Tyrus,

Here's something that might interest you: our Costcos here in KC are now selling Kiolbassa Texas sausagewhich is some of the best sausage I've ever had in my life, let alone best Texas sausage. If it isn't in the Twin City Costcos, maybe it's to be found in Chicagoland. It is *fantastic* stuff!

Geo

Thanks Geo. I'll look for it!

Who knew it was going to be so cold today!


Using a combo of hickory and applewood to smoke a pork butt for dinner tonight.

I was at Gene's on Belmont by Laramie and peering into their pork case was some nice spare ribs that caught my eye. I looked a little more and saw a cryovac package. Looks like the product is from Indiana Kitchen. Was 1.49 a lb, which is hard to believe.

Anyone ever use Indiana Kitchen pork products?

http://indianakitchen.com/

Gene's Sausage
5330 W. Belmont
Chicago
http://www.genessausageshop.com/

saw these ceramic briquettes "infused" with hickory. anyone ever use them and are they even worth trying in a gas grill? http://imgur.com/DwbubmT

kenji wrote:saw these ceramic briquettes "infused" with hickory. anyone ever use them and are they even worth trying in a gas grill? http://imgur.com/DwbubmT

I don't think I would be tempted to try. It seems to me that if they gave off any kind of scent, it would be gone in the first couple hours of use and then they're just plain ceramic rocks. Hickory is easy enough to come by around here and easy enough to use whether you're cooking on charcoal or gas.

Just the thing for smoking seitan ribs.

Invited a few neighbors over for a Memorial Day BBQ. Minneapolis does not have a strong BBQ culture so people get excited about smoked meat. I did three slabs of baby backs, some hot Italian sausage and a 7.75lb brisket flat. This is the first time I tried sand in the water pan and it worked pretty well. I did have one problem though. The brisket was on the bottom rack of the WSM and after about 8 hours, I foiled it. It was good and moist except the bottom was overcooked and burned. I had to slice down to the hard, burnt part and shred it off from there. A bit annoying. May not be a problem with water in the pan or brisket on the top but I'm guessing the heat from the sand keeps thing much hotter for anything on the bottom rack. Has anyone had this issue?

Tyrus-yes sand in the pan was most likely the issue. I always used sand back when i used to cook on WSMs and had the same issue on briskets from time to time. I either rotated to the top rack or else laids down some of the trimmed briskets fat on the bottom rack before cooking

Tyrus-

I had the same issues when using sand instead of water in the pan on my WSM.
I have learned that water works well for me even in single digit weather. With sand in the pan it was hard to maintain a consistent temp and the smoker was running hot.

I was in need of charcoal, and I almost always use Royal Oak which I have always purchased from Joseph's on Addison (convenient because it's generally on my way home from work). But I found myself in need of charcoal, away from the office, and without knowledge of any Royal Oak supplier on the north side of the city.

I've never been thrilled with the Cowboy brand, and I think Whole Foods' brand is also made by Cowboy. But I ended up purchasing Grove Brand charcoal from Treasure Island and I have to say I was pretty thrilled with the product. Easy to light, a very clean smoke with almost no ash and no off flavors, and I was able to maintain a good 7-hour plus smoke in the 225 degree range.

The end result was a little more than 15 pounds of pulled pork which I smoked for about 14 hours with a combination of cherry and oak, served with a vinegar-based slaw, my own version of a western North Carolina bbq sauce and honey-glazed cornbread. 25 happy mouths went home happy (and of course some leftovers for me).

BR wrote:But I ended up purchasing Grove Brand charcoal from Treasure Island and I have to say I was pretty thrilled with the product. Easy to light, a very clean smoke with almost no ash and no off flavors, and I was able to maintain a good 7-hour plus smoke in the 225 degree range.

It rates pretty highly at NakedWhiz.com, too.

NakedWhiz.com wrote:As for burntime, this charcoal set a new Whiz world record, burning longer than any charcoal we have ever tested. Longer than Brassiero, longer than Kamado extruded coconut. The ash produced in our test burn was very low.

It earned a "Recommended" rating there.

=R=

I use the Grove lump pretty regularly. 20lb. Bags are like $10 at Woodmans in North Aurora.

Grove has been solid, similar performance to RO lump, I wouldn't be shocked if it is a rebadge or not.

Homemade smoked knackwurst.

Dr Shoebocks--

Very pretty! Recipe, pls!

