Porkchop

isn't that just crazy??? awesome fragrance, isn't it? not sure that i tasted it in my food, but the scent in the air just made my stomach growl! ah, don't take my opinion of extrusion lump personally, dude! just cause i don't get it doesn't mean i hold those that use it in contempt. i reserve that for them that hold by kingsford or propane! just not my bag. i've always been a proponent of the "KISS" philosophy. messing with remote control blowers or trick charcoal just isn't my thing. the space age ceramic cooker does all that stuff for me, y'know before discovering the ease of ceramics, i was using a homemade twin-barrel steel cooker and stick burning! i considered using any kind of charcoal to be "cheatin'"! so, i may have sold out and gotten the trick cooker, and i may use lump charcoal, but THAT'S WHERE I DRAW THE LINE! how much are those rotisseries again, anyway?

dude, salt lake city? that's kind of a big place to not have anyplace you can get lump. do you have walmart there? they (generally) carry Royal Oak lump. menards generally carries cowboy. even Ace hardware carries lump around here. do any in your area sell BGE? if so, you should also be able to get lump there fairly reasonably. BGE brand lump is usually in a 20# bag. around here, it goes for like, 13-14 bucks a pop.

first off, any sad story involving a meatball sammich has my sympathy. it breaks my heart that you would have been put in that situation as a child, and is surely litigible(?) uhhh, just sue 'em!! i never ordered the extruded lump. my good friend wes gave me a box out of the kindness of his heart, as i was VERY enthusiastic about trying it. it was ok, but nothing to write home about. one of the things i did notice, and it just may have been that batch, but... when i tried to re-use the extruded lump that hadn't been expended from a previous cook, it tended to be very fragile and sort of fall apart. i'm thinking, since there aren't any binders in it, that the expansion/contraction of the charcoal during the cook caused the charcoal fines that the extrusion briquettes are made of to lose adhesion and fall apart. have you experienced this? typically, i dump a whole bag of lump (about 10#) into my cooker and use that payload for several sessions until it runs out. so, anyway, never had the problems others have had, and, hey, if they find it worth going thru all that for their charcoal, that's none of my business. can't say i understand it, but i don't have to, do i? as far as temp control goes, well, i fully expect you could learn to control your fire quickly with regular lump, and without the benefit of a stoker or whatever. if you are ever in the neighborhood, i'd be glad to make you a meatball sub you would be sure to enjoy, and give you some pointers on how to prolong that slow burn all night long btw, how's that candy striper boyfriend workin' out??

well, i guess i inadvertantly hijacked this thread; wasn't about extruded lump, but "natural briquettes". still, for the "benefits" listed above, i don't see them as sufficient offset for the cost and wait for the almighty extruded lump. my royal oak will do both low and slow AND hot and fast, and, even with the smaller pieces and moon rocks considered, its less expense. plus, i just plain prefer it to extruded. i LIKE my lump to impart a pleasant flavor to my Q; otherwise it might as well come out of a crockpot or gasser. i don't consider it a benefit that extruded is "flavorless". seeing prices like 15-16 bucks for a 15# box of charcoal when i pay $5 for a 10# bag that i dont have to wait 6months-1year to get? somehow, the extruded just has too much expense and INconvenience built in to make it a worthwhile purchase. take $5 out of the ol' wallet and hand it to the cashier, and walk out with my lump and grill that afternoon. dont have to throw in with 20 other people for a pallet delivery, buy 20-25 boxes (thats like 400# of charcoal!), drive 50 mile to go pick it up IF and when it finally shows up, store it in my garage, and HOPE it isn't covered in mold. sorry, but it better come with a d**n monkey trained to light it for me for all that trouble. but, i'm probably in the minority in my opinion. i mean, that extruded lump is just the cats meow, right?

The "Old Timers" might remember... Nature-Glo natural briquettes. they were ok. lots of ash. worked ok on low and slow; not a hot burning briquette. have used "Big Bloq" natural briquettes from a local Meijers and, again, just ok. they all have the natural veggie starch binders (read "cellulose") and produce way too much ash imo. for an overnite low-and-slow, not a good choice. tends to cause airflow problems. imo, no point in messing with a winner. good ol' natural lump charcoal. royal oak and cowboy are what i use, and almost always have good results. the occasional moon rock, sure, but otherwise good to go. one of the reasons i dont understand all the hoopla on the mexi-k site over "extruded lump" (ooooooooooo....) whatever. if you wanna spend WAY too much money, wait forever, and end up storing a metric ton of moldy charcoal in the garage, its your trip. sorry; i digress. natural briquettes produce too much ash. not a bargain.

