lancastermike
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Posts posted by lancastermike
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I'm no SSB, but my days as an engineering student suggest that an increase in mass requires an increase in energy to cook that mass, meaning longer cooking times. Yes? No?
Chris is right, one can't ignore the physics. For this cook the amount of meat mass means a longer time. Also, I would not bother with water in the pan as the amount of meat will serve as it's own heat sink. I do not think the additional time is a one to one ratio. That is if 10 pounds of butt takes 8 hours it does not mean 40 pounds will take 32 hours. You certainly may need to re-fuel the cooker. I would not be surprised to see 4 10 pounders to take 18 or 20 hours. However, I never like to predict times, we all know every one seems to be different.
And Chris, SSB? Smokin son of a bitch? Or is tha a degree , like PhD.?
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So I need to smoke some serious butt next week for a big party. Here's my question. How many butts can I do on the WSM at one time, 2, 3 4? The WSM has two racks but I don't know if I should just stick to using the top rack, (in which case I will have to do two at a time) or can I use both racks and get 4 going at the same time. Is that pushing it? Assume each butt will be 9 or 10 lbs.
You can do as many as will fit. I have done as many as four, or I guess three and a half, but over on the Weber Bullet site there are stories from folks about even more by doing mods to the cooker. Both racks are meant to be used. 4 10 pounders may be pushing it for space, but I would do whatever fits
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For those visitors to Chinatown from other places, Lakeside Deli is great. We like it as they are always so friendly.
Perhaps it is the safe and not the most adventuresome choice; however we make it a destination when in Chinatown
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I have no pictures of the brisket. In a nutshell, the almost 13 pounder was on for almost 14 hours, at which point I put the butt on (let me tell you, by the time the butt was done, there was foiling it, taking a shower and sticking in the freezer; I can reheat and pull, which I know is not preferred, but after almost 20 hours, of fairly contant attending, I was one tired lady).
But, outside of Paul and I, none of the folks who came tonight had ever had smoked brisket. It was more than well received, to the point that the only little bit I had was what Paul fed me as he sliced it up. As we served the brisket, Paul commented ont he fat "You could discard it, but it like butter, only better. I'd advice that you either eat it or slather it on the sweet corn." Good advice, me thinks.
I attended to guests, and by the time I was ready to load up a plate, it was all GONE. Almost 13 pounds raw feeds 30, but barely.
Oh, Mike. I was reminded my the mere tasting that I had that butt is good, but brisket is easily as worthy.
Maybe for Labor Day I'll do brisket. The thing is I have to remember to order one. I can get all the butt I want around here just by walking up to the meat counter.
I'm sorry they scarfed it all up before you got to eat. I hope they saved you some sweet corn! If not, I would fear for their saftey
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Hmmm, given that, I might have to smoke a couple on thursday and a couple more on Friday. Since I've always smoked and eaten the same day, I'll have to wander over to the butt thread and ask some questions about smoking in advance and re heating and pulling for service, but it could be doable.
Many regrets on the passing of your brother. I know it has been a while in coming, but it just is never easy.
As to the multiple butts, I'd say yes. When I do them ahead of time I do pull the pork. I re-heat the pulled pork in a low oven 200 or less and like to add just a little cider vinegar and water mixture to keep it from drying. This could also be done in crock pot or other slow cooker.
I have never re-heated the whole smoked butt. I think it would be a long time to do it that way.
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Hope you don't mind my bumping this topic up again. I'm leaving for England in 3 weeks and still planning on doing a muffaletta-type sandwich for the long plane ride, along with some fruit and baby carrots. With the new security measures, as long as I don't take anything liquid or stuff like condiments in little packages, do you think security will object to the food? Anyone traveled with food in the past couple of weeks?
Thanks
Two weeks ago we came back from San Diego on the second day of the new rules. I had a pack of fig newtons in my bag. I got pulled out of line for a total bag search because of them. They let me keep them after they tested negative for explosives. International flights are even tougher. Good luck with the sandwich.
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I am in possession of a beautiful 13 pound brisket (whole and untrimmed, with a nice fat cap). It's for a party on Friday evening, food to start about 7:00 pm.
Smoke on Thursday or do I shag my sorry butt out of bed really early on Friday and get the beast on the grill?
