Charlotte's Secret Revealed

Well, I've watched "National Treasure" a number of times and have never really figured out the true meaning of the first big clue - "The Secret Lies with Charlotte." That is ... until today. As you know, I have named my WSM (that's Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker) "Charlotte." Why? Because. No other reason.

Well, today, I put Charlotte to the test. We did a brisket, a butt and some ribs. We were going to do chicken, but didn't have room on the smoker or time on the clock. That will have to wait until another day. The total cooking time was as follows:

Brisket (13 pounds): 18 1/2 hours
Butt (9 pounds): 14 1/2 hours
Ribs (5 pounds): 4 hours

All in all, the meal turned out quite good. I also make a couple of sauces. The first sauce is the vinegar sauce that I perfected over the summer. It's quite yummy. The second sauce is the second go round at the sauce I am trying to invent. I tweaked it a little from last time. It's much better, but needs some more tweaking. Oh well, I guess perfection takes time.

I also tweaked my rub a little. It was much better than before. In fact, the bark on the butt and brisket was quite amazing. However, I think that I need to tweak it a little more. The rubs and sauces are truly works in progress.

All in all, there was about 27 pounds of meat and we only invited my dad over to help eat. Let's just say we are all FULL!! Also, a guy in our ward nearly cut his finger off with a saw this week. We took some to their family. There's nothing better to do with BBQ than share it.

Here are some pictures of the finished product:

First: The Butt. This has to be the best smoke ring I've ever gotten. It was nearly an inch thick in most places. This butt was AMAZINGLY tender and juicy. Far and away the best one I've ever made:
Second: The Ribs. The ribs actually turned out pretty darn good. I think I could have cooked them a little longer. They did not pull from the bone as well as I would have liked. Here is "Rib Queen" holding some of the ribs:

Here they are cut up:

And again.

Third: The Brisket. The brisket turned out OK. I think that I over-smoked it. Michelle said it was pretty good. It didn't taste too bad. Just a little too smokey.

As I said, the food was loved by all. I tried to save some for other friends and family, but the kids just ate it all up. Even Zander (7 months) couldn't keep his hands off of the meat. Here's the proof:

Still going ...

And going ...

Needless to say, the weekend was an overall success. I'm very pleased with the WSM ... for the most part. I think I want to try cooking with sand in the water tray instead of water. it just seemed that the steam and smoke made for a HUGE mess. Granted, it was all in the smoker, but I'm pretty anal about things being somewhat clean.

That's all for now ... However, I assure you there will be more ...

Mid-day update

Well, I put the brisket on the smoker last night at 6 pm and the butt on at 8 pm. the time is now about ten to 11. The brisket is at 180 and the butt is at 167. They are looking pretty darn good. The brisket looks like I got it a little too smokey. As this is my first time using the WSM, I did not know how much wood to put on at first. I think that I put on too much and the briskets got a little too smokey. We'll see. The insides look GREAT (I pulled a little piece off of the point). In about a hour, I'll put on the ribs and chicken. It's all looking GREAT!!!!

Pictures to follow ....

The New Girl ... Charlotte

Well, I got my "new" smoker this week. I say "new" because it is "new to me" but actually well used. I got it from a guy in Utah who shipped it up for me to try and then, if I want, buy. Here are some shots:

First, my BBQ-dudes, Kegan and Payton posing next to Charlotte (that's the name of the smoker):


Hey, is that someone admiring Charltote!!! I think so ...
Well, to break in Charlotte in, I am having a FEAST to beat all feasts, this weekend. I have purchased a 13 pound briskett, an 8 pound butt, two racks of spare ribs and 4 chicken thighs. PHEW!! it will be a long, meat-filled weekend ... I'M EXCITED!!

Stay tuned for more pics as the weekend progresses ...

A Worthy Experiment

We were at Winco the other day and saw a sale for "Pork Brisket" and decided to give them a try. it was basically "rib tips" from spare ribs. I figured that I couldn't go wrong at the price and it would provide a fun experiment. So, today, I took half the day off work and decided to give them a go. Essentially, I just rubbed them, smoked them, cooked them for about 3 hours, glazed then with a fruity sauce, inhaled them. They were a little fatty and my rub was a little to spicy. However, they were actually pretty darn good. Here are some shots:

Payton holding the meat right before we put it on the grill:


Now, the meat is on the grill and the smoke is beginning its work:


Glazed and ready to come off the grill. These things look great!!


