food MikeUSMC: "Bury Me in Smoke"

[MikeUSMC]

hard to fairly judge from a picture but you might need to crack your inlets open a bit further judging by the white stuff spewing from your purple beast. unless of course you have been elected the Pope of BBQ.

“Pope of BBQ”

Yeah, man. I’m still having trouble dialing this cooker in. I think I’ve only cooked on it two or three times so far. First time I fired it up, I filled the charcoal basket and dropped two starter tumbleweeds on top and lit it that way. Left the lid open and the intakes wide open until the coal were definitely lit, and it still took almost 3 hours for the white smoke to stop. The next couple of times that I used it, I dumped a fully lit chimney starter of coals on top, and it did the same thing. I’m having trouble getting that nice, thin blue smoke that we all aim for. I’ve tried both lump and briquettes; no difference.

I’m hesitant to try putting the tumbleweeds BELOW the charcoal (and lighting it from the bottom) because I think, since the flames will be going straight up, it’ll be nearly impossible to get the temp down once the entire charcoal basket is lit. I could be wrong though. Might be worth a shot

 

[Downriver]

...I’m still having trouble dialing this cooker in....

Obviously this one is a piece of sh!t and not worth your time. The only thing I can think of is to just give the f*ckin thing to me!

 

[MikeUSMC]

Beef “Dinosaur” Ribs

Smoked low and slow on my WSM, between 225-250°F, over charcoal with post oak and cherry chunks, for about 12 hours.

Thanks for looking

 

[Downriver]

Beef “Dinosaur” Ribs

Look delicious. Damn lucky Trick-or-Treaters is all I got to say.

 

[Grass Snake]

What kind of wood you using? That's nice looking bark on them ribs.

 

[MikeUSMC]

Thanks, bud. I smoked these on my WSM over B&B Charcoal briquets and chunks of post oak and cherry wood. Used these 2 rubs:

 

[Grass Snake]

Thanks, bud. I smoked these on my WSM over B&B Charcoal briquets and chunks of post oak and cherry wood. Used these 2 rubs:

Never heard of that rub, gonna have to try it out. Have you tried any rubs from Chupacabra, Kosmos, Sucklebusters or Meat Church? Right now I’m liking the Chupacabra but looking to add something else to the rotation.

 

[MikeUSMC]

Have you tried any rubs from Chupacabra, Kosmos, Sucklebusters or Meat Church?

Lol, yup

Go back one page to see some spare ribs I made with Kosmo’s stuff

Meat Church has some bangers too. Their “Honey Hog” and “Honey Hog HOT” are great on pork, and their “Holy Cow” is amazing on brisket. Their chili seasoning is BOMB too! I love their stuff. They just came out with a “Texas Sugar” rub (I think that’s what it’s called) very recently and it’s been getting rave reviews. I’m looking forward to trying that one soon.

The only one of these that I’ve tried from Sucklebuster’s so far is the “Texas Brisket Rub” (on a brisket). I’ll give it another shot but, I was kind of underwhelmed. Meh. I forgot I even had that “Sugar Daddy” one, haha. I’m going to have to try that on some ribs or pork belly soon!


Never tried Chupacabra though. If you’re looking to give those Hook’s rubs a shot, use promo code “IRON MIKE” at checkout for 15% off your order, lol. The owner is a super cool guy who offered me an ambassadorship on Instagram. Believe me, I never would’ve accepted if I didn’t really like their products.


Let me know if you’ve been eyeing any other rubs lately. There’s a chance I’ve already tried them. These are all full of rubs, glazes, injections, sauces, thermometers, gadgets, etc. lol

I’ve been busy…

 

[Downriver]

And to think, I knew you when you bought your first tool box. My, how you've grown young man!

 

[Grass Snake]

Holy Guacamole man, you have quite a selection. I’ll give your Hooks a shot even though it’s from Utah Yes please try the original Chupacabra and let me know your thoughts. I’ll send one if needed but you gotta try that one.

 

[Grass Snake]

What you know about this line up? The names crack me up.

 

[MikeUSMC]

BACON WRAPPED SMOKED OREOS

You’re just gonna have to trust me on this…

Regular sliced bacon (not thick cut), wrapped around a double stuffed Oreo, and hit with a light dusting of Kosmo’s Q “Honey Killer Bee” rub:

These were absolutely delicious and, obviously, ridiculously easy to make. The only things I’d change next time would be:

1. Try this again with the peanut butter Oreos

or

2. Use these original flavored Oreos, but glaze them with a really sweet BBQ glaze towards the very end of the cook

Don’t knock it ‘til you try it!
Thanks for looking!

 

[Grass Snake]

Feels like Vanilla ice cream should be in the mix

 

[Downriver]

Did you run these through the smoker or have you turned into a baker now?

 

[Ashen]

Did you run these through the smoker or have you turned into a baker now?

judging by these, s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ someone was baked.

 

[MikeUSMC]

My first stab at making Beef Wellington
(Christmas dinner)

Didn’t get any preparation pics but, I seasoned and browned the tenderloin in a cast iron skillet, then set it aside to cool. Laid out about 10 slices of very thinly sliced Jamón di Parma (“fancy” prosciutto, lol. $26/lb ) on some Saran wrap. Blended a pound of cremini mushrooms in the food processor, then cooked them in a frying pan to get the excess moisture out. Spread the mushroom “paste” onto the prosciutto, and dropped the beef on top of that. Rolled it up (tightly!) in the Saran wrap, and put it in the fridge for a little bit to “tighten up”. New layer of Saran wrap on the counter, and laid out a sheet of Pillsbury crescent roll dough. Placed the meat onto that and brushed the edges of the dough with whipped egg yolks. Using the Saran wrap, I rolled the puff pastry around the meat, trimming any excess dough, and pinching the seams tightly. Brushed the entire thing with more egg yolks, then sprinkled with coarse pink Himalayan salt. Baked at 400°F until it hit an internal temp of 126°F. Served with a creamy horseradish sauce on the side.

Even though this still came out delicious, and the beef literally melted in your mouth, I still think I’d change a few things next time…
For starters, I think I’d try cooking it at 425° next time, for a shorter amount of time, and I’d also pull it out of the oven to rest at a lower internal temp too (115°ish, maybe?). I think that would get me the “wall to wall” pink on the inside that I was originally aiming for. Also, I would use less coarse salt next time because my 12 year old son thought he found a “tooth” in his food

Either way, it still came out good. Thanks for looking, everybody I hope everybody had a happy holiday!

 

[Grass Snake]

Nice, I like the part where you couldn't invite nobody.

 

[Ashen]

@MikeUSMC

there are versions that use crepes instead of puff pastry for the outer wrap.

the upside is you don't have to worry a out cooking the puff pastry through and ruining the cook on the meat . you can flavour the crepes too.

I'm not particularly a beef tenderloin fan but venison Wellington is damn fine.

 

[MikeUSMC]

I smoked this brisket earlier this year but, I’ll be damned if it wasn’t one of my best to date. I got extremely lucky with the marbling on this one too; it was only a “Choice” grade cut.

All of the usable trimmings got ground into burger meat, and the unusable stuff got rendered down into beef tallow

Thanks for looking

 

[Downriver]

@MikeUSMC Looks damn good Mike.