BBQ Thread

skidadl said:

I walked up to the front of my house today and wondered what happened. It is dead.

I never go in the front. My driveway is in the back and I cannot be bothered to do yard work, so I had no idea. It looks terrible.

Welp, too late now, it has been 100 for weeks now with no rain. I don't even care right now.

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I refuse to spend a couple hundred bucks a month to keep a green lawn. Ain't gonna happen.

Iamtdg said:

I refuse to spend a couple hundred bucks a month to keep a green lawn. Ain't gonna happen.

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I'm about to have to worry about 29 acres. Ummm maybe I didn't think this through.

skidadl said:

I'm about to have to worry about 29 acres. Ummm maybe I didn't think this through.

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You better buy stock in John Deere.

skidadl said:

I'm about to have to worry about 29 acres. Ummm maybe I didn't think this through.

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Iamtdg said:

You better buy stock in John Deere.

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Alright, I'm going to try to smoke 2 racks of pork ribs for the first time tomorrow. Using the 22.5" weber grill.

1. Should I brine the ribs overnight?
2. I'll be soaking the hickory wood chips overnight, even though the bag says 15 minutes
3. Put the wood chips directly on the charcoal, or wrapped in foil or a metal box?
4. Okay to use standard charcoal or do I need special charcoal?
5. What's the wood chips to charcoal ratio? A shit ton of wood chips or just a handful?
6. I'll be starting off with a chimney amount of charcoal and adding if necessary. Right amount or too much/little?

pdom said:

Alright, I'm going to try to smoke 2 racks of pork ribs for the first time tomorrow. Using the 22.5" weber grill.

1. Should I brine the ribs overnight?
I don't brine ribs at all. I don't think that is SOP for legit BBQ
2. I'll be soaking the hickory wood chips overnight, even though the bag says 15 minutes
soaking your chips does nothing to help. Weird myth.
3. Put the wood chips directly on the charcoal, or wrapped in foil or a metal box?
I'm a direct on the charcoal guy.4. Okay to use standard charcoal or do I need special charcoal?
I use lump coal
5. What's the wood chips to charcoal ratio? A shit ton of wood chips or just a handful?
Throw as much as you can grab with one hand and throw it in right when you are ready to put the meat on and after you have your temp stabilized.
6. I'll be starting off with a chimney amount of charcoal and adding if necessary. Right amount or too much/little?
That ought to do

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that should do you

I light my coal differently. Use a few rolled up paper towels and cover them with vegetable oil. Works really well.

No brine is legit BBQ? Uhh, no.

Soaking chips absolutely does help.

I do go direct on charcoal with chips.

When I use my big smoker, I don't use charcoal at all. It's all wood.

I bought the 22.5" circular Weber grill over this Charbroil barrel grill with side firebox.

There were consistently bad reviews about the poor construction of the firebox and how it leaked too much smoke. Reviewers had to spend more time/money to seal the leaks.

The posters with grills w/ side fireboxes, did you have to play housedoctor and seal leaks, too?

Iamtdg said:

No brine is legit BBQ? Uhh, no.

Soaking chips absolutely does help.

I do go direct on charcoal with chips.

When I use my big smoker, I don't use charcoal at all. It's all wood.

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Brining ribs? Are you gay?

Soaking chips is a practice that does nothing. Please tell me your myth concerning this.

For reals, this is a futile use of time. Lemme break it down for you, yo.

First, this is what I do for a living ... Evaporation. There is a real science to drying called Psychrometry. Your chips can absorb very little moisture. All of it is surface water. Most chips can absorb about 3-8% moisture content. That is basically very little. It does pretty much no good whatsoever. Matter of fact, it flashed off within a few minutes or even seconds. There is no way possibly that wood chips can hold moisture while hot. Basically you've come to believe that you are getting a benefit just because it sounds right.

Amazingribs said it best, "boats are made out of wood because wood doesn't adsorb water.

