woodburner

Last week I stopped at my local farm stand which officialy ended it's selling season, (10/16) to procure our cabbage. The heads were barely bigger than a softball which is unusual for fall cabbage. Excessive rains and above average temperatures were to blame for the low yields, I was told. I inquired to the owner (who happens to be a friend of my wife's) if she could try and locate some larger heads for our yearly sauerkraut production. She called me at work last Tuesday to confirm the she was able to find larger heads, for $1.25 each. I agreed to two cases, which turned out to be 26 head. I picked them up yesterday, and we will be slicng and packing this coming week. This time I will get images and post them. As a side note, I am in the northeast, upstate New York and the cabbage was grown in Canada. woodburner

Sounds terriffic. By layering different rubs on at different times seems to help the flavor profile quite a bit, at least to me, and now to you. I have also turned into a non-saucer on many bbq meats. Makes me wonder why there is such a vast amount of sauces on the market. Is the reason because many people do not really cook the ribs properly. woodburner

Some people tune piano's, Some people tune guitars's, Only Melt, tunes a fish. Introducing our Tuneafish woodburner no charge

Glenn, glad to see things are going fairly well. Possibilites: English muffin bread. Bacon Old Bay seasoning. Havarti woodburner

A friend and luckily a fairly close neighbor, has approached me and inquired about a pig cooking party in mid October. I can fit a 60lb pig in my cooker. I countered his offer with me cooking about 6, 7-9lb butts for his 35 guests. Unless presentation was his goal, I explained that he would get more smoked meat for his dollar. I can purchase a 60 lb. whole pig for $1.00/per pound. Does anyone know what the edible yield might be from a pig this size? I do know the butts will yield about 5-6 lbs each after cooking and pulling the bone, pricing for the butts are at $1.69/lb. woodburner

Conventional wisdom would lead one to believe that melted fat and heated meat juices will only flow down. If you ever have seared a steak over hot coals you'll see that juices also flow from the top of the steak, which is not facing the fire. Ribs are naturally contoured, with the bone side being curved. By cooking bone side up, you keep the meat away from the direct heat source on a WSM which comes from above. After 6 hours of cooking beef ribs, there is still some melted fat which will lay in the curvature, keeping them self basted the whole time. I'll document this next time, with some digital images. woodburner

Yes, the shoulders should go on first, and they will average about 1 1/2 hours per pound to cook. They are also fairly forgiving regarding temperature, so anywhere between 225º and 275º should be fine. By doing the ribs on the bottom rack the temperature will be a little bit cooler than the top rack, so that will work out fine. Personally I like to keep the ribs at about the 225 mark, so they don't dry on the surface. As a side note, If your ribs look like this, remove the membrane from the back side, before cooking, as this will provide a better mouth feel when eating. Cook the ribs, bone side up. woodburner

Are they whole shoulder's? In my opiinion you will fare quite well with the shoulders on the top rack. I dd a few racks of beef ribs yesterday for dinner, and let them cook for about 6 hours on the top rack along with a 5 1/2lb spacthcocked chicken which cooked for 5 hours. Both were outstanding. Once you have reached a nice level of confidence with your abilities , experiment cooking the shoulders, sans the water pan. woodburner

My neighbor recently poured his own concrete countertops. And I have to say, they are really beautiful and solid. I'll take some images this week when I have time, and document. woodburner

Any updates? woodburner

I've had a good recipe and technique of gnocchi for a few months, just waiting for local buttenut squash to come into season. I'll share my source, but I strongly advise printing out the recipe, because it's past dated for being removed from the site. Watch the technique video, Chef Keller does a very good job making it simple. Chef Keller woodburner

These are simple and delicious. Top with a tangy mustard and small chunk of Polish sausage. Zelniky 3 c all-purpose flour 1 tsp white pepper (I used freshly ground black pepper, I like the flavor better) 3/4 shortening (I used unsalted butter) 2 c drained sauerkraut. Preheat oven to 425 F. Grease two cookie sheets and set aside. Combine flour and pepper in food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add sauerkraut and pulse until the dough starts to form a ball. Transfer dough to a floured surface. Pinch off tablespoon-sized balls of dough, roll them in flour, and place about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Flatten with the bottom of a drinking glass, to about 1/4" thickness. Bake for 10 minutes, then drop oven temp to 350F, and bake for 10-15 minutes more, until the crackers are golden brown and crisp. Let cool, and then store in an airtight container, for up to two weeks. Makes about 50 crackers. woodburner

