*Charcoal* BBQ/Grilling

martinr5232

Think homebase have spare grates.

ZaffizaKunt

Johnnyhpipe wrote: »

How'd it go?!

Fantastic, worked out well - I've outlined all the steps and stuff below for you or anyone else that might find it useful! It's a bit long so apologies for that.

1. This is the snake setup I used. There are 40 unlit Weber Briquettes in total and covering approx 1/2 the kettle.



2. The rack of ribs cost €8 in local butcher. You need to remove the membrane of the ribs which I removed before applying the mustard and rub to the ribs. Took a bit of effort to get it all off properly.



3. I coated both sides of the ribs with some mustard as a binder for the rub. The rub was my own concoction and included garlic, chilli, salt, pepper and paprika. No ideas of how much of each but I would say about 1 tbsp of each apart from the chilli which was probably 1tsp.



4. I used 12 briquettes in the chimney for the start of the snake.



5. There was a grand total of 52 briquettes - 12 lit and 40 unlit. Plus two small chunks of Apple Wood for smoke. It took about 20 minutes for the temperature to stabilise.



6. So these are the ribs in place for the start of the cook along with the temp probe. I was aiming for the 3-2-1 method so 3 hours of smoke are ahead!



7. Temperature was set to 225 degrees F. To be honest most of the cook was between 250 and 270 as I struggled to get it any lower. I ended up with lower vent fully closed and top 1/3 open and couldn't get it any lower. There may be a slight leak on the bottom vent as I have problems extinguishing the fire after every bbq so there must be some air getting in at the bottom keeping the temp up.



8. This is my setup at home. The Broil King Monarch 320 Gas grill which I have for a few years and use at least once or twice a week all year. Bought the Weber One Touch Premium second hand (bargain at €40) about 4 weeks ago! The gas BK hasn't been turned on since! I'm sure it will get a resurgence when the weather is bad again! On a wet cold day I'm pretty sure firing up a charcoal bbq will be a pain in the nads.



9. So this is it after 3 hours of smoking at approx 250 degrees F.



10. I applied a coating of 1 portion Water and 1/2 portion Apple Cider Vinegar at this stage before wrapping the ribs in tinfoil for another 2 hours. I believe this is to steam the ribs a little and help the meat fall off the bone.



11. 2 hours later and this is the result. The meat is starting to fall off the bone now and the smell is just fantastic. We are nearly done!



12. I was going to cook for another hour as per the method but as it looked practically cooked to me I reduced this to 1/2 hour and applied the sauce (BBQ Sauce from shop) every 10 mins for the last 20 minutes on both sides.



13. Ta daaa! All done. Started at 11.15am and finshed at 4.55pm just before the missus got home at 5pm!!



14. So just sitting now to enjoy the fruits of the day! They were really really nice and delighted with my first effort. They were probably a little over cooked for a purist so I will probably reduce the 3 hour smoke to maybe 2.5 hours and reduce the 2 hour wrap to 1.5 hours with 45 mins post wrap next time and see how it goes. Also, There were 12 unlit coals still left and about another 6 which were only barely lit so 40 coals total is plenty for this in future.

Sorry for the long post but I hope it helps someone who is starting out as well.

niallam

Whole Brisket
11.5kg and close to 3' long.
Let's hope I can get it done in under 20 hours. Gotta trim it a little, it'd fit on the smoker no problems but just want to tidy it up around the edges.

longshanks

martinr5232 wrote: »

Think homebase have spare grates.

You're a star, popped in earlier and picked some up. I got two for just under 15 euro, which is a hell of a lot cheaper than the cost of Weber grates.

twerg_85

Popped some lamb ribs (lamb breast / lap of lamb) on the smoker yesterday.
3 hrs at about 250 then sauced and ten mins over high heat.
Delicious, nice to have both pork and lamb ribs.

F.

gordon hatch

dub_skav wrote: »

Outdoor scene in Goatstown has them.
Last year Woodies in Carrickmines had the complete range too, I haven't been in this summer yet though

Hands down the supplier with the largest range of smokers and accessories are a the guys in A Room Outside - Based in Limerick but just opened a new store in Dublin. https://aroomoutside.ie

For lumped the guys on here have already mentioned the fuelstore near Trim - best price hands down - Irish Charcoal Company is far too expensive.

gordon hatch

BailMeOut wrote: »

isn't the cooking surface too small?

What niallam is doing to his tuna I really like.

Amazingribs.com will show you how to do this properly, it's called the Afterburner method and really is only suited to thin steak cuts. You could do it with a thick (over 1.5 inches thick) but only if you like your steak blue.

longshanks

What thermometers do people recommend? There are any number of meat thermometers available locally but it looks like I'll have to buy online to get one to measure the temp inside the drum smoker I'm putting together.

martinr5232

longshanks wrote:

What thermometers do people recommend? There are any number of meat thermometers available locally but it looks like I'll have to buy online to get one to measure the temp inside the drum smoker I'm putting together.

I have a thermopro duel probe.
Buy it on ebay for about twenty sterling.

