smoked meat central.

Back to it!

2007-08-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

Okay. A lot's been going on over here. I'm getting a new concrete pad installed at my place, where I will park my new smoker. Well, new to me, anyway.

It's a Pitt's and Spitt's 30x60, with the two lower-temp boxes on the left, a big ole firebox, and a propane eye. It's really nice. Should do everything I need.

I'm planning to pick it up and fire it up this weekend. Wooo!

A five month reprieve.

2007-02-25T06:36:00.000-08:00

Yes, there's been no posting. Not a whole lot of 'cue cooking, either. This was a big summer and I had to reset some things...

1) The trailer has to be rebuilt. We've got a lot of what we need, except..

2) time. Jason's been on two HUGE projects, one of which won best in show at the Southeastern Flower Show a couple weeks ago. I've been getting out of my old role at work, getting into my new role at work, and --best of all-- spending a lot of time making beer.

3) It's winter. I'm generally hunkered down at home on my little rig making a few briskets here and there. Nothing worth writing about, really.

Oh! Big News! Fox Bros. BBQ took over the old Asada mexican joint right down from where I used to live in L5P. The (ahem second) best barbecue in Atlanta is about a mile and a half away! Yay!

Sometimes it's Actually Work

2006-10-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow, two of my very good friends are having a wedding party. I believe the wedding was a private affair and this represents the community celebration. He's designed the business cards for the venture that this will eventually become; she is my cat's doctor. She is a vegetarian, but for this party, they've ordered over 100lbs of barbecue: 60lbs brisket, 25 lbs pork shoulder, and a whole rack of chicken. My first order this size. So all week I've been hauling cuts of meat, mixing up spices for the rub, and the other chores that go along with this.

I'm getting to the end of my backyard's firewood bounty (which my neighbor calls "God's endorsement of your cue") so I now have to worry about obtaining firewood. Craigslist has lots of people who offer free firewood; it's usually a tree down in their yard and you can have it, if you can haul it off. So, I need a chainsaw. As is my usual style, I want to buy a chainsaw that will last twenty years. I want it to be a professionals' tool. I went with a Husqvarna 455 Rancher.

So I went to the first place that had responded about the firewood. The lady told me that it was at so-and-so address, to go ahead and chop it up. Well, apparently her idea of what constitutes "firewood" diverges a bit from mine. It was a freakin' stick! 3" wide at the fat end. I got maybe 15lbs of wood out of it. I felt like a fool chopping up this twig with a 20" husky. (But it cut the stuff like butter!)

When I get home from work tonight I'm going to have to prep the briskets and shop for the veggie offerings. We're making these killer veggie burgers for the bride. Then, the briskets will go on the trailer at midnight or so. They'll cook all night and until around noon tomorrow, when I'll pull them off, wrap them in cellophane and put them in the warm cooler. The shoulders will have the same treatment. Then the grill can rest until around 4, when I'll drag it over to their house, fire it up again, and throw the chicken on.

So as I said, this is the biggest catering job I've done yet. I'm pretty confident but it's a lot of work.

Oh and the business cards? I ordered them, paid extra to have them here by today. Nope. They're here monday. Dagblammit.

Crazy Times

2006-09-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

At an outing last week, someone backed into the trailer. FAST. As in, they launched it into the pickup truck behind it. The trailer fared better than the truck, but it will definitely require some serious reconfiguration.

And the week before, I bottomed it out pulling into a parking lot, and popped the jack foot out (stripping the bolts.) So that's damaged too.

What I'm going to do is order two new axles, much shorter ones and not drop axles, and we're going to build ourselves a better trailer.

On the other hand, the food is immensely popular, as evidenced by the fact that we're using it every weekend. Last night someone told me that last week's brisket was the best thing she'd ever tasted.

The Drive Invasion

2006-09-04T07:06:00.000-07:00

Steven says "You need to get there early to secure a prime spot." Doors at 9, I figure, 7:45. I was 2nd in line. I started the briskets before they opened, and pulled the smoker right down to the very front, center, in front of the screen, and then set about with the "campsite." Which was, the Suburban with a tarp hanging over the back to provide shade and rain protection.

We connected up with the group next door, the Star Bar folks. The leader of this group seemed to be Jim Stacy, one of the Star Bar's owners, and we made briskets and sausages enough to feed all those guys too. Jim invited us in on the low country boil he was making:

This is currently my desktop background.

