3-2-1 Method

[1buckie]

  " I know that maintaining temp on the kettle will be more challenging"



  OK.......but what if it's not........more challenging, I mean?

     Under the heading of:  "How I think about cooking on a Kettle" comes this~~~~>

I sit the grate therms on the food grate, next to the food  so I can see  what the temp is right at the food..........I don't basically / usually need to, but I do it  for other's benefit, so I can answer temp questions.......mostly......90% of the time is spent paying attention to the food, the Kettle itself & the cooking environment.......10% (or less) looking at therms........

I get that the technology is there & as with any toys of the technology, we SHOULD play with them........I just like to not get too mentally dependent upon something that, while a great tool, can also be decieving & may also rarely fail............

Perhaps if I were to do competions, or have the need for tighter controls on the temp for other reasons (smoking cured stuff comes to mind) then I'd be much more inclined to get into all that jazz...............


One Touch Platinum, who put up a lot of great recipes & cooks here, has a real good attitude about a lot of  this,cook up to a point & instant read the ending......a lot of reverse sear technique comes into play...........I was reluctant to go  that direction a lot, 'cause it's counter  to my old, set-in-my-ways ways & having people demand that's the ONLY way to do tri-tip, etc, but a lot of that now makes more sense......................

[Eapples]

  " I know that maintaining temp on the kettle will be more challenging"



  OK.......but what if it's not........more challenging, I mean?

     Under the heading of:  "How I think about cooking on a Kettle" comes this~~~~>

I sit the grate therms on the food grate, next to the food  so I can see  what the temp is right at the food..........I don't basically / usually need to, but I do it  for other's benefit, so I can answer temp questions.......mostly......90% of the time is spent paying attention to the food, the Kettle itself & the cooking environment.......10% (or less) looking at therms........

I get that the technology is there & as with any toys of the technology, we SHOULD play with them........I just like to not get too mentally dependent upon something that, while a great tool, can also be decieving & may also rarely fail............

Perhaps if I were to do competions, or have the need for tighter controls on the temp for other reasons (smoking cured stuff comes to mind) then I'd be much more inclined to get into all that jazz...............


One Touch Platinum, who put up a lot of great recipes & cooks here, has a real good attitude about a lot of  this,cook up to a point & instant read the ending......a lot of reverse sear technique comes into play...........I was reluctant to go  that direction a lot, 'cause it's counter  to my old, set-in-my-ways ways & having people demand that's the ONLY way to do tri-tip, etc, but a lot of that now makes more sense......................

I mean "challenging."  You're talking to someone who, when he bought his first house and was trying to repair a faulty outlet, kept tugging on the short piece of wire coming out of the wall, not realizing that he was pulling the bx cable out of the wall.  Yes, for me it'll be a challenge until, as someone else in this forum suggested, I get so comfortable with my kettle and the low and slow process that I can basically set it and forget it.

I like tinkering, but I don't like tinkering with B until I understand A, and I don't move on to C until I understand B, and so on.  I can see myself following your m.o., more or less, but for now I'm comfortable at my pace.  AND I really appreciate all the advice and all the suggestions from folks.  THANK YOU, ONE AND ALL.

[1buckie]

     
   That's perfectly OK !!!!


It's why we're all here together......everybody gets to learn in all different directions, starting from any & all skill levels.......in my book, NOBODY gets shut down for asking.......


This is a little off the original 3-2-1 topic, but here goes............


A good way to get the hang of, for instance, Step "A" might be a test burn................

Set up a charcoal ring, per a few links I'll show, and when you see someone post up about 'snake' or 'ring' take a look at their setups too......

Just set the thing up, lite it off, set a pan of cold water on the cooking grate (to simulate cold lump of meat being added) & set your vents at a bit less than half.......then pay attention & monitor this throughout the day ( best done on a Saturday or whatever day you might be around the house all day doing other things anyway.........use whatever therm setup you'd like to work with & that will also help to get the hang of that part too !!!!!

Point of this is to get used to making  either no moves at all, or very slight adjustments, over a very long period of time.......to understand the concept of patience & observation & getting the hang of the charcoal  / kettle environment.........no quick moves, no freaking out, relax, let any nervousness take a back seat, watch the machine do the work, you get the priveledge of being an unpaid assistant, the payoff WILL come later !!!!!

