Clark D

As for the look of the one we smoked after instead of tossing, a picture is attached....

Morning! The mold was very find strands, furry up to about one centimeter. Sanitation should be solid, dishwasher is checked twice daily for proper levels and bus tubs and cutting boards etc all go through before entering. Thanks again everyone. Was very weird to us we've been doing this for a ling time and never experienced it until the last two attempts Thanks! Clark

I was also wondering about th curing salt but with that amount of salt I figured it wouldn't matter. The bag is new but I don't know how long it was in the warehouse before we got it. On the salt sugar mix up it's unlikely since it happened twice in a row. The first time we trimmed the briskets down smoked them and ate them and they tasted and looked correct. The last time we tossed them as there was a lot more mold and they were fairly slimy. I was thinking it must be excess moisture somehow but no really sure how that would have ben introduced to the environment. Thank you for the idea and replies! Clark

Just looking for a few thoughts. We cure four briskets a week with a dry rub of 16 oz salt, 8 oz sugar and 2 oz of cure number 1. They go for 8 to 10 days before being rinsed and smoked. The least two times we have done this we ended up with large amounts of white fuzzy mold on the briskets. The briskets are stored individualy in bus tubs with lids and flipped every couple days. The fridge is at temp and sometimes a little cold. Looking for thoughts on what could be causing this? In the mean time we have started doing a faster more agresssive wet cure and injection process which works well. Just want to figure out whatis happening in our old process. Thank you for any thoughts! Clark

All your choices are good! There's a few threads on chowhound that are current as well. Is your trip done or are you leaving soon?

I have done what Carlovski has spoke about. Basically there is a coffee shop in town that closed for the day at 2. In February I started running a small full service restaurant out of it 5 days a week. You can see the coffee shop here http://cynamoka.ca/. It is very similar to what you are talking about. 4 burner electric flat top, basic oven, not a lot of equipment. Obviously this comes with it's own challenges but at the same time it allowed me to have minimal starte up costs (couple thousand dollars just for insurances, liquor licenses, business licenses etc....). It originaly caused some confusion, especialy amongst tourists who think it is just a coffee shop. Since I'm in a tourist based community trip advisor has been the best way to offset that. http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g183794-d2502055-Reviews-Cyn_At_Night-Ucluelet_Barkley_Sound_Vancouver_Island_British_Columbia.html. There are other challenges such as prep times, not having control over how the premises really look, tables etc. At the same time you also have advocates for you that are open when you are closed, giving out menus and telling a couple hundred people a day that come through the coffee shop about you! Clark

It's just a short two hour detour on a road trip I'm taking in January, may have to stop in for lunch it give it a try myself! Clark

Thanks for outlining that Smittty! I'm going to give it a try, in the process of opening a new restaurant and looking for new ideas! Thanks again. Clark

Looks amazing! Can you tell me a little more about how you are making the smoked garlic and rosemary tator tots? Clark

Had the big Thanksgiving celebration on the weekend. Not as many finished pictures as I would have liked, way to many people at the house but here's the menu: - Squash ale and cheddar soup - Turkey on the WSM, salted and injected - Perogies with smoked swiss cheese - Mashed Potatoes - Roasted Squash with pecans and maple - Mushroom gravy - Cranberry Sauce - Stuffing - Brisket - Jerk Burnt Ends - Brussel Sprouts - Roasted Carrots - Yams - Cornbread - Pumpkin layer cake - Bourbon pumpkin tart - Home made vanilla ice cream - Carrot cake with walnuts, coconut and raisons And here's a few pictures! The Turkey first The Perogies Tossed on a couple racks of beef ribs with fried potatoes and leeks while I was cooking for a snack The brisket, uncooked no clue how I didn't get a finished picture My cooking campanion Cornbread Stuffing with sausage and maple Gravy Squash Pumpkin Tart Pumpkin Cake Carrot Cake Then made some stock And Soup And some fresh foccacia for a sandwich, turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and gravy Have a good night! Clark

To make the stock on site we used ground meat, works in a pinch and much quicker. Grinding chiles and peppers is easy for us since we have poer (Like I say we only do the events that line up with bbq comps and they have power..... Clark