It's of a size that I'm thinking that a small butt would also fit...
What say the experts?
No brisket expert here. But I think I would go with day before or an overnight smoke. Dinner at 7 means it has to be done and holding by 6. I'd want more than 12 hours of time just to be sure. Of course, we all know you can make magic with that kettle.
Overnight smoke and a Weber Kettle is a no go. I'm smoke on Thursday. That's probably better anyway so I can get the last minute stuff done on Friday! Brisket. Yummm. Mike, find a whole untrimmed brisket or at least the point and do one!
I have done brisket on the WSM, but only once. I guess I just have a thing for butt.
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I am in possession of a beautiful 13 pound brisket (whole and untrimmed, with a nice fat cap). It's for a party on Friday evening, food to start about 7:00 pm.
Smoke on Thursday or do I shag my sorry butt out of bed really early on Friday and get the beast on the grill?
It's of a size that I'm thinking that a small butt would also fit...
What say the experts?
No brisket expert here. But I think I would go with day before or an overnight smoke. Dinner at 7 means it has to be done and holding by 6. I'd want more than 12 hours of time just to be sure. Of course, we all know you can make magic with that kettle.
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Home after a week in San Diego. A few comments on some of the places we got to.
First of all. San Diego is lovely and the weather was wonderful.
222 cafe. A very cool little place and the breakfast was outstanding. Not ready for 30 buck for two breakfasts every day, but once in a while would be fine. Young staff, very friendly and efficient no one wearing waffle hats however.
Grape on Fifth. Had a couple nice flights of wine in this tiny place. We did not eat here however. Bartender was very nice and she even recognized and spoke to us when we were in another place for dinner the next night.
Red Pearl Kitchen. Really liked this place. Young hip crowd with a very cool bar. Inventive drinks made with real infusions. However, all were vodka based. Some of there concoctions would have been even better with a different base.
Food was nice as well. Had several of the small plates their menu laughingly call "tapas". Not that, but not bad either. For the gaslamp area, not overpriced either.
Ciero's Pizza. had a couple of slices for lunch and it was not bad. Was touted as the best in San Diego. If that's true, pizza is not a reason to visit San Diego. Nothing wrong with it, but around here there is much better.
La Fiesta on Fifth. I know not any of the places you all touted for Mexican. However, time was an issue. I thought this was fine. Certainly much better than anything in my area. Very nice service. I am not a margriaita drinker, but my wife enjoyed hers. She clearly knew it was not from a mix. I guess this is a tourist Mexican place. but I enjoyed the meal and the staff and would eat here again. Gaslamp prices of course.
Tin Fish. My wife's first fish tacos and she loved them. I thought they were pretty good as well. Nice little place just across from the Convention center.
Enjoyed walking to Seaport Village for Ben and Jerry’s. That was some real tourist pricing, but the ice cream is good.
We were in Balboa Park on Sunday and the international village was open. It was Peru day and we ate a nice lunch of Peruvian food.
A couple of duds. We went to Old Town as my wife got a tip on a place for silver jewelry. She knows much more about that then me and seemed happy with the price. We came out of the store and walked down the street. She saw the Coyote Cafe. I was more thirsty than hungry, but it was lunch. Nothing special here. A nice touristy place. Had carnitas and the pork was tough and dry, unlike what I had at LaFiesta. However, I knew this was coming as soon as I walked in. I could just see what it was, so no real complaints.
The one and only real disappointment to us was the Top of the Hyatt lounge. We stayed at the Marriot but walked over for a drink one night. What great views!!! What lousy service!! The place was not busy and we waited and waited to be served. We finally were by a snotty waiter. There was also a group of about five guys who were clearly drunk off their asses and should have been flagged, and after having to listen to them for a while, thrown out. There was a guy who seemed to be a manager of some type but he mostly seemed scared. Seems a shame that Hyatt is using that valuable real estate for a lounge and not interested in running it.
Lots of places we wanted to get to, but the convention cut into the time. Thanks to all for the tips. .
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Arak isn't Arrack.
Arak (raki) is a middle eastern liquor flavored with anise. It is similar to Ouzo.
(Batavia) Arrack is a liquor originally made from distilled Palm Wine in the East (India, Sri Lanka...) Many times today a combination of fermented sugar cane and/or fermented rice are used to make Arrack. From what I've read, much of it is produced illegally and pretty nasty.
