BBQ Thread

[data]

After five years of successfully smoking ribs on a Weber kettle grill (thank you, everyone, it started here in this thread), I'm moving on to my purple belt with brisket.

1. I'm going for a wood-pellet smoker with an automated auger for touchless temperature control. Convince me if there's a better alternative -- Big Green Egg, electric smoker, etc.

2. For accessories, do I need to get an upper rack? I already have a wireless Maverick thermometer.

3. For wood-pellet smoker...which one?

Traeger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgsicnvbfQA

or

Camp Chef: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIUrQtIUHX0

 

[jsmith6919]

I'm a stickburner guy, I use an offset smoker that I start with a chimney of charcoal and then go with wood from then on. I do have a Weber kettle I use for steaks,burgers,chicken and an electric I got in Lowes when I saw they had it marked down massively but I haven't used it in a few years. It does give some smoke taste with wood chips but you don't get a smoke ring or the depth of flavor from cooking with wood.

My dad is a BGE guy and he can put out really good food with it, if you do get one of those I would recommend getting the bigger one or a whole brisket won't fit without some manuevering(seen him had to put a brick under the center to fit bigger briskets until he upgraded to the biggest one)

No idea on wood pellet smokers, maybe ask over at smokingmeatforums.com It's a pretty active forum and think they have a subforum for each type cooker iirc


edit: When you ready to cook your brisket watch the Aaron Franklin vid on youtube, he has some good pointers on trimming it, wrapping, etc

 

[L.T. Fan]

Sold my grill this week. Haven’t used it in sometime. The party was glad to have it. Sent me some photos of having it in use already about 3 hours after he loaded it up.

 

[Angrymesscan]

I guess I didn’t realize you owned a restaurant. Know someone for 14 years on the internet and still don’t know that. Maybe we need a ghey “get to know your fellow posters” thread.

Why would you want to?

 

[Angrymesscan]

My wife and I opened a place not too long ago. I was a roofing contractor for years and got tired of that. She was a school teacher and that was getting less and less rewarding.

I fell in love with cooking over the last several years, it’s a nice way to spend time with my wife and get in touch with my creative side I guess you could say.

We work way too much right now, but it’s fun. I think I’ve put in more hours the last year and a half than I did in all the years I had my roofing company.

Name and place?

 

[yimyammer]

My wife and I opened a place not too long ago. I was a roofing contractor for years and got tired of that. She was a school teacher and that was getting less and less rewarding.

I fell in love with cooking over the last several years, it’s a nice way to spend time with my wife and get in touch with my creative side I guess you could say.

We work way too much right now, but it’s fun. I think I’ve put in more hours the last year and a half than I did in all the years I had my roofing company.

I love cooking too and wanted to become a chef but by the time I graduated from college I was too tired of the hours required in that industry, specifically the late nights and holidays so I became a builder. I'm now semi-retired and bought a location that I want to create an outdoor venue for food and beverages plus a tiny diner in one of the spaces in the building. Probably gonna "shark tank" it by partnering with a chef but there's a part of my that wants to give it a try.

How's your place doing? Any regrets?

Is it in Dallas?

I love the biz and cooking but damn the hours are ridiculous

 

[Sheik]

My place is in California. I’d rather not say the name of it, it’s not a chain or anything recognizable.

If if any of you are ever in Fresno California and you guys are hungry, shoot me a private message and I’ll give the details.

It’s going amazingly well. I had previously opened an espresso bar/ice cream parlor for my wife to run, that was going really well and we were offered the chance to renovate a vacant restaurant not far from the location she was in. It had all the nuts and bolts in the kitchen as far as the hood system and and stuff, so we jumped at the opportunity.

We’ve already been featured in the newspaper and have had a fantastic response from the community. I keep waiting for the business to level off so I can figure out what we should expect going forward, but it keeps growing.

The hours suck my balls. We’ve been incredibly lucky with finding help, it’s pretty expensive to hire help, but we have to have the help.

Right now now my work days are 6 days a week and 14 hours a day. I do all the cooking right now, but we hired this chick that really impresses me(dangerously hot too, but so is my wife, so I’ll be good.) and she’s fun as hell to work with. She wants to cook and is picking it up really quickly.