I'll start by saying that I've done absolutely horrid and reasonablly well in chili cook offs. Some Casi, some ICS and some sanctioned by a local group of chili folks from Seattle. I only do the ones that line up with our bbq competition schedule. When I make chili for comps I use all dried chiles and fresh whole spices that I toast and grind, as well as home made stock. Here's the thing it either wins or gets basically last place. I took second place in the Oregon state chili cook off and the next weekend took last in Vancouver. Basically what it boils down to is consistency in flavors, using all powdered and pre mixed stuff will come out the exact same every single time. If you want to win consistently this is the way to do it time after time, once you find the winning formula. Fresh peppers and spices taste a little different every time and are far more flavorful, often adding that one thing that the judges can't place, they often don't go for that and are looking for their notion of what chili is and what it should taste like. If you want to win you're better off knowing! We're in it for fun so do what we like to it, you do have 90% of the pot to yourself after anyways! Clark

I'm not gonna lie I would eat all of that! In fact I may just be craving it now! Clark

All three of those look amazing! I wouldn't know where to start! Clark

OK one more to add, not as obscene as the last couple but..... Needed a quick and tasty meal for some friends on Saturday. Basic story is it was Ukee Day (a town celebration) on the weekend and the beer gardens closed for two hours from 5 to 7 so needed something fast and good for a crowd. Started by pulling out 4 pounds of ground duck, mised it up with a few spices and a lot of green onions. Tossed the two meatloafs on the kettle and in the mean time baked up a few buns Also grilled some bok choy, red peppers, and daikon, and made a spicey plum sauce, leaving the plums nice and chunky All to make a few sandwiches! Went over well and we made it back to the beer gardens on time! Talk to you all soon! Clark

Thanks for all the quick responses! The squash are anywhere from hardball to softball size, definately doable for stuffing, I will stuff a few tonight and see how that goes, thanks for all the instructions and stuffing ideas! Thanks for the advice on everything else Lisa! I had never heard of the pate de fruit, just googled it and will give it a go for sure. I made a simple pastry cream and raspberry tart last night, along with just eating a tonne of raspberries and cherries as is! The potatoes so far I have just roasted and fried in butter with fresh sage, both came out well! Just wondering also what is the best way to store the squash as well as the potatoes? Thanks again everyone! Clark

Hi all, I was given 20 pounds of pattypan squash yesterday. They look really nice but I'm not sure what all to do with them. I just sliced and grilled with a little olive oil salt and pepper last night but I'm wondering if anyone has any better ideas? Thanks! On a seperate note I also received 50 pounds of nugget potatoes, 10 pounds of raspberries, 15 pounds of cherries and a couple pounds of garlic sprouts. If anyone has anything neat or different for these I'm all ears as well! Thanks for any advice or ideas! Clark

I go pretty basic when I do them. I don't brine, usually just a spice rub all over. I do marinate from time to time, the one below was just soaked in a mojo marinade over night. I always go charcoal and rotiss although our rotiss is manual. The basic rule is each time you finish a beer give the pig a quarter turn! You won't have to worry about that with a motor though! I do take the internal temps a little higher than mentioned, I don't always check but I wait until a probe goes in with very little resistance in the legs and shoulders, probably around 180 or so. For the fuel set up I also use hard wood charcoal a mound on each side of pig with just a few lit coals to start. We aim for around 250 degrees to 300 at pig height. I do baste the skin from time to time as well. Hope this helps a bit! Remember there are a million ways to do it though as mentioned and they all have there own merits! Clark

Couple more ranch kettle pics to show the size from last weekend at the restaurant for a bbq we put on. Clark

Hey Ellevan, here's the soup recipe. It is based off a recipe from the Beer Bistro Cook Book By Stephen Beaumont and Brian Morin. Onion and Mushroom Ale Soup 1/3 C Duck Fat 6 Cups Yellow Onions 2 Pounds Mushrooms 2 1/2 C Ale (looking for something malty here) 2 1/4 C Beef Stock 4 1/2 C Chicken Stock Fresh Thyme Salt and Pepper Baguette Monterey Jack Jalapenos sliced - Melt the duck fat and cook the onions and mushrooms down for about 4 hours on low heat - Add Beer and stocks and bring to a boil - Stir in thyme, salt, and pepper to taste and simmer for 30 minutes - Top with toasted baguette slices, monterey jack, and diced jalapenos and broil The original calls for portobello and shitakes, veal stock instead of beef stock, sweet onions, and blue cheese instead of monterey, it also does not have jalapenos. I've made it that way as well but prefer what is above! Peter - It's too bad that the dog on the croissant wasn't good, it really did look like something worth trying! Thanks for starting the thread! Clark