My idea from the above recipe:
1 cup Cachaca
zest of 4 lemons
1 cup hot black tea
1 cup palm sugar
Infuse Cachaca with lemon zest for a week or two and strain. Dissolve palm sugar in hot tea. Combine sweetened tea and flavored Cachaca, age for a week or two, filter and bottle.
Opinions?
Sounds good and also easy. The only thing is, I have no idea what it is supposed to taste like.
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Sorry to intrude in the NYC topic, but my wife and I vacation on the Outer banks of North Carolina. There is a place ther called Elizabeth's cafe. It is amongst the highest rated place in this area and has received many awards for food and wine.
We went there once. The single most pretentious bunch of people I have ever see. I know just a little bit about food, wine, spirits and service. An attempt to engage the staff and the owner in the selections was went with sheer disdain. I was dressed like everyone else in the place, but I drove a Chevy and my wife does not wear flashy bling. But we clearly were not like alot of the other customers. My wife and I have a name for the kind of customere this place was looking for. RWF. That stands for rich white folks.
We are actually all three of those things but don't act like it.
Guess what owners. All us customers ought be treated with respect. If you only want a certain type of customer post it on the door. I know plenty of pretentious folks who will spend big money to be condesended by the staff and enjoy that as part of the experience. Not me. I go out to enjopy myself not to be treated like crap by some establishment that does not think I fit in
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Well, I think I've figured out a way to get around the safety issues, at least in part.
Friday morning started with a bang, literally: I was jolted out of bed at about 5:30 AM by a thunderstorm. I'd planned to light the chimney on the order of 8 AM (with the intention ONLY of having things cooked before dark, ready to eat for Saturday) but the pouring rain decided otherwise for me. I didn't really want to set the WSM up on the downstairs patio, where it would be sheltered by the upstairs deck but perfectly set to pump smoke into the whole house. That left somewhere in the yard, which was quite soggy thanks to all the rain we've had of late. So we (in this case, "we" meaning our friend Bruce and I) put things in a rain delay for a few hours.
Finally by about 11:00, the downpour had tapered to a trickle, so we hauled the cooker out to the lawn, loaded the ring about half-full of charcoal with a handful of hickory chunks interspersed throughout (sorry, no pictures; it was still raining enough that I didn't want to bring the camera outside, and the hand that otherwise would have been free was holding an umbrella) and put 22 briquettes and 2 pieces of newspaper in the chimney starter.
I decided to light the chimney on the grate of the gas grill, as there wasn't really anywhere else to do it. It left lots of little fluffy black ash, marginally readable, in the gas grill. Must get a big brick paver for the next time, because the grill's still a bit messy. But at any rate, the chimney did its thing, and we dumped the lit charcoal into the ring, tossed on another couple of wood chunks for good measure, added the middle ring and water pan, filled the foil-wrapped water pan with water, realized that we'd managed to get one leg of the cooker in a depression in the yard so the whole thing was not level, stuck a rock under the leg to help level it out, nearly suffocated ourselves with the smoke as we put the two chunks of pig down on the bottom and the chicken up top, added the lid, and finally stuck the analog thermometer in its cork into one of the holes in the lid vent. All the meat went in straight out of the fridge. I did rinse the chicken first, but things got a little crazy on Thursday night so they never got brined beforehand like I'd intended. Oh well.
After a little experimenting, we had very little trouble controlling the temperature, to keep it at about 220 degrees F near the top of the dome (the max reading on our thermometer; I'll be looking for one that goes up a little higher before long, I think). But we did have a little trouble with uneven burning, because Bruce adjusted the three bottom vents to "take advantage" of the slight breeze blowing. When we peeked in through the door to see how things were burning, we discovered that most of the charcoal on the side that had been opened more was gone, but there plenty of unburned, unlit briquettes remained everywhere else. Next time, if anything I think I'd close down the vent on the side towards the wind a little more, to try and get more even burning.
I wound up sticking one probe thermometer in the larger hunk of pig, and another in a big chicken thigh. Both thermometer bodies went into a quart-size ziplock bag, which I sat on top of an overturned dead laundry basket, and I carefully wound the probe wires into drip loops just below where they entered the corner of the bag. By 1:00, the rain was over and the sun came out.
