Any Time is Grillin Time

[The_Chief]

I have three huge t-bones thawed out and I had every intention of grilling them this evening (for the occasion of being married with the Darling Bride for 12,000 days today)... of course, I didn't intend to get slammed with a bad cold, either. I ate a can of soup this morning and that was more than I'd eaten in two days. I don't get sick often but when I do, it's a doozy! Thankfully, Darling Bride, former tax deduction son and I unanimously agreed to wait until tomorrow evening to grill. After the rain, and before the temperature drops to freezing...

 

[Unforgiven]

Well, only three of the four butts were consumed at the party, but better to have extra than not enough. I brought the other butt home that was still in the cooler and pulled it. My son is having a hot sandwich from it as we speak.

Spoiler: Pulled pork

As far as how it was received, well, very well, which is surprising. I know I live up North, but it seems most people up here have never had un-doctored pulled pork. I had several recipe requests and folks were awfully surprised to hear it was just salt, pepper, and pork. I even had a "I don't even like pork and I went back for seconds" compliment, so I was humbled to hear all the feedback. I know I cook for my family, but putting it out there to a very large group and collectively getting only positive feedback was great.

The Lord of the Smoke Ring kicked ass. For one, it is double wall insulated, so even though it is nearly double the cooking surface, the pellet use was similar to what I would use smoking a single butt on my old Traeger or the Weber Smokefire. I wound up having to bag them at 180 to ensure they reached temp and have time to rest in time for the cookout,

The Traeger app flaked out on me, and I was monitoring the cook from work, I couldn't tell what happened so I had to run home and check. There were no problems with the grill, just the app. I wound up having to clear data and cache and restart the app and things went back to normal. I think maybe running it for 13 hours may have been a bit much, but I'll see the next time on a long cook. Thankfully, it had zero effect on the cook itself, I was just watching the temps. I probably should try using the app as it will work with cooking parameters and what you are cooking and automagically adjust temps and whatnot. I'm just so used to doing it myself that I don't even think of letting the grill do things.

I'm not ready for competition yet, but I'm not afraid to serve strangers.

 

[Unforgiven]

This is after 3 hours. I bagged it here till its done.

 

[Unforgiven]

Sides are coming along...

 

[Unforgiven]

It came out perfect.

 

[olbriar]

I agree.. It makes me hungry for brisket. I have a whole packer in the freezer that I've been saving for a rainy day. I don't want to attempt a quick thaw on it but it's tempting. Instead, I have a rack of baby back ribs thawing for tomorrow.

I'm glad your brisket flat turned out perfect. I bet your family is glad too.

 

[olbriar]

My BB rack has been in the smoker for an hour. The rack is a bit fatty looking so I think I'll deviate from the 3-2-1 cook and do a 3.5-2-2 cook to melt off some of that fat.

 

[AugieTN]

I did the coke with the country ham and it does add a different taste to the ham

 

[olbriar]

A friend once brought a pork shoulder slow cooked in a crock pot with coke for pulled pork sandwiches. It was pretty darn good.

 

[olbriar]

After thinking about my post above, I am now thinking my friend slow cooked that shoulder in Dr Pepper. I think I posted about it in this tread but who knows where? One way or another, the liquid used to cook the shoulder was a cola of some sort.

My ribs turned out very good. I did the wrap time in pink butcher paper. It was saturated in grease when I unwrapped for the finish cook. The rack was still way wet so I decided I'd do the finish two hours with the meat side down. I've never cooked ribs that way. It drained the grease from the rack and it was still moist with a slight pull. My fatty bargain bin rack was actually a good buy after all.
I seasoned the rack with Ah Shit seasoning. I've had it in the spice cabinet but haven't used it in some time. I'll rub ribs with it again.

I ran to the market this morning to grab a few things and something for a side to go with the ribs. I ended up buying a box of scalloped potatoes. They were pretty decent for a box item. I walked the meat isle as always and a brisket point followed me home. It has a good looking marble and was another bargain bin item marked down from $22 to $14. It will be next Sunday's smoke if everything goes as planned and I remember to thaw it out.

 

[treb1797]

A friend once brought a pork shoulder slow cooked in a crock pot with coke for pulled pork sandwiches. It was pretty darn good.

