Perfect timing...

[ChefEx]

So I've been a chef my whole life, classical french trainded, fine dinning, haute cuisine. Little artfully arranged bits of over high priced egotrips. I know a bit about BBQ but hasn't exactly been a part of the classical French lexicon. Now, my friends caterer for his wedding rehersal dinner has backed out and he wants me do to BBQ for 75pp. I can use your tips in two areas: kick ass ribs, and pulled pork.

Ready? GO....thanks!

[imaguitargod]

Pork is tricky on the grill, too long and it's dry as hell, too soon and it's undercooked...

[DEFCON Creator]

Pork is tricky on the grill
Agreed, the damn piglets keep running around on the grate. Thank God for cloven hooves, it slows them down.

[chuk hell]

You'll need a large smoker.

Buy about 8 pork shoulders ( Boston Butts) .

Coat in mustard and apply rub of choice.

After 4-8 hours put shoulders on smoker @ 200-250º for 8-16 hours...depending on weight.

For the ribs buy pork spare ribs.

Boil the ribs in seasoned/salt water or 10 minutes.

apply rub.

Smoke for 2-3 hours.


That's just real basic stuff. Of course you'll want to google some recipes as well to get a more well informed idea of how to do this.

[hawgboyzbbq]

The ChefEx Man,
You can use my KickAssBBQ ribs recipe. You start smoking meat and you will somehow figure out how to put it in every Frenchy dish you make!!!!
www.kickassbbq.com
Smoke On!!!!!Ed

[bubbaschili]

i want bubba the flying pig thats on your website

[ChefEx]

Thanks for the tip Creator, I'll make sure the goat holds on the pigglets real tight!

Chuck, Can a dome type weber grill be used as smoker?

Hawgboy, Maybe a pulled pork pate de Campange, Ribs with a warm frisse salad, lardons, black truffle vinaigrette, ouffes en coccote? Maybe a French 75 with BBQ sauce, YUK!

[P_Schneider]

Thanks for the tip Creator, I'll make sure the goat holds on the pigglets real tight!

Chuck, Can a dome type weber grill be used as smoker?

Hawgboy, Maybe a pulled pork pate de Campange, Ribs with a warm frisse salad, lardons, black truffle vinaigrette, ouffes en coccote? Maybe a French 75 with BBQ sauce, YUK!
I would not recommend a dome weber as a smoker. the key to smoking is low indirect heat. I don't believe you could regulate the heat properly on a weber.

Other tips:
1. If your going to use charcoal use lump charcoal, not briquettes. I use Royal Oak which can be found at any walmart. pretty good stuff. I then add my wood chips of choice on top of the coals to get my smoke.
2. Here is some info on Ribs. From the smoking-meat.com site (http://www.smoking-meat.com/)

The Basics of Smoking Ribs

Meat selection is probably the most important aspect and should be handled very carefully. This will be covered on another page so I will not reiterate all the details here and now.

Ribs can be marinated in the fridge overnight or you can do like me and just put on a good dry rub minutes before smoking them. It is all a matter of preference however the one thing that I feel is highly important is removing the membrane or fell. Smoking ribs is to impart flavor as well as to cook the meat... Removing this membrane allows the smoke to penetrate the meat and give the meat more flavor.

Remove the Membrane before Smoking Ribs

To remove the membrane you simply lay the rack on a hard surface with the bone side up and starting at the corners you will see a thin plastic looking substance...starting at the corner use a fork or something sharp to get it started then use a paper towel to grab it and pull it off in one clean sweep. OK...well I admit it really is not that easy but with a little practice you can get quite proficient at it.

I plan to post some pictures of this process soon so it will be easier to understand what I am talking about. Until then feel free to send me an email if you absolutely cannot figure out something and I will try to go into more detail on an individual basis.

Low and Slow is the key to Ribs

Smoking ribs is a slow process and should never be rushed. Always cook the ribs low and slow as in 230 degrees or less for at least 6 hours. The ribs must be allowed to reach around 170 degrees if they are to be tender.

Pulled Pork:
I Prefer the bone in pork butt which normally runs about 8 pounds or so. They say the meat is sweeter when it cooks with the bone in and I happen to agree.

When I get ready to do my favorite pork shoulder recipe which is basically a nice pork butt rubbed down real good with my own proprietary rub recipe which you can get here and smoked with a good dose of oak and some apricot or peach or some other fruit wood, I like to find a piece of meat that has lots of good fat marbling.

This keeps the meat moist in the smoker and guarantees some excellent flavor.

I always rub the pork shoulder down with a light layer of French's yellow mustard to help the rub to stick better throughout the smoke and apply about 1/2 to 3/4 cups of my special rub to the outside of the meat being careful to massage it into every nick and cranny.

Note: the mustard will lose its flavor during the smoking and will only leave a nice brown crust so you need not worry that your pork will taste like mustard.. it won't.

Prepare the smoker as you normally would to maintain a 225 degree temperature and lay the pork shoulder on the rack for the long smoke.

Pork shoulder cook time can be figured at 1.5 pounds per hour so a 8 pound shoulder will require about 12 hours in the smoker. If you are using propane, electric or charcoal then you can stop smoking it when it reaches about 140 degrees since it should be suitably smoked at that point.. feel free to keep smoking if you are a seasoned smoker and know how to do it without oversmoking the meat.

