Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

Glad to finally stop and read this thread. Don't have a smoker so everything is either on the grill or oven. I do have a pretty good brisket recipe I cooked up over myself over the years - will share when I cook one, it's simple and nothing too different, but cooks in the oven overnight. It's just hard to find what I want for a brisket - I like the flat piece 8 to 13 pounds - the whole thing is too much - a lot of waste and too hard to cook. Costco is my meat buying place, but most of theirs are too big. Sam's, which I don't shop at anymore used to have the perfect brisket. We have a quarterly lunch at work - if I don't show up with brisket I'm in trouble.

Interesting to hear of the tri trip as well. That isn't a cut of meat you'll hear of or find easily in TX/OK (I grew up in OK and live in TX now) and I grew up with fresh beef in the freezer that we fed out ourselves. To say the least I was in Reno the first time I saw it about 10 years back. Costco now has them on occasion here in Dallas already in a marinade. It is oily though - too hard to cook on a grill - too much flame, but they do well in an oven. They cook quick.

Tried corned beef for the first time this year - bought already in the spices and cooked in the Crock Pot - it was pretty dang good for as easy as it was, but I love to see the adventures on here - and how many like to really get in and cook from scratch. Good stuff. I've got to go back and get the information on the short ribs in this thread, something else I've never tried, but are always so good and that didn't make it look too hard to do.

So thanks for the inspiration and sharing. Going to have to get to Costco this weekend, the freezer is empty.
 
Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

Interesting to hear of the tri trip as well. That isn't a cut of meat you'll hear of or find easily in TX/OK (I grew up in OK and live in TX now) and I grew up with fresh beef in the freezer that we fed out ourselves. To say the least I was in Reno the first time I saw it about 10 years back. Costco now has them on occasion here in Dallas already in a marinade. It is oily though - too hard to cook on a grill - too much flame, but they do well in an oven. They cook quick.

First time I had tri-tip was when we moved from NY to Cali. I was intrigued and the first time I tried to grille it, I almost burned down the entire apartment complex...the grilles were by the pool and when the fat fire started raging, one guy jumped out of the pool with a cooler of water ready to douse the entire grille....I felt like quite a schmuck!

But I learned a great way to cook it on a gas grille - you get the grille SUPER HOT and sear the heck out of it on all side almost to the point of starting a grease fire and then you transfer it to an aluminum pan, set the burners down to low and cook it the rest of the way using offset heat (no burners going under the pan). It takes probably a good 45mins or so to finish it off (depending on how rare you like your beef), but it works great.

The biggest problem with those pre-packaged tri-tips is that they are indeed loaded up with marinade and very wet & greasy (oil based marinades). It's best if you can start with fresh tri-tip and just dry marinate it yourself. That way, the grease fire potential is lowered. Have you talked to the butcher behind the window at Costco? I bet if you ask, they can get in some fresh tri-tip. Sometimes they just need to know a customer is interested before they make the purchase.

We have guy here in Tucson that drags a landscape trailer into Farmer's markets where he converted the trailer into a giant open pit BBQ with chain driven, adjustable-height rack. It's a giant metal mesh rack that he loads up with 20-30 tri-tips at a time (dry marinated in Santa Maria spice mix) and he roasts them slow over fresh mesquite wood all morning long. By 10am, he's opened up and selling tri-tip sandwiches and whole roasts. He probably grilles up 50-100 tri-tips per day. People come from miles away from the smell on the air....it's awesome.
 
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Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

I live in Oklahoma, and the Crest grocery stores usually have tri tips, and they are NOT marinated, I've always been a big fan of tri tips, just need to be careful not to overcook them. Mmmmmmm


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Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

One thing to add, i usually put my tri-tip in the smoker (light smoke) and cook it at ~250 to a little over 100 internal temp, and then throw it on my gas grill on high heat and sear it.... careful not to burn it until internal temp it's 130 internal, it's very good this way as well with your favorite rub. This is kind a reversing the method but it works nicely. Next time I do this I will take pics. Now you've got me thinking tri-tip! [emoji3]


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Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

But I learned a great way to cook it on a gas grille - you get the grille SUPER HOT and sear the heck out of it on all side almost to the point of starting a grease fire and then you transfer it to an aluminum pan, set the burners down to low and cook it the rest of the way using offset heat (no burners going under the pan). It takes probably a good 45mins or so to finish it off (depending on how rare you like your beef), but it works great.

Thanks for the tips on tri tip - I did try adding foil under it last time after it starting flaming up, but I grabbed the cheap stuff and not the heavy duty and I even burned a hole in the foil - I'll get a couple of the disposable pans and do the sear and then move - should be easy enough.