Wife does this with Dr. Pepper, so good.

 

[olbriar]

I seasoned my brisket point and put it on the smoker at 9. The point was sold at a bargain price but I trimmed almost a pound from it. Even with a pound removed, it is less than $3 a pound. It is a pretty cut with nice marbling but with the fat removed it's now thin on the end that was attached to the flat.
I'm out of butcher twine or I'd have been tempted to roll and tie it into a bundle. Time will tell but I anticipate the thin edge to reach temp before the thick end. I'll check it in a little while to see where I'm at.
I had to run to walmart to get more pellets this morning. I bought two 40# bags under $15 per bag. I guess inflation hasn't effected the product. Naturally it was pouring down rain this morning with wind ripping out of the North at 20mph with temps just at freezing. Another example of my stellar planning I should have purchased pellets earlier. It isn't like the lack of pellets was a surprise this morning.

 

[AugieTN]

......wind ripping out of the North at 20mph with temps just at freezing.....

 

[treb1797]

Congrats on the milestone Chief, hope you feel better soon.

 

[olbriar]

Make the fam wait until you can taste those tasty steaks.

 

[The_Chief]

Thanks - who'd have thought that it would take 32 years, 10 months and 8 days to get to 12,000? I guess we kinda like each other at this point...

 

[olbriar]

I think that qualifies for a good run Chief! I hope the second half proves to be as rewarding as the first.

 

[The_Chief]

Thanks for the well wishes: I hope the next 12,000 days are even better! It's ironic, considering that I starved her at a steak place until she agreed to marry me... LOL now she's spoiled on two things I make that no one else can match: steak and my old school movie theater popcorn. So steak it is for Day 12,001 tomorrow!

 

[olbriar]

My brisket point was very good. By the time I trimmed the incredible amount of fat off of the flap and melted the marbling, there was not a lot of brisket left to eat. My wife and I nearly devoured it. I have no complaints from a fourteen dollar beef choice for dinner. It would have taken more sides to be beef enough for three.

 

[olbriar]

My son took the afternoon off. Before heading home from work he headed the opposite direction first to go the likely the most renowned butcher shops in these parts. He bought some stuff for himself and I had him grab a few items for me. I bought jalapeno cheese brats which are to die for. They are pretty hot but still very tasty. I don't know how they spice them but they are super good! He also got some wagyu steaks for me. They are the Denver cut that I've never cooked. According to Google:
What's a Denver cut of steak?
Denver Steak is a beef cut that comes from the chuck primal of a beef animal, just below the shoulder blade. This cut is actually boneless short rib.
The Wagyu Denver cut steaks were thirty dollars a pound. The steaks I got are around 13oz each. I plan to slow smoke them until I see 110° internal temp and then put a reverse sear on them with the Blackstone and some butter. I know what I'm cooking Sunday. Here is a pic of one of the beauties.

 

[olbriar]

The Denvers turned out fantastic. I pulled them off the smoker at 112° and tossed them into a pool of melted butter. I only seared them for three minutes a side. That's my normal Weber sear time but the Blackstone is 100° cooler than the Weber. Either a higher internal smoke temp or a longer sear time would have been perfect. The steaks were rare and not medium rare which was my target. I think it's impossible to have a bad wagyu steak. They were very good, had a great flavor, and super tender. It's out of my logical budget to eat wagyu often but everyone should treat themselves to the meat now and then.

 

[ocnbrze]

blackstone has a pellet/griddle combo unit:

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www.lowes.com

this thing looks amazing and to be honest, the price is not bad either.....especially what it can do.

 

[olbriar]

That's quite a setup. Both smoker and griddle are my go to tools. I love smoking a steak and then searing it on the blackstone.

 

[AugieTN]

blackstone has a pellet/griddle combo unit:

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www.lowes.com

this thing looks amazing and to be honest, the price is not bad either.....especially what it can do.

That's a beautiful grill

 

[ocnbrze]

been watching a few youtube video. one of them had me concerned with the accuracy of both the included probe and the control dial of the unit. they were not very accurate and was not cooking a pork butt correctly. it seems that that unit was a lemon. the other videos showed that both the probe and control were pretty spot on. it is concerning though. probably might want to get insurance for it.