So, how did that cook go?
Aug. 9th, 2008 12:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bzarcherReally damn well!
So, once I cut out of work, I dashed home to get everything ready. Pulled some of my logs out of the seasoning shelf, got all the fire-making gear into position, and cleared the ash trap and vents in the smoker.
Then, I went inside and got down to business.
Step 1? The Veg!
Next, I got my wax paper down and rolled out the bulk sausage.
Then, put the first layer of cheese down before getting the stovetop going and getting my veggies cooked up. First the onions, then added the mushrooms, then finally adding the red pepper.
Once I had the veg spread out onto the cheese and sausage, and the next layer of cheese sprinkled on, I quickly started to realize that I'd probably made about twice as much filling as I needed.
So, instead of doing a hard and tight roll, I just folded it into a meat envelope as best I could, and sealed all the breaks and gaps with bacon tape.
(Those of you clicking on the link to the full size picture will see that I have already managed to freak out a random vegetarian. I can't tell you how proud that makes me feel.)
After I got that taken care of, I dusted on some rub and went out to get the fire going.
After getting it to temp and adding my second chimney of charcoal, I added my logs and let the smoke settle down a bit while I washed down the potatoes to be baked, rubbed them with olive oil, sprinkled on kosher salt, and wrapped them in foil.
Then, it was Go Time.
I had a bit of cheese left over, so I sprinkled it on top, then hit the top with a bit more rub before I closed up the smoker and went to get my precision measuring device for when to add more wood.
Temps were pretty damn good - I had her steady at 250 when I added the first splits of logs, and she shot up to about 325, but I was able to bring it back down to 250-265 pretty quickly by playing with my vents and dampers, and with the exceptions of a few fluctuations up around 275-280 when the first logs started to break down, it stayed right there with occasional tweaks and taps. (I mostly adjusted the opening of the bottom ash/vent door, so Lucy, Gary, and Alex all got to watch me standing around the cooker and occasionally either tapping the vent closed or lightly kicking it open a little wider depending on how the cooker was running.)
At one hour, my temps started to dip (as expected), so I added another split. Even with pre-heating the wood I still got about a 20 degree jump, so I opened the door to do a quick dump of the unwanted heat, and took a quick picture while I was in there.
Next time I do some of these? DRIP PAN. I was able to clean things up easily enough, but why make a mess I don't have to?
I dropped a probe in at an hour and a half and was quite happy to see the internal temp at 162.
I decided to leave it in for the final half hour as much for the potatoes sake as anything, and played a bit with the remote therm while getting things set in the house as it finished. Not bad! A little too easy to shut the remote off, but not bad!
Finally, at just about 2 hours exactly from when I put the fattie on the cooker, it was time to bring it in.
As you can see, everyone hated it.
Dave Wyatt arrived as well about this time, bringing gifts of a delicious fruit pizza for dessert, and some potato salad as a side. The salad might seem like a bit much with the baked potatoes, but the creamy coolness actually matched with the smoky, savory taste of the fattie very well. Everyone was quite pleased with the meal - Gary even had very specific requests for his seconds, wanting to make sure he got as much of the end pieces with the concentrated bacon and gorgeously smoked up peppers as possible!
All things considered, this was a fantastic meal, and it just makes me even more excited for the rib cook tomorrow!
So, once I cut out of work, I dashed home to get everything ready. Pulled some of my logs out of the seasoning shelf, got all the fire-making gear into position, and cleared the ash trap and vents in the smoker.
Then, I went inside and got down to business.
Step 1? The Veg!
Next, I got my wax paper down and rolled out the bulk sausage.
Then, put the first layer of cheese down before getting the stovetop going and getting my veggies cooked up. First the onions, then added the mushrooms, then finally adding the red pepper.
Once I had the veg spread out onto the cheese and sausage, and the next layer of cheese sprinkled on, I quickly started to realize that I'd probably made about twice as much filling as I needed.
So, instead of doing a hard and tight roll, I just folded it into a meat envelope as best I could, and sealed all the breaks and gaps with bacon tape.
(Those of you clicking on the link to the full size picture will see that I have already managed to freak out a random vegetarian. I can't tell you how proud that makes me feel.)
After I got that taken care of, I dusted on some rub and went out to get the fire going.
After getting it to temp and adding my second chimney of charcoal, I added my logs and let the smoke settle down a bit while I washed down the potatoes to be baked, rubbed them with olive oil, sprinkled on kosher salt, and wrapped them in foil.
Then, it was Go Time.
I had a bit of cheese left over, so I sprinkled it on top, then hit the top with a bit more rub before I closed up the smoker and went to get my precision measuring device for when to add more wood.
Temps were pretty damn good - I had her steady at 250 when I added the first splits of logs, and she shot up to about 325, but I was able to bring it back down to 250-265 pretty quickly by playing with my vents and dampers, and with the exceptions of a few fluctuations up around 275-280 when the first logs started to break down, it stayed right there with occasional tweaks and taps. (I mostly adjusted the opening of the bottom ash/vent door, so Lucy, Gary, and Alex all got to watch me standing around the cooker and occasionally either tapping the vent closed or lightly kicking it open a little wider depending on how the cooker was running.)
At one hour, my temps started to dip (as expected), so I added another split. Even with pre-heating the wood I still got about a 20 degree jump, so I opened the door to do a quick dump of the unwanted heat, and took a quick picture while I was in there.
Next time I do some of these? DRIP PAN. I was able to clean things up easily enough, but why make a mess I don't have to?
I dropped a probe in at an hour and a half and was quite happy to see the internal temp at 162.
I decided to leave it in for the final half hour as much for the potatoes sake as anything, and played a bit with the remote therm while getting things set in the house as it finished. Not bad! A little too easy to shut the remote off, but not bad!
Finally, at just about 2 hours exactly from when I put the fattie on the cooker, it was time to bring it in.
As you can see, everyone hated it.
Dave Wyatt arrived as well about this time, bringing gifts of a delicious fruit pizza for dessert, and some potato salad as a side. The salad might seem like a bit much with the baked potatoes, but the creamy coolness actually matched with the smoky, savory taste of the fattie very well. Everyone was quite pleased with the meal - Gary even had very specific requests for his seconds, wanting to make sure he got as much of the end pieces with the concentrated bacon and gorgeously smoked up peppers as possible!
All things considered, this was a fantastic meal, and it just makes me even more excited for the rib cook tomorrow!
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-09 01:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-09 02:24 pm (UTC)It really was a pretty awesome way to spend an evening. :D Everyone left happy, so that's my biggest sign of success.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-09 04:30 pm (UTC)Out of curiosity, how exactly does the beer thermometer work? :P
no subject
Date: 2008-08-09 05:14 pm (UTC)As to my precision instrument, by the time I finish two of them, it's about time to add another log. :>