*Charcoal* BBQ/Grilling

alastair

connollys wrote: »

Would you try building your own smoker? we have an Ugly Drum smoker at home and its a great job. i say we, as my brother put it together following my direction as I wouldnt be the handiest man in the world but its pretty simple and gives great results.

It's probably a good idea, but I'm supposed to be building a shed this summer, so don't need another project to distract.

fourmations

alastair wrote: »

It's probably a good idea, but I'm supposed to be building a shed this summer, so don't need another project to distract.

I'm interested in making a UDS also, my mate has drums, couple of questions....how do you tend the fire, I read that most people don't but I can't see that working with the lump wood i use, might get a door in it, did you make the grates or buy them? My mates drums rust on the inside, can I take this as a good thing, meaning theres no lining? I don't fancy doing the huge burn off and scrub out that the USA lads do, I'm sure my neighbors would be less impressed also, cheers

OldBean

My 57cm WSM has arrived and I'm out of town. Looking forward to breaking her in when I get back next week.

For meat, I find The Whole Hogg in the Honest2Goodness market in Glasnevin best for pork but quite expensive. I get my goat and veal from Broughgammon in the Temple Bar market on Saturdays too.

My local butchers in Stoneybatter/Prussia St. are not great for the money they charge - Pork neck and brisket coming in as speciality meats, not too happy to remove skin or to give even cuts of meat meaning worse value because I have to trim them, rather than the butcher throwing it in for sausages/burgers, nevermind if I don't buy the cuts when they come in, which changes weekly, they've minced them down or diced them into stew/stirfry premixes.

And while the Asian market on Abbey St. has a good butcher using Irish meat, I find it's not of great quality. I've never thought much of Buckleys, I've had too many experiences where I've asked for uncured pork ribs and it's been cured when I've gotten home. Where am I missing to get good quality meat?

ECO_Mental

Not technically grilling or bbq but I bought a Dutch Oven last weekend, but it is cooking over a real fire and that's good enough for me. Decided to do some ribs to see how it works out, got recipe on the Interweb that was just basically a jar of bbq sauce and a can of Guinness also some ribs rub. Put it on the fire for two hours and boom... Fall off the bone the sauce in the pan was awesome. Only thing I should have done was actually grill the ribs afterwards too crisp them up by everybody was too hungry to wait

Will post pics later on my phone ATM and can't attach pics (too large)

SmallBalls

fourmations wrote: »

I'm interested in making a UDS also, my mate has drums, couple of questions....how do you tend the fire, I read that most people don't but I can't see that working with the lump wood i use, might get a door in it, did you make the grates or buy them? My mates drums rust on the inside, can I take this as a good thing, meaning theres no lining? I don't fancy doing the huge burn off and scrub out that the USA lads do, I'm sure my neighbors would be less impressed also, cheers

Thinking about doing one of these myself. Look fairly straight forward from the few vids I've watched....sourcing a half decent barrel that hasn't been filled with some sort of toxic liquid in the past will be my first port of call..

connollys

Fire basket and meat rack were made ourselves (ie my brother). Not sure where he got the drum from. We burned it out and cleaned with a wire brush attachment on battery drill. Hasnt killed us yet.

As for tending the basket, he cut out a door on the side to drop in more coals and soaked woodchips. TBH we've found the best thing though has been to work with just your initial load. control the heat for as long as possible. once temp drops too much, check the meat, if still not done, wrap in foil and finish in oven. at that stage it has taken on all the smoke it is going to anyway.

on a seperate note, used the snake method in a regular kettle bbq this weekend for some lamb and pork ribs. came out perfect. Handier for smaller batches

New book just published- The Hang Fire Cookbook

amazon.co.uk/Hang-Fire-Cookbook-Adventures-American-y/dp/1849497656

Does anyone know if these guys are good before I spend the money? I haven't done much serious BBQ in the past but might be interested in these ladies?

unklerosco

Save your money and visit http://amazingribs.com/

unklerosco

unklerosco wrote: »

Save your money and visit amazingribs.com/[/url]

Thanks very much.

