Cooking With Fire

I love barbecue but seem to know very little about it! I cook lots indoors but haven't had much practice outdoors or with big meat

To make sure my next BBQ goes better than the last: What are your favourite places (websites, YouTube channels, blogs, etc) to get barbecue advice/knowledge/ideas/inspiration?

Alternatively: what are your best pieces of advice for BBQ novices? :)

Thanks in advance!

Happy Father's day y'all. To celebrate I am doing a 9ish lb boston butt on my vision smoker with hickory chips and oak charcoal. Its been on for about 4 hours so far. I have some wings waiting on this lovely hunk of flavor to get closer to done so I can pull it and wrap it before getting the chicken on.

The weather has been kind this weekend, so I cleaned the BBQ and made ribs & wings.

A free-range chicken, seasoned with paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, white pepper, and cayenne.

A can of a fairly mild IPA shoved up its fundament (about a third of the can decanted into me first to prevent boilover).

Cooked at about 180'C in a Kamado cooker for roughly an hour and a half. The photo was taken at about the one hour mark.

Served with a creamy mac and cheese and a sharp, homemade coleslaw.

A nice end to the summer!

Smash burgers. Fantastic.

The best burger I’ve ever had was the Green Chilli Cheese burger from Meat Liquor. No matter what I do, I can’t quite match that perfection. Has anyone come close?

https://meatliquor.com/

Seasoned and air dried in the fridge overnight, except the tandoori wings which marinaded in spices and yoghurt.

On the Kamado Joe at 120'C for half an hour.

Then I opened the vents up to get to about 200'C and flipped several times for about another half an hour.

Once they were done, I took them off to rest and quickly grilled a couple of hotdogs for The Boy.

Meanwhile, I made up Buffalo and BBQ sauce and tossed some wings in each.

Bonebowl.

It's been a busy few weeks. Other than grilling the occasional bratwurst, I haven't been able to do much.

We needed an easy dinner tonight, so my wife prepped some stuffed peppers and brought a fairly thick ribeye home. While she got the peppers ready, I salted the ribeye and let it hang out in the fridge while I got the grill started. Last time I posted a steak, Hossenfeffer suggested a reverse sear, so that's what I did.

I got the egg up to 350ish F because that's what the peppers needed. I put the heat deflector in and gave the peppers a 15 minute head start. Then I prepped the thermometer and set a target of 120F. It took about 15min, which was fortunate because that's how much longer the peppers needed.

I wasn't prepared for how hideous the steak looked after 15min, but I soldiered through the horror and let it rest in a foil tent while I pulled the (very hot) heat deflector out and opened the vents all the way. Once I hit about 575F I opened the grill and threw the steak back on for 30s a side.

I'm pretty happy with the results. The peppers (with a cooked filling of mushrooms, hazelnut, and goat cheese) turned out great and went really well with the steak. Definitely trying both again. Thanks for the suggestion!

The filet marinated overnight in a mix of HP sauce, soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce. The file was in sous vide in 50 C for just over three hours and finalised on the coal BBQ. The end result was great if just a bit over cooked for what I was aiming for.

tasty end result

If you're using a traditional charcoal grill or a barrel smoker like this one, I recommend using a charcoal chimney to get the party started. I fill mine 3/4 full of charcoal, then roll a couple of sheets of newspaper with a drop of vegetable oil and kind of wedge it under the chimney. Lights first time and gets the charcoals going quickly.

To add a little flavour to the smokiness, I used Jack Daniels barrel wood chips, bay leaves, and allspice berries soaked in water for an hour or so before the cook.

After the chicken temp hit about 65'C I took the chicken off the hooks, put the grill grate in and left the lid off to finish the chicken over a higher flame and get the skin a little more crispy.

Served with potato salad; red cabbage and pecan coleslaw; watermelon, mango, feta, cucumber, mint and basil salad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigos

We found out our oven wasn't working this evening and my wife really wanted bigos for dinner. Given that it's mostly about cooking pork and other fun stuff in a pot at 250F for 4 hours, we decided to fire up the green egg.

