GoSkins0721

I found a recipe for a Thai-Style pulled pork that I'm going to have to try. It's going to require cooking in a cast iron pot which I haven't done with a pork shoulder but it should still get the smoked flavor without the lid on. My only concern is it might be too greasy when it's done.

Ha! I'll be about 1.5 hrs west of there on business the week of 6/27...Will be grabbing some Usinger's to bring home for the 4th of July weekend

Father's Day for me...

^^That's really hard to unsee

Recipe or it didn't happen...

I don't know anything about the M1 or the Hastybake grill. But, if I was going to spend that kind of money I'd buy the XL Big Green Egg. It does it all, no questions asked, has tons of accessories, & I've never read a bad thing about it.

I like these, but the salt content is astronomical. I swell up like a dead bullfrog when I eat them. I *try* to stay away from manufacturers seasoned meat/fish. Lots of chemicals & way too much salt. I've had a an almost impossible time trying to season pork with anything but a dry rub. Marinate overnight with all different types of fluids & I get nothing. I stick with dry rubs or put on homemade bbq sauce at the end.

I did one of those for Christmas eve a couple of years ago. Fileted the pork loin, mixed spinach with cream cheese & other herbs, spread it across the pork loin, rolled it up & sealed it with metal skewers (string would work, too), S&P&Onion/Garlic powder, tossed it on the grill. The inside will leak out of the ends so make sure it's sealed tightly. Before I sliced it, I put a skewer through it about every inch & then sliced between the skewers to keep the serving from unrolling. It was good. And the crowd was impressed with the presentation.

I've used the Trader Joe's dough a couple of times. It's ok - I don't think it's made with 00 flour, it's probably bread flour. The 00 flour has lower gluten content that makes it easy to stretch out to hold it's shape. The TJ dough is damn near impossible to stretch out to a certain size. Zoony's right - it's kind of a pain in the ass to make pizza. I like to have the dough sit & rise for 18-24 hours so I have to plan far in advance to make pizza for dinner. I actually made a batch of dough a couple of weekends ago, split it into 4 pieces, put it into 2 separate food saver vacuum bags & stuck it in the freezer. I'll probably make it this week so I'll post to let you know how it turns out after being frozen. There is an instant rise yeast that can be used to cut down on the 18 hour rise time. I haven't tried it but from what I've read it sounds like it works ok. Here's a common problem when cooking pizza on a grill - the crust will cook before the toppings (cheese melting). On my smoker, I use the upper grid (it it's 8-10" above the main grate) so the pizza sits as high as possible in the smoker - where it's much hotter. This seems to help both the crust & toppings cook together. Oh....and less is more - don't load up the pizza with toppings or you'll have a soggy mess. Now, my olive bread on the grill is awesome. I have to plan a couple of days in advance for that too. But it's got that crunchy-chewy crust that I love...

I can tell you this, I've been to plenty of meat manufacturer's (actually going to one in LA this afternoon) and their controls leave much to be desired. Lot control? Sure, we'll recall everything we made 3 days before and 3 days after that problem lot because we have no idea what went in where. Happens everyday at a sausage/burger plant in the US. I learned a new word a few years ago at a hot dog/sausage plant - comminuted as in comminuted meat. Mmmmm....

Not surprising it would be leaking around the lid closure - there's no gasket around it, correct? The self-stick Nomex (there are other brands) should do the trick. I would fire up the grill & mark where it is leaking. Then when it cools, go back & put down the gasket, re-light, and see what happens. It will probably take a few attempts to get it all done. BUT, you don't need it to be perfect and probably won't be able to get it to completely stop leaking. And that's okay. The key is this: Can you hold a temperature - pick a number 225, 250, 325, etc. - for a long period of time (again, pick a number 2, 4, 6, 8 hours)? It doesn't matter that it leaks a bit around the edges as long as the temp holds. On my Akorn, the temp might fluctuate between 240-270 during a 6 hour smoke - wind changes directions, dog farts in the general direction of the smoker, etc. I use the meat thermometer to tell me when it's done. The fluctuation of the temp - within reason - is no cause for concern. TBS - Thin Blue Smoke is what you want...

Soil prep is the hardest part of putting down sod. When I did my backyard, I tilled it, mixed in peatmoss, retilled, and raked it to level it out. Not tough work but it took time. Putting down the sod is pretty much what you said: do it in a staggered pattern so the ends aren't the same across the lawn. Then rent a hand roller (I think those things fill with water) and roll it over the sod to help set it in the soil. Then water, water, water. If you're in the DMV now's not the time to lay sod. The dog day of August will kill it.

Yeah, you need to get the temps up to 325-350 when cooking chicken & turkey. Otherwise you'll end up with dried out meat with slick almost uncooked skin. I learned that the hard way on my 1st cook of a whole chicken on my smoker. I kept it at ~250 and had my meat/bbq meat thermometer monitoring the chicken & the smoker. Damn thing took about 3.5-4 hours to cook. When it finally hit temp on the chicken, it was so dried out I had to drown it in bbq sauce to moisten it. Plus the skin was basically inedible. Now 325-350 is the only way I cook whole chickens & turkeys. It sounds like you're not getting enough air from underneath on your smoker. Not sure what kind you have so I don't know where you're adjustable vents are. But I'm assuming you have one on the top & bottom. Try opening the bottom one a bit more to get more air flowing through the fire. On my smoker, I open the vents to a certain position on the top & bottom every time I use it. Then when the temp hits about 100 degrees less than my target, I dial them back to a different setting (depending on my final desired temp) and wait for it to come up to the end temp. Then I make my final adjustments to hold that temp. I had to play around with it to learn the settings, but now it's easy. The only other factor I consider is the wind. That definitely alters the vent settings.

