Spring Break '16

Last night, I prepped the 13 pound brisket and 3 split chicken breasts with a basic rub of salt, pepper and cayenne. I also made the mac and cheese (with jalapenos and without) and bourbon bbq sauce. I soaked some uncooked sausage in beer overnight as well. The fire started at 6:00 AM and the brisket came on at 6:45 AM. The internal temp stayed a little above 160 until I put the chicken on @ 11:00AM. A couple hours later, I wrapped the brisket in foil, covered the chicken and put on the mac and cheese and sausage. I took the brisket off at 4:00 and left the lid open for everything else to stop cooking for an hour. My new bluetooth thermometer worked perfectly and really help me regulate the fire's temperature. It showed in the brisket's tenderness.

Thanksgiving '15

The 13 pound turkey brined in a water, salt and sugar solution. I added some peppercorns, fresh sage and rosemary. Before I lit the grill, I had to improvise because of the heavy drizzle. The fire started easily though at 5:00. Before putting the turkey on at 6:00, I rubbed it with butter and sprinkled it with thyme and sage. The heat ran around 250 until about 1:00 when the internal temperature was 170. I sprayed is frequently with apple juice until I covered it in foil at 11:00 so it would get too brown.

 

 

Summer Get Together

I started early this time and rubbed the 13 pound brisket the night before. I also made my bourbon bbq sauce and tried something new: a junior mac and cheese and an adult mac and cheese containing jalapenos. The brisket went on at 7AM and the chicken (6lbs) and ribs (two racks of baby backs) went on at 11AM. The chicken had two different rubs (regular chicken rub and fajita rub) while the ribs had the chicken rub along with brown sugar. At 2:00 I wrapped the brisket and ribs. Before wrapping the ribs, I coated them with squeeze butter, chicken rub and brown sugar. Also, I placed some sausage on the grill. The mac and cheese come on at 4:00 and at 5:00, everything came off.

Thanksgiving '14

I lit the fire @ 5AM and put the 12.5 lb turkey on at 6AM. The turkey soaked all night in my usual brine and stuffed it with an onion, rosemary branches and sage sprigs. I used Mesquite wood which kept the fire above 250. Every time I feed the fire, I sprayed the turkey with apple juice. I added the mac and cheese about 11:30, and the turkey was up to temp abut an hour later.

Spring Break 2014

I rubbed the 13 pound brisket with salt, pepper and cayenne and placed it on the grill at 7:45. 4 hours later, 3 split breast chickens (6 lbs) and 3 racks of baby back rubs for added. The chicken had basic chicken rub and the ribs got some Jamaican spices. I wrapped the the brisket and ribs at 2:00 and put the mac and cheese on at 4:30. The brisket and ribs came off to rest at 5:00 and everything else come off at 5:30.

Thanksgiving 2013

I got the fire going at 5AM and put the 12 lb turkey on at 5:45. It soaked in a brine overnight in a gallon of water, cup of sugar and cup of salt, some peppercorns and bay leaves. I covered the turkey with butter and sprinkled it with sage and thyme. It was also stuffed with an onion, rosemary branches and sage sprigs. This was the first time that I was using wood and did not realize that the  flames would enter the grilling area nor that it would effect the cooking process. At about 10:00, I wanted to check the bird to start spaying it with apple juice, I found that it was burning because of the flames. I quickly moved the turkey to the other end of the cooking chamber and covered it would foil. The internal temperature was where it needed to be around 170 and 180. At 12:30, I put the mac and cheese on for an hour and took both the turkey and mac off an hour later.

End of Summer

I rubbed the 9 pound brisket with a 1, 2, 3 rub (1 part of cayenne pepper, 2 parts pepper and 3 parts salt) and put the meat on the grill at 7AM. At noon, I placed 3 split breast chicken on with one rubbed with fajita seasoning the the other two with a chicken rub. After 7 hours at 2PM, I wrapped the brisket in foil and moved it directly over the firebox. At 3PM, I put the mac and cheese on with some potatoes. I took the brisket off at 4PM to rest while everything else came off at 5PM.

 

Another Father's Day

The 8 lb brined turkey and 10 lbs of ribs got on the grill at 10:00 AM. I rubbed the turkey with a butter, sage and thyme mixture and rubbed with ribs with a basic rib rub and brown sugar. The grill quickly got up to 250 because of the wind. I had to put the turkey in the belly of the grill because the tin took up so much room on the grill. At noon, I put 6 split chicken breasts on seasoned with fajita seasoning, and at 2:00 I wrapped the ribs with foil after rubbing them with squeeze butter, brown sugar and the rib rub. I also put 8 sausage links on. The last thing I put on was two tins of mac and cheese at 3:00. Everything was ready to eat @ 4:00. Most of the day the temp ranged 250-300.