We didn't really follow a recipe, just chopped up pork, beets, potatoes, a head of cabbage, and an onion, added salt, and dumped it all in a pot. I got the grill up to temperature with the indirect heat plate installed and then just moved the pot onto the grill. Aside from stirring it a few times, I left it covered.

It was amazing. I have no idea what kind of vile tricks our oven used to fool us into thinking it can cook things properly, but the food stayed moist and developed a nice broth instead of charring onto the bottom of the pot like it usually does. That means that instead of chiseling sludge out of the pot, we had watermelon and relaxed on the patio!

I actually left the pot on the grill for a half hour longer than necessary because my wife hadn't gotten back yet and it still came out perfectly.

I can't wait to try other recipes like it. 10/10, would recommend.

Argentinian grilled chicken cooked over charcoal and wood, basil roasted baby potatoes, heart of palm and avacado salad, and homemade chimichurri.

Hi all, if you're interested in cooking, following recipes or making up your own, please consider joining and posting to /c/recipes!

The wait was too long so it became Thursday BBQ instead. In my defence the weather was really nice this evening where we are. Chicken thighs and halloumi pepper skewers with a Mediterranean potato salad and a salad of various greens from the fridge.

Photos are a bit rubbish, sorry. I'd had half a bottle of Greek white wine by this point.

Anyway. I set the Kamado Joe up with one heat deflector so I had an indirect and a direct heat section.

Chicken marinaded in olive oil, red-wine vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper for a couple of hours. Then rested breast side down, in a roasting dish, on some baby new potatoes, quartered red onion, a head of garlic, some more salt, pepper and oregano, and some good olive oil.

Cooked over the indirect half of the Kamado for about 45 minutes then turned the chicken the other way up and cooked for another 45 minutes or so until the internal temp came up to about 70'C.

I took the chicken out of the roasting dish and moved it over the direct heat to give a little more colour and crispness to the skin then took it off and set it to rest (under a foil tent, but that's not shown here for obvious reasons).

While it was resting I made a Greek salad with heritage tomatoes, good Kalamata olives, good quality feta, an average quality cucumber and an entirely pedestrian red onion.

The potatoes continued cooking...

And then eventually everything came together on the plate. Served with a second bottle of Greek white wine (a mix of Moschofilero and Roditis grapes from Ocado, very nice).

Lovely summer variant of roast chicken.

Two types of kebab, tzatziki, humous, piyaz salad, ezme salad and turkish bread. All home made from fresh incredients.

6 jerk wet marinade for a day and 6 with a rub of Chinese 5 spice style A few offcut scraps on side for test tasting

Apple wood for smoke See them in 5-6 hours or so for some saucing

This is a try run with the new barrel bbq. As cheap as they come. Two types of kebab are in the fridge getting ready for tomorrow.

Chicken marinaded in yoghurt and spices overnight.

I banked the charcoal at one end of the drum barbecue to give different temperature zones and started the chicken over indirect heat - until the temp was approaching 70'C - then moved over the embers to finish over direct heat.

Served with a pilau rice:

a kachumber salad with pomegranate seeds:

a mango, spinach, and grated mooli salad:

and a fiery green chilli sauce:

I love chicken wings.

I took the wings out of their packaging, patted them dry, and spread them over a rack on a baking sheet and left them uncovered in the fridge overnight to help them develop a crispier skin.

I set the Kamado Joe up with one heat deflector so I had direct and indirect halves. I seasoned the wings with just salt and pepper and put them over the heat deflector to cook in indirect heat.

After 20 minutes or so I flipped them, and then gave them another 10 minutes, while I made the sauces.

I did a quick and easy buffalo sauce for me (melted butter and Frank's Red Hot sauce), smoky barbecue sauce for my wife (started with a base of Sweet Baby Ray's Original and melted butter, to which I added a splash of Stubbs Hickory Liquid Smoke, a good splash of Henderson's relish, and some chipotle Tabasco). For my daughter, no sauce thanks, as plain as plain can be.

