Weather

[Hoopz]

I am more than happy that the weather in the Midwest finally got warm.  Had fun after dinner tonight playing with the kids in the yard.  Had a few games of tag, freeze tag, hide and seek, and don't fall in the lava.  We play out (sometimes) when it's cold out but 65+ degrees is fine for now.

I'll be bitching when it's 90+ though.   

[Howard_Casto]

I'm tellin ya man, I didn't know what to do with myself these past couple of days. 

Washed two cars, cleaned the porch, got out my grandma's wind chimes, cleaned a few junk buildings...ect....

This winter has been horrible. 

[degenatrons]

In the UK we have chill winds blown over from the arctic.  We have some sun,  but the air is so cold for this time of year.  It is no fun to go outside.  Brrrhhh

Do we blame the freak conditions on global warming?  or is it just an exceptional year?
At least it stopped raining/snowing for a few days.  We had rain for so long I can't remember.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/25/frozen-spring-arctic-sea-ice-loss

[Nephasth]

---smurfing--- beautiful out right now!

[Vigo]

Still a snow forcast this week for me though.

oh well. spring is still comin. 

[kahlid74]

It was 55 last night and I was out getting the deck/pool ready.  Knowing Wisconsin though, it'll be snowing by Friday.

[Vigo]

It was 55 last night and I was out getting the deck/pool ready.  Knowing Wisconsin though, it'll be snowing by Friday.

Truth. 


I'll give it another week to see how the weather goes, but I am really getting the itch to start tuning up my motorcycle, fire up the grill, and start burning everything on my woodpile.

[ChadTower]

It wasn't all that unusual a winter in New England.  More snow than last year and less than a couple years ago.

The only excessive thing in this year's winter here was the amount of complaining from everybody.  People here used to be tough.  This year they bitched all week if it snowed six inches.  I had no issues with the weather but by March I wanted to punch weather complainers in the face with a Buick.

[Hoopz]

fire up the grill

<snort>. )

[Vigo]

I knew I couldn't mention "grill" without someone noticing.......

[ChadTower]

People stop grilling when the weather gets cold? 

Wusses.  Keep that grill going year round.

[Hoopz]

He has to get permission from the neighbors to use it.

Vigo, we only kid because we care. And because its hilarious. 

[Vigo]

I only stopped grilling because my grill was under a tarp under a snowbank.

I shoulda taken pics of my grill when it was on terrorism Threat Level Orange. You know that scene in PeeWee's Big adventure where he obscenely wraps up his bike with 100 feet of chain? My grill looked kinda liked that last year, partially to make a point to the neighbors. Well, I've tapered back the grill security since my neighbors finally forked over the $30 for a Walmart charcoal grill.

[ChadTower]

Pfft.  Dig that sucker out and put it on top of the snowbank.  Grilled meats are important.  They make the beer better.

[Vigo]

Bill Cosby Agrees.

[Hoopz]

Don't sass a charcoal grill no matter how inexpensive or small.  Charcoal is all I use for grilling.  And BBQ is done with wood, not charcoal or gas. 

[ChadTower]

My most often used smoker is propane heated and wood smoked.  It's a pretty good compromise for those 13 hour smokes when you really don't want to get up at 3am to start the fire.

Then again I don't have Vigo's problem.  I have never found someone else's butt left behind in my smoker.

[Vigo]

Hoopz, you are right. I'd never knock charcoal, I have a small secondary charcoal grill for camping, drive-in movies and for when I want that charcoal flavor. I love it. I don't know how I coped before I had a charcoal grill.

I still keep the propane as my main grill, but I can't stand modern propane grills that wont hold stone or rock. I have mine modified back to Lava Rocks and I have a home made marinade and that I intentionally drip all over the rock along with meat drippings. I also do the wood chips, but only to the extent of tossing in some wood chips in tinfoil to smoke along with meat. Adds some good smoked flavor withhout going full smoker.

Chad, do you use only a dedicated smoker, or do you use a propane grill with a smoker? I'm aiming to move to a better location in a year, and a deck to grill on is a must. I am just trying to figure out if one of those combo grills can accomplish what I need, or if it just does everything more poorly.

