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One thing I love from an overall standpoint in regards to cooking is a good "All day" cook. Whether it be starting in the early morning firing up the smoker for a warm Spring/Summer day, or prepping a good pot roast, chilli, stew, or soup in the colder months. There's just something about those long cooks that I really enjoy. Getting all the ingredients out over morning coffee and light breakfast (Being in it for the long hall, I'm particularly partial to slipping a little bourbon in said coffee to start off right lol. Hell I'm not going anywhere.) Cooking things in steps. Creating waves of scents throughout the house as the dish comes together. It obviously sucks when you put the time and effort into something like that and it comes out bad. But the reward far outweighs that when it's good.

Anyone have a good "Sunday Sauce" recipe? I can make a pretty good meat sauce for spaghetti in the short term. But one thing I'm missing in my cooking repertoire is a good all day pasta sauce. I have nothing against the jarred stuff. I use it all the time, and will continue to. But nothing beats nice fresh cut ingredients and a homemade sauce.

I was hesitant about it at first when I heard about it. But figured, what the hell. It's interesting because it adds a different texture. The surface of the avocado gets this like almost crunchy texture to it while the rest stays in that nice soft form. Yeah, peppers would be good. Or salsa.

I typically break the ears of corn in half, wrap in foil with butter, salt, pepper, and Old Bay and put them over direct for about 10 mins or so and then move them to the upper grill shelf while waiting for anything else to finish up. Comes out good.

Another way to do corn when you can't grill, and are more concerned about flavor than the healthy aspect lol...

Boil a pot of water you can fit the corn into. Add a cup of milk, a stick of butter, and your corn. Cook for about 20mins or so, it's very forgiving on time so if you go a bit longer it's not too bad. But keep an eye on it because too long can make it soggy.

Something I recently tried and really liked. If you're a fan of avocados give this a shot...

Split the avocado, leaving the skin on and discarding the pit. Use a brush and put a light glaze of olive oil inside the avocados, season with some salt, pepper, and anything else you'd like. On the tail end of a grilling session, put the avocados over direct heat, rinds facing up. Cook for a few minutes, checking frequently. Pull off when hot and you get some nice grill marks. Scoop a mix of diced tomato and minced garlic into the avocado like it's a bowl. Add cheese if you'd like. Comes out delicious.

I wish I liked ribs more. Lots of fun to cook but I'd just rather have something else. I don't not like them, I just don't love them

I was a bit hesitant. Only because it was my first time smoking them. Ribs can be tricky and turn folks off simply because really good ones will set your expectations up really high, but bad ones can ruin them forever lol.

Sunday was a success!

Did a 6lb pork butt and a rack of ribs on the smoker. Ended up taking about 7hrs for the butt on the smoker and an hour rest, and about 5.5hrs on the ribs. Both came out fantastic. Threw some beans with bacon and sausage in the crock pot, wife made baked mac n cheese, cornbread, and we had some cake for dessert. A couple hours after arriving, dad and FIL were on separate couches in BBQ comas. Leftovers made for a very tasty lunch yesterday.

I'm thinking I should anticipate about 9-10hrs for a 6.5lb butt right? After trimming It'll probably be closer to 6lbs. Part of me wants to try doing some foil at around 150-160 to try and halt the stall the best I can. But at the same time, I'd kinda rather just push through so I can get a nice bark.

Gonna give it close to a full 24hrs salt brine. Put together a good rub. I like a nice blend of salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, a little cayenne, and some Old Bay usually. And plan on giving it the occasional spray of apple juice.

From what I've been reading, I should anticipate about 5-6hrs for the ribs. Sound about right? Most likely going with St. Louis ribs.

So I'm nixing the brisket plan. Time constraints are gonna make that too hard to make happen. Gonna do a pork butt and some ribs instead. Found a nice 6.5 pounder at Aldi (I seriously can't praise that store enough, not as much for meat but just generally), gonna look for the best deal I can on some ribs today. Wife is making baked mac and cheese, I think I'm going to put some beans in the crock pot with some thick bacon, and grab some slaw if I don't make some myself. I think I might try and make those bourbon slushes. That sounds awesome!

I'll be the first one to tell you that I'm not "learned up" enough on guns to make significant statements on the finer details of the discussion as a whole. Just a disclaimer.

It's my understanding that the "Gun show loophole" is just a reference to the private sale of firearms and its lack of regulation. I know In circles favoring gun control it gets used regularly as a point on "Easy access". But that's about it. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

It's kind of like the tobacco industry, or the alcohol industry. You cannot expect them to police themselves, it's not in their interest. Their only interest is in selling as much product as possible, protecting themselves for liability law suits, and fighting the government when it tries to restrict them in any way.

Understood. Like I said, I know there's a conflict of interest at play. I tend to always try and look at things to figure out a way to have the federal government intervene as little as possible IF possible. That's my motivation here. What's gotta be done has gotta be done though and something has to give here somehow.

I am curious though, in that light, how much the NRA actually spends towards lobbying politicians, legal fees, and other costs attributed to preventing govt regulation in comparison to what it would cost to comes up with such a regulatory system that could appease requirements of what folks tend to refer to as "Common Sense Gun Regulation". I feel like it would have to be a substantial difference.

Are you seriously asking if the most powerful lobbying organization in the US has any influence on regulations?

Lol I should've worded that better. No. I'm well aware of that.

I was talking about from a privatized perspective. Not government regulations. My thought is along the lines of, you don't want the government intervening and altering the Constitutional rights of American citizens through govt regulation? Fine. Develop a private regulatory system with checks and balances that can prove you can do it yourself.

That's why I brought up the ESRB. I thought it to be at least some semblance of an example of what I'm talking about.

Obvious? How?  It seems intuitive, but I've seen studies showing gun control reducing violence. This is the old proving a negative. Do visible guns and lots of them stop violence... if they do we won't know because there was no incident. We only know when it goes horribly wrong.

That's one that I struggle with often. The whole, "Give them all guns, and no one shoots anyone!" argument. I think the theory is worth consideration. But I also think the stakes of the implementation of something like that are pretty high. The thing that kinda deters me on it though is some of the stories that come out regarding dummies shooting people for the absolutely dumbest of reasons. Now, granted most of those stories come from a limited sample size since they tend to be parts of sensationalized arguments for one thing or another. On one hand, there may be no headlines at all. But on the other, much heavier hand, you could often see headlines like "15 Dead In 15-way Shooting"

My personal contribution to the discussion goes something like this. I believe that it is our Constitutional right to own firearms and that should continue. But I don't think anything gets done here without some kind of compromise. Personally, I think there's something to the notion that "A good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun", at least for the most part. So I think one way to expound on that would be to develop some kind of incentivized training initiatives. Folks are gonna buy AR-15s? FIne, but learn how to use the damn thing first. Maybe not require it by law, but come up with something to make it almost a no brainer to do it. Maybe tax breaks or other incentives for the sellers to implement training to new customers.

I also would like to see something changed in regards to the "Gun show Loophole". I don't have a problem with private sellers/sales. But something's gotta give there. Don't know what. But something.

Also, forgive me for not being very informed on this one. But does the NRA, or any other large entity play any part in actual regulation of any kind? I wonder because if the main argument regarding gun control, from myself included, involves being against federal government regulation of firearms in the light of maintaining Constitutional rights, would it be possible to create a private system of regulation? Something like the ESRB for video games? A firearm self-regulatory board of some kind? I understand the possible conflict of interest here, but I also don't believe it to be impossible for something to exist that could help in providing some transparency.

Also, one thing that I've always thought to be something that doesn't help gun enthusiast's case is the ads for guns and related products. So many of these things are geared towards what would seem to be exactly the kind of thing that plays into the Anti-gun crowd arguments about the use of guns. Camo print, military themes, and action movie style ads that seemingly all but say the product is for you to buy and destroy things or shoot people lol. And that's fine I guess, but I just don't think it does much along the lines of helping provide a representation of the responsible gun owner.

Might have to make my way out to the ES tailgate at some point this year. My cousin who I go with regularly will be missing most games due to basic training and other Marine activities so I'm sure I'll end up a "Lone Wolf" at least once this season. I'll bring a batch of my steak rolls.