NEW YORK CITY???? get a rope!

not that i'm particularly outraged; steam them ribs if you like! many folks sware by the ol' "texas crutch". 'course, a REAL purist like me just doesn't bother with them weenie ol' babybacks anyhow its hard for me to even bother anymore with the spares. them tips are sooooo good! i give my family the ribs and eat the tips!

ok, first off, YOU GAVE AWAY 3 RACKS????? you need to work HERE! second, the pics you gave were of untrimmed spares. if you want to trim them up "st. louis style", you need to find where the rib bones terminate at the top and separate that upper portion of the slab. that upper portion is all "rib tip". you want to give them more time because 1) they don't really have bones, just cartilage, and so they cook slower, and 2) they have lots of fat, and that needs time to render and turn all juicy. trimming them up is pretty easy, and you get a nice looking, rectangular slab of ribs that cook more evenly and cut into nice bones. there's gotta be a photo tutorial of how to "st. louis" your spares somewhere on the WWW... oh, just noticed that you made this observation in your previous post...

sanny, i'm defo going to use this next time i make steaks or boneless chix breast on the kk! might sub some heat-stable sugar substitute for the brown sugar, and maybe a little sugar-free maple syrup (to make up for the loss of that "carmelly" taste from the brown sugar), but otherwise, sounds right up my alley!

Re: Nirvana just making a statement like that lets me know you are on the "true path" Sanny! now you need to start trimming your ribs and letting those tips go an hour or so longer, realllllll slow! you'll thank me later

here's what i did this weekend, tho it was a departure from my usual method. left the chicken whole and covered with rub (combo of mine and store-boughten!) and let it sit out for about 1/2 hour... got larry set up for indirect and 425, couple good chunks of hickory. put chicken on v-rack (breast up) over stone for about 1/2 hour, til the skin got dark brown (darker than golden, but not TOO dark), and then shut down and let dwell for 15 min. skin perfect! crispy and delish! juicy breast meat and thigh was done perfectly! should have done 2! part of the success might have more to do with "preheating" the stone. it took a bit of time from 350-425, probably 10-15 min. had to finagle the upper draft a bit, and, this is kinda off topic, but weird enuf to bring up. while i was standing there adjusting, i noticed the upper draft spinning closed by itself! the hot air coming thru the upper draft was enough to cause the damper top to spin! so, does the stainless bind in the heat?? dont think so! maybe operates a little too smooth! had to wedge a little bit of lump under the damper to keep it from moving while the cooker was coming up to temp. after i got to 425, it stopped moving by itself when i removed the lump. so, anyway, you might try that. i know alton brown used a similar method on thxgiving turkey; high temp to start to brown the skin, then cover and lower temps to cook...

thats weird. it's just a pic of a husky turning up his nose at a plate of broccoli... i'd think they'd block the dead pig instead...

hahahahhahaha!!!! :smt082 :smt082 great stuff maj! and rock on, TNW!!! support our armed forces!

i don't think the topic wandered at all! from something we all like to see pictures of, to someONE we'd all like to see pictures of btw, how's the NURSE treatin' ya, sanny?? i hope he's taking care of those blisters!

now THAT'S a nice butt!!! btw, fish, you know that pulled pork makes some awesome TACOS, right?

what, more work?!?! not just no; HELL no! and CONGRATS to maj! wtg! its a sweeeet machine, no?

welcome fishtaco! don't know what your background is with bbq/grilling, but i think you're in for a big treat! if you haven't experienced trying to do an overnite cook on a steel pit, or tried to make real pulled pork or pork ribs, you will be amazed how easy this cooker makes it. it makes a body lazy! once you figure out how to set your drafts, there's no babysitting required. when i do ribs, i only open the lid 3 times; once to put the ribs on, once at around 5 hrs, to check if they're done, and once to pull them off. sometimes, if i forget, only twice what did you get?

huh huh huh; "taint"!

hahahahhahahahah!! oh man, you gotta warn a guy b4 you drop the HOFF on us!

pork! love it or leave it alone!!!

my introduction to cooking was working in a bakery here in C/U that was/is run by a german-swiss lady who did it all. she taught me how to make the swiss style water breads and to get steam involved for crust formation in the oven, we used a mini bread pan with a cup or so of ice cubes. put it in right alonside the breads. use one of them pizza ovens for the baking. should work the same in the kk.

i'm defo giving that a try next time i do pork loin or tenderloin. sounds like lebanese type of flavor profile... thanks!

tasty! love that crispy looking bark on the butts!

that's a darn good idea, i think.

curly, your daughter (beautiful as she is) scares me! that look in her eye will haunt my nightmares... seriously tho, you look like you have a great setup! you're blessed!