ZaffizaKunt

martinr5232 wrote: »

I have a thermopro duel probe.
Buy it on ebay for about twenty sterling.

That's the one I have above as well in pic 7. Does the job.

MaceFace

I use the wireless Maverick redichek. Two probes, which I use for meat and grate.

longshanks

Cheers men, ordered the thermopro and a book called Meathead written by a man called Meathead.

gordon hatch

The Maverick is great. So is the Auber - I have one for my BGE - http://amazingribs.com/bbq_equipment_reviews_ratings/thermometers/auber-syl-2615

skilachi

oleras wrote: »

The day that was in it, BBQ time.

Lets try The king of slow, brisket

where did you get brisket and what did you ask for

Brian?

skilachi wrote: »

where did you get brisket and what did you ask for

Any Irish butcher should do brisket. You just ask for it. You may need to order ahead.

Johnnyhpipe

Perfect evening for a spatchcock! Used a light smoke with a very small chunk of hickory over indirect heat for 1.5 hours. Turned out great.

BailMeOut

Johnnyhpipe wrote: »

Perfect evening for a spatchcock! Used a light smoke with a very small chunk of hickory over indirect heat for 1.5 hours. Turned out great.

by far the best way to cook a chicken. Looks great and a good kitchen shears is a great investments so you can cut the backbone from your chicken.

Brian?

Brisket ordered for the weekend. Very excited

budgemook

ThermoPro arrived yesterday. Looking at the meat probe, the nib of it is think but it thickens out then. Going on some pictures on Google Images it looks like people usually only put the nib into the food.

For something like a brisket, is it okay to shove it right into the thickest part of the meat?

SVI40

budgemook wrote: »

ThermoPro arrived yesterday. Looking at the meat probe, the nib of it is think but it thickens out then. Going on some pictures on Google Images it looks like people usually only put the nib into the food.

For something like a brisket, is it okay to shove it right into the thickest part of the meat?

Stick the meat probe in until the tip is in the thickest part of the meat. You need to measure the core temperature.

Ned01

budgemook wrote: »

ThermoPro arrived yesterday. Looking at the meat probe, the nib of it is think but it thickens out then. Going on some pictures on Google Images it looks like people usually only put the nib into the food.

For something like a brisket, is it okay to shove it right into the thickest part of the meat?

Yes, it's fine. Just stick it in as far as you need. ;-)

budgemook

SVI40 wrote: »

Stick the meat probe in until the tip is in the thickest part of the meat. You need to measure the core temperature.

Ned01 wrote: »

Yes, it's fine. Just stick it in as far as you need. ;-)

Grand so.

The 16 euro Aldi one that was mentioned here last week, that had a very similar looking probe with a small nib so is probably worth a go for anyone thinking about buying it. It doesn't have a remote unit though

Johnnyhpipe

I got the Aldi €16 thermo. Very good and does have a remote unit so you can relax with a beer and this will beep when ready!

A hell of a lot cheaper than the weber igrill at almost €150 because it connects to an app..... No thanks!

oleras

Johnnyhpipe wrote: »

I got the Aldi €16 thermo. Very good and does have a remote unit so you can relax with a beer and this will beep when ready!

A hell of a lot cheaper than the weber igrill at almost €150 because it connects to an app..... No thanks!

There were cheaper alternatives than an igrill before the Aldi unit.

Johnnyhpipe

oleras wrote: »

There were cheaper alternatives than an igrill before the Aldi unit.

Of course. I had another cheapo one from amazon.

ZaffizaKunt

Johnnyhpipe wrote: »

Of course. I had another cheapo one from amazon.

Buy cheap buy twice

Brian?

ZaffizaKunt wrote: »

Johnnyhpipe wrote: »

Of course. I had another cheapo one from amazon.

Buy cheap buy twice

I would have to buy 10 Aldi thermometers before I hit the price of the Weber. I think I'll keep buying cheap for now.

I've lost more thermometers to being dripped than anything.

Johnnyhpipe

ZaffizaKunt wrote: »

Buy cheap buy twice

It was actually grand. Less than a tenner on amazon and lasted me 3 years. Would have lasted a lot longer but I lost it camping... Wonder how long til I lose this one!

OldBean

For what it's worth, I wouldn't be a fan of the iGrill. I never used my 2.0 in the rain, but it was eventually killed by condensation. I'd huge problem with connectivity. My friend has the 1.0 and has problems with connectivity and finds it really unreliable for ambient.

Since then I've just been buying cheapo ones and replacing them as they go. Two down and still cheaper than another iGrill.

Edit: I should add, the condensation issue is definitely related to the humidity in cold weather here in Ireland. It never happened using it in the US (Even in a pretty hot, humid area) and my mate's never had an issue with condensation. It got two and a bit months in over here and packed in.

MaceFace

Only problem I see with the Aldi one (from only a quick look online), beyond the possible quality question, is it only appears to have one probe.

I use two probes - one for the current meat temp and one for the grate temp.

Personally, I've used the Maverick Redichek ET-733 for the last two years. £56 from Amazon. Love it.