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/food-pr0n/bob's-beef-o-rama/msg20382/#msg20382

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/first-try-at-the-buckie-method/

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/3lbs-boston-butt-never-done-anything-like-this-before-best-course-of-action/

There's some different ones to look thru......really, really strongly suggest a test burn.....
it's a grand learning experience & charcoal is almost always cheaper than meat or other foods you might cook like this........

[MacEggs]

Yes, for me it'll be a challenge until, as someone else in this forum suggested, I get so comfortable with my kettle and the low and slow process that I can basically set it and forget it.

That may have been me  ... I see everyone messing with foil, and I have tried it.
I didn't like messing with all of that ... A big time waster IMHO. But, everyone's method may vary.

Try it next time without foil ... no peaking, just let them ride. You may be surprised at the end result. 

[wyd]

Only made ribs once in my kettle and I did the 3-2-1 method.  Worked out well for me with St Louis style ribs.  First try I had tasty ribs.

[Eapples]

     
   That's perfectly OK !!!!


It's why we're all here together......everybody gets to learn in all different directions, starting from any & all skill levels.......in my book, NOBODY gets shut down for asking.......


This is a little off the original 3-2-1 topic, but here goes............


A good way to get the hang of, for instance, Step "A" might be a test burn................

Set up a charcoal ring, per a few links I'll show, and when you see someone post up about 'snake' or 'ring' take a look at their setups too......

Just set the thing up, lite it off, set a pan of cold water on the cooking grate (to simulate cold lump of meat being added) & set your vents at a bit less than half.......then pay attention & monitor this throughout the day ( best done on a Saturday or whatever day you might be around the house all day doing other things anyway.........use whatever therm setup you'd like to work with & that will also help to get the hang of that part too !!!!!

Point of this is to get used to making  either no moves at all, or very slight adjustments, over a very long period of time.......to understand the concept of patience & observation & getting the hang of the charcoal  / kettle environment.........no quick moves, no freaking out, relax, let any nervousness take a back seat, watch the machine do the work, you get the priveledge of being an unpaid assistant, the payoff WILL come later !!!!!

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/food-pr0n/bob's-beef-o-rama/msg20382/#msg20382

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/first-try-at-the-buckie-method/

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/3lbs-boston-butt-never-done-anything-like-this-before-best-course-of-action/

There's some different ones to look thru......really, really strongly suggest a test burn.....
it's a grand learning experience & charcoal is almost always cheaper than meat or other foods you might cook like this........

Actually, I did just that when I got my kettle.  I did several test burns, e.g. with full chimney starters of briquettes, lump charcoal; half chimney starters of briquettes and lump; using the charcoal baskets; spreading the coals out across the charcoal grate; using the snake method.  I didn't run any tests using the minion method, although it can be argued, I guess, that the snake method is a variation of the minion method.

America's Test Kitchen used the minion method for doing a turkey on the grill, and Meathead, I believe, recommends the minion method on the WSM.  I'll do some test runs, or burns, with my WSM just to see for myself how the temp varies, if it does at all; to go through the set-up; and so on.  I can't assume that I'll get the same results using the same method on different equipment.  What I HAVE NOT DONE is to make notes on the results of my tests. 

Also, I contacted Kevin whatshisface (from Weber) via Facebook regarding temp control, and he recommended adjusting the bottom vent more so than the top vent.  I tried that with my test runs, and I did notice the change when I adjusted the vent.

One of my hurdles is to get away from the precision of the gas grill, i.e. getting used to being able to move like clockwork with food prep, grill prep, cooking, and going more toward the go-slowly-and-take-mental-notes-on-any-variation-in-process-and-outcome approach.

Now, how cool is that when cyber-brethren start thinking along the same lines?

[1buckie]

"One of my hurdles is to get away from the precision of the gas grill, i.e. getting used to being able to move like clockwork with food prep, grill prep, cooking, and going more toward the go-slowly-and-take-mental-notes-on-any-variation-in-process-and-outcome approach."

  That's a great way to think about it......you also can just write stuff down, if that helps......

I'll do that sometimes.....probably not actually often enough......