ago, when I was just a lad... in the early 80's maybe.

Oh no... Dennis... are you becoming one of us? I was just talking to my dad tonight about what a bizarre sub-culture of folks it is that love Q, post pictures of their food, and talk about it on the internet. Coolness. The ribs look delicious.

Can't believe I haven't done this in over a year... Rubbed that boston butt down and left it in the K while I went off to do chores. 7 hours later came home to this: I hope the pictures do justice to the flaky juiciness... Served up on soft rolls with Big Ed's sauce (NakedWhiz might know what I'm talkin' about) and some slaw. My dad said "You've really outdone yourself on this one..." which is a nice warm fuzzy for father's day, eh? And of course the kids ate it up. Life is good. --Mike

Count me in! I'd like to try this stuff out... keep me in the loop. --Mike

I don't know what to call these? "Sugar Bombs" seems very appropriate. I took Gerard's tip and whipped up something for a test run. I got some dates, ricotta cheese, bacon and pepper together. The dates were pitted, which was helpful. Put the ricotta into a cake decorator and injected it into the pit-holes of the dates. Wrapped in bacon (I guess anything can be wrapped in bacon, huh?). Pinned with a toothpick and coated heavily with black pepper. Veddy Simple Veddy Easy. I cooked mine at 350F kind-of-directly. My mom's K doesn't have a shelf, so I didn't have a delfector/drip pan or anything, so I put them around the lip to keep them from scorching. After 50 minutes, some had scorched anyway.... so I would definitely keep the indirect... but I do like the higher temp-faster cook for these things. (We did another round of ABTs tonight at the same time and they were outstanding.) Result? These are better than the pickled watermelon rinds, Gerard. By far, in my opinion. Delicious! They were delectable little rolls of bacon with a wonderful sugar blast. Like candy. The pepper...? Yeah, I kinda liked the pepper coating... though I might go for a good sprinkling instead of a thick coating next time. It gave a nice contrasting burn to the sweet creamy middle. The ricotta cheese? Pretty much useless.... or rather, what I've decided is that cream cheese would be the much wiser choice. The ricotta adds little to treat, while I think cream cheese may give it even more of a "candy" feel. The dates I got were kinda small and just a generic packaged brand. Next time I'll get the monster bigger-than-your-thumb type of fresh dates. And I will slice them open, take out the pit, and slide a nice thick wedge of cream cheese in there... bind it all together with the bacon and season with pepper. Those will be the bomb. I hope you try 'em and like 'em, Gerard. --Mike

Hi Firemonkey, The short story is, my spin-top damper rusted solid shut, and I broke the neck trying to get it unstuck. The nut is still rusted solid to the bolt of the damper. So now I need that clamp to hold on the 33% chunk of neck that cracked open when the bracket came out.... Haven't received any help from the mfg yet. FYI - that's a #7 mexi-K. The new system seems to be working fine.

Well well... Thanks again to Gerard for getting me going on the ABTs. And you know what Gerard? The bacon-wrapped watermelon rind... I had only made that one time... that one time long ago when I posted it originally. So your talking about it meant I had to try it again. Result? Suh-weeet! It was hard to find... I was starting to despair... even considering trying dates (which makes your recent post about dates/ricotta in bacon &pepper all the more intriguing). Fortunately Harris-Teeter came through and I picked up a couple jars o' rind. Kids loved them! But the ABTs.... oh man, they are the shiznit around here these days. This time I rolled them in my fine dry rub-- hallelujah! Remember I said I could make a meal of those things? This time I did. I cooked them hotter and faster this time @ ~350F for 75 minutes, indirect. They were even better - crispy, sweet, hot... magnificent! Those are a few of the 'rinds in front. Ah, yes. Life is good. --Mike