I was thinking of upgrading to something like this:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Brinkmann-Dual-Function-3-Burner-Propane-Gas-Charcoal-Grill-and-Smoker-810-3821-SB/202664595

[Hoopz]

Chad, do you use only a dedicated smoker, or do you use a propane grill with a smoker? I'm aiming to move to a better location in a year, and a deck to grill on is a must. I am just trying to figure out if one of those combo grills can accomplish what I need, or if it just does everything more poorly.

Nothing better than putting an open flame on top of a deck.    
Seriously, I'd suggest putting anything like that on something other than a deck.  Shell out a few bucks for some stones, pavers, or something that you can put in the yard, (slightly) away from the deck and house.  No need to risk an issue...

I have a bullet style smoker that I use wood.  The flavor of wood chunks (or the proper sized limbs) is great.  TBH, I haven't made time the last couple of years for my smoker.  Need to get on that for this year.

My latest adventure has been making my own sausages.  I buy artisan pork shoulder (free range, all natural/healthy food, without extra hormones etc) and have a blast.  Breakfast sausage is easy and I make it in bulk.  I use a kitchen aid mixer with the grinder attachment to grind the pork shoulder then have a stuffer that puts the sausage in casings.

Favorite so far are: wine and garlic, roasted poblano pepper, Italian, and a bratwurst that was amazing.  Using the good pork is more expensive but worth it.  And controlling the ingredients is a huge plus.

[Vigo]

Yeah, that  would be a fire hazard, wouldn't it? I have my grill on pavers now, but I was more just dreaming along the lines of how nice it would be to finally have a deck. I currently throw out folding chairs on my driveway and it feels very....akward.

I keep drooling over dedicated smokers, but since I haven't done it before, I was thinking that a combo grill might meet my needs for the time being.

I watched a show about making sausage with my wife. My wife was grossed out, but I was positively entranced with the process. I'll consider getting into making sausage. I don't have a full mixer, but from your comment I now know that when I get a mixer, it will have to have a grinder attachment.I love making beef jerky, and I think a grinder might be useful there as well.

[Hoopz]

The hardest part of smoking meat (to me so YMMV) is controlling the temp.  Ideally, you want it around 225.  Using wood, it's hard to gauge when to add more because you don't want it to hot but you don't want it to cool down and have difficulty getting the wood started.  Without doing it all the time, I never got in a good groove with understanding the timing.

Having one with propane or electric heating eliminates that issue and adding the wood, adds the flavor.  The heat source cooks it but the wood adds the flavor.

CT, agree or disagree?

[ChadTower]

Pretty much agreed.  Wood smoking is of course better but it's a lot more work.  The true purist, or someone doing it professionally, would go all wood.  Joe Schmo like us can still get great results with a smoker that's fueled by propane and flavored by wood.

I have smoked meats using a bunch of different methods.  When I was a kid we had sheds for cold smoking fish by the thousand.  You could smell those suckers half a mile away if it was windy.

The main smoker I have now is a relatively small propane unit:



That trapezoidal pan near the bottom is solid cast iron for wood.  It has a lid with holes for limiting the oxygen to the wood.  I use mostly 2-3" hardwood chunks.  Type depends on the meat in the smoker.  The pan right above that is the water pan.

This particular unit has its advantages and drawbacks.  Advantages are that it keeps a super stable temp so long as the environment does not change.  It gets itself up to temp in minutes and stays there for the most part.

It can be affected by wind or rain because it is mostly stamped powdercoated steel.  Not a lot of mass to it.  On really windy days I have put up plywood surrounding it as a wind break.  I got some granite landscaping blocks and lined the bottom with it to help with heat retention/stability.  That helped a lot.

I modified mine by putting a needle valve in line with the propane tank.  This allows me much finer flow control than the stock valve did.  That lets me run it at much lower temps.  Before the mod I could only keep it stable as low as 170 or so.  With the mod I can keep it stable at 110.  110 is great for dehydrating and I put a lot of fruit slices in there.  I cannot cold smoke in this unit because of the direct type of heating - you can't make wood smoke at 110 this way.

I can fit 45lb of pork in there in a single run.  Usually don't do that much, of course, but in the past I have and vac sealed it all for the deep freeze. 