I live in Oklahoma, and the Crest grocery stores usually have tri tips, and they are NOT marinated, I've always been a big fan of tri tips, just need to be careful not to overcook them. Mmmmmmm

I have a sister in Midwest City and they shop at Crest - I've been in there with her. Very nice stores - good variety and good prices from what I recall. Makes me think of H-E-B, which I don't have in my part of Dallas, I hear they are building some, but not near me. I'm close to a Central Market, but it's pricey and crowded, all depends on what you want. I said I would never be a multi-store shopper, but I find I do now. Sprouts for fruits and vegetables and some wines, then the Trader Joe's for a few things and then one of the big names for all the other things in between.
 
Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

Ok folks, here's the latest batch -

Original Peppered Beef Jerky -

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And, the Danny "Big Foot" Special Edition Batch - Sweet Bourbon & Hickory Pork Jerky

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Here are some stats -

2lbs of eye round roast for the beef (~$10)

2lbs of pork tenderloin (~$11)

~ $2 in spices and marinade

$0.50 in electrical costs to dry the meat

9 hrs dry time for the beef and 12 hours dry time for the pork with an additional 10mins in a 275F oven.

Dried pork yield - 1lbs 1oz
Dried beef yield - 0lbs 15oz

Total dried weight - 2 lbs

Cost to make jerky - $24 / 32 oz = $0.75/oz

Drying pork was interesting and eye opening. It dries a lot slower than beef because there is more fat in the meat that holds onto the water. This is why making pork shoulder in a smoker is so much easier than beef brisket - the extra fat and water in pork makes it very tender. The dried pork has a nice ham'y flavor and the sweet brown sugar and bourbon flavors really come through. It is more crumbly than the beef which tends to have a more stringy texture. All-in-all, a very flavorful batch of jerky.

Danny - if you put you nose really, really close to your tablet, I bet you can smell the bourbon :laughblue:
 
Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

Yum, I like pork, bourbon and and hickory! That is a great combo.

A few sites I have seen instruct folks to stay away from using pork, even very lean pork, because of the high fat content (fat spoils dried meat by becoming rancid from oxidation). The most often cited ways to dry pork is to start off with a cured ham, like Canadian bacon, cook it in a marinade and then dry it. But there are many DIY meat drying forums where dried pork is just fine as long as the meat is lean. I used my Prague Powder #1 and I cooked the pork at 275F for 10mins after drying so i'm not really worried about any kind of bacterial problems or problems with trichinella. The other way to deal with fresh pork (especially wild boar) is to freeze the meat below 0F for 10 days prior to drying to inactivate any trichinella that might be present. Again, Trichinella is rare in farmed pork because it is illegal to feed pigs "food garbage" which would increase the risk of the pig ingesting the parasite and most pork products are butchered and frozen prior to shipment which greatly reduces the likelihood.

As you can see, I'm a bit paranoid about food safety....
 
Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

And the eye round beef is definitely a lot more tough than the flank steak I used last time BUT it has a lot less fat so it's much easier to dry. I added a bit more pepper and cut the garlic powder in half in this batch of beef jerky which made it more salty and peppery...I like this flavor a little better than the last but the texture is a bit more chewy and tough.

Jerky is FUN! I have to figure out a good way to rack it up in my smoker than I can make some real smoked jerky...
 
Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

And the eye round beef is definitely a lot more tough than the flank steak I used last time BUT it has a lot less fat so it's much easier to dry. I added a bit more pepper and cut the garlic powder in half in this batch of beef jerky which made it more salty and peppery...I like this flavor a little better than the last but the texture is a bit more chewy and tough.

Jerky is FUN! I have to figure out a good way to rack it up in my smoker than I can make some real smoked jerky...

Jealous [emoji19]


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Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

Jealous [emoji19]


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Honestly, you can do it yourself. You don't even need the fancy food dryer; just use your oven. As long as it can get down to about 165-175F and hold that temp reliably, you can dry your own jerky...

And, as an economic incentive, I calculated my cost to be about $0.75/ounce of meat created. Jerky in the store goes for about $5 for 3oz or about $1.67/ounce. So it costs half as much to make it yourself....
 
Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

Drinks anyone? These are vodka grapefruit and cranberry juice. Great on a hot day in the pool:cheers:
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Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

So my hunny wanted my famous chicken wings. Seasoned with sea salt black pepper onion seasoning and garlic seasoning. Put on grill on low. Takes a couple of hours. :cheers:

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Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

I love chicken wings! Especially when they're cold leftovers the next day! Perfect for lunches and snacking on.


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Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

I like mine plain and naked but the wife like sauce on hers so I caramalize some of hers with this.



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Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

I like mine plain and naked but the wife like sauce on hers so I caramalize some of hers with this.




You know what I just discovered is a nice way to finish off chicken wings, try this -

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It's at Costco. Despite the habanero in the name, it's not at all that spicy. Barely a spark in my opinion. But very tasty.


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Re: Official 2017 BBQ, Smoking, Grilling, Baking and Beer thread

That's neat!! It works indoors?


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