Smoke (Alton Brown)

[G$]

If a grill stained with hickory smoke is wrong, I don't want to be right. 

;-)

But if I somehow felt...compelled to try , is baking soda ok for plated grates and the inside of the lid?

Sunsanvil..... The lid is going to be gunked up with smoke and charcoal residue the third time you cook on it. Cleanign for the sake of removing The residue from some hickory wood chips is a bit of a waSte of effort.  Baking soda would not hurt anything, but is not the most effective way to clean those either.

[1buckie]

I like AB. I think he was way off base on a few things in this episode.  His style is somewhat conveyed in 'absolutes', which rubs me the wrong way at times.  That statement was one of those times.  All in all, I actually did not care for the episode.

When he had the guru hooked up to the kettle, was the top vent closed?

Yeah, he has some good ideas, but his word isn't law. I mean, I highly doubt any of us is going to run out and buy a hot plate anytime soon. LOL!

I did like the way he put two rib racks together to fit those ribs. For smoking on the OT kettle I just barley crack the bottom vent and let it rip. It doesn't need to stay locked at 225 for the whole cook, just close.

I also think he uses too many gadgets and too many steps for "bbq". Yeah that's right, you could have done all of that at the same time with one 22.5 WSM an RK or two regular 22.5 kettles for that matter and skipped the rest.

  I vote we send Buckie over there to punch him in the nose! Then give him a lesson on bbqing the Weber way.      

i'm just now seeing this..........being more of a lover than a fighter, I'd probably just cut straight to the BBQ lesson plan......

Oh, and Sunsanvil, I thought of a quick way you can clean a lot of that from at least the grates......ball up a wad of aluminium foil, grab firmly w/tongs & scrub back & forth when grate is hot.....should take care a most of the coating of "stuff".......

[mike.stavlund]

Duke, I brine my butts all the time.  I actually use Alton's butt recipe (not the one he uses in this episode, but in an earlier episode where he adds a (salt-free) as a follow-up to the brine).  I find that brining puts a nice sweet/salt flavor evenly all through the meat, but still gives a bit more salty 'bite' on the bark.  Plus it's pretty easy and adds some moisture to the butts too.  And then you can really load on the rub without worrying about it over-salting the meat (since your rub can be salt-free). 

[Duke]

Duke, I brine my butts all the time.  I actually use Alton's butt recipe (not the one he uses in this episode, but in an earlier episode where he adds a (salt-free) as a follow-up to the brine).  I find that brining puts a nice sweet/salt flavor evenly all through the meat, but still gives a bit more salty 'bite' on the bark.  Plus it's pretty easy and adds some moisture to the butts too.  And then you can really load on the rub without worrying about it over-salting the meat (since your rub can be salt-free).

Very cool, I am going to give it a shot. Please post the brine recipe or better yet just do a butt and post the complete cook start to finish.

[bob hope]

I like AB. I think he was way off base on a few things in this episode.  His style is somewhat conveyed in 'absolutes', which rubs me the wrong way at times.  That statement was one of those times.  All in all, I actually did not care for the episode.

When he had the guru hooked up to the kettle, was the top vent closed?

Hey G$  it's a pitmasterIQ, and yes they  recommend that you run it with all vents closed.

[mike.stavlund]

It may be awhile before I do a butt, so here's the recipe just in case.  I back off on the chili powder to keep my kids interested in pulled pork, but otherwise I use the exact ingredients.  Using very fine salt (measuring by weight, not volume) allows the brine to be built without heating it at all. 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pulled-pork-recipe/index.html

I noticed in the later episode posted above, he uses the same brine but leaves out the rub. 

[sunsanvil]

Reflecting on the show a bit, cant really take him too seriously since (from what I can gather) people the world over have been smoking with these kettles for years...decades even, without microprocessor controlled fans.

Now I'm sure the later makes life a whole lot simpler, but short of that, what are some real world strategies for keeping a kettle under 300 for a handful of hours without the modern aid?

[bob hope]

First off, for the loooong cook the PitmasterIQ does great! ( 10 hours + ) now a minion method also helps. I use it in conjunction with some SS shields. I have been able to hold in the 250-275 range with this setup (pictured below) and although I have never used it some swear by the snake method also.

[1buckie]

Reflecting on the show a bit, cant really take him too seriously since (from what I can gather) people the world over have been smoking with these kettles for years...decades even, without microprocessor controlled fans.

Now I'm sure the later makes life a whole lot simpler, but short of that, what are some real world strategies for keeping a kettle under 300 for a handful of hours without the modern aid?

"for years...decades even"...............some still do.............

Trust the process & some practice...........

Beef, mainly..

