Reverse Sear Technique For A Petite Sirloin On The @WeberGrills Kettle

So after perusing the offerings at The East Gloucester Stop and Shop Meat Department, the deals were a little thin outside of the petite sirloin for $3.87LB. Normally I’ll only buy a Ribeye or a Porterhouse but these petite sirloins had decent enough marbling (sirloins aren’t known to have the luxurious marbling that a Ribeye has), and they were cut about an inch and a half thick.

20160428_100025_hdr.jpg

So the plan was to smoke them on the Kettle around 225 degrees til they hit 130 internal and then take the lid off and sear the smoked sirloins over the coals to finish.

I took the sirloins out of the package, coated them with EVOO and then gave a coating of coarse salt, black pepper and Montreal Steak Seasoning and let them sit out to come up to room temperature while I prepped the kettle.

20160428_103306_hdr-01.jpeg20160428_120139_hdr-01.jpeg

The Weber Kettle was set up using the snake method of charcoal arrangement and I dumped about 8 semi lit coals on the left hand end of the trail of  charcoal looking to build the temps to 225.  Used one chunk of mesquite and a handful of cherry wood for smoke.

20160428_120430_hdr-01.jpeg

Once the probe read 130 internal temp, I took off the lid and placed two steaks at a time over the glowing orange coals for about 2 minutes on each side to sear them.

I was skeptical as to how they would turn out with such little fat compared to a Ribeye but they were fantastic.  Excellent flavor, cooked perfectly!

20160428_125433_hdr-01.jpeg

And if you’re asking about the veggies on the plate, well uhmmm, There are none!

It was quite a session yesterday on one of Smokin Jim’s old smokers

View this post on Instagram

#bbq Bitches!

A post shared by Joey C (@captjoe06) on

 

Live Smoking- #Beef #Ribs Hit The Freshly Refurbished 2008 @webergrills One Touch Gold Kettle at 5:20AM @CaptJoeLobster #GloucesterMA #BBQ

4:40AM Light The Chimney with about 12 Kingsford briquettes and set up the pit for snake method smoking using mesquite chunks and cherry wood chips.

wp-1458902420929.jpg

Outside conditions 39 degrees with a light drizzle.

I’m trying a little something different as the beef ribs are so rich and I wanted to cut back on the salt so I put together a beef rub consisting of-

3 tbsp restaurant grind black pepper

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp granulated garlic

2 tsp ancho powder

1 tsp cayenne powder

At the dollar store I picked up this $1 sugar shaker to use to disperse the rub.

First a light slather of yellow mustard for the rub adhesive and then  I applied ground Himalayan salt to the ribs as if I was seasoning a steak ( a lot less salt than the 50/50 pepper salt ratio I was using before).  Once the salt was on I shook on the rub using the sugar shaker.

wp-1458902428244.jpgwp-1458902435088.jpgwp-1458902440139.jpg

5:20AM Ribs Hit The Kettle-

wp-1458903241472.jpgwp-1458903246265.jpg

6:57 Update: Temps have fluctuated from 250- 325.  I’m not sweating the temps, they’ll be done when they’re done.

9:40AM.  Probably the first time ever that I didn’t lift the lid once start to finish.  The temps within the first hour varied from 250-325 but after exactly two adjustments she settled into a much tighter range of 270-289.

wp-1458916863487.jpgwp-1458916868366.jpgwp-1458916872535.jpg

They were fantastic but probably could have benefited for spritzing at 20 minute intervals during the final hour.  I also will absolutely use this rub again as they had a much better pepper/salt flavor.

 

 

 

The @WeberGrills Smokey Joe Gets Her First Go After Spring Clean Up and Vent Mod

And what a ride she was!

image

Some Baked Potatos,  Onion with Beef Bullion Wrapped In Foil,  and Of Course Ribeyes!

image

One with Montreal Steak Seasoning,  One With Salt and Pepper!

image

In Honor Of St Patrick’s Day- Corned Beef Brisket Point Guest Post From Bill O’Connor of www.northshorekid.com @kidns

Bill writes-

Hey Joe,

With Saint Patrick’s Day just around the corner, there are some great deals out there on brisket.  $1.66/lb at Stop and Shop – point cut. It was packed in a completely saturated brine, and I should have soaked it in plain water to cut the saltiness. I didn’t figure this out until the first taste of the finished product.