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/mythbusting_soaking_wood.html

Phil, do yourself a favor and spend some time on the site. You will find all that you need to know there. Those dudes are legit.

This website is awesome.

skidadl said:

Amazingribs said it best, "boats are made out of wood because wood doesn't adsorb water.

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/mythbusting_soaking_wood.html

Phil, do yourself a favor and spend some time on the site. You will find all that you need to know there. Those dudes are legit.

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Timestamped. I just spent the last 3 hours reading this site - why charcoal briquets, how much wood to add, digital thermometers, Smokenator, etc...

skidadl said:

Brining ribs? Are you gay?

Soaking chips is a practice that does nothing. Please tell me your myth concerning this.

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I think a skid-warped-face-video for iamtdg's bbq-style is due.

pdom said:

Alright, I'm going to try to smoke 2 racks of pork ribs for the first time tomorrow. Using the 22.5" weber grill.

1. Should I brine the ribs overnight?
2. I'll be soaking the hickory wood chips overnight, even though the bag says 15 minutes
3. Put the wood chips directly on the charcoal, or wrapped in foil or a metal box?
4. Okay to use standard charcoal or do I need special charcoal?
5. What's the wood chips to charcoal ratio? A shit ton of wood chips or just a handful?
6. I'll be starting off with a chimney amount of charcoal and adding if necessary. Right amount or too much/little?

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After all this is also a process.

pdom said:

Timestamped. I just spent the last 3 hours reading this site - why charcoal briquets, how much wood to add, digital thermometers, Smokenator, etc...

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Amazingribs is the best reference for ribs. Honestly, that is where I learned all of my stuff.

skidadl said:

Brining ribs? Are you gay?

Soaking chips is a practice that does nothing. Please tell me your myth concerning this.

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Correct.

skidadl said:

Amazingribs is the best reference for ribs. Honestly, that is where I learned all of my stuff.

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Per their advice, did you invest in a digital thermometer? If so, did it make a difference?

pdom said:

I bought the 22.5" circular Weber grill over this Charbroil barrel grill with side firebox.

There were consistently bad reviews about the poor construction of the firebox and how it leaked too much smoke. Reviewers had to spend more time/money to seal the leaks.

The posters with grills w/ side fireboxes, did you have to play housedoctor and seal leaks, too?

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I have an offset smoker but I bought this http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/old-country-bbq-pits-wrangler-smoker/pid-653607 from Academy with welded seams and then I used fire caulk to make a bead seal for the doors and leakage isn't a problem, I did make some steel baffle plates to even out the temp across the smoker though.

skidadl said:

For reals, this is a futile use of time. Lemme break it down for you, yo.

First, this is what I do for a living ... Evaporation. There is a real science to drying called Psychrometry. Your chips can absorb very little moisture. All of it is surface water. Most chips can absorb about 3-8% moisture content. That is basically very little. It does pretty much no good whatsoever. Matter of fact, it flashed off within a few minutes or even seconds. There is no way possibly that wood chips can hold moisture while hot. Basically you've come to believe that you are getting a benefit just because it sounds right.

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This is correct, I used to think soaking them made a difference too but it doesn't.

pdom said:

Per their advice, did you invest in a digital thermometer? If so, did it make a difference?

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I have the Maverick 732 wireless thermometer and honestly don't know how I got by without it now. Not only is it more accurate(you should still do the boiling water test to be sure) than stock thermometers that come with your smoker/grill the wireless receiver has temp alarms and such that helps immensely with having to babysit your bbq

skidadl said:

Amazingribs is the best reference for ribs. Honestly, that is where I learned all of my stuff.

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Another good site is smokingmeatforums.com some really helpful guys there

I'll soak my god damn chips if I want to!

pdom said:

Per their advice, did you invest in a digital thermometer? If so, did it make a difference?

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Absolutely. I have one that I've used once. I paid $100 for it. I'll let it go for cheap. It is just sitting there.

I invested in a digiQ. That thing is awesome.

I temperature smoke rather than time. It works every time.