[Vigo]

Thanks guys!  Some really good info in there. I think I might just add a simple propane smoker on to my christmas wish list.

[ChadTower]

One thing to consider here is that almost all of the work involved is the first piece of meat.  It's a bunch of work to do one butt of pulled pork.  It is only a little bit more work to do five of them.  Keep that in mind when choosing your smoker.  You may find yourself wanting to do large batches and freeze most of it in meal sized bags.  This stuff keeps perfectly in the freezer for up to a year if you vac seal it. 

And you're going to end up making your own BBQ sauce.  You make your own marinades.  Using someone else's sauce or rubs is going to be offensive to you. 

[Hoopz]

Thanks guys!  Some really good info in there. I think I might just add a simple propane smoker on to my christmas wish list.

Have your wife check with the neighbors first so she gets one that's acceptable for them too. 

Seriously, that ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- never gets old.  It's like how much is free shipping and will it fit in CT's car.

[ChadTower]

will it fit in CT's car.

That one isn't me.  Mine is MDF in the truck.

[Hoopz]

And you're going to end up making your own BBQ sauce.  You make your own marinades.  Using someone else's sauce or rubs is going to be offensive to you.

Out of your 50,000 posts, this may be the best one yet.  Making your own BBQ sauce is incredibly easy and adds tremendous flavor.  My last one was over Christmas and had tequila in it, a dried chile (ancho I think) that I rehydrated, molasses, and just a couple of spices. 

[ChadTower]

He's going to end up like me.  I save the drippings from everything I smoke.  The end up in the next batch of sauce.  I save the liquid that comes from grilled chicken.  I save all sorts of things.  Nothing makes better BBQ sauce flavoring than actual cooked meat juice. 

The best is probably the runoff from a smoking butt/shoulder.  Save that, chill it and remove the fat, and you've got liquid gold for BBQ sauce. 

[Vigo]

  I'm enjoying this thread. I have been making marinades for years, this year I got the itch into making my own BBQ sauces. I need to improve quite a bit still. My first batch was a simple Honey BBQ, it tasted fine. My second attempt was a Cherry BBQ sauce, and at first I loved it, but after using it a couple times I could tell it was missing something obvious. I'm sure I'll improve with time. 

[Gray_Area]

We had some freak, hella-cious wind yesterday.....and I was thinking when it might rain again given it's already heavy spring here....and then it ---smurfing--- rained last night. Still overcast, and the wind is back up, though not that furious, vortexial ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. Still not below 65, though.

[ChadTower]

I have been making BBQ sauce for ten years and have never once come up with a good cherry sauce I was happy with.  And I've tried quite a few times.  I wonder if the cherry flavor we're looking for doesn't really exist in nature.  It's a myth like blue raspberries.

[Vigo]

You may be right. The whole reason why I wanted to make a cherry sauce was because I didn't see it anywhere, and in my mind it seemed like it would taste awesome. I'll take your experience and avoid any future attempts to make a cherry BBQ sauce.

[ChadTower]

Hell no.  Keep trying.  Maybe between the two of us we'll figure it out.   

[Vigo]

 

Well, I don't know a whole lot about cherries, but I am thinking i would need to use a tangier cherry. Hell if i know what kind of cherry to use though. I ended up trying to compensate by using cherry schnapps. It didn't taste bad, but I needed to get more of a "bite" out from the cherries. Thinking it over, maybe I could get a more intense flavor from using dried cherries.

Well, I still have about a quart of my cherry stuff left, and its probably gonna be a while before I experiment with it again, but I might give it another go. 

[wp34]

I am more than happy that the weather in the Midwest finally got warm.  Had fun after dinner tonight playing with the kids in the yard.  Had a few games of tag, freeze tag, hide and seek, and don't fall in the lava.  We play out (sometimes) when it's cold out but 65+ degrees is fine for now.

I'll be bitching when it's 90+ though.   

I agree.  I enjoyed playing a little catch in the backyard with my youngest on Saturday.  But I couldn't help but remember last year sweating through my shirt doing the same thing in August.  This is a good time of year to be living in the midwest.  Enjoy it while you can.

[ChadTower]

I'm thinking of trying another this weekend with something like a cherry brandy.  Or maybe some Doc Magillicudy Cherry.  I will consult my liquor store experts and see what they might suggest.