Geo

Pretty simple.
I used pork butt, but traditionally this would be a mix of pork and veal.
Spices:
salt, pepper, mace, paprika, coriander, allspice, and a touch of cayenne.

grind the meat and spices. I let it sit for an hour or so after that.
add dried milk powder and in this case beer.
process in the food processor or about 30 seconds or so ( I did this part in baches).

Stuff into hog casings

Smoked with charcoal and cherry for about 2 hours or so
cooled down immediately

I am giving out samples all day at my shop and serving this at an event today from 5-8. 1913 N. Milwaukee.

Last nights chicken that was smoked on the BGE

Turkey for Halloween? Why yes!

Natural bird, about 12 lbs (Fresh Farms Wheeling, it was partially defrosted when I bought it on Tuesday, still some ice in the cavity when I started brining it on Friday). Brined overnight (2 gal water, 2 cups salt, 1 cup brown sugar, fistful of peppercorns and a few tbs of Parisian Seasonings I had in the spice cabinet), dried from 8am to noon. Stuffed with a quartered onion, rubbed with oil, and a mixture of garlic, ginger, turmeric, coriander, ancho powder and cumin -- I was going for a curry flavor, but it didn't come through at all -- it had a hard time sticking (I shouldn't have used fresh garlic and ginger).

Smoke-roasted (no water pan, just a drip pan, ran about 300F) with cherry wood for about three hours (165 in the thigh, 160 in the breast) - perfectly moist. Nine people left just about a pound and a half of meat plus the drumsticks. Because of some flare-ups, I was worried the drippings pan was too burnt for gravy, so I didn't scrape out the dripping pan and only used what was loose. Sauteed some shallot and diced up the giblets in a bit of the drippings, added the rest and some flour, then chicken stock and a bit more of the parisian seasoning and it came out very rich and smoky, like I'd made it with bacon.

At that higher-than-smoker temp, the skin renders down very nicely, but doesn't quite get crispy (perhaps if I'd remembered to put salt in my rub, d'oh), but otherwise, I can't think of a reason to oven-roast a turkey when this is so nearly foolproof.

So Sunday I turned the carcass, plus about 3/4 lb each of chicken necks and feet into broth (carrot, celery, onion and a little tomato paste roasted in the oven, bay leaves, fresh thyme, and that's it). This morning, the chilled broth is wonderfully jiggly. I scraped the fat off the top (dog is very thankful for the tablespoon she got), and have what looks like six or so quarts of brothy goodness.

It's a bit on the smoky side, so it may not be useful for saucing as a typical stock... but I thought about the soups I'd make, and how few don't have bacon or other smokiness added to them, and realized that all is well with the world.

Literally in Hog Heaven yesterday. Thanks to ?Steve? for his work on this. First picture is not of the event.

http://imgur.com/a/FUkHz

I am looking for a system to smoke with real wood in the oven or perhaps a nice smoker that would exhaust out an apartment window.

Hiya,

I am a novice smoker compared to some of the heavyweights on this forum but I've been practicing with my new Weber bullet and I've just started turning out some good results. Last weekend I smoked up some Walkerswood jerk chicken and chuck roast for lunch sandwiches this week.

Jerk wings:


Jerk drumsticks and chuck roast:


All done:




Walkerswood was great as always, but I feel like the last few bottles I bought have gotten steadily hotter. It used to have a pleasant mellow burn but I was really sweating when I ate this chicken. Chuck roast was a little dry hot off the smoker, but when I sliced it and steamed it pastrami-style it made pretty good sandwiches. Next time I’ll try a foil wrap for the last couple hours so it steams itself while cooking.

eating while walking wrote:
Walkerswood was great as always, but I feel like the last few bottles I bought have gotten steadily hotter. It used to have a pleasant mellow burn but I was really sweating when I ate this chicken.

Those are some mighty nice lookin' wings. Walkerswood is my go-to if I'm not making my own paste. I've tried a few other brands normally found next to it on the shelves, but Walkerswood has bested them by a longshot in my trials so far. If you are using the "seasoning" in the the short, squat jar, it comes in mild and hot. Mild is still kickin' for a lot of folks. Just a thought - perhaps you had a mild jar before?

seebee wrote:

eating while walking wrote:
Walkerswood was great as always, but I feel like the last few bottles I bought have gotten steadily hotter. It used to have a pleasant mellow burn but I was really sweating when I ate this chicken.

Those are some mighty nice lookin' wings. Walkerswood is my go-to if I'm not making my own paste. I've tried a few other brands normally found next to it on the shelves, but Walkerswood has bested them by a longshot in my trials so far. If you are using the "seasoning" in the the short, squat jar, it comes in mild and hot. Mild is still kickin' for a lot of folks. Just a thought - perhaps you had a mild jar before?

