Official 2018 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

[JoyfulNoise]

Dogs, Poppers & Sliders...oh my!

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[Arizonarob]

How many friggin kids you got?? It’s only Monday, who throws a party on a Monday?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

How many friggin kids you got?? It’s only Monday, who throws a party on a Monday?

4 kids (includes a teenage boy in the midst of hormone rage) + 3 adults and I party everyday

(and, NO, we’re not some weird polygamous sister-bride cult...my mother-in-law lives with us....cue the sad music :sad: )

 

[Arizonarob]

Got ya. Carry on.

 

[ctrav]

Re:  Official 2018 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

WOW!

 

[ctrav]

Matt what is that work table with built in clamps? I need something like that as I don't have a workbench...Thanks

The Official Start of the BBQ Season

So I hate my gas grille because I got the “contractor special” - my landscape contractor that installed it got it for a very “special” price and I paid more full price for a poorly built grille that uses lots of cheap, overseas components. Anyway, at the end of last year I noticed it was getting more and more difficult for the gasser to achieve a quick high temp (so lots of gas spent) and the flames were tinged with a little orange. Rather than deal with it then, I just closed down for the winter and figured I’d deal with it in the spring.

Today was that day!

Basically I had to strip the grille down to the firebox and clean it all up as well as repair some broken parts that were assembled using cheap aluminum pop rivets. Here’s the photo series -

Grille stripped down-

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Ceramic flame arresting briquettes remove (need new ones as these are disintegrating)-

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Cleaned up and opened up all the holes in the burner tubes. I also adjusted the air intake opening by an additional 1/16”

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Reassembled and grease cleaned off with Easy-Off

(Note to all the pool sissies that whine about MA vapors .... breathing in aerosolized caustic sodium is way worse!!)

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As for the inaugural meal -

Bacon-wrapped filet mignon, boiled corn on the cob and jalapeño poppers!!

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[JoyfulNoise]

Matt what is that work table with built in clamps? I need something like that as I don't have a workbench...Thanks

Keter Folding Compact Workbench Sawhorse Work Table with Clamps 1000 lb Capacity -

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CWX26Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_SxP4AbJJ84ETE

I did not expect much out of it but it has definitely exceeded my expectations. Best part is that it folds up flat which makes it very easy to store. I used it today as I had to work on my irrigation valves (cleaned out all the diaphragms and replaced a bad solenoid) and it was very useful to have a clean work surface nearby.

 

[Brentr]

Just starting the day after cutting the grass[emoji482]View attachment 75852

 

[ctrav]

Thanks as I am considering one for sure!

Keter Folding Compact Workbench Sawhorse Work Table with Clamps 1000 lb Capacity -

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CWX26Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_SxP4AbJJ84ETE

I did not expect much out of it but it has definitely exceeded my expectations. Best part is that it folds up flat which makes it very easy to store. I used it today as I had to work on my irrigation valves (cleaned out all the diaphragms and replaced a bad solenoid) and it was very useful to have a clean work surface nearby.

 

[Arizonarob]

I love roasting peppers!! I love it when September rolls around down here because all the stores sell the Hatch green chili’s from the harvest season and usually they’ll set up huge gas powered drum roasters. Hatch chili’s are great for making verde sauce and I love making pork chili verde in my slow cooker. It’s one of those sticks-to-your-ribs kind of comfort foods...:chef:

Tonight’s the night. The roasting of the jalapeño peppers shall commence at 6pm. Let’s see what all the elevated joyfully noise was about, over at your place. I will post up my findings on this new spin on my dish. Stand by.

 

[pooldv]

Mmm mmm good!

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[JoyfulNoise]

Mmm mmm good!

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Nice butt...oh, and the pork looks good too

What’s your rub?

 

[Brentr]

Nice butt...oh, and the pork looks good too

What’s your rub?

Really [emoji50]

 

[Arizonarob]

So, I have roasted up pretty much every other veggie you can think of, but never a pepper until now. Matt, that dish came out oh so smooth with the roasted jalapeños. It had a nice smoky flavor to the sauce and it kicked the heat down a bit from the usual kick from the jalapeños. That’s an addition to the recipe for sure!!

Now I’m going to be haunting you for the rest of your roasted pepper recipes.

 

[Brentr]

It's funny but we are the opposite - l like a little spiciness to my peppers and the wife dislikes spicy. So we compromise and I'll often make poppers using both jalapeno peppers and the little cocktail bell peppers.