I took a couple of spoonfuls of each of the sauces and added in a little more oil to each to make a thinner basting sauce.

I checked on the wings and they were coming along well so I moved them to the direct heat half of the grill and basted them. Buffalo on the left, plain (and separated) in the middle, barbecue on the right.

I gave them 10 minutes or so, flipped and basted them again.

Finally I pulled them off the grill and let them rest for 10 minutes while I made a salad and grilled a hotdog for my son.

I tossed the wings in the sauces. Buffalo:

and barbecue:

This photo makes them look less saucy than they actually were, but I don't like mine dripping with sauce.

Yum, yum. Gone.

Friday is usually grilling day if it's warm enough. I ran down to the local butcher's shop and bought a couple of NY strip steaks for this evening. I also bought some corn and a bundle of asparagus (more on that later.)

They probably didn't need it, but i did a marinade and let them sit in the fridge for two hours: 1/4 cup lime juice 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce 1/4 cup tamari 1/4 cup high-heat oil (i used sunflower) ~1 tbsp brown sugar a few cloves of garlic, squashed through a press ~1 tbsp stone-ground mustard a handful of thyme a handful of cilantro

I also soaked the corn for a half hour so the husk wouldn't burn during the cooking session.

Once work was over I went out to the patio and started the BBQ. When I had it stabilized at 450F, I added the corn, took the steaks out of the fridge to bring them up to room temperature, and added the corn.

I tried to prep the asparagus, but it was slimy and smelled like a fish tank. We had frozen peas instead.

After the corn had been on the grill for 20mins (turned it 15mins) I added the steaks. They were about 2" thick, so I did the first side for 6min and the second for 7. They ended up on the done side of medium rare. I think next time I'll try 5 and 7. Dinner went well and I've got enough left over for a sandwich tomorrow. Have a good weekend!

I had some leftover chicken from a previous cook, some tabouleh and decided to add charcoal grilled vegetables: courgette / zucchini, fennel, and spring onions / scallions.

They were very simply prepared, just lightly dressed in olive oil, a little lemon juice, salt and pepper, then grilled over a direct heat. I gave the fennel slightly longer than the courgettes or spring onions to give it a bit of char.

5:00 AM: My alarm goes off, reminding me to do BUTT STUFF. It's not as funny as it was yesterday evening. I snooze the alarm and then get out of bed anyway. Downstairs, out to the back porch, uncover the big green egg, start the charcoal, turn the alarm off again. I loaded it the day before, filling the fire box all the way up and cramming four gnarly pieces of hickory into the charcoal. It's charcoal from the bottom of the bag and there are more small pieces than I expect, but I went with it anyway. Indirect heat plate and drip pan go in, followed by the grate. I watch the needle creep up to 225F and then lock the vents down.

5:30 AM: I pull the pork shoulder out of the refrigerator, unwrap all ten pounds of it, and immediately feel overwhelmed. I've done a few chickens and two racks of ribs on the egg, but nothing this massive. First I flip it over and score a diamond pattern into the fat cap, and then cover the whole thing in yellow mustard and BBQ rub (label: sea salt, brown sugar, paprika, garlic, onion, "other spices".) Back out to the BBQ to check if it's stabilized. It's still running cold, so I open the vents wider and watch the needle creep up to 225. This is the longest I've ever cooked anything. I try not to obsess about all the things that will go wrong.

6:15 AM: The butt is on the grill. I'm leaving it alone for 3 hours so the smoke can do its thing. To keep from hovering, I go inside and mix up the BBQ sauce: apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, cayenne, black pepper, and salt. The recipe says to boil the solution and that effectively fills the house with homemade pepper spray.

7:00 AM: My wife and daughter are awake and coughing. I am wildly unpopular.

