Saunka

No no no... he's Academy Award Winning director, Peter Jackson. The man who directed Lord of the Rings.

28 lbs of spareribs and tips 1 batch Chef Juke's Raspberry-Chipotle sauce Ample quantities of liquor (single-malt and tequila so far)

Not at all, I just wanted to share what I'd discovered too. I absolutely hate the stuff for trying to cook a steak in the 750 degree range. But I've put half a box in the K and had it roll for 20 hours without touching it too. It's important that you get a lot of it lit when you do that though.

Re: My 2 cents... 1.) I light mine with 2-3 sheets of news paper and a chimney. Also works with wax starter cubes 2.) This is a plus if you want to cook things like breads and cakes in your K without smokey flavor. When I use it for over night cooks, I add some hickory chunks. 3.) This is true. No idea why, but I only use it for overnights or low and slows. 4.) Never seen this before. Were these unused ones still black? 5.) I find I have way less ash with these than with regular lump. Different strokes for different folks, but keeping it going for 20 hours unassisted is a snap with the CEL. I find I have more hassles when using Royal Oak for BBQing. Grilling, I use Royal Oak exclusively.

I've made this mistake too. Heck I almost made it on the ribs I won with 2 weeks ago. Porkchop's cooler head prevailed and he advised I leave them on. I was worried cause I was cooking on a BGE (not as familiar with it) and I couldn't get the temp below 275 for much of the cooking time. Alas they turned out great in 4.5 hours. They might have gone for 5 or a little longer if I'd cooked 'em at 225. The best rule is to go by appearance rather than time. If they aren't really tender yet, don't pull them out. I've had ribs I've taken off the grill and they've "broken" in the middle on the way to the plate. They were some mighty fine ribs, let me tell ya.

No ramen today, mon frere. Baloney sandwich and soup.

Lift the full rack from the grill with a pair of tongs. Both ends should be limp and the meat should be "cracking and spitting" from the weight of the ribs. They will look done and maybe even dry on the outside after 3 hours, but they'll be pretty tough. Once that connective tissue breaks down in the last 2 hours, they should be very tender. The bones will almost fall out.

That is PERFECT. Can you make an aftermarket one for a Mexi-K #7?

Re: Warning for newbies

I got lucky on some ribs a few weeks ago at the competition, but basically I had 3 racks of spares rubbed overnight and left in the fridge. Didn't bother to pull the membrane as it was taking too much meat off with it. Cooked indirect for 4.5 hours at 250-300, no spraying or mopping. The last 30 minutes or so I basted with Chef Juke's Raspberry Chipotle sauce. This sauce has been known to convert non-believers (ask Porkchop). (copied from Mexi-K Forum) 6 Tbls. packed dark brown sugar 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1/4 cup molasses ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce 2 Tbls dark rum 2 Tbls yellow mustard 1 Tbls pure chili powder 2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 2 tsp. garlic powder 1 tsp. ground allspice 1/4 tsp. ground cloves 1/4 cup Chipotles en Adobo, finely chopped 2 cups ketchup 2 cups Raspberry Preserves (I use Wall's Berry Farm Raspberry preserves from Costco) Kosher or sea salt Pepper In large saucepan, combine sugar, vinegar, molasses, Worcestershire, rum, mustard, chili powder, pepper, garlic powder, allspice and cloves. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Cook, uncovered, until all ingredients are dissolved, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Stir in ketchup and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat slightly, add raspberry jam and 1/4 cup chipotles** and gently simmer sauce, uncovered, until dark & thick, about 30 minutes, stirring often. Use right away or transfer to jars, cover, cool to room temperature and refrigerate. Sauce will keep several months. Makes 5 cups or 20 servings. NOTES: **Add the chipotle peppers to taste. Since simmering will bring out the heat in the peppers start by adding ¼ cup of chipotles and cook for the 30 minutes THEN taste again and add additional peppers if you like it REALLY HOT.

Anyone got any tips for getting that condesnation out? I've got it too.

Re: Saunka, Which were better The rubbed ones. The plain were for my wife who eventually came around to my way of thinking on the rubbed ones.

I just made some EPIC pork chops. First I need you to imagine Porkchop's avatar. I used Iowa Cut pork chops that were over 1lb each. These monsters were an inch and a half thick. I have never cooked pork chops this big before. Step 1. Last night I brined them for 4 hours in 2 quarts of water, 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup turbinado sugar Step 2. I made a rub consisting of: 2 Tbsp dark brown sugar, 1 Tbsp ancho chile powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp chipotle powder, and 1/2 tsp garlic powder Step 3. I rubbed 2 of the 4 monster chops with this rub and 2 I left plain Step 4. Got the K up to 375 and threw them on. Step 5. Cooked 5-6 minutes each side and then flipped. Repeated until pork reached 144 degrees with thermapen Step 6. ... Step 7. Profit I'm here to tell you those were the best pork chops I've made in my life. Thanks to Porkchop for the inspiration on the rub this afternoon.

What he said. I learned how to make them from Porkchop.

Well I'm making them for a party so I won't be eating all of them. I'll probably be able to get down a dozen though. I'm talking half peppers here, not whole ones.

I just prepped up 50 ABT's for this weekend using the same stuff Porkchop did last weekend. I went with the whipped cream cheese because it was easy, but I tried not to fill them so full so hopefully I'll be okay.

Did you get his contact info? I want to do the same thing. That pork was divine.

Hey, I'm Wes. Had a blast cooking with your this weekend, Porkchop. We had some goooood food. Tell the story about the guy with the pork butt. The look on his face was priceless.