I know we peeked inside way too much. But everything looked so gorgeous, we had to keep looking at them!
I'd set the chicken thermometer alarm to 165, and the one for the pork to 190. (Two different temperatures made it easy to tell the thermometers apart.) Both thermometer readings rose steadily for quite a while. After a few hours, the chicken thermometer seemed to get "stuck" at 150, and the pork at 140. We checked the cooker's temperature, which had dropped down below 200, and opened the vents a touch. (That was when we noticed the uneven burning pattern.) An hour later, the cooker temperature was up to over 220, but both thermometers read what they'd read an hour before. So I guess my butt stalled at 140, as it stayed there for over 2 hours. But after the spike, the temperature went down below 200 again, and stayed there. We took another look in the fire chamber, and discovered that from the edge well into the center, the coals were gone. But everywhere else we could still see black. The choice was to either add more hot coals (and maybe turn the cooker) or to say uncle.
By then, it was about 7:30, and it was time to eat dinner. (My cousin cooked. Steak au poivre and fried potatoes, salad my husband made, and a peach-gingersnap galette I'd put together for dessert.) Because I figured it would be dark by the time we finished with dinner, I removed all the meat from the smoker and closed all the vents. The chicken thighs seemed like they were mostly done, and I figured they'd be plenty dead if they'd been sitting at 150 degrees for an hour. So I pulled on a pair of gloves and stripped the meat off the bones and skin into a pot. The bones just about fell out of all the thighs except the two largest, one of which had the thermometer probe in it. I did, of course, give some of the meat a taste-test, and while it was nicely smoky, it was pretty boring (probably because I didn't brine it first). So I added a sprinkle of salt, a splash of water, and about half a cup of =Mark's sauce to the pot, brought it up to a boil and turned it down to simmer on the stove while we ate, to try and infuse a little flavor...and be sure it was completely cooked. When we moved on to dessert, I pulled the chicken and sauce off the stove, transferred it to a rather shallow Rubbermaid container to cool, and then into the fridge it went.
As for the pig: I put both pieces on a sheet pan, covered with heavy-duty foil, and stuck them in my oven at 250 degrees F. I figured that if it's really true that once the meat hits 140 it's not going to absorb any more smoke, why not speed things up a little? At any rate, in the oven the temperature stayed stuck at 140 for another 45 minutes, and then finally started to come up. By the time we were done with dinner, it was up to about 152 and it was getting really late and I was getting really tired! So I decided I'd let it go to 165, and then take it out of the oven to rest. It actually got up to 165 relatively quickly once the temperature started moving again, but I was more than ready for bed by then so I pulled it out to rest. While it rested, I took a much-needed shower. By the time I was done with my shower, the temperature had maxed out and was on its way back down. The two roasts (cooked but definitely not tenderized yet) went into containers of their own, and headed into the fridge.
Next time, I'd load the ENTIRE cooker ring with charcoal. I'd also do what I could to make things burn evenly. And next time if it's raining, I'll choose another day so I can start at a more appropriate hour!
At any rate, the next morning I woke up refreshed. My husband and our friend Jeff were brewing a batch of beer, and the tradition is that after they brew, we eat. First thing, I went out to the cooker to clean it up. The racks were an absolute mess, but most of the gunk cleaned off reasonably well with a brush and some soap. (The racks are the one thing I've found that don't fit into my new gigoonda sink.) The foil on the outside of the water pan (thanks, Mike!) meant an easy cleanup job. But I'd been careful to keep water in the pan, and in the morning (thanks to the humid weather and the low temperatures towards the end of the on-bullet cooking time) I was faced with a nearly-full pan of water topped with fatty greasy drippings. Yuck. I was able to carry it to our dumping ground without sloshing it on my feet, thank heavens. And the pan does fit in the sink, and cleaned up easily. I think a Brinkmann pan, with its larger capacity, may be in order, so I can fill it once at the beginning and then forget about it.