7:05 AM: Finishing the BBQ sauce on the patio. Most of it goes into a plastic squeeze bottle, but I pour 8 oz through a coffee filter and into an all-purpose spray bottle. I'll be using this, starting at 9:15, every half hour until the butt reaches 165 internal temp. It's a brisk morning and every window not facing the patio is wide open to let the horrible vinegar/capsaicin stench out of the house.

7:10 AM: Yoga and coffee and a lot more coughing.

9:15 AM: Here we go! Spray meat liberally, insert bluetooth thermometer, set timer for 30m. Chase daughter around the yard in the interim. The app says the butt will be done by 6:30. The temperature is climbing steadily, but I know it'll stall out at some point. The stall can last as much as six hours and isn't predictable, so fingers crossed that it'll work out.

1:30 PM: 165! The meat stalled for about an hour at 145, but we're past that now. I've been spraying it every half hour and it's finally time to wrap it in foil. I've already set up a tray and it's the work of about a minute to lift the lid, remove the butt, wrap it up, and replace it. I open the vents wider to get the temp up to 250. They're wider than I'm comfortable with, but at this point I'm largely on autopilot and just want to make number go up.

1:40 PM: Time to lay down. The bluetooth thermometer is registering a lower ambient temp than I expected, but the grill thermometer is sitting solidly at 250. I hand-wave it away as the foil messing with the thermometer in some way. Meat temp is still climbing. A tiny voice in the back of my mind reminds me that I have the vents open a lot wider than expected but I ignore it.

2:40 PM: I sure don't like the ambient temperature reading. I expected it to start climbing, but it's been sitting at a plateau for the last 15 minutes and has just started to tick down. Internal temp is still climbing, albeit slowly. I race out of bed and check the grill thermometer, which shows 240. Uh oh.

2:45 PM: We've trained for this. Actually, no, we haven't. We've never done this before. But we've thought about doing it. We've thought about it a lot. I have a pair of welding gloves, a tray, a fresh open bag of charcoal and my heat gun lighter.

Don gloves, open vents all the way, open grill, remove butt. Remove grate. Remove drip pan. Remove indirect heat plate. Underneath, I see two glowing coals and a sea of ash.

Here we go.

Rake the ashes. Dump in another full load of charcoal, aim heatgun into the center, hold the button down until center glows red. Replace indirect heat plate, drip pan, grill, and butt. Close lid, stare at thermometer and will it up to 250.

2:50 PM: The thermometer app notifies me that it will be another eight hours before the butt will be done. That's less than ideal. I leave it alone.

4:30 PM: Against all odds, internal temp continues to climb. We're at 191 now. My ambient temperature graph looks like a polygraph session. The app says we're ten degrees and an hour and a half out.

My brain is working overtime coming up with worst-case scenarios: it'll be dry, it'll be unevenly cooked, it'll be burned, it'll climb out of the BBQ and steal my wallet.

6:15 PM: Internal temp is 202. Time to take it out and let it rest for an hour. I use the time to run to the store and pick up wine. My wife made pasta salad the night before and is cooking peas. What's in the foil? What did I do?

7:15 PM: The moment of truth. I'm dreading this, but I don't want to wait any longer. I unwrap the thing and cut into it, mostly thinking about Captain Ahab finally stabbing that pesky whale. The knife slides into it like butter. It pulls apart easily. The bark seems ok.

We quickly load up plates. I offer the crowd-strength BBQ sauce to the table but there are no takers.

It turned out! I made pulled pork! My daughter complains loudly until she tries it. We all get up for second helpings. I run a plate over to the neighbor. The rest gets shredded and bagged up for leftover sandwiches and enchiladas.

It all worked out! I'm already planning my second butt.

Links I used: https://thebbqbuddha.com/how-to-smoke-a-boston-butt-on-the-big-green-egg/ https://www.aforkstale.com/carolina-barbecue-sauce-recipe/

My nemesis. I think I need to work it more when forming it. Ended up being a bit over-cooked and dry, but still with great flavour.