End of the Summer

Three racks of ribs (8.5 lbs.) were put on the smoker at 10:30. they had a basic rib rub with salt and pepper. Five split chickens halves with a fajita, salt and pepper rub were put on the grill at noon and the rack closet to the firebox was swapped with the one farthest from the box. At 2:00, the chicken got sprayed with some apple juice, sausage were placed on the grill and the ribs were wrapped in foil with some squeeze butter, brown sugar and more rib rub. The smoked mac and cheese got on the smoker at 4:00 while the wings were grilled. everything came off at 5PM.

Father's Day

The night before I soaked a 12 lb turkey in a brine consisting of a gallon of water, cup of salt, cup of sugar, some sage and thyme, a sliced onion, and some peppercorns and bay leaves in a turkey roaster bag. I put a 12 lb brisket with a rub of fajita seasoning, garlic salt and salt from the night before on the smoker at 7AM. Two racks (3.5 lbs each) of ribs with a basic rib rub and garlic salt from the night before were placed on the grill at 9AM. The turkey was placed on an hours later under the grate because it was too tall. At noon, I place the chicken (6 halves)rubbed with the brisket seasoning and garlic salt. At 2 PM, I placed a bunch of sausage on the grill and wrapped the ribs in foil after coating them with butter, brown sugar and rib rub. I also wrapped the brisket at that time. Every once in a while, I would spray the turkey and chicken with apple juice. I took the brisket off at 4 PM and everything else came off @ 5 PM.

More Ribs and Chicken

I put 3 racks of ribs (8.5 lbs) on @ 11:30 with my regular rub. The 3 chickens (6 halves) and 6 thigh fryers went on at 2:30. After putting the chicken on, I swapped the first and last rack and rotated all three to ensure even cooking. I also used some foils to baffle the heat coming out of the firebox. About 2 hours before pulling everything off the grill, I mopped the ribs with my bbq sauce. The ribs fell off the bone and the chicken was nice and moist. I kept the temp around 250. I was very happy with the results.

It's Been 6 Months

I finally was able to find a weekend to dedicate to smoking some meat. I placed the 11 lbs brisket on the grill @ 8:30 AM with a basic fajita rub and salt. Two hours later I added the pork loin baby back ribs (2.5 lbs) along with some fryers...my lunch. I rubbed both with a mixture of a basic rib rub, brown sugar and salt. The rub went under and over the skin of the fryers who were placed skin side down and flipped after an hour. I ate them an hour later for lunch and flipped the ribs to bone side down. Two hours or so is perfect for the fryers. At 12:30 I put on the chicken that was wrapped in foil and rubbed with fajita seasoning and salt. I also placed a flank steak that was cut in strips on the top tray. The strips marinated over night. They came off after 2.5 hours and were excellent. I took the ribs, chicken and brisket off @ 5:30. The smoker stayed around 200 degrees all day. The point of the brisket was @ 190 but after taking it off, the flat was @ 150. I'm still cooking unevenly. My point was directly over the spot where the heat leaves the firebox. I might need to move the brisket further back next time.

Ribs

The coals got going @ 8:30, and I threw a 9 lb fajita seasoning & salt rubbed brisket on 30 minutes later. Some store brand sausage were on for about 2.5 hours and were a great lunch. Sausage is super easy. Six split chickens and the ribs were added @ 1:00 wrapped in foil. I rubbed the chickens with the same rub as the brisket but used a basic rub seasoning for the 3.5 lbs of ribs. Since this is my first time for ribs, I decided to go easy and get the butcher trimmed beef ribs. I also made some jerky that is basically two flanks steaks cut into strips and marinated over night in a Teriyaki concoction. They were placed also @ 1:00 on the top shelf that was covered with foil. I removed the foil from the ribs after an hour and the chicken after 3 hours. The jerky was great at 5:00 although those closest to the firebox were much drier but still good. I took the chicken off after 5 hours. I totally forgot to mop the ribs so when I took the brisket off @ 7:00 (10 hours) and rested them on the cooler, the ribs got a quick coat of sauce and stayed on until 8:00 (7 hours). I was able to keep the temperature above 250 and am happy to say that it was closer to 275 most of the time. Everything turned out great. I've learned that meat further from the fire box cooks at a much lower temperature so I'll continue cooking the chicken on the far side of the grill. The next day I took a bunch of the chicken and made smoked chicken salad. It was fantastic.