If you have time, please try and document your cook here with images if possible. I'll be off to the market this morning to purchase a turkey for de-boning and hot smoking on Sunday. Maybe we could compare notes? Have a nice party. woodburner

I'd opt for a large (18-20lb) whole bird. Cut it up into parts, leave the breast whole, and de-bone, leaving the skin on. Tie the breast into a roll, brine and smoke cook at about 275ºF Smoke the legs, and use the left over parts for stock to make pan gravy. Anyway you cook it should be good though. woodburner

dinner is at 4 pm woodburner

lancastermike, the cooker runs on charoal, i'm using lump. smoking wood is cherry and oak. woodburner

the plan was executed perfectly. dean started my cooker going at about 7 am this morning, and i pulled the pork and beef from my cooker at home and drove the short few miles to his house at about 9 am. now here we are about 8 hours into this cook, and the ribs are started. i'll go back about noon and start the chicken. woodburner

here is a shot of the injection process. for some unknown reason my shift key has f'd up, and i cannot capitalize, so please bear with me. woodburner

yes, i'm handling the just the protien end of things. this past spring, i had the pleasure of meeting and talking to chris lilly, famed of big bob gibson's bbq. he was here in upstate ny, shortly after the bbq block party in nyc. we talked about cookers in general, and just chewed the fat. i inquired of his technique for injecting shoulders at memphis in may competition. consisting of apple juice and water, salt, sugar, and wooster sauce, i injected these two butts yesterday. here they have been sitting in smoke for about 6 hours. the brisket is now sitting under the butts, and in a few hours, i'll move everthing to my large cooker at the party site. woodburner

Here is an overview of the meat and fowl to be cooked. We have twelve racks of 3 1/2 down, loin back pork ribs, 15 lbs of chicken parts, one beef brisket flat, and two 6 1/2 lb. pork butts. The bulk of the cooking will be done at the party site on Sunday, as you see here: I'll be starting the pork butts, here at my house late tonight, followed by the beef brisket, to start cooking Sunday morning, on a smaller cooker. Mid morning Sunday I'll take the butts and brisket up to the party location and finish those in the larger cooker along with the ribs and chicken. woodburner

ok It's 11:00 am Saturday here in upstate NY where I call home. Weather is overcast with clouds and possible showers expected this evening and Sunday morning. This is good news, since the bbq kicks off Sunday afternoon with a forecast of clearing by then. I'm going to start brining the chicken shortly. I tend to work backwards with chicken. I decide on the finishing sauce, and In this case it will be a Caribbean theme. I want to make sure the brine contains spices to enhance, and not collide with my finishing sauce. I have to operate slow and methodical from here on in. I'll be sleepless until Sunday night after the party is over. I'm looking forward to this. woodburner

Rewind: This past January a good friend inquired of my services for a 40ish Birthday party for his dear wife, of which I happily obliged my time and equipment. The final and many times revised meat menu consists of Pulled pork, beef brisket, pork ribs, and chicken. Here we are some 8 months later, and the smoke starts here on Saturday evening, for a Sunday party. I have no problem documenting with pictures the prep and cook, as long as there is some interest. Yea or Nay? woodburner

Try using the following technique: Cook as normal for the first three hours. Create a makeshift foil pan using aluminum foil to hold the ribs. Place ribs in foil pan, add some apple juice and a bit more rub, and then close the pan with more foil, proceed to cook two more hours. Unfoil and cook for the last hour as normal. 3-2-1 method woodburner

i'm certainly no expert, food scientist, rocket scientist, you get the picture but here is my take, Starting with question number one, I have a few thoughts and maybe facts. Smoke rings as they are commonly called in the barbeque world are a temperature dependent reaction. Bacteria are needed to change the nitrates to nitrites. Bacteria are active between 40 and 140 degrees F. Once the meat reaches 140F, the ring formation stops. So to maximize the extent of the smoke ring, put the meat on right out of the refrigerator and start out cooking at a lower temperature. Also, above 140F proteins start to denature and the myoglobin is no longer available. With small cuts, like baby back ribs, the smoke ring will go all the way through. Heavier smoke early on will affect the depth and intensity of the smoke flavor meat. While the smoke ring may stop formation at or about 140ºf meat, fish or muscle will contiue to take on smoke. without the formation or if you will, penetration. Wive's tale number one is that muscle or flesh will no longer take smoke after 140ºf. Pour on smoke, well after that number and I bet you can taste it. In my opinion it will be acrid. woodburner

Timing did not permit this year for me to enter, but this has been on my mind for next year. Hudson Valley Ribfest I've got the cookers and most supplies, maybe we could get a team up. woodburner