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Everyday Misc Cooking Photos w/ details

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Brisket Cook,

I cooked up an 18 pound pound brisket this weekend. It was a 16 hour cook that felt like a Greek Comedy; the end results were great but it was a little tricky getting there.

I butchered the trim because I failed to sharpen my knife.  I ended up sawing through most of the fat instead of slicing through it.  Ended up looking like a bad haircut where the fat pad should have been.

I used Kosher salt to dry brine the brisket and let it sit overnight wrapped up in some plastic wrap.  I used BBQ Guys Beef Rub on the brisket before putting it on the grill.

I ended up filling up the basket with some lump on top of some mesquite wood chunks. I only used one lighting cube in the middle to get the fire going.

The temp control was tricky at best. I was trying for 225 (ish). I started with the top damper opened 3 or 4 turns and the lower dampers fully opened.  I let the temp slowly rise up and closed the dampers as the temp got close to 225.  The top damper was opened to 1/4 turn and the bottom damper was only opened on the second to smallest hole on the right side.  And then I fell asleep.  I woke up one or two hours later and the temp was at 240.  I closed the top vent down completely and then opened it about 1 inch.  I moved the bottom damper to the smallest hole only.  And I fell asleep again.... I woke up around 4:00 am and the temp was 227 and slowly fell down below 220.  I thought I may have killed the fire.  I opened up the dampers to get some air flow.  The temp rose up slowly over the next hour and I slowly adjusted the dampers closed again.  I ended up having the top damper open about 1 inch and the bottom damper on the small hole again.  However, the temp settled in about 235 and slowly raised up throughout the day ultimately going over 255.  I closed the top damper down to wear it felt closed but I could see some smoke coming out.

I would love to hear some feedback or ideas about the temp slowly increasing without any changes to the damper settings????

Anyway, I debated wrapping or not and finally double wrapped it in foil to finish the cook.

The end results was a great tasting, tender, juicy brisket and 15 happy guests.

Pictures to follow.

Dabble. 

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Troble,

That chicken looked great! What temp did you cook it at and how long did it take?

I cooked a turkey on the KK for Thanksgiving.  I made a gravy in a drip pan and put it under the turkey when it was cooking.  I drained off the liquid and used the liquid as an au jus. Did you save the juice from the vegetables for dipping?

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@Dabble - the slow rise could be attributed to a couple of things - the damper settings that you initially started out with were for that temperature and it was just coming up to equilibrium - 1/4 turn is generally way more than needed for 250F or below. Later on, if it was a bit windy, you could have what it is called "vacuum drag" across the top vent - that's where air blowing past the top damper actually pulls air through the KK, effectively making the vent setting "more open" than usual. It has to be fairly windy for that to happen though. 

Some advice - don't chase the temperatures. +/- 25F degrees or so from your "target" makes zero difference in the final outcome of your cook. As I like to say: "close enough for Government work." 

Speaking of final outcomes - that brisket looks OK to me. 

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Took advantage of the last "warm" day this week (it was 22F yesterday - today it's 4F) to do a rack of ribs. These were the first ribs that I've ordered from Porter Road. I love their beef, so thought I'd give their pork a try. No regrets - these were some of the juiciest ribs that I've ever had - anywhere! I didn't do anything extraordinary either - no lard slather, no pink butcher paper. The only thing I did was overnight marinade with yellow mustard and dry rub (Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust) and after a couple of hours on the grill, I spritzed them with apple juice & bourbon every 30 minutes or so. Cooked indirect, average temp 250F, 4 1/2 hours, with smoker pot of hickory and apple. 

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There is NO Sauce on these ribs, they are just this shiny & color from the fat and the spritz.

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Plated with homemade potato salad (tater sallat!)

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@PoochieI can get Dizzy Dust locally, as both ACE Hardware and a local BBQ shop carry the Dizzy Pig line. Available online, too - directly from them or Amazon. Their rubs are a staple in my pantry for a long time.

Thanks for all the compliments on the ribs. I can only take partial credit (I didn't screw them up!). The real credit goes to the Porter Road folks. These ribs were amazing. Will definitely order them again and will try a pork butt from them, too. 

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New kind of cook for me coming up this weekend. Delayed family Christmas because of COVID. Christmas rib tradition is 30+ years running, so I have ribs, brisket, roasted brussels and homemade mac and cheese planned. Nothing too fancy…Sounds normal right? Except Saturday will be a balmy -5 to -10 F. First time on the KK for a low and slow in those kind of temps. Wish me luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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