My Everything
- Thread starter Diablo
- Start date
Diablo said:This is my grill, smoker & bbq'er. Going to enter a Tri Tip cook off with the smoked angle. Getting to know this BBQ grill pretty well. I'm putting in my time and earning my stripes. Cook Off isn't till June. I believe I'm giving myself a good chance to win.
i have seen many people enter comps with webers... have seen many win it as well.. its not the size of the cooker or the brand of the cooker, its the love that you possess for good food.
@BamsBBQ My sentiments exactly.
Any input is welcome. I have this setup, which I find works quite well. However, there's a problem I have with, when do I want to stop smoking this piece of meat? I'm not sure if I want it rare. When I like smoked brisket or ribs, I like that they melt in your mouth, which is past the rare point. Problem is that on my last tri tip I didn't get that melt in your mouth texture. It was very moist, brine, and tender. But not so tender it falls apart.
On this run I went with a 3 hour smoke, and leaving the meat in on the dieing coals for the last hour. I'm only adding ten bricks an hour, five each side. I think I want to go slower still, maybe bring it down to 8 coals an hour and see what happens.
Starting to think that this cut won't get to the melt in your mouth stage. Last time I smoked it went for 5 hours. This piece of meat is a little smaller so it's not going to stay in as long.
Any input is welcome. I have this setup, which I find works quite well. However, there's a problem I have with, when do I want to stop smoking this piece of meat? I'm not sure if I want it rare. When I like smoked brisket or ribs, I like that they melt in your mouth, which is past the rare point. Problem is that on my last tri tip I didn't get that melt in your mouth texture. It was very moist, brine, and tender. But not so tender it falls apart.
On this run I went with a 3 hour smoke, and leaving the meat in on the dieing coals for the last hour. I'm only adding ten bricks an hour, five each side. I think I want to go slower still, maybe bring it down to 8 coals an hour and see what happens.
Starting to think that this cut won't get to the melt in your mouth stage. Last time I smoked it went for 5 hours. This piece of meat is a little smaller so it's not going to stay in as long.
i usually pull my tri-tips at 135-140*F...You can't really smoke tri-tip, not unless you want a really tough piece of meat. it is a grilling meat, as it comes from the sirloin.
Needs to be seared first, OR indirect smoked and seared last. If 'ya want a lot of smoke flavor, use oak, then cook indirect on coolest side of grill covered, using with chips, then finish off direct uncovered for a strong sear.
it is best served rare/medium rare. At least if you want it tender.
Needs to be seared first, OR indirect smoked and seared last. If 'ya want a lot of smoke flavor, use oak, then cook indirect on coolest side of grill covered, using with chips, then finish off direct uncovered for a strong sear.
it is best served rare/medium rare. At least if you want it tender.
Diablo said:@BamsBBQ Thanks man. How long per pound on that 135-145^? I was kind of feeling that you couldn't smoke it cause it doesn't have a great fat content. For some reason though it's when I feel something is near impossible to do that I am most interested in showing it can be done.
i use to cook by the method of "how long per pound" and had way too many overcooked meats.. get yourself a digital thermometer and then all the guess work is gone..lol
i use one like this
I smoked some good stuff on my old Weber! Cake pan in the middle with water, coals or wood on the side.
@BamsBBQ Thanks man. I know, I have needed one for a long time. I've gotten pretty good with my self calibrated index phalange (budget). I'll have one, some day....*sigh*
@THP My step up will be something like a brinkman with a wood/coal box on the side, or a self made brick smoker/grill/bbq of doom complete with a deep pit.
@THP My step up will be something like a brinkman with a wood/coal box on the side, or a self made brick smoker/grill/bbq of doom complete with a deep pit.
you can buy a fairly inexpensive one(thermometer). usually under $20 and let me tell you, once you use one, there is no more guessing and not knowing for sure. lol
here is a couple of mods for your grill,one show you how to turn your grill into a smoker of sorts(the 3rd pic).. plus a site that you might be interested in
here is a couple of mods for your grill,one show you how to turn your grill into a smoker of sorts(the 3rd pic).. plus a site that you might be interested in
@BamsBBQ Sweet man, thanks. That's a great link and I really like how the bricks become a kind of radiant heat source. I've seen those one kits for the webers with the rotisserie. I just can't pull the trigger though. No water pan though on that smoker, interesting.