IMG_5324

Unpack. Rinse. Salt. Pepper. Let sit [covered] until it reaches room temp.

IMG_5328IMG_5332

Low and slow is the way to go.  Grill dome top temp was 300 – 350°, offset fire, bricks and hardwood charcoal mix, soaked mesquite chips, pan with water. I figure the dome top temp is 75-100° higher than offset area of grill.

IMG_5338

Beef is pulled at ~165-170° internal temp.

IMG_5340

Bark.

IMG_5341.jpg

Yep.

IMG_5350

Wrapped plastic over foil – try it. Rest for at least an hour.

IMG_5359

Luckily I cooked something to eat because we were too hungry to wait out the rest period. Salt, pepper, low and real slow.

IMG_5357

End cut.

IMG_5362.jpg

Money.

IMG_5361

 

 

 

 

Searing #Ribeye #Steak Using The Charcoal Basket On The @STOKGrills Charcoal Drum To Create A Vortex Like Heat Source

I’ve seen an accessory for kettle BBQ grills called The Vortex.  It’s a cone- like structure that funnels the air up through the coals and creates an intense amount of heat for searing steaks.  It costs around $40 and people that have purchased them rave about them.
The thing is,  the STOK Charcoal Drum comes with an insert that is supposed to be used as a chimney but it’s the same shape as The Vortex.

See this pic from when I first assembled the STOK grill

dsc01174_thumb

Here is an image of the Vortex from a review video from BBQ Bros

The video is quite good and gives some great tips on other things you can do with The Vortex (and thereby also with the charcoal basket insert that comes included with the STOK Charcoal Kettle) It should be noted that the Vortex is made from 20 gauge 304 grade stainless steel whereas the charcoal basket that comes free with the STOK Charcoal Drum is made of powder coated steel.

vortexpic

 

As you can see the two units are nearly identical.

I decided to flip the Charcoal insert that comes with the STOK Drum upside down and see if it would do the same thing as the Vortex.
Here’s how it went-
Flipped the STOK charcoal basket insert upside down,  dropped in a crumpled piece of newspaper, lit it and filled it with Charcoal and waited for the temps to climb.

image

Tossed the ribeye on,  three minutes,  then flipped for three minutes on the other side.  The upside down STOK Charcoal Basket created an intense amount of directed volcano-like  heat, perfect for searing.

image

After three minutes on each side directly over the coals,  put them on the outside of where the coals were and placed the cover on.
The results were perfect.

image

After a 10 minute rest.  Just perfect!

image

Live Smoke- Texas Style #Beef #Ribs On The @WeberGrills Kettle On www.northeastbbq.com

Follow along the live smoke all morning at www.northeastbbq.com

5:30AM Set up the kettle with a aluminum pan filled with water and briquettes set up snake style around the bowl for a low and slow sesh.  Lit 12 briquettes inn the chimney and dumped them on the left end of the trail of briquettes which we’re looking to gradually catch and provide steady even heat between 275-300 degrees.  using cherry chips and mesquite chunks.

I’m not sure if it’s just our local Stop and Shop market that pre-cuts the racks of beef ribs or if it’s done elsewhere as well.  I buy what’s on sale usually and they had 2.4 lbs on sale for $2.24 per lb so I couldn’t pass them up (you can’t see the sale tag in the first picture).

20160223_043958-01.jpeg20160223_044004-01.jpeg

Slathered them up lightly with yellow mustard and applied a generous coating of coarse salt and black pepper (Texas Style rub).

20160223_055856-01.jpeg

The pit set up and getting up to temp.  Water in the pan to keep a moist smoking environment-

20160223_055456-01.jpeg

6:24 The Beef Ribs Hit the pit.