Pretty sure I've only used the spicy version before. Maybe it mellows out as it sits in the fridge.

Spicy or mild, I really love the product. I usually mix the paste with a little cider vinegar and fresh thyme to get it just right. I haven't been able to make a jerk rub that good from scratch, so if you have a good recipe I'd like to hear it.

eating while walking wrote:I haven't been able to make a jerk rub that good from scratch, so if you have a good recipe I'd like to hear it.

I love the Walkerswood, too. My "recipe" is in this thread. (I put recipe in quotes because I rarely do it exactly the same way twice, and I eyeball all the ingredients. That said, that recipe should have correct amounts on it. If you want to use the sauce on its own, you might want to pull back on the salt, but as a paste for the chicken, that amount of salt works just right for me.) I tend to use whole knob or green onions, green & white parts, for the 1 red onion in there, but the recipe is pretty flexible. Just hit the combo of capsicum chinense, allspice, and a touch of thyme and you're good to go.

Thanks, Binko . Your 'recipe', since you posted it, is the basis for at least 20 rounds of jerk chicken on the grill for me. I highly recommend it for anyone else.

lougord99 wrote:Thanks, Binko . Your 'recipe', since you posted it, is the basis for at least 20 rounds of jerk chicken on the grill for me. I highly recommend it for anyone else.

Glad you're enjoying it! It's one of the most requested dishes of mine for those who like it hot. And, like I said, it's very flexible. Another variation I do sometimes is use sour/bitter orange juice (Goya's Naranja Agria) for the lime juice. My version is a pretty heavy on the allspice, so you may want to cut it by half, but I like it pretty allspice-y, as it cuts through the heat pretty well. If I dialed down the heat, I'd dial down the allspice a bit. And, as I mentioned in that thread, it's also worth holding a bit of the paste back and cutting it about 50-50 with ketchup to use as a dipping sauce/barbecue jerk sauce. I also don't normally like sugar, but the brown sugar component does add another layer of flavor to the heat, and works well with the allspice, too. I've tried it without the sugar, and it just wasn't as balanced to me. I like BR's suggestion later in the thread about adding Worcestershire sauce. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds perfect for the flavors. Lots of room for experimentation.

Independence weekend party:
For four couples, I smoked three racks of baby backs (Low and Slow lesson 3), seven andouille sausages from Fresh Thyme,, and eight Anaheim chiles stuffed with fresh mozzarella, quinoa pilaf and soy chorizo (one of our group I'd vegetarian). My diners disappointed me, there's a lot of testy leftovers.

For the weekend of the 4th I did a couple decent sized dinners (for about 20 or so people). For the last few weeks I've been basing all my dinner choices on which teams are playing in the World Cup that day, so I ended up grilling/roasting/smoking German and Argentinian dinners.

For Germany I went with a Schwenker for roasting pork and sausages over an oak fire



I got a selection of sausage from Paulina, and then also cooked a lot Schwenk-braten (basically pork loin with a lot of onion and garlic).



For Argentina I did a few rounds of different beef cuts starting over a hot oak fire, and then roasting over the same fire at about 250-300. They turned out pretty well!

Attrill,

I never heard of a Schwenker until just recently. Did you make it, buy it or a bit of both?

At a recent Culinary Historians meeting, the speaker's husband was a carpenter by trade. He took a metal soldering class with his first project a schwenker.

She also described a lamb cooking method I am interested to try. They drilled a hole in a leg of lamb near the foot, then inserted some heavy twine. This was tied above (no idea on how high) and a fire circled the lamb leg. They would twist the twine then allow it to rotate back and forth in this ring of fire. When it stopped, they twisted again. This would carry one for 90 minutes or so, until this lamb was cooked.

Regards,

I've probably made a few dozen schwenkers at this point. They can be as simple or complicated as you want them to be. I can see how they would be a great project for anyone starting out in metalworking. Usually I weld together a tripod head for the top that can be attached to black pipe, conduit, or rebar, and then use store bought fittings and chain for the rigging.

The one in the picture above is a bit different than the ones I usually make. The stand in that one was given to me that day by a friend who was the blacksmith for the Lewis and Clark re-enactors group. He smithed that stand as one of his demonstration projects during the voyage.

One of the schwenkers I made earlier this year was for Chiditarod. As far as I know it is the only mobile schwenker in existence.