Attrill--I'd love to see the results of a collaboration between you and Laikom--it could change the mobile food prep landscape for the world!

Attrill wrote:As far as I know it is the only mobile schwenker in existence.

Given the banner quote is Oh man, the burden of having a sense of humor... I'm going to keep my response limited to....very cool cooker.

I'd also agree with Jen, a collaboration between you and Laikom would yield a cooker Rube Goldberg would marvel at and interesting tasty eats.

Speaking of smoking.......

Bacon hot off the smoker. 6-day cure, 12-hour air dry in the fridge, 180ish smoker temp to 155 internal. Cure included maple syrup and Szechuan peppercorn.

G Wiv wrote:

I'll bring the eggs!

G Wiv wrote:Bacon hot off the smoker. 6-day cure, 12-hour air dry in the fridge, 180ish smoker temp to 155 internal. Cure included maple syrup and Szechuan peppercorn.

Love me some home made bacon!

What is that foreign substance near the eggs and bacon?! Get that healthy $hit out of there!

That bacon looks flippin delicious.

Just put together my WSM last night. I'm about to start chapter 2 of Mr. GWiv's "Low and Slow" tonight. I'm REALLY looking forward to a proper education on smokin' some meat! (Pics will be shared....)

One concern I have is the WSM. The bottom rack (not the charcoal rack) is wobbly - it doesn't sit right. The top rack was a tight fit to get into place - actually had to struggle to get it in place.

The question I have is: do I have a warped WSM? Is this going to make a difference in the long run?

Any advice is appreciated.

walrus wrote:The question I have is: do I have a warped WSM? Is this going to make a difference in the long run?

It does sound like you might have a bent center section. Use the gap around the top grate to gauge the roundness. It should be pretty easy to bend back by wrapping your, um, flippers around it and hugging. You'll definitely want to do this before your trial run as it will get gunky.
Which size WSM did you get?

BrendanR wrote:Which size WSM did you get?

I went with the 22.5 because I want to be able to smoke a turkey(s) and plenty of butts.

Thanks for the advice. I'll give it an ol' bear hug a'la Andre the Giant or Big John Studd tonight and see if I can get it to submit.

First smoke should be Saturday afternoon.

Gary, that bacon looks amazing. My problem with cooking at home is that I can't control myself. I eat so much more when I cook my own food, that it's actually safer (quantity wise) to eat out. If I make dough for pizza, I'll try to make a couple of pizzas out of it and eat them both. For now, I'll settle for Nueske by the pound and take it a little slower.

First smoke on the WSM went okay, I guess. The results were delicious, but the WSM center section and/or grates and/or lid are too far out of whack.

A call into Weber this morning and I have to send the photos of the problem(s) and they'll send out a replacement.

All that written, lesson 1 of "Low & Slow" went well. I'm looking forward to getting the WSM issues squared away and starting lesson 2. The goal is to have a pork shoulder and Joseph's "eye-talian sasij" working for the Bears season opener. Maybe some ADTs, as well.

This weekend was smoke-filled, as I continued my L&S lessons. Ribs and pork shoulder courtesy of Joseph's Finest Meats. I was happy with the results, as were our guests, but I know I have a lot of work left to do.

6# Shoulder - 4 Hours In



Ribs & ADTs Join the Party



Polpettino - Too Tired For Low & Slow



Liquid Farm Rose - aka "Pink Crack" - GREAT with BBQ



Ribs Prepped for the Table (terrible pic)



(Terrible) Close-up



Sunday's Smoke - Joseph's Finest Italian (mild)

Put the WSM in the garage over the weekend - probably only used it a handfull of times this summer - I tend to use my 2 Weber kettles alot more.

Rarely tackle ribs on the kettle, didnt want to waste the fuel for 1 rack in the WSM.

Rubbed with creole mustard and Magic Dust I tweaked with some addtional flavors.

Cooked using lump, hickory and cherry. pretty dang good rack.




mopped em with a mix of apple juice, cider vinegar, etc.



fin:

Nice lookin' ribs, Jim! Did they cook a lot quicker on the kettle as opposed to the WSM?

stevez wrote:Nice lookin' ribs, Jim! Did they cook a lot quicker on the kettle as opposed to the WSM?

thanks steve. becoming a fan of "wet" ribs after Nashville.

took about the same time. a little over 4 hours. I really had to choke down the fire to keep the kettles temps down. I had the bottom vents pretty much closed all the way to hold approx 250- 275 degrees.

How many times did you have to open the kettle to deal with fuel?

I finally got a rig that will give me 10 hours at 230 degrees on 4-5 bucks of fuel early this Summer:

http://i.imgur.com/U1syPnQ.jpg

kenji wrote:How many times did you have to open the kettle to deal with fuel?

I finally got a rig that will give me 10 hours at 230 degrees on 4-5 bucks of fuel early this Summer:

http://i.imgur.com/U1syPnQ.jpg

I had to add a little lump at the end so I could get some char.

Guessing I used the equivilent of 1/3 of a 18.5" wsm ring worth of fuel.

