*Charcoal* BBQ/Grilling

SuprSi

I need to buy some replacement flame diffusers for my BBQ, but am a little confused. The current diffusers have no holes or grills in them, whereas a lot of the replacements do - should I be looking for ones with holes/grills or just stick with solid ones?

This is an example - link

Captain Red Beard

Coconut husk briquettes, anyone got an opinion on those badboys?

Captain Red Beard

Tried them last night with chicken thighs and some of those big German sausages lidl are selling. Burns steadily and holds temp longer than ordinary charcoal briquettes. I'll definitely try them again on a roast.

budgemook

Where did you get them?

Captain Red Beard

The Range has them.

OldBean

Does anyone have any recommendations for brisket in Dublin? I find Buckley's great for pretty much everything, but I can't seem to get the brisket cut with a fat cap suitable for smoking without buying the whole brisket on the bone and butchering it down myself - I've done it before and it's fine, but a pain in the arse and I'm left with more meat and fat than either we or our freezer can handle.

martinr5232

OldBean wrote:

Does anyone have any recommendations for brisket in Dublin? I find Buckley's great for pretty much everything, but I can't seem to get the brisket cut with a fat cap suitable for smoking without buying the whole brisket on the bone and butchering it down myself - I've done it before and it's fine, but a pain in the arse and I'm left with more meat and fat than either we or our freezer can handle.

Ive got it before in Ethersons in Cabra i had to order it though.

OldBean

What did you say when you were ordering it? Did they know what you were after?

I don't mind ordering in advance, but I've tried every description of brisket with Buckley's and still didn't get what I was after. Yesterdays 12 hour cook resulted in a brisket with not a single bit of fat running through it so I'm a little sore.

neris

I get my brisket from omahonys in coolock and its always meat and very little fat. from looking at american brisket cooking online and in books they seem to have two parts to the brisket (point & top??) that I think our butchers do away with as its a meat that is stewed more over here. I did 2 briskets for easter. one in the oven and the other smoked over indirect heat on the bbq. The oven one was more tender but less flavour where as the bbq one had smokey flavour but a bit tougher.

I did smoked beef ribs last weekend and would go for them over a brisket as they had more fat on them and good chunks of meat.

OldBean

neris wrote: »

I get my brisket from omahonys in coolock and its always meat and very little fat. from looking at american brisket cooking online and in books they seem to have two parts to the brisket (point & top??) that I think our butchers do away with as its a meat that is stewed more over here. I did 2 briskets for easter. one in the oven and the other smoked over indirect heat on the bbq. The oven one was more tender but less flavour where as the bbq one had smokey flavour but a bit tougher

Yep, Irish butchers err on the side of roasting, boiling or making spiced beef when it comes to brisket.

Aaron Franklin's book has a great section on brisket that I'd love to bring in and say 'that, please' but I reckon they'd just think I'm an even bigger asshole.

niallam

In general I find ordering some cuts of meat very difficult.
A butcher, no matter how good, might get it right the first time and wrong the next 3...!!!
They never understand “leave the fat on”.

Ribs are nearly impossible to get, I used to have a good supplier but now they can only get little scrawny 4-500g ones. Used to get big meaty 800-900g ones. Their answer, “yea, it’s the main supplier, they’re just not doing the big ones now”
Have pigs suddenly shrank?

Pork belly. Butcher told me last weekend that the ones he had for me were just off lean pigs... not even 1mm fat in random places too.

Briskets, trimmed so well they actually start drying out on top and bottom, doesn’t matter if you cook at 225 or 275.

My rant could go on and on

philidub

I've found it very hard to get spare ribs, no problem getting baby back but nobody seems to sell spare unless attached to the belly... which I might try cutting myself at some point..so little meat on the baby back ones.

Haven't tried it yet but the Brown pig butcher in Terenure has brisket(flat and point).

OldBean

This could be due to the types of commonly farmed pigs in Ireland, but I really don't find much of a difference between the size and meat on spare and baby back ribs here, as opposed to the US.

neris

has anyone done sweet breads smoked or grilled? the Argentinians seem mad keen on them, butcher didnt have them in when i was ordering

Below is what I smoked last weekend, Hickory chips thrown on top of lump wood with the meats smoked for 2 hours. The beef ribs as mentioned before marinated in a vinegar and spice mix, a ham fillet marinated in vinegar and a store bought pulled pork marinade and a pork belly in a char siu sauce. I left a top layer of fat on the beef rib which Id trim off next time as it was very chewy and the taste of fat was a bit overpowering, had to throw them back on the bbq for another 20 minutes as they were slightly underdone compared to the other 2. The ham fillet had a bit too much vinegar and the marinade was rank. Ended up using it as sandwich meat during the week. The belly turned out the best of the 3 the sauce was sweet but not overpowering and juicy. Served up with a side dish of whiskey cream corn, a recipe I got from one of Myron Mixons books

budgemook

Also get meat in Etherson's, they are usually fairly good when it comes to special requests. The brisket is not the American point and flat style though - I learned about that on this thread.

They've done some custom cuts for me like leaving the belly and loin together for Porchetta. I'm going to ask for good beef short ribs next.

Regarding good fatty pork cuts - the whole hogg in Glasnevin market definitely has fatty pigs! He'd most likely do you a custom cut too.

OldBean

neris wrote: »

has anyone done sweet breads smoked or grilled? the Argentinians seem mad keen on them, butcher didnt have them in when i was ordering

I've only grilled them. Oil, salt and pepper and toss them on the grill above the heat source for about 7 or 8 minutes. If you're doing them on wooden skewers, it's worth soaking the skewers overnight.