It was a great event! Muscle cars and bands. The headliner was Blue yster Cult -- yes, the REAL Blue Oyster Cult! Too cool.

And here is exactly why we're glad we brought the tarp.

Drive In-Vasion!

2006-08-31T08:24:00.000-07:00

The Dawgs (or at least the main dawg) will be barbecuing at Starlight Six for the Drive-In-Vasion, or however the heck you spell it. Drop on by!

And soon, we will return to work...

2006-08-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

Having steel delivered at the end of August for this project, and now that the heat is breaking, we'll be getting back to building.

For the friend you hate...

2006-08-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

... the gift is corporate 'cue.

If you can't take the heat...

2006-07-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

Jeebum H. Jiminy Cricket Jehosaphat, it's hot.

I can't bring myself to start the monster up.... even though I could go for a brisket.

Happy Fourth of July!

2006-07-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

We opened up the shop and had some people over. Unfortunately, I was having such a good time that I completely forgot to take pictures!

We made six slabs of ribs as detailed below, but they weren't as done as I'd like 'em. Ran out of time. But Raydarr had told people to bring something for the grill, so there was a whole range of interesting items -- kebabs, steaks, veggie burgers and dogs, and a couple big pot roasts.

I split the party early to go see the fireworks downtown. As I sped in to the city, it rained like crazy. That was cool though -- the party just moved indoors! Set off a few rockets and then called it a lovely, lovely night. The fireworks at the end really capped it for me. :)

Recipe: Ribs

2006-06-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

Now, everyone's got their different ways to do ribs, and lots and lots of them are excellent. This is my style, which you may try and like, or not; but if you do, then I thank you and wish you good luck.

I buy my ribs from the local bulk meat market by the case. He sells 'em for around $60, which usually gets you nine slabs (sometimes ten if several are kinda small.) I cut open the cryo-pak and throw them on the grill. After two hours, I start mopping them with:

10 parts apple juice
2 parts Captain Morgan® or other spiced rum
1 part Frank's hot sauce (the official taste of Buffalo wings!)

The rule being "when you think of it, mop 'em" aiming for every 20-30 minutes. Every other mopping, flip 'em and mop again. If you mop the ribs regularly, they won't get a deep black crust on them, but they'll get a very deep shade of red. The smoke ring will be truly striking and the smoky flavor will be divine.

I use an offset firebox smoker, where the fire goes into a little pit off to the side, and the enlarged meat box is essentially in the chimney. This lets you run low heat for a long time -- truly low smoking. I start a chimney full of charcoal with a wax firestarter (no chemical flavors) and dump that amongst four logs, usually an equal mix of oak and hickory (though occasionally I'll throw in alder, or a fruitwood or something.)

The target temperature in the box is 250°. If it gets too warm, don't be afraid to throw water on the fire. You should have a little too much fuel, and need to be watering it a bit, to generate a bunch of smoke. You should always leave the exhaust wide open, and restrict the intake; this keeps your food from being sooty.

Do this for about 5 hours or so, until the ribs start to crack when you turn 'em, and they pull back from the bones a bit (like 1/8"-1/4".) That's when they're done. Bring 'em in and cut 'em. You cut the knobby bits (the "rib tips") off first, and then slice from the shiny side where you can make out the ribs.

There are lots of schools of thought on sauce. I don't normally think sauce is necessary, but I do enjoy dipping my rib bits into the sauce. I particularly like Dreamland's sauce for ribs, but everyone has a favorite and I'm not here to ignite any holy wars! Eat 'em like you like 'em.

I hope your Fourth of July is filled with smoke and light and smiles!

The Road Show

2006-06-20T02:58:00.000-07:00

Went to Knoxville this weekend for the wedding of some friends. It was a real homegrown affair. We got to the national park (Cades Cove) and there was a trailered smoker just like mine for the ribs. Well I turned around and the GROOM was starting the grill -- seems his grill-tending friends had flaked out on him.

You know I wasn't gonna let that happen... I stepped up and took the reins. We cooked 72 slabs of baby-backs and about ten pounds of kielbasa (the bride's family is Polish.) I got a standing ovation when I left! It was very cool, and I was mighty glad to be of service.

From a Pro Photographer

2006-06-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

And a damn fine shot!