As for the pig, I remembered what I'd seen last fall when we took a weekend trip to Montreal and had sandwiches at Schwartz's
: the meat was spiced and smoked, and then steamed. So I thought: the meat's been smoked, so why not steam it to finish cooking it and make it tender? So I rigged up a steamer from a pot, a rack, and a couple of custard cups, added water and one hunk of pig from the fridge, stuck the thermometer probe back in, and put it on the stove. I let it steam for about 3 hours, during which I made up a batch of corn tortillas from some of the masa harina in our freezer. By the end of the steaming time, the meat was up over 190, and the skin and bone came right out and the meat easily shredded by hand. There was a beautiful smoke ring, terrific flavor, and it wasn't dry at all. My husband, UNPROMPTED, pronounced it "excellent," which he doesn't often do.We ate the pig and fresh tortillas with =Mark's sauce, the last of the salsa verde from a couple of days ago, the chutney (not at the same time as the salsa verde), the last of the leftover rice, but no slaw of any sort because there was no cabbage to be had at the market.
The other hunk of pig will be frozen whole, ready for steaming another day. The chicken will probably go into tonight's dinner in some way.
Next time I want to do a beer can chicken, I'll be using the WSM, in part to learn how to control it and in part to figure out if it's better than the gas grill for such endeavors.
MelissaH
From your timeline it seems the pork really had about 6 and a half hours at temp. That truly will not do it. Whenever I plan on a butt smoke I allow myself 12 hours in the cooker. If it takes less, cool.
I'm sure you were grateful to your pal Bruce for his help. However, next time you see him he deserves a dope slap for that “take advantage of the wind" advice. Your idea that you should keep the vent facing the wind closed is the way to go. The wind is no friend of the WSM. However, if he is helping with the beer, I'd give him a pass.
You will get the WSM to work the way you want it to as you already understand what occurred on your first effort. Plus, you are an experienced and very smart cook, plus you have the most important thing one needs to be a successful WSM operator, that being a good supply of beer.
The water in the pan also serves as temperature control. With Minion starts it is not as critical as you are starting low and building temp. With a standard start, which I don't use much the water is much more important as a heat sink till you get your temp stable. So, maybe don't fill it all the time and let it see how it does with little or even no water.
As to the beer can chicken, if you use the WSM I would use a foiled empty water pan. There is no need to keep your cooker temp at 225 or so with the chicken. You can do it with temps of 325 or so as you would normally. I love smoking chicken, but I have never done beer can chicken on the WSM. It should work fine, I did a whole turkey just last week and smoked poultry is great stuff. I like fruitwoods with poultry.
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Very much enjoyed your blog, Kristen. Your beautiful children get to enjoy the best both cultures have to offer. It's great you are able to keep your family close to the foods of both countries each half a world away.
In your case it seems Cleveland and Yokohama are really not that far apart
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I know lots of folks rave about Sam & Omies, I know all about tradition, but Sam and Omie are long gone. Here's the thing, the food stinks. Or at least is just average diner stuff.
I have been vacationing on the OB for twenty years or so. There ain't much in the way of good cheap eats there. Good food can be had, but more at the upper price points.
Lou's Deli in nags Head is real nice stuff. Mama Kwans good as well. many of the places that were good and cheap have been priced out of business by the real estate values going goofy.
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The last shipment of Rolling Rock left the Latrobe Brewing Company yesterday. A sad day in latrobe. Negotiations continue to find a buyer for the brewery, but as of Monday, it is closed
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Here in Pennsylvania the same thing holds true. Silver Queen, which used to rule the sweet corn world is all but gone. The new super sweet varieties have replaced it. They hold their sweetness longer. About a mile from my house I used to buy Silver Queen coen from a farmer just after he picked it. It was wondefull stuff. Now he grows other varieties. He told me it makes economic sense for him. He can bring it in sooner and keep the crop going longer. He tells me very little Silver Queen is grown in Lancaster County these days.
The super sweet varieties are sweet indeed, but I'm not sure they taste like corn. I too miss Silver Queen.
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Went through the checkout line at the CVS yesterday with a box of tampons, a bottle of Aleve, a jar of Super Chunk Skippy and a box of baked Cheese Crackers.
Think I gave myself away?
Wow Katie, you have created cocktails out of all sorts of things. But this one I just can't imagine. Would the lavender work here? You know that I think a little Luxardo maraschino always helps a drink. I am just as interested in the name you have given this one.