I do what Zoony suggested: smoke them for about 1 hour at ~350 (indirect). Then I remove the heat deflector plate in my smoker so they are directly over the heat. At that point, I'm watching them like a hawk, basting & moving them around to get the right crispness. Soggy, slimy wings (or chicken skin of any kind) is disgusting. When I do a full 15-18 lb turkey on the smoker, I always have to invert the bird so the bottom gets as crispy as the rest of the bird. Not sure if peeps who have BGE's have to do that, but the heat directly above my heat deflector doesn't get as high as the higher part of my smoker (a Char Griller Akorn). If I have wings smoking on both levels of the smoker, I'll switch the upper grill with the bottom to give both the same amount of time in the upper/higher heat. When cooking a pizza, i only cook on the upper grill as the heat gets both the crust crispy & melts the cheese. I've never tested it but it has to be a 75-100 degree difference...

I make it all the time but without the mayo. Instead I use: soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, peanut butter, vegetable oil, brown sugar, garlic & a few drops of sesame oil with carrots, bell peppers, cabbage, & onion.

Loading up the smoker with 60 wings: Asian-Lime on the top; Korean BBQ on the bottom... Damnn....can't get the pic to upload

Accurate... http://www.sitstay.com/collections/patches

I travel a lot for work. The number of people on flights these days with "service dogs" is unreal. Apparently, all it takes is a patch for the dog to wear - nothing official - something you can buy on the interwebz. Ridiculous...

A good option for the brussell sprouts is to use a frying pan instead of a baking sheet. Blackened sprouts with your mix would be good. I do brussell sprouts, broccoli, & cauliflower (separately, not together) on the smoker in a frying pan with olive oil, lemon, & red pepper. The frying pan gives them that delicious blackened char. I'll have to do this with your mix...

I do something similar when cooking a turkey: Fill a pan with chicken stock, onion, celery, rosemary, thyme, s&p. Place a cooling rack on top of the pan. Place the turkey on top of the rack. Slow cook on grill, indirect heat until done. When done, I pour the stock through a fine sieve into a pot, add fresh chopped veggies (shrooms, carrot, onion, celery) and thicken it with roux. Smoky-turkey-gravy = heaven. The first time I did this, I was going to put the tray under the grill grate. When I did, I noticed some of the black gunk from under the grill dropped into the chicken stock. Fortunately, I was able to salvage the pan, removed the little bit of black gunk that fell in, & had a successful cook. I'll have to try your beans & chicken - maybe par boil the beans before putting them on the grill to ensure they're done when the chicken is done. Hmmm....now that I think about it, my smoked teriyaki meatloaf would work much better with beans! Thanks!

Hmmm...Guess I could make a joke about steroids...shrinking nutsack...nvm

Yeah, and **** Mara while I'm thinking about it....

Oh, that's easily solved in a Kamado-style grill. The firebox holds the charcoal (sitting on a grate - which allows the ashes to drop to the bottom) A grill is placed on top of the firebox. It's on this grid where you place a heat deflector (a pizza stone, a cast iron griddle. I use a pizza pan). Then you can sit a disposable pan on top of the heat deflector. That's where all of the grease drips on a long smoke. A Kamado-style grill does NOT need any additional fluids to keep the meat moist because it retains the heat so well (the entire shell on top & bottom is insulated). Then the actual grill where you cook the meat sits above the heat deflector. The Akorn has a swivel grill that sits above the main grill so I can smoke meat on 2 levels. Or, I'll cook meat on the main grill & toss some potatoes/corn on the swivel grill an hour or so before the meat is done. To cook direct on the grill, just remove the deflector from the center grill.

Regardless of equipment, the key to holding a temperature +/- a certain level (say, 250 degrees) comes down to how air tight your grill is. That doesn't mean if you have leaks you can't hold a temperature. It means you need to practice with the air vent settings to compensate for any air leaking from your grill. The best grills for long cooks, in my opinion, have a vent opening in the bottom & one on the top. Both should be adjustable. By controlling the amount of air coming in (bottom) & out (top) you can get the grill temp set to anything you want for a very, very long period of time. Personally, I prefer wood charcoal & then use flavored wood chunks (cherry, apple, etc.) not soaked in water when smoking meat (or peanuts, fish, etc.) I use these to start the fire (using a piece about the size of your thumbnail). Fill the grill with charcoal, dig a whole in the middle to the bottom, place the firestarter there, light it, & place 1 or 2 pieces of lump wood over it to be sure not to smother it. http://www.amazon.com/Rutland-Safe-Starter-Squares-144-Square/dp/B00138MO16/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1461168361&sr=8-5&keywords=fire+starter I know Skinsfan loves his Weber but I'm extremely pleased with the Akorn (pictured above). I bought it 4 years ago for $150. I practiced a couple of times, starting the grill, working the vents, to determine the best settings for certain temps. Wind direction definitely plays a roll in the temp but I can adjust the vents to get whatever temp I want regardless of how windy it is. My longest cook was 12 hours - that's with no adjustments & no adding charcoal. I've read where some people have been able to go 24hrs+ with the Akorn at ~250. The best part I like is the outside isn't hot to the touch - ever. Once I'm done cooking, I can close the vents & put the cover on it. I can't tell you how many times over the years I forgot to cover a grill & it got rained on! The wireless thermometer is a must. Get the dual probe - meat & grill - so you can monitor both temps. There's all kinds out there, depends on your budget. Also, some of them will work with your cell phone. My favorite part of a long cook (besides the outcome): I can put a pork butt on the grill at 9AM at ~250 and spend the rest of the day doing whatever I want. Once I have the temp dialed in I'll leave it alone for 8 hours & not have to worry about it at all. Here's a good site to get more info on various types of kamado-style grills: http://www.kamadoguru.com/