Chicken!!

2006-06-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

Man.. this thing is hell on some chicken, too.

Apologies for the lack of updates...

2006-06-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

... but I went on a week vacation and the resulting life-pressure has gotten in the way. But I did get the electrics completed, and then got it titled and registered. It's street legal! Woo!

This weekend we'll be barbecuing at the Brownwood Bike Rally. Come by around lunchtime, sorry about the late notice ;)

We'll get some good pictures posted this week.

Chef-In-Training

2006-05-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

Someone took a picture for me...

2006-05-08T05:17:00.000-07:00

Success!!

2006-05-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

The results of the trip... first of all, as the aforementioned map laid clear, we were totally boned w/r/t the weather.

As I sat waiting for the driver, an hour late, I worried like crazy about the ability of the thing to hold a temperature, or even, keep a fire going. How would it do?

*clang*WRONG! I should have been worrying about the trailer, and not the barbecue. Our driver, having not been instructed to take it easy, drove the poor baby through some really nasty potholes, and the frame took a beating. Some of the frame members now have a permanent deflection of 3-5 degrees right under the bottle. Barbecue, magnificent. Trailer, ass.

More later. I'm beat. Must. Sleep.

Maiden Run Today

2006-05-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I hurriedly finished up the rig enough to use. I cut a hole in the bottom where the firebox will eventually vent, but for now, it's just an open air inlet:

That other grate is just laying in there. I finished up a second rack, so I'll have some pretty decent cooking space to work with:

I bolted the bottle down, and voila, it is usable. Not done, by any means, but I had an event to cook for, so I wanted to get it far enough to use.... which I have.

So let's set sail for Ribland!

Edit: It's pretty lousy weather for a maiden run, but ROCK AND ROLL!

A new sketch ...

2006-04-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

This time done in Gimp.

Another highly productive weekend

2006-04-30T16:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I arrived to find Jason finishing the second door. We mounted the big tank to its frame, and then he set to work on other parts while I got dirty as all hell by cleaning the inside of the tanks.

Not only did it make a ton of mess inside the tank, it also made the shop a mess everywhere. Including the people working.

dirty old men

I proceeded to get VASTLY dirtier than this picture indicates!

Anyway, we mounted the frame on the small bottle, and put both of these guys on the trailer (so when you see it it begins to more and more resemble the final product.) And today we did our own stuff, but this afternoon I went over and built the first of the sliding trays!

someday a little piggy will sit right here -------^

Jason's story of the big bottle

2006-04-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

He was cruising down the street one over from my house, and came across a guy doing some renovation with a Bobcat. He asked if he could hire him, and the guy was like "sure, man, i'll do it for free, just get a chain." He got a chain, but the guy was gone... A couple days later, he saw him again, and having the chain, got the thing loaded up into his truck.

We were lucky, too, because he'd just gotten his truck fixed.

I've been sick as a dog the past couple days, I think I got food poisoning from some bad sushi. Shoulda stuck to the all-cue diet.

The trailer is done

2006-04-23T17:28:00.000-07:00

And we're on to the big bottle.

More later.

Oh, and Jason wanted me to mention how we got the bottle out of the backyard. He had some guy with a Bobcat do it but I don't recall the details. I'll get it out of him at some point.

Great day!

2006-04-22T17:53:00.000-07:00

Jason rented a workspace over on Rogers St., and we moved in this morning. We ran up to Northern Tool in Snellville to get a chain hoist and some other tools. Northern Tool is geek heaven, man. They've got all sorts of great project stuff.

By the time we got moved, got all our supply metal put in order, and got some lunch, it was almost 2pm. We hit it good, cutting the main tank's support and spending some time talking about the eventual position of the tank. We settled on basically this arrangement:

The tank will be 3 inches back, to sit correctly on the frame, the position of which is correct.

We then put the big tank away, and got to work finishing the trailer. We put the central strip of expanded metal in first; I got my feet wet cutting with a blowtorch. Then I cut two long strips of cross-hatch plate, and while I was cutting Jason was welding things in. We spent the rest of the day finishing the running boards on the trailer; all that's left now of the base is 5 pieces of cross-hatch, 4 of which have yet to be cut. Hopefully we can knock those out tomorrow.

Blowtorches R Fun

2006-04-07T07:28:00.000-07:00