After the 1st hour I did start mopping the ribs on the hour -

I used probably 20 briquettes - about 7 lit and a base of about 15 along the edge of the kettle furthest from the meat. I put unlit RO lump spread on top of the unlit briquettes with mixed with some chips I had. The lit coals slowly snaked from left to right and lit the rest of the banked unlit fuel over time. There was enough air to have the bottom vents closed but a crack and the top vents wide open. Past time when I tried ribs on the kettle I started out with too many lit coals and had too hot of a cooker.

Meatopia is going on in London today.

Youse guys will appreciate the website and some photos:

Meatopia is a festival of meat, drink, fire and music invented 9 years ago in the USA by acclaimed food writer and journalist Josh Ozersky. The concept is a simple one; amazing and original meat-based dishes using high quality sustainably farmed meat, cooked over wood or charcoal by top chefs and served in taster portions to allow you to try as many as possible.

http://www.meatopia.co.uk/

37 images in one imgur.com gallery. Some of the equipment used and some of the supplies are interesting. There's a bucket of tubular charcoal fuel. What the heck is that?

http://imgur.com/a/AcMc7

kenji wrote:37 images in one imgur.com gallery. Some of the equipment used and some of the supplies are interesting. There's a bucket of tubular charcoal fuel. What the heck is that?

Extruded briquettes.
It looks like a really well-run event.
I like the shot of the 4 WSMs doing what they do best and the brick ovens from the Pynt team near the end.

That gallery page about crashed my whole PC, though.

the tubular charcoal is coconut husk charcoal. Great stuff, I've purchased it locally at Ziers in Wilmette

mhill95149 wrote:the tubular charcoal is coconut husk charcoal. Great stuff, I've purchased it locally at Ziers in Wilmette

Agreed. That's where I get it, too.

=R=

Thanks about the coconut husk, found this here all about that kind of charcoal:

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=28969

Wonder what it costs up in Wilmette? I've been using Cowboy lump that I get two blocks away at the Crafty Beaver. Not the cheapest at 14 bucks for an 18lb bag but two blocks away and I'm shopping local, I figure what the heck.

kenji wrote:Thanks about the coconut husk, found this here all about that kind of charcoal:

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=28969

Wonder what it costs up in Wilmette? I've been using Cowboy lump that I get two blocks away at the Crafty Beaver. Not the cheapest at 14 bucks for an 18lb bag but two blocks away and I'm shopping local, I figure what the heck.

The extruded coconut logs are not inexpensive but they burn hot, long and clean, so they're still a good value (you can call Zier's and ask about the price: 847-251-4000). I've never seen them anywhere other than Zier's locally but I'm guessing they're out there somewhere. I've never tried the briquettes shown in the other thread so I cannot say how they compare.

=R=

hard to beat 40lbs of lump from Berger bros just south of Division on Cherry St for $22

There's an app for pitmasters!

"Track Everything Replace that notebook and track everything in your cooks such as cookers, foods, temps, cook adjustments, rubs, sauces, marinades, brines and more!"

http://www.bbqpad.com/about

ronnie_suburban wrote:

kenji wrote:Thanks about the coconut husk, found this here all about that kind of charcoal:

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=28969

Wonder what it costs up in Wilmette? I've been using Cowboy lump that I get two blocks away at the Crafty Beaver. Not the cheapest at 14 bucks for an 18lb bag but two blocks away and I'm shopping local, I figure what the heck.

The extruded coconut logs are not inexpensive but they burn hot, long and clean, so they're still a good value (you can call Zier's and ask about the price: 847-251-4000). I've never seen them anywhere other than Zier's locally but I'm guessing they're out there somewhere. I've never tried the briquettes shown in the other thread so I cannot say how they compare.

=R=

I was at the Williams Sonoma outlet here in CT a couple of weeks ago and they had the extruded charcoal in the summer clearance section. Everything on the rack was 70% off. Don't remember the price for the charcoal but picked up a nice bbq for mat for $15, and a tortilla press for $6.

Flip

Wendy's the hamburger chain has a pork sandwich now, and today they began what they hope will be huge BBQ marketing campaign based on their pork sandwich. anyone try one of these sandwiches yet?

Here's the website:

http://wendys.tumblr.com/tagged/cue

kenji wrote:Wendy's the hamburger chain has a pork sandwich now, and today they began what they hope will be huge BBQ marketing campaign based on their pork sandwich. anyone try one of these sandwiches yet?

Here's the website:

http://wendys.tumblr.com/tagged/cue

Based on the tv ad, in which one mope says he can identify a great bbq place if its sign has a pig in a hat playing banjo, I think I'll skip it.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote: I think I'll skip it.

=R=

oh jeeze, it's a 3 buck sandwich. You gotta try one. I enjoy when McRib shows up and have one or two during the promotions.

I'm an all-the-time omnivore.

Plus, ralph macchio and Alfonso ribeiro like it, so if eating one can help me master the Carlton or the crane kick, sign me the f up.