Markcheese

Anyone done beef short rib ?? I 've a few in the kitchen with a rub on them , havent decided how i'll cook them yet... probably low and slow covered in the oven ,and just finish on the grill...

OldBean

Low and slow for sure. The meat should be pretty tender by the time they're done - I'd suggest putting it in tacos with a squeeze of lime.

unklerosco

Markcheese wrote:

Anyone done beef short rib ?? I 've a few in the kitchen with a rub on them , havent decided how i'll cook them yet... probably low and slow covered in the oven ,and just finish on the grill...

Pretty sure I posted about this a good few pages back,if u search it should come up

the beer revolu

Markcheese wrote: »

Anyone done beef short rib ?? I 've a few in the kitchen with a rub on them , havent decided how i'll cook them yet... probably low and slow covered in the oven ,and just finish on the grill...

Think of them as really tasty stewing beef.
If you have pork ribs in mind, you might be disappointed.

Brian?

the beer revolu wrote: »

Think of them as really tasty stewing beef.
If you have pork ribs in mind, you might be disappointed.

Bbq beef ribs are a thing of beauty. Wasted on stews or casseroles IMO.

http://amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/BBQ_beef_ribs.html

alastair

Brian? wrote: »

I know there's a conversion kit you can buy to turn a kettle into a smoker, a cajun bandit. I don't think they'll deliver to Ireland though.

I've ordered the 57cm extender from Cajun Bandit (Friday just gone), along with their heat diffuser and charcoal basket, but the full smoker conversion kit they used to sell (with the door etc) hasn't been available for three years or so. The extender gets good reviews, and they will deliver here, but the postage is pretty penal, so you have to really want it.

Dr_Teeth

Markcheese wrote: »

Anyone done beef short rib ?? I 've a few in the kitchen with a rub on them , havent decided how i'll cook them yet... probably low and slow covered in the oven ,and just finish on the grill...

Ideally you'd smoke them to Brisket-levels of doneness (190f + internal). However braising in the oven for long enough, then crisping them up under the grill should do the trick. They are tough with a lot of fat to render, so they need a good long cook either way.

bungaro79

Have a 57cm b&q kettle bbq and I'm useless at using it!! Every summer I spend half the time squirting lighter fluid on the coals and then I can never seem to ger the temperature right! So I'm hoping for some expert advice here!

I bought a weber chimney, I used it for the first time today and it burned the charcoal well but I left the coal in it for 20 mins (weber charcoal ), was that too long??

How do I use the vents and lid properly??

Do I spread out the coal or stack it or does it depend on what I'm cooking??

Woodies have compact weber bbqs for sale, is it worth upgrading??

And lastly what charcoal would ye recommend??

Any other newbie tips gratefully accepted!

ECO_Mental

I think your first port of call should be the Weber website, they have a loads of videos in there on the basics of grilling. Also get rid of the lighter fluid, you have the chimney starter which is all you need these are one of the worlds best inventions. Just light one firelighter and place the chimney starter over it and leave it for 20-25 mins or until the charcoal goes white on the top.

Again the Weber website is great for people starting off.

oleras

All you really need is the chimney starter...;)

OldBean

bungaro79 wrote: »

Have a 57cm b&q kettle bbq and I'm useless at using it!! Every summer I spend half the time squirting lighter fluid on the coals and then I can never seem to ger the temperature right! So I'm hoping for some expert advice here!

I bought a weber chimney, I used it for the first time today and it burned the charcoal well but I left the coal in it for 20 mins (weber charcoal ), was that too long??

How do I use the vents and lid properly??

Do I spread out the coal or stack it or does it depend on what I'm cooking??

Woodies have compact weber bbqs for sale, is it worth upgrading??

And lastly what charcoal would ye recommend??

Any other newbie tips gratefully accepted!