Ready to eat!!

They were as good as they look. Kiara thought they tasted like a "hot dog." Who knew we bought such quality fare.

I assure you that more will follow ...

I CHEATED ... and I prospered!!

Well, I recently joined up with the forums on utahBBQ.org. Needless to say, it has inspired me and rekindled my excitement for Que-ing. With that in mind, I decided to cook up a nice butt on Saturday. There was only one problem: Gale force winds. Now remember, I am pretty new to this gig, so I don't have the experience with working in such winds. I have smoked brisket and butts before in some with (15-30 mph), but 85 mph gusts was just too much for me. I couldn't get my chimney started without bringing it in the house ... As you probably guessed, my wife did not approve. So, what did I do .... I cheated.

No, I did not cook the thing in the oven. I actually cooked it on my gas grill. I used a wood-chip box and smoked the thing. It actually turned out pretty good. No where near as good as charcoal and wood smoked, but it was decent. I forgot to take a picture ... oh well, there's always next time. This is cheating, because I was able to start the grill and I didn't have to constantly check the temperature, charcoal level, wood level, etc. I started the roast at 2 am and it was ready to come off at 2:30 in the afternoon (it was a 6 lb roast).

As I stated, this utahBBQ.org information has fanned my passion. So, I decided to make a couple of sauces.

• First, I just took a bottle of Kraft Original that we had in the cupboard and "Doctored" it up with some vinegar, apple juice and spices. It turned out OK, but I'm not sure you can ever take the nastiness out of a bottle of Kraft Original BBQ sauce (RESULT: Mediocre. I probably won't eat anymore of it for leave it for the kids to eat).
• Second, I tried a recipe in Mike Mills' book, Peace Love & BBQ (I highly recommend this book, see the list to the side). The recipe was a different one, calling for corn syrup of all things. We changed it up a little, but it actually turned out pretty darn good. I will definitely try that one again.

I made these sauces on Friday so that they could sit for a day (I find they taste better that way). Then, while I was working out on Saturday morning, another sauce started to formulate in my mind. Now, I have to say that this was a cool experience for me, since I usually am not a "creator" when it comes to cooking. I usually have to start with a base recipe and go from there. However, this sauce started to formulate from scratch in my mind. I made it and it is actually pretty good. The sauce has some tomato paste (I need to cut down next time), orange juice (also need to cut down a little); ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, seasonings and a little water. The sauce is pretty darn good. Once I get the ratios down right, I think that it will be AWESOME!!

That's pretty much it for now. I've pretty much decided that I am getting a Weber Smokey Mountain. Now, I'm just waiting to see if I get a bonus from work or have some extra money from somewhere. Then, LET THE SMOKING BEGIN!!

Low 'n' Slow is the Way to Go ...

That's the way to go. I have two loves in my non-family life: cycling and barbequing. There’s nothing better than a long bike ride followed by a plate full of slow cooked meat – meat that would be otherwise useless were it not for the joys of BBQ.

On this cite, I plan to share with you my journey. Becoming a good pit-master is like anything else: It requires practice, practice, practice. And practice is what I intend to do.

Over the last summer (2007), I had two goals: (1) to create a rub recipe; and (2) to create a sauce recipe. I succeeded on both but am always trying to create more. The sauce I created is a vinegar-based sauce and it is great. I’m trying to come up with a tomato-based sauce now. It’s a tough task.

The other tough task is coming up with a name for my products. I want to name them after cycling products … I’ll have to think about this more.

Currently, I have a 22.5 inch Weber kettle grill. It works pretty well, but I want something a little bigger. I am in the process of getting a Weber Smokey Mountain water-smoker as I have been told my many that it is a good gill to purchase. I also have an old gas grill for the everyday grilling (and I do mean “everyday”).

A few months ago, I saw this pretty cool trailer outdoor-kitchen. It has a griddle, gas grill and charcoal grill. It’s quite cool except that the charcoal grill could not be used for smoking as it is not sealed (open on the sides). It’s cool none the less (see photo below)