Buckleys usually have a tray full of them if you're Dublin based.

budgemook wrote: »

Regarding good fatty pork cuts - the whole hogg in Glasnevin market definitely has fatty pigs! He'd most likely do you a custom cut too.

He's a nice guy alright. I think you can pop down to him in Meath too.

martinr5232

OldBean wrote:

What did you say when you were ordering it? Did they know what you were after?

I just asked for brisket. He asked did i want bone in or out.
Maybe its not the cut you are looking for but they are very helpfull in there be worth a shot if youre not too far away.

giftgrub

Looking to try brisket for the first time soon. Spoke to the butcher i go to in Dun Laoghaire. He says they get it and use it for mincing/stewing beef but can give me a whole piece no problem.
A lot of the youtube recipes remove the fat cap and some inject the meat with stock or marinade, thoughts?

Also do you wrap in foil for the last hour, and how long do you let it rest for?

The Sparrow

giftgrub wrote: »

Looking to try brisket for the first time soon. Spoke to the butcher i go to in Dun Laoghaire. He says they get it and use it for mincing/stewing beef but can give me a whole piece no problem.
A lot of the youtube recipes remove the fat cap and some inject the meat with stock or marinade, thoughts?

Also do you wrap in foil for the last hour, and how long do you let it rest for?

I can't help but which butcher was it? Might have to pay them a visit for the same :P

giftgrub

The Sparrow wrote: »

I can't help but which butcher was it? Might have to pay them a visit for the same :P

Dempsey and Byrne in the old shopping centre, beside SuperValu. He said if I gave him a weeks notice he’s take it out and age it a bit as well

The Sparrow

giftgrub wrote: »

Dempsey and Byrne in the old shopping centre, beside SuperValu. He said if I gave him a weeks notice he’s take it out and age it a bit as well

Great, let us know how it turns out. How much will it be?

I might have to go in some day and ask them to do the same thing with the brisket as they did for the other guy who was asking about brisket

giftgrub

The Sparrow wrote: »

Great, let us know how it turns out. How much will it be?

I might have to go in some day and ask them to do the same thing with the brisket as they did for the other guy who was asking about brisket

Didn’t ask about cost, he said it’s not expensive though . Going to give it a bash for a session for about 15 people soon. Looks like I’ll have to start the charcoal at about 5am!

unklerosco

For anyone interested, I'm selling my weber smokey mountain on adverts

http://www.adverts.ie/15359809

It's the 47cm model, needs a clean and new grates which u can get easily.

Captain Red Beard

Does anyone on this thread have the offset BBQ that Homestore & More are selling?

fourmations

lads

theres a solid chimney starter in aldi for 8€
way heavier duty than ones ive bought before for twice the price
decent weber style handle too

rgds

fourmations

Captain Red Beard wrote: »

Does anyone on this thread have the offset BBQ that Homestore & More are selling?

seems similar to the aldi one i have (in store at the mo for 80)
hard to tell but the H&M one might be heavier duty

go and look at it and check now snug the doors are
i ran a silicone bead on the firebox and the main chamber doors

heres some info on the aldi one from my previous posts that may help
and i think will apply to the H&M one

hi

well i thought id report back
I did pulled pork yesterday

the addition of a coals basket make this very usable
it almost useless if you use the grate thats supplied as
theres very little distance between the grate and base
and it chokes itself out in the ash quite quickly,
(i bought a stainless shower accessory thingy in homestore & more)
using a basket allows you to keep good air through the coals
and keep the fire tall rather than spread out

quite easy to hold it at the magic 225- 250F but the fire needs attention
on the hour and uses a fair bit of fuel, i needed a hot clean fire

anyway I bought a full shoulder got it boned and trimmed off the fat cap
i divided it into two pieces to try reduce cooking times, rubbed it liberally
and rested overnight, it went on at midday and i did it for 8 hours
and then pulled it off the bbq and put it in the oven, i was running out of fuel
and light and sure all the smoking is long done by then, it was ready at midnight which is to be expected, it came out amazing and as good as anything ive had in a bbq restaurant, loads of "bark" as it was in two pieces

so basically it very usable with a basket added
the other mod thats common is to use a baffle
but this did not help at all rather hindered it
i think because the food chamber is so small its not needed
the heat was fairly consistant thourout the chamber
also a lot of people extend the chimney down to the grate
to keep more heat in it but the chimney on this is located on the end
and is mounted halfway down the drum and not on the top
so again i think that mod may be fruitless

time will tell it it falls apart but still well worth 80e imo

Captain Red Beard

fourmations wrote: »

lads

theres a solid chimney starter in aldi for 8€
way heavier duty than ones ive bought before for twice the price
decent weber style handle too

rgds

Picked one up earlier, well worth 8 bucks.

Shakey_jake

Just took delivery of this today



Its been what feels like a long time coming and is a massive upgrade from my 44cm weber grill


Cant wait to try it

liamo

I do love my WSM but I find the flexibility of the ProQ's stacking system very appealing.

Would like to hear your comments after you've tried it a couple of times.

Shakey_jake wrote: »

Just took delivery of this today

Its been what feels like a long time coming and is a massive upgrade from my 44cm weber grill


Cant wait to try it

Buyingcar2012

I've recently bought a Weber Kettle Mastertouch and got a free griddle accessory.
Just a few ques!
- Where and what type of charcoal should I buy (Dublin based)?
- I mostly plan to do fast cooking food (burgers, fish, chicken) but I do eventually plan to do smoking so is a Slow n Sear worth getting?
- what websites do you use for recipe ideas?
- where do you buy your rubs/marinades etc?
- any other tips appreciated? I'm a good cook indoors but a bit of a novice outdoors as we used gas grills growing up.