Just a quick question

[The Polack MSgt]

Is this the right place for Barbecue and smoking OPs?

Spring has been crappy here in SW Illinois, but I have a bunch of pecan and apple wood that is just waiting to cook many chicken and rib plates...

And other than actually cooking barbecue TALKING about barbecue is the next most popular facet of the hobby

Outdoor life seems very hiking/camping centric but I haven't really seen another forum for this

[irisblue]

1. Oh yes. Yes

[The Polack MSgt]

2. Cool!

[Cary]

3. Love my Big Green Egg

[The Polack MSgt]

4. So does my brother and his brother in law

Funny story;
My brother's brother in law's wife -(my brother's wife's sister - I'll do my best to keep the relationship clear) wanted to get a Green Egg for her husband, because my brother cooked so many great pork butts and chickens with his.

Well my sister in law's sister goes on line to shop for her husband's birthday present but was surprised by the expense and number of options available to configure a BGE set up.
She is completely ignorant of barbecues, smoking or any out door cooking at all really (Downtown Philly girl) and just ordered the cheapest option.

Her logic being that he could add the extras as needed.

Brian's (My brother's Wife's Sister's husband) birthday comes around and in the living room, wrapped up in bright wrapping paper and ribbons, is the unopened box from Big Green Egg.

Which held a replacement egg. No stand no grates no valve or handles. Just the porcelain egg

Her response, and I quote "As much as that thing cost? How was I supposed to know you needed all that other crap?"

[Cary]

6. Best is to make his own table

I tried going cheap on the pizza stone. That didn't work.

[Phentex]

10. Sometimes you need that other crap because

your husband will use stuff that isn't designed for the BGE and regret it. I found birthdays and Christmas were great times to get egg stuff.

[left-of-center2012]

5. smoking OPs?

Hmm ?

[fleabiscuit]

16. I figure it's either smoking other peoples smokes, or Other oPtions.

[The Polack MSgt]

19. You Smokin' O Ps?

YEAH U KNOW ME

[Major Nikon]

7. I have a Smokin' Tex electric smoker

The design is very simple, yet ingenious and it does an excellent job of smoking while turning the whole operation into a no-brainer. I've also figured out how to easily configure it into a cold smoker.

[Cracklin Charlie]

8. I have been wanting to have a smoked meatloaf.

My brother tried it, and has been raving about it.

[The Polack MSgt]

11. Share the recipe if you would

I tried to make a bacon wrapped meatloaf a couple years ago

It was a flop - salty and inconsistently cooked. It had alternating zones of mushy and crumbly

Maybe not enough egg and starch to bind it , maybe I moved it too often, or not often enough, maybe I chose bacon that was too salty...

I haven't tried since, it was an expensive and time consuming failure.

So , I am in search of a good recipe because it seems like such a no brainer that smoked meatloaf would be great

[Phentex]

9. I am a certified BBQ judge...

I keep looking for a few others from here, but nobody has joined.

BBQ is something that I physically crave but given the not-so-good-for-your health aspect, I limit my indulgence to judging, the BBQ club, and research of any new local BBQ joint.

After many years, I got my husband on board and he now drives to contests with me. We can talk about BBQ for a long time after every event. He always liked to grill and smoke stuff but now he's really into it so that's been icing on the cake. He's got a BGE and all the equipment.

What's your favorite way to cue?

My favorite is pulled pork, followed by ribs, chicken, loin, and then brisket. I also like to try different kinds of homemade sauce.

[The Polack MSgt]

13. I cut a hinged top in a 55 gallon barrel put a smokepipe in the bung then lay it in a frame

and build a fire in it on one side. It looks like a hobo version of most barrel grills.

With that layout, I can cook in zones. Steak/burgers near the coals, chicken and sausage in the middle and low temp smoking on the far wall.

I use fruit and pecan wood - Apple and cherry groves are super common here, and just about every house has a pecan tree in the yard. So scrap wood is easy to get.

Tending the fire and phutzing around to keep things cooking evenly is the reason I have this hobby - so my gear is super basic

[Phentex]

17. Basic is good!

I've seen smokers made from all kinds of stuff. It's really all about the temperature and the care put into the process. We wanted to make one from a trash barrel but we aren't cooking for crowds anymore so it didn't make sense.

[opiate69]

12. I work for a company that makes pellet grills and Kamados.

I'm hoping to have the time and money this season to try my hand at some competition BBQing.

[Saviolo]

14. Mmm, love some BBQ.

We have an offset smoker on our patio, and it gets a lot of good use in the summer. Hubby comes from Texas, so he's particular about it! We also have a couple of friends with cherry trees in the back yard, so we've always got cherry wood to smoke with. We've done all sorts of things. Bossam, Montreal smoked meat, pastrami, bacon, chiken, turkey, ribs, pork belly... I think our favourite was just after my hubby's restaurant closed, he came home with a big tub of pork fat that he rescued. So we made some smoked confit pork ribs. He confit cooked them in the pork fat for a good low and slow time, then gave them a second coat of dry rub and smoked them. They were just unbelievably delicious.

Here's the type of smoker we've got:
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[The Polack MSgt]

15. Pork ribs confit? That sounds super

Healthy. And delicious.

Hard to tell the dimensions from the photo, but I'd guess that with te offset fire box you could probably use the whole grill for cooking.

I use a regular barrel, so it's 35 inches across long ways and about 23 inches deep. I keep a fire on the right side - covering about a quarter of the bottom so that over the coals I can do steaks at 700 degrees or so. the center third stays around 320-350 and the far left wall sits at 195-220.

Yeah, I go full cave man simple on my rig but I played around with an instant read infra red thermometer enough to get an idea of what's going on.

Please don't tell my friends tho - I always act like it's secret mystical knowledge that keeps the meat from burning and makes the chicken so juicy

[Saviolo]

18. They were unbelievably delicious.

Yeah, we can use pretty much the whole grill in ours, and there's a little door on the side of the smoke box, and a lid on the chimney, so you have a lot of control over how much air is moving through the fire, which gives you far more control over the heat of the fire and the amount of time the smoke spends in the chamber than you might imagine.

I'm not sure of dimensions, but we can put a lot of food on there to smoke, honestly. It'll fit a rack of ribs easily. A whole picnic roast (pork shoulder) plus something else, potentially. The smoke box is big enough that we can add pretty sizable twigs of cherry or maple (our most frequently used smoke woods), or we can put a little tinfoil tray of mesquite wood chips or what have you.