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-beef-recipes/something-different/

Pork, mostly........

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/re-print-ok-what's-in-kettle-3/

This is not the only way to run @ 250 or so for long periods, just the easiest I've found;

a few of the photos overlap, but were used 'cause they demonstrated things well.......

These ones have some pics & comments that may be helpful also.......

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/previous-it's-peaceful-at-night/

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


Brisket point ~~>

[1buckie]

A lot of people will use the temp monitors, for internal meat temp & cooker grate temp, but with no fans/ blowers/ extra attachments added....

Here's an example from One Touch Platinum that shows this ~~~>

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/some-butt!/


I have one, but have never got it out of the box, the dogs just wake me up to check on things........

[One Touch Platinum]

I found the video amusing. I thought the part where he said something like" You could/would never smoke meat on a kettle.." was funny, what better way is there? Since I have switched to my Weber all of my smokes are hassle free and efficient.....and they taste GREAT! When I smoke a butt, like the one in the link 1buckie posted....it takes me about 8 hours. I don't have to do much to tend my fire until about 6 hours into it. (Coal lined up around edge of grill with small amount lit on one end to start long slow burn of the rest). I also have not had much issue with the stall doing the butts on my Platinum either. I don't brine butts but I do inject them. I know some guys who swear by brining and may try it sometime. When I smoke a butt...(how many times can I use the word butt in one post? ....I can almost set my watch by the cook time minus a few variables....mostly wind.....I always start them by 8am and take them off around 4 or 4:30pm. I always wrap them after they come off and let them rest for at least an hour and if I happen to be way ahead of schedule I will wrap them and stick them in a cooler for as long as it takes for dinner time.....I have done this before for several hours and the meat was still too hot to pull with my bare fingers. I always pull the Butt off the grill when it hits 200 degrees. I will check at that time to see if it is fork tender and it always is by then....and that's it. I don't understand why he would cook the meat on the grill/smoker and then finish in the oven. A guy I work with just did a 10 pound butt over the weekend. And when I  say OVER the weekend I mean it. He said he smoked it for 16 hours! I asked him what temp he was running his grill at? He said 225. I must be doing something wrong because I like to eat the meat the same day that I started cooking it. I use the Temp probe whenever I do anything smoked or reverse seared, which is most of what I do. I use it when I do steaks, chicken,butts etc. If I reverse sear something I will pull the probe 10 degrees shy of my target temp and will use my instant read thermometer to check the temp as I am searing and pull the meat 5 degrees shy of the target temp. Let the meat rest for a few minutes so it will go up the last 5 degrees and then eat.  I didn't know I needed to add all that shit to my Weber in order to do ribs or pork butts.....I guess I better just put my Weber out on the curb this week for trash day.

[HankB]

A lot of people will use the temp monitors, for internal meat temp & cooker grate temp, but with no fans/ blowers/ extra attachments added....

<raises hand> That includes me. But that's usually on a WSM which is better suited to a low 'n slow style of indirect cooking. I have no desire to go beyond that because I find the control via vent position sufficient. However on a kettle I'm sure that devices like this can make life easier.

I enjoy watching AB because I feel that he provides a lot of background information that helps me to understand what is going on. I also see him doing things that interest me enough to want to try.  (Perhaps I'll brine the next butt I smoke.) I don't agree with everything he says or does, though I don't doubt that what he describes works.

And FWIW I neither sauce nor foil ribs or butts though I usually use some Sweet baby Ray's when reheating ribs and like a home made mustard style sauce on my pulled pork.

[G$]

BobHope, thanks for the reply, that blows my mind that the iQ is run with the vents closed.  Have you ever tried running it with the top vent slightly opened?  I am truly gobsmacked that they run with all vents closed. 


And on temp controllers and whether one can not be talken 'seriously' when using them....

I have had stokers for my WSMs for years, primarily for when we are doing BBQ Competitions. I assure you they are a tool of the serious!  One of these days I am going to hook one up to a kettle for fun, but when I am going low and slow I typically use one of my WSMs.

[G$]

I enjoy watching AB because I feel that he provides a lot of background information that helps me to understand what is going on. I also see him doing things that interest me enough to want to try.  (Perhaps I'll brine the next butt I smoke.) I don't agree with everything he says or does, though I don't doubt that what he describes works.

Yeah Hank, this sums my general views on AB up as well,  and is why I generally like him and the show, but did not care for this episode.   You see, I do not doubt what he says works, what I doubt is that what he says is the ONLY way it works .......(which is often his implication).

[TheFinkFarm]

If a grill stained with hickory smoke is wrong, I don't want to be right. 

;-)

Amen Brother!