I've been looking for a long time but haven't been able to find a solid 1+2=3 kind of answer. I use kingsford (I know, not too good but that's the foundation my learning is built on). I've tried to use the real wood charcoal a few times but I can't get the hang of amount of coals to use, either by weight or volume. With briquettes at least you can do a direct, reduce 2 coals per hour kind of thing. Since lump wood coals have no uniformity it kind of makes things a little tricky for me. I'm thinking of doing a kind of experiment and weigh out the amount of briquettes I'd use and try and use the same amount, or maybe 20% less by weight, of the lump wood coals and go from there. I've been looking for a kind of resource some sort of equivalence but have been unable to locate anything that addresses that. Any thoughts?
I've been looking for a long time but haven't been able to find a solid 1+2=3 kind of answer. I use kingsford (I know, not too good but that's the foundation my learning is built on). I've tried to use the real wood charcoal a few times but I can't get the hang of amount of coals to use, either by weight or volume. With briquettes at least you can do a direct, reduce 2 coals per hour kind of thing. Since lump wood coals have no uniformity it kind of makes things a little tricky for me. I'm thinking of doing a kind of experiment and weigh out the amount of briquettes I'd use and try and use the same amount, or maybe 20% less by weight, of the lump wood coals and go from there. I've been looking for a kind of resource some sort of equivalence but have been unable to locate anything that addresses that. Any thoughts?
i use brickettes all the time. just keep in mind that lump charcoal burns hotter than briqs.
the mods i showed you were homebuild ones.. the rotisserie ring was also made.. they took a sheet of body metal(not sure the quage) and cut accordingly... the other mod is you can either extend the ring idea, throw in some grate supports and add another rack or a waterpan.
crappy photo of what i mean but you get the idea.
i am a thrify kind of person, i would rather build it than buy it. ok i am cheap..you made me say it..lol
the mods i showed you were homebuild ones.. the rotisserie ring was also made.. they took a sheet of body metal(not sure the quage) and cut accordingly... the other mod is you can either extend the ring idea, throw in some grate supports and add another rack or a waterpan.
crappy photo of what i mean but you get the idea.
i am a thrify kind of person, i would rather build it than buy it. ok i am cheap..you made me say it..lol
Looks great...I am going to have to work on getting/making a good o'l smoker. My gas grill does great for grilling, but I don't think it would work for smoking.
@pepperfreak you can smoke with a gas grill, kind of even better cause you have a pretty consistent heat control.
@BamsBBQ Oh, totally man, I'm cheap, uhh-I mean "Frugal" as hell too. I'll probably look into extending the cook area of my current set up with a ring just like you gave example of. Good stuff.
I totally know how to reuse, my pops made planters out of old worn out cowboy boots. Nothing goes to waste at out place...
@BamsBBQ Oh, totally man, I'm cheap, uhh-I mean "Frugal" as hell too. I'll probably look into extending the cook area of my current set up with a ring just like you gave example of. Good stuff.
I totally know how to reuse, my pops made planters out of old worn out cowboy boots. Nothing goes to waste at out place...
i agree... you can smoke with a gas grill.
todays smoke was done with one
todays smoke was done with one
Diablo said:@pepperfreak you can smoke with a gas grill, kind of even better cause you have a pretty consistent heat control.
@BamsBBQ Oh, totally man, I'm cheap, uhh-I mean "Frugal" as hell too. I'll probably look into extending the cook area of my current set up with a ring just like you gave example of. Good stuff.
I totally know how to reuse, my pops made planters out of old worn out cowboy boots. Nothing goes to waste at out place...
make me hungry
Latest Mods
After reading up and studying a little bit, thanks Bams BBQ, I made a small mod on my last outting for the smoker. Here's some pics.
Anyone know a good way to remove that smoke residue? I want to clean that thermometer.
This past weekend was a rack of pork ribs and 3 chicken hind quarters leg/thigh. One of my best outcomes to date.
Mods to the already awesome 5 brick smoker. I could not locate actual fire bricks. I did find clay bricks however. I thought that the bricks on the sides might be ok with the heat but I felt the bricks on top would be taking a lot of heat, and they are not officially fire bricks. So I placed that piece of shielding in there to take the edge off the heat being put on the bricks. The bricks took the heat nicely. No cracking or breaking ocured.
After reading up and studying a little bit, thanks Bams BBQ, I made a small mod on my last outting for the smoker. Here's some pics.
Anyone know a good way to remove that smoke residue? I want to clean that thermometer.
This past weekend was a rack of pork ribs and 3 chicken hind quarters leg/thigh. One of my best outcomes to date.
Mods to the already awesome 5 brick smoker. I could not locate actual fire bricks. I did find clay bricks however. I thought that the bricks on the sides might be ok with the heat but I felt the bricks on top would be taking a lot of heat, and they are not officially fire bricks. So I placed that piece of shielding in there to take the edge off the heat being put on the bricks. The bricks took the heat nicely. No cracking or breaking ocured.