My advice to anyone looking to do something like this is, don’t get lazy. It’s way cheaper to make fresh food with fresh ingredients. Yeah, it’s easy to open a can and heat something up, but people can taste the difference.

I’ve never felt more fulfilled. When you hear people bragging about the food you serve, it’s really a moral booster when I’m dragging ass.

My my favorite thing is when my wife tells me someone comments about the prices being a little steep, then after they eat they come back up and leave a $5 tip in the cup and comment about how much they enjoyed the experience. It’s all a little overwhelming at times.

Of course you get a dickhead here and there, but it’s at least 100 to 1 good versus bad customers.

I wish you all the luck if you take the leap, and if you ever have any questions, feel free to drop me a line.

 

[Sheik]

Name and place?

Sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore your question, it’s in California. If you’re ever in central Cal and want more info, message me and I’ll be glad to fill you in with details.

 

[boozeman]

My place is in California. I’d rather not say the name of it, it’s not a chain or anything recognizable.

If if any of you are ever in Fresno California and you guys are hungry, shoot me a private message and I’ll give the details.

It’s going amazingly well. I had previously opened an espresso bar/ice cream parlor for my wife to run, that was going really well and we were offered the chance to renovate a vacant restaurant not far from the location she was in. It had all the nuts and bolts in the kitchen as far as the hood system and and stuff, so we jumped at the opportunity.

We’ve already been featured in the newspaper and have had a fantastic response from the community. I keep waiting for the business to level off so I can figure out what we should expect going forward, but it keeps growing.

The hours suck my balls. We’ve been incredibly lucky with finding help, it’s pretty expensive to hire help, but we have to have the help.

Right now now my work days are 6 days a week and 14 hours a day. I do all the cooking right now, but we hired this chick that really impresses me(dangerously hot too, but so is my wife, so I’ll be good.) and she’s fun as hell to work with. She wants to cook and is picking it up really quickly.

My advice to anyone looking to do something like this is, don’t get lazy. It’s way cheaper to make fresh food with fresh ingredients. Yeah, it’s easy to open a can and heat something up, but people can taste the difference.

I’ve never felt more fulfilled. When you hear people bragging about the food you serve, it’s really a moral booster when I’m dragging ass.

My my favorite thing is when my wife tells me someone comments about the prices being a little steep, then after they eat they come back up and leave a $5 tip in the cup and comment about how much they enjoyed the experience. It’s all a little overwhelming at times.

Of course you get a dickhead here and there, but it’s at least 100 to 1 good versus bad customers.

I wish you all the luck if you take the leap, and if you ever have any questions, feel free to drop me a line.

My entire view of you has changed Sheiky-babe.

 

[yimyammer]

My place is in California. I’d rather not say the name of it, it’s not a chain or anything recognizable.

If if any of you are ever in Fresno California and you guys are hungry, shoot me a private message and I’ll give the details.

It’s going amazingly well. I had previously opened an espresso bar/ice cream parlor for my wife to run, that was going really well and we were offered the chance to renovate a vacant restaurant not far from the location she was in. It had all the nuts and bolts in the kitchen as far as the hood system and and stuff, so we jumped at the opportunity.

We’ve already been featured in the newspaper and have had a fantastic response from the community. I keep waiting for the business to level off so I can figure out what we should expect going forward, but it keeps growing.

The hours suck my balls. We’ve been incredibly lucky with finding help, it’s pretty expensive to hire help, but we have to have the help.

Right now now my work days are 6 days a week and 14 hours a day. I do all the cooking right now, but we hired this chick that really impresses me(dangerously hot too, but so is my wife, so I’ll be good.) and she’s fun as hell to work with. She wants to cook and is picking it up really quickly.

My advice to anyone looking to do something like this is, don’t get lazy. It’s way cheaper to make fresh food with fresh ingredients. Yeah, it’s easy to open a can and heat something up, but people can taste the difference.

I’ve never felt more fulfilled. When you hear people bragging about the food you serve, it’s really a moral booster when I’m dragging ass.

My my favorite thing is when my wife tells me someone comments about the prices being a little steep, then after they eat they come back up and leave a $5 tip in the cup and comment about how much they enjoyed the experience. It’s all a little overwhelming at times.

Of course you get a dickhead here and there, but it’s at least 100 to 1 good versus bad customers.