You'll find an opposite opinion for every suggestion with BBQing once you start googling. Best way is to find out what works for you. My suggestion:

First off, scrap the lighter fluid. Your chimney is where it's at. For grilling/faster cooks, fill the chimney and let it run for 20/25 minutes until the charcoal has begun to turn white near the top and there's a lot of heat coming from it. You don't want full flames either - I generally look for blue smoke before knowing it's done. Keep a stash of newspaper/scrap paper around for kindling.

Start with all of your vents full open. Pour in the hot charcoal, put the lid on and let the kettle get up to temp. On the lower lever, where you're placing the charcoal, I'd divide this into two, putting a tinfoil tray with water in one half, and then pour the charcoal in the other. For longer cooks, you can have unlit charcoal waiting in the kettle and pour hot charcoal on top/to the side of it.

When the smoke coming out the top has gone from black or white to blue, you're ready to go.

If it's just one quite small vent on the bottom, it's probably best not to touch it too much. I used my Weber Compact for smoking and grilling and have never once closed it to change the temp, just use the top vent - Imagine it's divided into 100% closed, 75% closed, 50% closed and 25% closed. Move to 25% if you feel you're running too hot and slowly work up, bare in mind it could take 10 mins for the actual temp to change.

I generally buy whatever briquettes I can find. We don't have the same supply of them here as people do in the US, just make sure there's no mention of Instant Light or Express Fuel on them, you just want charcoal, not chemicals! You can also have a look at picking up some smoking chips for adding a smoked flavour. Lumpwood charcoal is also out there, but burns at different temps, at different speeds. Briquettes just tend to do their thing reliably.

What would you like to cook - Have a google of reverse searing if you're grilling steak, etc. Otherwise I'd suggest the smoking side of BBQ.

Don't worry too much about upgrading at the moment unless you're feeling flush. Get to know what you have and play around with, then you'll know what way you might want to upgrade - Whether that's grilling, smoking, a bit of both, etc.

If you really want to spend some money, get a digital thermometer - you can get them for as cheap as 10 quid from IKEA to pop into your meat so you'll know when it's done and how fast it's gotten there. Following that, you can get BBQ thermometers that you can drill into the side of the kettle - there should be instructions on the Virtual Weber website to get a good fit, but it's a bit of work. Other than that, plenty of tinfoil and a set of gloves for handling heat - I have big suede pit gloves, but there's plenty of options out there.

OldBean

Putting my money where my mouth is... or something...

Results from the 57cm Weber Smokey Mountain.



Couldn't get my hands on brisket. Went with some chuck instead which wasn't great, but it was also my first run with food in the WSM. Found it ran pretty hot and apparently will until it's fully broken in. Rub was salt, pepper, sugar and some paprika. Definitely went with too much sugar for the heat it was cooking at. Applied a layer of tinfoil as soon as the stall came along, which may have been too early. On the plus side, I ended up with some really good beef stock which made for amazing Bloody Mary's alongside it. Overall, it was fine but I just wanted to cook something in it.



Full pork neck, 8 hour cook. Kansas City style dry rub, so quite sweet. Far better control over the temp this time round. Came out perfect - Started with the meat damp and about 2 degrees celsius so got lots of pink colours running through. Everyone was impressed. Screengrab below of my iGrill2 app which is really handy for keeping an eye on where the meat is at.





And finally, just finished a spatchcock chicken with salt and paprika along with some good butchers sausages from The Whole Hogg.



All cooked with whatever briquettes I could get from the local Tesco (My local Woodies is only stocking instant lighting charcoal..) and applewood chips for the moment.

Markcheese

Brian? wrote:

Bbq beef ribs are a thing of beauty. Wasted on stews or casseroles IMO.

In my typical style I cooked first and read later... Anywho the ribs were lovely-(dexter beef) , cooked real low in the oven and finished on the grill , I did cover them for a while in the oven ... but they were kind of eclipsed by the pork shoulder... going to have to work on my slow cooking on an open grill though..