Why thank you, I will see what else we can come up with, this has been fun! Clark

Is there really a whole lot of teams turning in ribs falling off the bone? Maybe I'd be surprised but you almost have to try to over cook them that much! From a teams perspective we've honestly never given it any thought. For comps we cook loin back ribs but they are huge, about 2.5 pounds a rack. I cook them really low, around 200 for about 3 hours (just looking for the proper color), foil for a couple with some liquid (checking every 15 minutes after an hour to make sure they are not over cooking) and then back on the cooker for about half an hour with a glaze just for the glaze to set. We usually do well with that. These are comp ribs from last year that we managed to take first place with. At home it totally depends on the size of ribs I'm cooking as for time and temps. For nice lean back ribs I cook them fairly hot around 350 sometimes even on the rotiss and just check frequently to see how a probe goes in to check for done (carefuly with sugar in your rubs if you're going hot though). I usually don't foil at home. For spares I never go above 300 degrees and sometimes lower, just depends how much of a hurry I'm in. I usually foil them, even at home just because I don't like the bark looking too dark. Just my preference. I never mop or spray at home or comps. I think the main thing is don't plan too much on time, just check frequently for tenderness and the color you want, whether that is a light color or strong bark. It's whatever you like. Just don't do it by time. Different racks always cook up differently. Clark Clark

It's just a nice simple cheese sauce! 1/2 C Half-And-Half 1 C Monterey Cheese T Chives 2 t Aleppo Pepper t Granulated Garlic Salt and White Pepper In double-boiler with hot, not boiling, water, heat the 1/2 c of half-and-half till warm. Add the cheese and melt it, stirring often. Add spices and your good to go. Clark

OK I have one more to add from our Smoke Day 7 celebrations on the weekend......Sorry for the poor photos. Started by butterflying and deboning a pork shoulder Stuffed it with freshly ground pork, red wine, fennel, garlic, lemon zest, and onions Rolled it all up Tossed it on the smoker over night rubbed with marjoram, onion, garlic, salt and aleppo pepper Sliced it up Baked some buns on the ranch kettle Cooked up the pig skins on the kettle along with a cheese sauce, peppers, mushrooms and onions And started assembling. Bun and pork stuffed pork..... Added the peppers, onions, and mushrooms Topped with crispy pig skin! And served with Onion, Mushroom and Beer Soup topped with Monterey Jack and Jalapenos Clark

I'm a big fan of the Ranch Kettle. I have a lot of grills including the Ranch just because we do a lot of competitions. If you are looking for something not quite as big as the ranch but a little bigger than the standard kettle you might want to look at the 26 inch kettle. All the grills mentioned are good cookers but I wouldn't buy the big green egg (again, I do have one). Before everyone gets upset with that reoomendation it isn't because it isn't a great cooker because it is and I love to use it! And as mentioned they use far less charcoal than the Webers and have an excellent temperature range. The reason for my recomendation is you could pick up a WSM and a kettle for roughly half the price (in my area anyways) and hit close to the same temps (taping out at around 700 - 800 not 1200 degrees but still able to cook basically anything). When comparing it to the Ranch it has a lot of positivies but no where near the grill space that the Ranch has so it isn't really comparing apples to spples. The ranch is not ideal for cooking for two people or cooking one chicken or something like that. It can absolutely be done as stated but you are heating up a huge space and wasting charcoal (even when you are using the baskets the heat is disipating over the whole area). It is great once you get to 5 people and over though and it can hold a tonne of food. Just my $0.02! I think I have a photo of it at home holding 150 of pork shoulder as well that I can look for later just to show the size of this thing. If any of this doesn't make sense let me know! Lastly look on Craigs List as well, I picked up my Ranch for $400 and two of my WSM'S for $100 a piece as well as the Smokey Joe Platnum for free. Here's a few picks of some of the Ranch cooks I've done recently. For the pizza cooks this is about 20 pounds of charcoal. Having said that it cooked 20 pizzas in a row and did not burn through the majority of it. Clark