Firemonkey Posted September 20, 2009 Report Posted September 20, 2009 Skinless roasted chicken Another roasted chicken, this time skinless. Nobody in our house eats the skin, so I wanted to try a skinless roasted chicken, to see how much more of the flavor got into the meat. I blended apple cider vinegar, grapeseed oil, thyme, rosemary, basil and oregano in the magic bullet. I poured this over the chicken and let it marinate in a bowl, breast side down for about 2 hours. Roasted just like usual, with some peach wood. It came out very juicy, not dry at all. I will be trying the skinless apporach a few ore times, with various seasoning blends.
cruzmisl Posted September 21, 2009 Report Posted September 21, 2009 Chicken thighs that were brined and then smoked for several hours. They were amazingly tender, juicy and filled with flavor.
Firemonkey Posted September 22, 2009 Report Posted September 22, 2009 Chicken thighs that were brined and then smoked for several hours. Man, those are my favorite, and yours look damn tasty. It almost looks like you put some bacon on a couple of them. I need to plan ahead a little more so I can make them in my 2 days home.
Big Poppa Posted September 22, 2009 Report Posted September 22, 2009 fire do you use the finney method or just cook on the second grate?
Loquitur Posted September 22, 2009 Report Posted September 22, 2009 90 second ribeyes (EVOO, S&P on a cast iron grate) and a dwell for a couple of minutes with a tomato tart purchased at my farmer's market. Unfortunately, the tart, which cost me $17, was tasteless . But the steaks made up for it.
Syzygies Posted September 22, 2009 Report Posted September 22, 2009 90 second ribeyes I did 20 seconds once at 900F, and roughly, the fat just evaporated, boiled off, whatever; it was gone. Nice to see a more moderate approach works so well!
Firemonkey Posted September 23, 2009 Report Posted September 23, 2009 fire do you use the finney method or just cook on the second grate? No reverse sear here...the grill is already heat soaked because I have been roasting baked potatoes on it for 45 minutes or so before the steaks go on. I sear them over very hot coals for about 90 seconds on the lower grill, rotate them 90 degrees and let them go another minute or two. Then flip them, and do the same thing on the other side. After rotating on the second side, I close the grill up tight, except for about 1/4 turn on the top hat to let the smoke out (I usually toss in a small chunk of grape vine when the meat goes on). They stay in the closed up grill until they are the desired firmness* - about medium for my family to eat it...they would have it well done except the cook doesnt allow it *I cook steaks by feel. Technique illustrated here
DennisLinkletter Posted September 23, 2009 Author Report Posted September 23, 2009 These look Purrfect.. Chicken thighs that were brined and then smoked for several hours. They were amazingly tender, juicy and filled with flavor. These look Purrfect.. Would you please steer me in the right direction on the steps you took.. I sometimes use turkey pins to pin back the skin on the bottom to keep them from shrinking or falling off..
Syzygies Posted September 23, 2009 Report Posted September 23, 2009 brining Looking forward to cruzmisl's account of these, which indeed do look perfect. We use a 4-8 hour "light brine" (1/2 cup sea salt, 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar per gallon water) on chicken, fish, pork chops, etc. and invariably prefer the results. Imagine a dial with "unbrined" on one side, and "ham" on the other. Twisting the dial partway toward ham has remarkable results, without becoming too salty or "tight". It is important that the quantity of brine is significantly greater than the quantity of meat, as one is "diluting" the brine by adding the meat, which contains water. With enough brine and a short soak, one ignores this. For "house-cured ham" over several days, one instead calculates how much salt to add, taking into account the weight of the meat. Not hard, but not relevant here. I keep spreadsheets which tell me what to do, keeping notes on how the target salinity tasted to us, so we can adjust the target percentage for next time. (E.g. I like 0.8% salt by weight for dry-rubbed spareribs, working from gross weight (the price tag) including the bones.) We like to use Cambro food storage containers. Get the clear plastic ones; they cost more, but can tolerate boiling water, making them more generally useful. Either make the brine in advance (possible since we're not taking into account the weight of the meat) or add ice cubes to top up the volume, so the brine is cold.
cruzmisl Posted September 23, 2009 Report Posted September 23, 2009 The brine recipe is as follows, 2 quarts water 1/2C of sugar 1/2 cup of salt (non iodized-not kosher) Soak the thighs for 1 hour then spread on a paper towel to dry while you make the fire. Be gentle with the thighs you don't want the skin to fall off. I used a smoke pot with apple wood and set the starting temperature at 250. The rub used on these thighs was 3EYZ. I also used the old heat deflector covered in foil to give me some indirect heat. I placed the thighs on the grill, skin side up, and then flipped them after an hour or so. Once the temps reached about 150-160f I kicked up the temperature of the cooker to about 280-290. This gave me the heat I needed for crispy skin. I pulled the thighs at 175-180f and enjoyed. I hope this helps. I can do a photo tutorial if anyone is interested. I'll just have to go to the market and get some more thighs.
Firemonkey Posted September 23, 2009 Report Posted September 23, 2009 Did you ever get a picture of your smoke pot in the basket? I am trying to decide which size to order. I have to shop online; im not home long enough to hunt them down in person
cruzmisl Posted September 24, 2009 Report Posted September 24, 2009 Sure, I'll post it when I get home.
DennisLinkletter Posted November 20, 2009 Author Report Posted November 20, 2009 New customers first cook This was sent to me by a new KK owner.. Her first cook.. 9 racks. She said they were great. (of course;-)
Sanny Posted November 20, 2009 Report Posted November 20, 2009 jealousy I'm envious of the whole "ribs standing around the edge of the cooker" thing. I have Another Manufacturer's Cooker, and I can't stand stuff up at the edge. The slope of the lid makes that impossible - the lid bangs into the meat, and won't close. For the record, mine is a smaller one, also, which contributes to the problem. I'll just drool quietly, from here...
Firemonkey Posted February 1, 2010 Report Posted February 1, 2010 Pork Chops Well, technically not chops, just pork loin that I cut into boneless chops
Firemonkey Posted February 1, 2010 Report Posted February 1, 2010 BBQ Chicken Just some thighs...brined, rubbed, then on the grill at about 250 with peach and apple smoke, letting the temps climb up to about 325 at the end of the cook.
Beeps Posted February 8, 2010 Report Posted February 8, 2010 First Brisket! Used Claude's Marinade on a recommendation, left it on overnight, first time for that too!: It turned out pretty well. The ends were a bit dry but not the middle. Practice makes perfect Here might be a different off the beaten path item, Soup! I started with a 2/3's heirlooms with 1/3 romas: You know what's coming next! Smoked and grilled them until soft At this point softened up 1 onion finely diced with 3 cloves of garlic, added 2 cups of chicken stock after translucent, brought temp up and added tomatoes and took off the heat. A minute with the hand blender made this: Garnished with a bit of cream, pepper cherry tomatoes and thyme. The brisket was ok, the soup was amazing! Nice smoky flavor with the tomatoes.
Firemonkey Posted February 20, 2010 Report Posted February 20, 2010 Another Chicken Just a roasted chicken...No rotisserie, just roasted on the top rack (indirect).
LarryR Posted February 23, 2010 Report Posted February 23, 2010 First KK Tri-tip Undershot her just a little bit but better than overdone I suppose. Loving the KK! Had to slice her thick to keep the stuffing in place:
