2012 BBQ, Grilling, and Smoking Thread

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Are those Cornish hens again?

I may have to try them on the grill. My mom used to cook those for us when my brother and I were kids, but I don't remember liking them much, but that could have been because they were baked.

Man, that brisket was so tender that it "wobbled" when I took it off the grill and placed it on a platter. 8 hours, which is less than usual, but it was a smaller brisket.

What's the yellow pasty stuff, and where did that awesome pot of beans go? My son was particularly eager to see the beans as served.

I've always grown up with potato salad like that. I didn't know what true potato salad tasted like until I was maybe ten or so. It's really good with extra mustard, especially with a little extra relish and boiled eggs.

I actually prefer my own potato salad to my wife's. I don't care for it when it has that "pasty" texture and prefer the potato pieces to be more separated and intact. It takes a little longer to do it that way, but it makes the salad better, IMHO.

We're friends with another married couple and the wife makes the best potato salad I've ever had. Whenever we get together, I demand that she make a batch. It's...sublime.

That's potato salad? Looks more like mash to me.

When I do a potato salad I use new potatoes and keep them pretty much in shape.

I also put bacon in it.

Trying my first spatchcocked chicken.

Better view.

This thread always makes me hungry!

My daughter wanted seafood for Christmas dinner.

Grilled shrimp.



Pasta with grilled lobster in alfredo sauce.

3am.

Why are you grilling at 3 AM?

I'm guessing this is one of those slower-cooked meals that one would need to get started early if it were needed by lunch.

Looks good though.

This.

We have guests coming over for lunch and the cook time for this pork shoulder is about 10 hours.

It ended up only taking eight hours to get done. So tender I had a hard time slicing it for our guests. I'm thinking the leftovers get turned into pulled pork sandwiches.

Okay, round three this Saturday. I think I'm zeroing in on the pork shoulders.

Two things I'm trying differently this time...

1. I'm doing two 4-5 lb shoulders instead of one 8-10 lb shoulder.

2. No More Lump Charcoal.

I used my Christmas Lowes gift card to get three bags of wood chunks instead of chips, and a butt ton of Kingsford briquettes. My plan is to use the wood chunks for the first 4 hours, and then switch to briquettes.

Question. When starting off, should I just throw some wood chunks into the chimney, or begin with a few briquettes to get everything heated up, and then start adding the wood?

The Hell? I was just checking out this excerpt from one of Myron Mixon's books. I noticed this. I've truncated with dotdotdots to show what I'm confused about.

So just Nineish hours at 250 to get an 18-20 pounder to 205 degrees internally???? Does that sound right? My math says that a shoulder that size should take twice that long at the very least.

That's written pretty...confusingly.

I usually do an 8-ish pound pork shoulder and it takes anywhere from 6-8 hours to get done.

As for the charcoal question, frontline would have a better answer because I don't use charcoal to smoke at all. I use oak logs.

I've been using my smoker somewhat often, and I've been doing the opposite of what you have.

I start with the briquettes to get a good hot bed going. I use alcohol to start the briquettes (90% or whatever is the highest) that way I don't get the starter fluid flavor. Once the briquettes are ready I start by using small pieces of wood to get a nice hot coal bed going. Once that's ready I'll put on the wood chunks and close the fire box to get the heat high and produce a good amount of smoke.

Then in the smoker I'll put some of the briquettes and coals from the smoker box to one side. This is to keep the heat around 250 or so, start with less than what you think you need. Close the lid and check temp, if you need more heat put some more coals from the firebox on it, if less heat open up the vent(s).

It takes about 20-30 minutes in my smoker to get the right heat and smoke going. And from there I'll just check it every 30-40 minutes to make sure the heat and smoke stay consistent.

If the firebox gets to cool I'll open the vents on it to let more air in. And before I start I try to line the vents up so if there is a breeze the breeze can stoke the firebox if needed by opening or closing the vents.

Here's the turkey I smoked for Thanksgiving.

I start with the briquettes and use a mix of Hickory and Oak logs. I do buy a bag of Hickory chips to start the fire though. You can see it in the turkey pic.

I would I use about 1/2 large bag to get the fire started and after that use only logs.

The best "smoking" happens when there's really not much visible smoke at all. It's tough to accomplish, but the meats that I've cooked on very low heat, without loads of smoke billowing everywhere, have been the best-tasting and most tender ones I've done.