Dr_Teeth

bungaro79 wrote: »

Have a 57cm b&q kettle bbq and I'm useless at using it!! Every summer I spend half the time squirting lighter fluid on the coals and then I can never seem to ger the temperature right! So I'm hoping for some expert advice here!

I bought a weber chimney, I used it for the first time today and it burned the charcoal well but I left the coal in it for 20 mins (weber charcoal ), was that too long??

You're on the right track with the chimney, it's the best way to start a charcoal bbq. Leave the coals in the chimney until the ones on top are starting to ash over and there's no black or white smoke visible - that can be 5 minutes or 15 minutes depending on the amount and type of charcoal.

How do I use the vents and lid properly??

Always leave the top vent fully open. You control the fire via the bottom vent. Leave the bottom fully open for fast cooks. For big Amercian-style bbq cooks you'll have it mostly closed once you're up to temperature. Once you've finished cooking close both vents immediately. This will kill the fire fast and save you some charcoal for next time.

Do I spread out the coal or stack it or does it depend on what I'm cooking??

It depends on what you're cooking. If it's a load of burgers and sausages or other items that cook quickly, spread the coals out and use the full cooking area and direct heat.

If you're cooking thicker items, especially bone-in items like chicken legs then direct heat will char the outside before the inside is safe. For this you need indirect heat - pile the coals tight to one side and place the chicken on the other. Either way keep the lid on, it's a much more efficient use of your fire.

Woodies have compact weber bbqs for sale, is it worth upgrading??

I love the Webers, but a kettle is a simple thing. The Weber's big plus is that they're well made so they last. If you already have a decent BBQ then keep using it til it falls apart.

And lastly what charcoal would ye recommend??

Don't use anything "easy light". Weber charcoal is really good but pricey. This Namibian stuff from woodfuel.ie is good also: https://woodfuel.ie/product-category/charcoal-shop/ and 8 euros for 5kg is very reasonable.

Any other newbie tips gratefully accepted!

The web is full of amazing resources - start with amazingribs.com and continue down the rabbit hole from there. Youtube is also amazing. Get a good digital thermometer like a Thermapen to make sure your meat is safe. You can also stick the probe in your top vent to get an idea how hot the bbq is running.

bungaro79

thanks guys, great info here and its really appreciated! saw a weber online with 25% off so decided to treat myself!!

ECO_Mental

ECO_Mental wrote: »

Not technically grilling or bbq but I bought a Dutch Oven last weekend, but it is cooking over a real fire and that's good enough for me. Decided to do some ribs to see how it works out, got recipe on the Interweb that was just basically a jar of bbq sauce and a can of Guinness also some ribs rub. Put it on the fire for two hours and boom... Fall off the bone the sauce in the pan was awesome. Only thing I should have done was actually grill the ribs afterwards too crisp them up by everybody was too hungry to wait

Will post pics later on my phone ATM and can't attach pics (too large)

Sorry took me a few days to get a few pics up of my dutch oven first go. Probably better suited for a camp fire

Markcheese

I've done stews,soda breads and even baked cakes in a dutch oven, camp fire and a shovel...

Shakey_jake

Anyone else obsessed with bbq smoking and grilling at the minute??

Planning to smoke me some spare ribs memphis style over the weekend.


Heres my pevious attemp at back ribs low and slow and sauced towards the end.

Shakey_jake

Btw has anyone tried the snake method yet?

mahoganygas

Tonight i'm grilling sirloin steaks on the bbq for the first time.

Any tips/potential pitfalls I should avoid?
It's a 2 burner gas bbq.

Cheers.

Shakey_jake

mahoganygas wrote: »

Tonight i'm grilling sirloin steaks on the bbq for the first time.

Any tips/potential pitfalls I should avoid?
It's a 2 burner gas bbq.

Cheers.

Cover in olive oil crushed black pepper, salt and possibly some garlic powder

Use the flame to sear on each side for 2-3 minutes and then set the steaks to the side to for a few more minutes.

Thats how I do mine, very juicy each time.