[gonzalma]

I dont think I ever remember a time where the high temp one day was 75 (yesterday) and the next day the high was 29 (and raining ice and hail).  How the efff does that happen?

[Hoopz]

I dont think I ever remember a time where the high temp one day was 75 (yesterday) and the next day the high was 29 (and raining ice and hail).  How the efff does that happen?

In Indiana, we call that February.   

[Hoopz]

I'm thinking of trying another this weekend with something like a cherry brandy.  Or maybe some Doc Magillicudy Cherry.  I will consult my liquor store experts and see what they might suggest.

Interesting approach.  My first thought was to do what Vigo suggested with the dried cherries.  I think I'll try taking about a 1/8 cup of dried cherries and getting some very hot water (not boiling though) and soaking them for 20 minutes or so.  Blend that together to break them up and pouring that mix into the rest of the recipe.

My first thought was make a cherry reduction (like a raspberry one that you put on crepes or waffles) but I'm not sure that'd work.   Also, that'd add a lot of sugar to the sauce.  It'd definitely need balanced with savory, heat, etc parts of the sauce. 

I won't be able to tackle this for a week or so but I'll get to it.  Should be interesting.

[kahlid74]

This thread has a plethora of useful information in it and makes me want to start yet another project.

[ChadTower]

Interesting approach.  My first thought was to do what Vigo suggested with the dried cherries.  I think I'll try taking about a 1/8 cup of dried cherries and getting some very hot water (not boiling though) and soaking them for 20 minutes or so.  Blend that together to break them up and pouring that mix into the rest of the recipe.

I haven't been able to make that work yet.  Part of my challenge is I hate sauces with any sort of solids.  Anything I put in has to end up soft enough that I can completely liquify it during the process.  I did try it once with regular ripe cherries and I was so slow at pitting them that I mostly failed.  Maybe I'll try again by just cutting them in half and then straining out the solids.

Keep in mind that you're going to reduce a good sauce to something like 20% of the original volume of liquid.  1/8 cup isn't going to do anything.  Think more like 3 cups if you want to try making an extract.  I haven't tried that approach so I'm not sure exactly how much reduction extract you'd get out of a given amount dried cherries.

The cherry sauce I want is a sour one.  Sour cherries seem to be stupidly hard to find here.  In fact any cherries are expensive.  I have considered ordering a restaurant supply size can of sour cherries as well.

Ironically I have a big cherry tree in my front yard but it's not a fruit bearing cherry tree.   

[ChadTower]

Just found this...

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bfs/3734499878.html

Oh, no.  I think I'm going to need some help being dragged away from that.

[Hoopz]

I haven't been able to make that work yet.  Part of my challenge is I hate sauces with any sort of solids.  Anything I put in has to end up soft enough that I can completely liquify it during the process.  I did try it once with regular ripe cherries and I was so slow at pitting them that I mostly failed.  Maybe I'll try again by just cutting them in half and then straining out the solids.

My mixer does a good job in breaking down solids.  Anything left over, you can run it through a food mill. 

Keep in mind that you're going to reduce a good sauce to something like 20% of the original volume of liquid.  1/8 cup isn't going to do anything.  Think more like 3 cups if you want to try making an extract.  I haven't tried that approach so I'm not sure exactly how much reduction extract you'd get out of a given amount dried cherries.

I'm thinking that the cherry flavor is a lesser part of the overall taste for what I would want.  I would add the water/cherry mix to the rest of the recipe as one part of the flavor.  Plus, I think it's easier to use a recipe that I already like and add something new to the mix to see how it enhances it.  Changing one variable instead of trying to figure out whats wrong with a brand new recipe.

[ChadTower]

Sounds good.  I like to go with new recipes from meat smoking websites.  The good part about that hobby is that there is no wrong.  Everything tastes good.  Even if you don't get what you meant to get you rarely get something bad.  Slow cooking is very forgiving that way.   

[Hoopz]

We really need to stop discussing this before lunch.  It's killing me.   

[Gray_Area]

This thread has a plethora of useful information in it and makes me want to start yet another project.

Should be re-titled BBQ....or maybe weather is right, when all these dudes hit the bathroom after the Q.