What's that you say? This isn't the cocktail thread? Oh. Sorry, please disregard
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That's very cool , Emma. All us WSM smokers wish you luck
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Now, if I had a laptop with functioning USB ports, I could be really geeky and attach a thermocouple probe to chart my temperatures throughout the cooking period. But even I won't go that far.
I was kidding about all that stuff. Those guys on the Virtual Bullet site who do all that crazy stuff are really around the bend. It is alot more info than you will need. But you being a scientist I thought you may have a need for all that data!
I wonder if tea leaves would burn too quickly to use in the WSM. I keep thinking that would be nice with birds of all kindsNever heard of anyone doing this. For it to have effect you would have to do it without the wood ans the smoke would overwhelm it. Tea leaves in a dry water pan? That may work to generate the tea smoke. I'll have to think about that
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Huh. I always put the chicken on the top rack of my offset-firebox smoker. I like to let the chicken baste the pork, rather than the other way around. I really don't see the potential for contamination since the temp is always going to be over 140 in there. What am I missing?
I think you are most likely correct. I know you are professionaly certified in food safety and i am not. My position is probably overly cautious. If the temps of the lower level meat reach that necessary to kill the ugly little things dripping form above all is well. I also think the pork will give up alot more than the chicken to drip down.
But the real thing is this: Smoke that meat!! All these other questions are secondary. Low steady temp with some hardwood smoke and all will tuen out fine
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Good Choice of the WSM
as to the questions.
1. Chicken on the botton pork on the top, reason being the contamination issue.
2. Skin side up on both, however this does not really make a big difference either way.
3. Wow 4 probe thermometers. Pretty cool Melissa. I think one would be fine. The Weber Virtual Bullet is full of modifications that many of the truly geeky smokers have made. The only one I have done is to buy the eyelets that go in place of the screws for your probe wire to go through. You could get temps from all over the thing and chart them and all those other things the true believers do. I would urge you not to do those thngs as I believe they are really more than is needed. I do use a candy thermometer in one of the top vent holes to give me my dome temp. 250 or so at the dome gives me about 230 at the grate. I would start with all the bottom vents open half way and adjust as needed. On a hot day once it gets going you will most likely be closing at least two of them.
4. I always use the minion start. I would still fill the ring up most of the way before you dump your hot coals on. 20 coals to start should be fine on a hot day
5. You can sort of bury some wood in to the coals in the ring and than lay some on top after you dump the hot coals on top.
6. No problem leaving it alone, I often do that. The chicken may be done before you leave but the pork will do fine sitting there.
I would urge you to foil your water pan for ease of cleanup. And for the cook you describe I would indeed use water. I do not always do so.
Your ease of construction correlates with ease of use. I can start mine with a full ring minion start, get it up to temperture and leave it alone for 12 hours or so. Once it is going there is no need to fidget with it.
Other good advice is not to peek to much. I love smoked chicken thighs. They make wonderful chicken salad.
Have fun Melissa and drink lots of that good home brew.
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For all you Tony groupies, Mr. Bourdain will be doing a live chat on the Washington Post web site today at 11am. Just remember it's all about him.
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I'm wondering if it would totally overwhelm duck, that honored common companion of pig. After all, a WSM has two racks!
I think it would go well with the duck. I have smoked duck on the WSM and it turned out fine. Did you get rid of that smoking contraption you had the trouble with last year in favor of the WSM?
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Lots of real mexican food in San Diego. Mexico has regional variations just as other countries do. We "specialize" in Baja style, which is also occasionally refered to as "mexican fast food". Tijuana is a trolley ride away if you want to be certain of an authentic experience. There are a number of fine dining establishements there in addition to taco cart food.
How many days? Meals? Breakfasts? Dinners? expensive, budget, etc?
Car? no car?
No car, arrive on Saturday depart on Monday, I guess there will be some meals at the convention. Not looking to spend big dough, but budget is no issue. Won't have an issue with the trolley of some walking.
Tijuana would be cool, if it is some place good and not tourist trap
Thanks
All About Rye Whiskey (Part 1)
in Spirits & Cocktails
Posted
This is now available by SLO in Pennsylvania. I called last week and there is a one case minimum order.
At one time , I would have considered a case of whiskey a good start to a weekend, but those days are gone. I am still looking to score a bottle of this and I know it is available in MD. I guess a trip south of the Mason Dixon Line is in order