I have a buddy who only leaves the shoulder in the smoker until it reaches the 140 degree mark and then wraps it and finishes it off in the oven for convenience. And that is fine if you need the convenience.

Both of these articles were shamelessly copied from the Smoking Meat website. Jeff, the owner of the website is the original author for those. I followed both recipies and had them all turn out good. They also have recipies for various rubs and sauces there too.

Welcome to the wonderfull world of BBQ cuisine!

[ChefEx]

Wow, Paul. Thanks. I can't wait to do a few "practice runs" here at the house before the rehersal dinner. Out of an 8# bone in butt, how much meat will it yeild after removing the bone, loss of water wieght and shrinkage? 5#?
I'm figuring 6oz/pp @ 55pp = 20# clear meat. 4 or 5 Boston Butts?

[Tina Brooks]

I have a jar of wicked tomato BBQ sauce that we picked up at Fiery Foods and I want to use it for pulled pork... I have a gas grill... l'il help???

T

[ChefEx]

sure Tina, just pack it all in your suitcase and come to the party! :)

[hawgboyzbbq]

The Paul Miester!!!!
I think all of those people that win competitions with those Dome Smokers like the WSM would disagree that you can't get good Q with them. They claim to maintain heat for 12-15 hours without refueling.
Rememer the guy in KS that took the State Championship with a jacked up garbage can. Right, direct heat and a garbage can. Won $14,000.00.
It's NOT the smoker, it's the COOK.
Just my opinion!!!!!!!!!!
Smoke On!!!!!!
ed

[P_Schneider]

The Paul Miester!!!!
I think all of those people that win competitions with those Dome Smokers like the WSM would disagree that you can't get good Q with them. They claim to maintain heat for 12-15 hours without refueling.
Rememer the guy in KS that took the State Championship with a jacked up garbage can. Right, direct heat and a garbage can. Won $14,000.00.
It's NOT the smoker, it's the COOK.
Just my opinion!!!!!!!!!!
Smoke On!!!!!!
ed

The key to your statement is dome SMOKERS. Not the typical weber dome grill. I fully agree that dome smokers work great. I have been lusting after the BGE for a while now. The key is in the construction. Most of your dome smokers are ceramic based which will maintain the heat levels at constant temps and are very economical on fuel. The regular weber dome grill is just 10g steel which heats well but loses a lot of the heat when the cover is removed. You see this in vertical smokers as well. I have a Brinkmann vertical smoker, or ECB, and I added lava rocks to the water pan to retain heat since the door to the smoker when open exposes everything to the outside and there is considerable heat loss. One of the keys to a good smoke is steady temps.
And your right, it is the cook, not the smoker that makes the meal. But these guys that are winning with garbage cans and regular weber grills are pros at this sort of thing. It takes experience to be able to micro manage your smoke if your not using a true smoker. It can be done, but you have to know what your doing.

[hawgboyzbbq]

I agree, Paul. I have had several smokers that used direct heat and I could never figure out how to use them correctly. I never did get good Q until I bought my offsets.
Have a GREAT day!!!!
Smoke On!!!!!
ed

[P_Schneider]

I have a jar of wicked tomato BBQ sauce that we picked up at Fiery Foods and I want to use it for pulled pork... I have a gas grill... l'il help???

T

Here again, you can do this but you really have to be on top of it. For smoke you can get a smoker box that you can put your wood chips in to get your smoke but the problem becomes that the amount of heat needed to make them smoke is usually higher than desired to cook the meat properly. I would highly recommend getting a smoker. Even the route I took is not a perfect solution but after modifying the smoker a bit it does alright. They call the Brinkmann vertical smoker an ECB for a reason. The El Cheapo Brinkmann can be had for less than $200. Not perfect but it will get the job done with minimal effort at a good price.

[Tina Brooks]

We've got an industrial smoker arriving any day now. :) Maybe I'll wait.

T

[DEFCON Creator]

How many packs a day does he go through?

[P_Schneider]

We've got an industrial smoker arriving any day now. :) Maybe I'll wait.

T

Well that is going to the other extreme but I agree, I would wait.

[P_Schneider]

How many packs a day does he go through?

What makes you think it comes in packs?;)

[DEFCON Creator]

:banghead:

[Tina Brooks]

lol... Not THAT kind of smoker.

[ChefEx]

I hope it's big enough to hold large joints of meat! duhdumdum.

[Tina Brooks]

I hope it's big enough to hold large joints of meat! duhdumdum.

I'm not sure how big it actually is... The Peppermaster ordered it... I just know that we'll be using for smoking and dehydrating. I think it's a Cookhouse, but I'm not sure.

T

[ChefEx]

Has anyone made a smoker? Box style or 55gal. drum. Defcon YOU have to wash 'em first. :)

[ChefEx]

Yeah! Wanted the second bottle before going to work.

[DEFCON Creator]

Has anyone made a smoker? Box style or 55gal. drum. Defcon YOU have to wash 'em first. :)

Why would you wash them out? The residues tend to infuse the meats with very interesting yet unique flavors. PCB brisket anyone?

[Tina Brooks]

oh ewwwwwwwwwwwww!