I wish you all the luck if you take the leap, and if you ever have any questions, feel free to drop me a line.

Sweet! I'll definitely shoot you a pm if I find myself in Fresno

Mind if I ask how old you are, those are some LONG days for any age!

 

[Sheik]

My entire view of you has changed Sheiky-babe.

I’ve said it before, but whenever I find out real life stuff about people on these message boards, it always seems way too strange because I have an image of who I think each person is, and it’s mostly always wrong.

 

[L.T. Fan]

I’ve said it before, but whenever I find out real life stuff about people on these message boards, it always seems way too strange because I have an image of who I think each person is, and it’s mostly always wrong.

pm Iamtdg about the site Facebook page. Some of us have identified there.
if I have breached something he will let me know.

 

[Cotton]

My place is in California. I’d rather not say the name of it, it’s not a chain or anything recognizable.

If if any of you are ever in Fresno California and you guys are hungry, shoot me a private message and I’ll give the details.

It’s going amazingly well. I had previously opened an espresso bar/ice cream parlor for my wife to run, that was going really well and we were offered the chance to renovate a vacant restaurant not far from the location she was in. It had all the nuts and bolts in the kitchen as far as the hood system and and stuff, so we jumped at the opportunity.

We’ve already been featured in the newspaper and have had a fantastic response from the community. I keep waiting for the business to level off so I can figure out what we should expect going forward, but it keeps growing.

The hours suck my balls. We’ve been incredibly lucky with finding help, it’s pretty expensive to hire help, but we have to have the help.

Right now now my work days are 6 days a week and 14 hours a day. I do all the cooking right now, but we hired this chick that really impresses me(dangerously hot too, but so is my wife, so I’ll be good.) and she’s fun as hell to work with. She wants to cook and is picking it up really quickly.

My advice to anyone looking to do something like this is, don’t get lazy. It’s way cheaper to make fresh food with fresh ingredients. Yeah, it’s easy to open a can and heat something up, but people can taste the difference.

I’ve never felt more fulfilled. When you hear people bragging about the food you serve, it’s really a moral booster when I’m dragging ass.

My my favorite thing is when my wife tells me someone comments about the prices being a little steep, then after they eat they come back up and leave a $5 tip in the cup and comment about how much they enjoyed the experience. It’s all a little overwhelming at times.

Of course you get a dickhead here and there, but it’s at least 100 to 1 good versus bad customers.

I wish you all the luck if you take the leap, and if you ever have any questions, feel free to drop me a line.

Yep, I had no idea. I'm glad things are going well for you, brother.

 

[bbgun]

So you took that sweet DCU money and bought a business. Good for you.

 

[data]

To have a smart-smoker for those long 12 hours smokes when you go out for errands, how valuable is having the ability to monitor and alter settings from your smartphone?

 

[Cotton]

To have a smart-smoker for those long 12 hours smokes when you go out for errands, how valuable is having the ability to monitor and alter settings from your smartphone?

I have never had one so fancy. I would imagine it would be pretty valuable.

 

[lostxn]

To have a smart-smoker for those long 12 hours smokes when you go out for errands, how valuable is having the ability to monitor and alter settings from your smartphone?

What is the wife doing cause clearly the man can't leave the meat smoking. Damn woman's libber...

 

[jsmith6919]

To have a smart-smoker for those long 12 hours smokes when you go out for errands, how valuable is having the ability to monitor and alter settings from your smartphone?

My dad has one like that on his BGE

 

[1bigfan13]

To have a smart-smoker for those long 12 hours smokes when you go out for errands, how valuable is having the ability to monitor and alter settings from your smartphone?

I don't have the smart-smoker but I bought a pellet grill a couple of months ago and I love the convenience and freedom that thing offers.

I usually don't stray too far when I have the grill going but I did a brisket a few weeks ago and I left the house for about 2 1/2 hours and had no issues. That brisket turned out to be the best brisket I've ever smoked.

 

[data]

I don't have the smart-smoker but I bought a pellet grill a couple of months ago and I love the convenience and freedom that thing offers.

I usually don't stray too far when I have the grill going but I did a brisket a few weeks ago and I left the house for about 2 1/2 hours and had no issues. That brisket turned out to be the best brisket I've ever smoked.

Which one did you go for and do you recommend I look at it?