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Porkchop

Going on the grill this weekend...

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well, i REALLY enjoyed my cookout friday nite. did some sams club T-bones, roasted bell peppers & bermuda onion, and mashed sweet taters. let me tell you about this cooker of mine; i knew i wanted volcanic temps, so lots of lump, dumped a full chimney of hot lump on top, and opened her up all the way.

went upstairs to prep my food, and came down about 15 min later to find my therm reading only 250... so i thot! i had wrapped the needle. while i'm sure it's not calibrated to read accurately after wrapping the needle, i figure temps were in the 1000 range! fiddled a bit with upper and lower draft and got it to drop a little (didn't want it much lower), but then right back up and stable at 200. 2 observations:

1) turbo temps are daunting/dangerous. just opening up larry, i got a good blast of hot air. not enuf to burn, but it did make it difficult to spend too much time putting steaks, pork tenderloin, and peppers on the grill. flipping was daunting too. had to wear a glove with the tongs and bob and weave to keep my face from baking.

2) 1.5" thick t-bones: 3 min per side on MAIN GRID at these temps (wouldn't have been able to get to the searing grid at these temps with the equipment i have) to a beautiful, buttery medium rare! nuff said!

sorry, no pics! i woulda lost a hand if i'da tried keeping the family from this bounty! my petite, eat-nothing wife had seconds on the pork loin and grilled peppers and onions. i love this cooker!!! i am gonna need to get that high temp automotive gauge now! i should also mention what peace of mind i got from the fact that i didn't have to turn any lock nuts to keep the dome propped open. i knew i could just unlatch and step back in case of backdraft! that spring-loaded lid is a huge safety factor imo!

oh, and for any interested parties, i'll sell my mexi-k to you for $250 as is if you come pic it up!

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Meat hanger

Sanny you may want to put your chicken breast down on your meat hanger.

The few times I used mine the breast down the legs and thighs came out better. I thought that I wasted money by getting the meat hanger, the rod was to short for turkey over 12 lbs. I let the meat hanger go with the k when I sold it. Just my half a cent worth

:lol:

I am trying my first whole duck this weekend.

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The chicken turned out very moist and delicious, but the neighbors thought the house was on fire. :shock: It put out a LOT of smoke! Really, I'm not kidding. One of the neighbors across the street called over to ask if I was cooking something outside. Street was full of smoke.

I didn't have a drip pan under the hanger, so the chicken dripped into the coals. No room for a drip pan under the hanger pole, though. (I have a size 5 cooker and the pole hangs very low into the firebox.) So, plan B... Next time I either get a stand up chicken cooker and put a pan under it, or I spatch it. But I do like the look of a whole bird, rather than spatched. Sigh.

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The chicken turned out very moist and delicious, but the neighbors thought the house was on fire. :shock: It put out a LOT of smoke! Really, I'm not kidding. One of the neighbors across the street called over to ask if I was cooking something outside. Street was full of smoke.

I didn't have a drip pan under the hanger, so the chicken dripped into the coals. No room for a drip pan under the hanger pole, though. (I have a size 5 cooker and the pole hangs very low into the firebox.) So, plan B... Next time I either get a stand up chicken cooker and put a pan under it, or I spatch it. But I do like the look of a whole bird, rather than spatched. Sigh.

The neighbors will get used to it. They'll be coming over to help eat what the smoke cooked. Throw a few cut up onions and a couple in the coals...that'll get em :D

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sanny, fyi, i have a meathanger for my #7 that i've used once. same problems; couldn't do indirect with the hanger because it hanged too low in the cooker. if you want to do a chicken sitter, try beercan chicken; if you don't like beer, well, i've used a tempered glass jar (like for canning) and put wine and bay and stuff in there. kind of an "inside out" coq au vin.

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sanny' date=' fyi, i have a meathanger for my #7 that i've used once. same problems; couldn't do indirect with the hanger because it hanged too low in the cooker. if you want to do a chicken sitter, try beercan chicken; if you don't like beer, well, i've used a tempered glass jar (like for canning) and put wine and bay and stuff in there. kind of an "inside out" coq au vin.[/quote']That's a good idear, PC. Canning jar chicken, instead of beer can. Hanger chick meat tasted good, but without a drip pan it made way too much smoke, and made the outside skin of the chick taste bitter smokey. I guess the other option is have someone saw down the hanger a few inches so I could fit a drip pan under it.
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2 Butts

OK, here they are just on the grill. Chubby is gonna sit there til they're done. He ain't takin no chances. Got them rubbed down and slathered with mustard. You folks who are cooking on smoky joes and other such things, just stick to burning that chicken...well alrighty now :shock::shock:

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Here's one right off the grill

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Here's me breakin them up.

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Here they are pulled. Enough for Pork Chop and several of his chunky friens.

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Her'e the left overs foodsavored for another day

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Nice supper, PC! :)

I'm cooking another chicken. This one is over a pop can, half filled with wine. Bird is seasoned with salt and Mrs Dash, and whatever else was around. Drip pan on the lower grill, bird canned on the regular grill.

Temp is at 400. Goodness, the lump in the bottom of the cooker must have been damp! Billows of steamy smoke came off it for the first few minutes. Probably also burning off the drips from the last chicken effort. I left the top partly open, as well as the draft door and the top damper, until most of the billowing stopped. Got the cooker up to temp, and put the birdy on.

:) We'll see.

Speakin of birdies... go Iggles! ;)

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Well, the chicken on a can worked pretty well. Not as moist as the hanger, but that could have been because the temp was higher in the cooker this time. I put a drip pan under the can, on the lower rack, and that kept the smoke to an appropriate level. And I had drippings for a sauce for the potatoes and chicken (remove grease, add a little wine, little drippings...).

Someday, maybe I'll brine.

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I bought a couple of chickens I was originally intending on cooking beer can style but I think I might just throw them on and do them the same way as baking with fire did the cornish hens.

I also bought a 7 1/2 pound Smithfield Smoked Pork shoulder picnic which I have been trying to decide how I want to cook. I recently saw a post that said Bobby Flay cooked it a 350 for about 4 hours and pulled it with a fork when done. I did a search and found a lower temp and slower approach that claims they come out awesome every time and that is saying it would be at least 10 hours so If I can make enough time I would like to try the slower approach.

I also want to try a baked bean recipe from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que that is made with adding stuff to Bush baked beans

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