Everyone has a different sensitivity to capsaicin, the active component in hot peppers. Even sweet bell peppers produce minute amounts of it, it's too low to detect. For example, my mother can not eat raw bell peppers as they will give bad indigestion and can only eat red bell peppers in small quantities when they are thoroughly cooked. I, on the other hand, can eat both raw and cooked peppers alike. However, I have definitely become more sensitive to capsaicin with age - when I was younger I could eat spicy foods with little external side effect; nowadays, if I eat any spicy peppers, I sweat profusely from my head (I "get wet" as the pepperheads like to say...). That development occurred over the last 10 years I would say.

When cooking with spicy peppers, I don't ever use the high heat peppers like habanero's (and certainly not the silly ultra hot peppers like the ghost peppers or Carolina Reapers....that just dumb!). I feel those peppers are best left as a garnish to a dish or, in minute quantities served on the side for those that want to add a little extra heat. Adding peppers like that to any dish thoroughly ruins the food in my opinion because the intense heat and discomfort it causes overwhelms any enjoyable aspect to eating. Leave those peppers for making hot sauce & pepper spray!

My go-to peppers are - Serrano, Jalepeno, Poblano and Bells (those are in order of descending heat). To adjust the heat of the dish, I find that I will usually cut open the peppers and strip out all the seed and white pith/ribbing as that is where 99% of the capsaicin resides. Fully cleaned out peppers will be a lot less hot and then you add back in a regular pepper to increase the heat. Roasting the peppers also helps to degrade the remaining capsaicin and leaves behind a mildly spicy and smokey flavor. The best way to roast a pepper is on the grille; ovens work too but I feel they take a lot longer and, in the summer, just heats up the house. Simply rub the pepper with a bit of vegetable oil and roast the peppers until the skins blister and turn black. Then seal them in a glass bowl and let them cool all the way down to room temperature. The sealing is important because it keeps the steam in which helps to separate the charred skin from the flesh. Then just clean out the pepper insides. Some people clean them out under running water which helps to remove all the seeds and ribbing. I like to clean them out over strainer and bowl to capture the juices that come off the peppers when you clean them out (the strainers captures all the charred skins, seeds and ribbing). The juice can be added back to whatever dish you're making with the peppers (great addition to fresh salsa mixes). Whatever you do, roasting the peppers helps a lot in revealing the flavor and reducing the heat.

When I make poppers, I use cheese as the main ingredient of the filling. I always mixed whipped cream cheese with shredded cheese (and add bacon!!) and stuff the peppers with that. The oils and milk in the cheese help to reduce absorption of the capsaicin by your mouth and so it makes them very enjoyable as a side dish or snack. When I make my chili verde, I use roasted peppers and I slow cook it. Slow cooking helps to also degrade any capsaicin. When I make fresh salsa verde, I use roasted tomatillos and roasted peppers with olive oil, lime juice, a little bit of white sugar, salt and roasted garlic. The heat is easy to adjust by simply adding in some fresh jalapeno while it's blending. I get lots of compliments on my fresh green chili salsa.

Ok so I decided to grill jalapeño peppers whole and then I cleaned them after roasting. Boy did they taste great sliced up and put on hamburgers however it was still too spicy for me as I paid for it the next day. What other peppers are less spicy? Maybe I should clean them first and then roast them?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Ok so I decided to grill jalapeño peppers whole and then I cleaned them after roasting. Boy did they taste great sliced up and put on hamburgers however it was still too spicy for me as I paid for it the next day. What other peppers are less spicy? Maybe I should clean them first and then roast them?

All of the “heat” is in the seeds and the white rib material. You need to clean them first and rinse them off.

If you want to try a different pepper, try a poblano type pepper. It’s a chili pepper variety with less heat than a jalapeño. You can roast them too and they taste great.

 

[pooldv]

Nice butt...oh, and the pork looks good too

What’s your rub?

I roll my own mostly. Paprika, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder. Then after I pull my butt I hit it with some Stubbs BBQ rub and mix it all up.

Really [emoji50]

Right!

 

[Brentr]

All of the “heat” is in the seeds and the white rib material. You need to clean them first and rinse them off.

If you want to try a different pepper, try a poblano type pepper. It’s a chili pepper variety with less heat than a jalapeño. You can roast them too and they taste great.

Check on that

 

[ctrav]

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Weather was awesome the last few days (rain today) so smoked ribs and grilled wings were in order!

 

[Brentr]

Very nice I can’t wait to get into some smoked ribs[emoji482]