20160223_062416-01.jpeg20160223_062421-01.jpeg

8:39AM Cranking along Grate temp 284 degrees. Only adjusted the vents once since 6:24AM  Got a ways to go.  Haven’t opened the lid once.  “If you’re looking-you ain’t cookin.”

wp-1456234796123.jpg

9:54AM 3.5 hours in-

wp-1456241549161.jpg

11:45AM- They’re all jiggly and the probe slides right in so it’s time to take ’em off-

wp-1456247969013.jpg

wp-1456247972888.jpg

Loving @AtlanticSalt Tuscan Blend Rub For Steak Tips On The @STOKGrills Charcoal Drum #BBQ

Fire up the pit and leave the charcoal insert in to create a vortex like heat concentrated right under our meat.  BBQing with high heat vents wide open and direct.

wp-1454631500636.jpg
Took steak tips out 45 minutes in advance to bring to room temp and rubbed with evoo and then a liberal seasoning on all sides of Atlantic Saltworks Tuscan Blend.

wp-1454631515505.jpg
Once the coals are orange fired up hot we place the steak directly over the coals on the STOK Charcoal Drum’s Cast Iron Grates.

wp-1454631523832.jpg
Can we ali about the sear produced by the STOK concentrating the heat up through the Vortex like charcoal basket and the cast iron grates? Incredible!

wp-1454631510273.jpg

Live Smoked Pepper Stout Beef On The @WeberGrills Kettle Using @TheWolfePit Recipe

Follow the live smoke all morning at http://www.northeastbbq.com

Larry from http://www.thewolfepit.com has my favorite bbq video series check out his site at the link above for this recipe.

Set up the Kettle for the snake method using briquettes, cherry chips and mesquite chunks.

image

Got a third of a chimney going and dumped the asked over coals onto the left end of the briquette “fuse” looking to keep temps around 250 degrees for smoking the beef.

image

Applied Worcestershire sauce to the chuck roast and then coated with coarse salt and black pepper.

image

image

Once the pit hit 250 degrees tossed the beef on and inserted the probe.

image

Closed the lid and started chopping the veggies. Chopped half a green pepper, a whole red pepper, two jalapeño peppers with the seeds, three Cloves of garlic minced and a half of a red onion in
image

Once the beef hits 165 internal we pull it off the pit and add a half  a bottle of cherry root beer and a couple of tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce to the pan with the veggies, plop the beef roast on top and seal it up in foil. Opened the bottom vent on the kettle and will let it braise til it falls apart.

wp-1454427114267.jpgwp-1454427122866.jpgwp-1454427131180.jpg

After a couple of hours it hit 200 degrees internally but wasn’t pull-apart-effortlessly tender. So I covered it up until I could break it up easily.

wp-1454440986341.jpg

Once it broke apart easily it was shredded like you would shred pulled pork.  Then left for about twenty minutes more uncovered to reduce the liquids even more.

wp-1454440996520.jpg

When done, piled on top of onion rolls with a slice of pepper jack cheese and some chipotle mayo.

wp-1454441001678.jpg

Delicious.  The guys at the dock all raving about it.  Serious heat.  if the people you are cooking for won’t enjoy the heat, cut back on the jalapeno pepper.

Thanks To Larry from http://www.thewolfepit.com for the recipe. Check out his site, it’s fantastic!

NY Strip Loin On The @WeberGrills Smokey Mountain Smoker Using @Cavetools Magnetic Meat Temperature Guide

Follow along at www.northeastbbq.com

12:10PM NY Strip Loin Hits The Smoker
20151227_121356-01-picsay.jpg

Cavetools Magnetic Meat Temperature Guide Newly Affixed To the Smoker

wp-1451246634421.jpg
Loin pulled and wrapped in foil when it hits 120 degrees internal 2 hours and 38 minutes at 250 degrees on the smoker.  It was a 5.5 lb loin.
wp-1451246221298.jpg

The Kettle Will be Fired Up Now To Sear The Meat after Resting For a Half Hour

wp-1451248515367.jpg

After The Sear Place Offset The Coals To Wait Til It Hits 125 Degrees.

20151227_154243-01-picsay.jpg

Pulled Off And Resting-

wp-1451250057128.jpg

The Money Shot-

wp-1451252668156.jpg