Honestly?

I wouldn't try out your first smoked brisket your parents. Briskets take a long, long time and, without fail,end up taking a couple of hours longer than you anticipate. No use having the folks starve

I suggest pork ribs, as they are much more manageable, time-wise, or steaks. Do a couple of briskets on your own, and get them down. If you must do a brisket, get that thing in the smoker, real, real early. Super early. Better done early, as it'll keep for hours in the cambri. Skip the mop. There's little benefit and, every time you lift the lid, and mop, it adds to the cooking time. Foiling does help muscle through the stall. JMHO.

Lol My thought was that it might be a more forgiving audience But then again, dad can be quite the critic.

I was thinking that since I have the cooking surface space, I might throw something in with it just in case the brisket doesn't come out as I want it to. Thinking if I can find a small Boston Butt I might do that since AmazingRibs calls for a cook temp for low and slow around 225 with some margin for error on the high end. Figuring if I can keep a temp between 225-240 throughout I can pull it off. But considering that my wife is making mac and cheese and I was thinking of doing doing some kind of slow cook beans, we might be alright in the having plenty of food department.

Yeah, I'm already mentally preparing myself for the time factor. Planning to be up pretty much at the crack of dawn to get it started. Firing up the smoker no later than 6am. Planning on allotting myself at least 10-12hrs or so to allow for margin for error.

This is all the ideal, perfect world plan. Obviously there will be some curveballs in there. I'm looking at it with the "Never know if you don't try" just go after it type attitude. Figure the absolute worst case scenario is a brisket that isn't very good. Lol and honestly, I'd take a mediocre brisket over a whole lot of great other meals.

I used the amazingribs recipe and it came out great. As I said above, took longner than I thought and I'm glad li read about the stall because that could really catch you off guard.

Yeah, I think that's a part that I'm most concerned about outside of drying the beef out. I plan to "Crutch" once I hit 150 or so with a little beef broth.

Haven't made the mods yet. So no update on that.

I am however planning on doing a brisket myself this weekend for Father's Day. Having my parents over. I've done them in the oven and had them come out good. But this will be my first smoked brisket. Any tips to know specifically? Planning to go by a recipe on Amazing Ribs or BBQ Bible most likely. I plan to mop. And I plan to have a feaux Cambrio set up and ready.

Yeah, I do have to concede that. Long commute myself which makes it tough to manage the time to do charcoal grilling. Lol If I didn't enjoy it as much as I did I wouldn't try so hard to find the time. It's hard enough carving out the time to prep food for cooking, let alone that AND prep a fire so I'll be able to cook.

Just tossed a couple of pork loins on the grill.  Seasoned them with the Weber Steak 'N Chop dry rub.  Tossed some hickory chunks over the coals, seared them nicely and now they are indirect cooking until they are ready.  

 

Gonna eat them with some grilled corn, green beans and a baked potato.  Man I'm loving this new charcoal grill.

I understand the convenience of the gas grills. Always have. But I just couldn't do it. I love the charcoal flavor more than anything but I also enjoy the process and possibilities. Some folks would rather just step out, throw some burgers on, turn off the grill and call it a day. I get that. To me, there's just something fun about doing it "the old fashioned way". It's more labor intensive. But definitely a labor of love.

My wife and I were watching Anthony Bourdain the other night (love his shows), and he was somewhere they were doing pit BBQ. They were showing the process and the guy was talking about the long nights/really early mornings and work involved with running one of those true BBQ pits and some of the big competition rigs. My wife agreed almost instantly when I told her that I would love to do that.

Last night, I broke up a few Steak-umm's in a skillet, cooked with some onions and topped with cheese, then stuffed into a pocket pita. 

 

Steak-in-a-sack.

I love Steak-Umms. Have you tried the Walmart (Great Value) brand version? I actually like them better since it's compressed shaved steak instead of a flat piece. More versatile that way.

I can never find beef ribs as meaty as the ones they serve at the BBQ place. Must be special order. If you're in west Texas (or thereabouts) beef ribs and brisket are the bellwether of a BBQ place.  Pork is an aside.  

 

The skinny ones I can buy at the store are suitable for grilling but they dry out when you attempt to smoke them.  They're good on the grill though, and always a major treat for the dogs.  

That's what I feared/figured. I've grilled them and they've been great. Especially the boneless ones. But smoking seems like it might be lot of time and energy only for them to end up dry.

A few guys, on one of my BBQ boards, swears by the gaskets found here:  http://bbqgaskets.com/

The Lavalock self stick is what I'm planning to get. Hoping to get it this week. Going to try a local hardware store or two to see if they have it so I can put it on and let it set before the weekend. Planning on either a pork butt, or maybe some country ribs on Saturday for the USA vs Paraguay game.

Speaking of which, are the beef country ribs, bone in or out, worth the time to smoke? I've grilled them before and they've been great. Wondering if I should just stick to that, or give marinating and smoking them a try.

First time slow smoking on an upright charcoal grill over the weekend. Piece of cake. Came out great and a 10.5 lb pork shoulder was gone in about an hour.

We had a whole salmon and had it raw, slow smoked, grilled, and cold smoked over the weekend. Tossed in some fresh green onions and sweet basil along the way. Really hard to beat fresh salmon.

Salmon is one that I love to grill. I have a couple cedar planks that I love to use when I can. Haven't tried smoking it yet though. Definitely plan to try soon.

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...

The self stick Nomex Is my plan. I was considering the silicone sealant, but I figure I'll try the gasket first. Been reading on a few sites about COS (Cheap offset smoker) issues, and smoke/heat leaks at the lid is usually the first one to come up. It's due to cheap design more than anything else. The real expensive ones either already come with gaskets or they are designed specifically to be pretty air tight. This is why offset smokers tend to be a pretty debated topic in the BBQ community. Some swear by them, others hate them.

In regards to the heat source, I'm working on it. My first smoke, I got a little too happy with adding wood chunks and got the oversmoked taste y'all are talking about. Mainly because I started trying to compensate for lost smoke. So for my next cook, I went by Zoony's advice and thought less about smoke and more about heat and laid off the chunks a bit. Just used a couple here and there. I started with a full chimney of coals and then added as I saw fit along the way. Which technically SHOULD be enough to get up to the 300 range or so, but I was maxing out at about 235. I keep an oven thermometer inside near where the firebox meets the cooking chamber by the meat to try and get a somewhat accurate reading of where it is where I'm cooking and I just couldn't get the right heat. Next time, I plan to try the "Minion Method" and lay a bed of coals down in the firebox, and then start a chimney. Put the hot coals in, and let them heat the bed of coals already in and see how it works out.

Yeah. I'll have my meat in the cooking chamber and use the firebox for indirect. I'm leaking on the cooking chamber side. Smoke and heat pours out where the lid closes. Leaking a lot less where the firebox meets the cooking chamber surprisingly enough. But I still plan to put a line of sealant there.

JP, can you post a pic of your set-up?  

Tried to post a picture of mine in action where you can actually see the smoke leaking out the lid but the file was too big. But this is it.

I'm not very familiar with your smoker but I think you want to make sure the smoke has a good escape up top. If you seal it up too much I think you end up with a lot of bitter smokes

Good luck though let us know how it turns out. Wish I could offer some help

It's a pretty standard cheap offset. One of those Home Depot $200 setups. It has potential, and I really like it. Huge barrel style cooking surface with a removable upper shelf. Decent material. Adjustable coal height in the cooking chamber, grates in the firebox for small grilling during a smoke, coal trays with grates in the chamber and firebox to avoid direct coal to barrel contact, which is removable in the firebox for quick cleanup between smokes.

I love the grill/smoker combo factor of it. It's nice being able to come home from work in the evening, throw a few coals on and grill up dinner for my wife and I on a weeknight, and then be able to load up the firebox and do a pork butt or brisket on a Saturday afternoon without needing two separate units taking up space on my already small back deck (I'm in a townhouse).

So far I've smoked a London Broil and a beer can chicken. They came out okay minus any issues I've noted here. But my reasoning for the mods have come from noticing that on those cooks, the heat was uneven in the cook chamber, and I had leaks around the lid. Causing me to have to keep an extra close eye on my temps.