Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)

[Bounce]

Nice. Overkill for the stuff we do and no one ever wakes up early enough for breakfast. But cool nonetheless.

 

[Knifemaker]

Did 3 NY strip steaks on the griddle tonight. Went with a high temperature (479-512F) Avocado oil. 2 minutes one side, 3.5 the other. Butter and fresh garlic. Great crust, medium-rare. Quite pleased.

Next cook on this....Philly Cheese Steaks. 

(Again sorry if this is off topic for this thread.)

 

[Hudson]

Sportsguy was quite enthused at his DIY skottle so I was inspired to try one and looked online. Southwest Disc takes old steel plow discs and welds on horseshoe handles. Season them and drop them onto a propane burner assembly and ya got yourself a handy cooker.

Cooked up some Carne Asada tonight- quite lovely. Might put my Kamado out to rest for a while as I try this new toy out.

Here’s a review: 

 

[Bounce]

Nice.

1. Glad they clean those discs up. As a grandson of a farmer and with many miles under my belt driving in circles on tractors, there are a multitude of stories of people getting knocked off their seat and run over by the disks... maybe that's what they're calling "seasoned"?

2. Don't forget your smoker completely, grilling is okay (fast and easy to clean up) but it will never give the waaaaaaaaaahvelus results of smoke.

3. I'll pass on the blandness that I perceive as cheese steak sandwiches. However that carne asada sounds tempting.

 

[Knifemaker]

Not going to forget about my smoker  just like having more options. Steaks came out perfectly, much better than ones off the grill.

   And I’m not a big fan of Philly Cheese steaks either. My wife however loves them, so it’s going to happen.

    The key to a good Philly is to use a good cut of meat. Around here many use ribeyes. And shy away from traditional just meat and onion with cheese sandwiches by also using various peppers and  “hotter” seasonings. 

 

[Bounce]

I've had cheese steaks where everyone in line was going on and on about how great it was, "Just like [whoevertheheckitwas] on the corner of [X and Y] in Philly.

It was underwhelming to say the least. A little habanero sauce was needed.

[update for below: Pat's sounds right.]

 

[Blind Squirrel]

I've had cheese steaks where everyone in line was going on and on about how great it was, "Just like [whoevertheheckitwas] on the corner of [X and Y] in Philly.

It was underwhelming to say the least. A little habanero sauce was needed.

I think the big rivalry is Pat's vs Geno's. They are on opposite corners. Went there once and tried both. Both okay. Preferred one over the other, but couldn't tell you which one.

 

[Knifemaker]

Well doing up the cheese steaks for the game tomorrow. 

 While watching Steve Reichlan’s show on TV, saw an ad for Arteflame grills. Pricey. Cool idea however:

https://arteflame.com/products/classic-40-tall-round-base?variant=6888324005921&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5rnSm5Ox5wIVA9bACh3R-gBMEAQYASABEgJ05_D_BwE

But then found they make a griddle insert for Weber Kettles:

https://arteflame.com/products/arteflame-weber-kettle-style-grill-inserts

I’d get the center grate along with it, mostly so you don’t lose food into the coals.

Just an FYI if anyone is interested. 

 

[Knifemaker]

OK. So our pre game meal of Philly Cheese Steaks came out fairly well.

Everything ready to go, fresh baked buns, onions, cheese, and 2 pounds of thin sliced ribeye. 

Sandwiches came out fine. Added some cayenne pepper to mine. Next time will ditch the cheese whiz and stick to provolone, and perhaps some cream cheese instead. Happy with the result however. 

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Oh yeah, Go KC!!![/SIZE]

 

[Bounce]

Cheese Whiz? No wonder I don't like them. Dang! My grandad used to eat that sheyite.

 

[Knifemaker]

Yeah, apparently that’s one of the choices you make when ordering a PCS. They use either white American cheese, Cheez Whiz, or  Provolone.

  Onions are “with” or “without”  So if you want American cheese and onions you say “American With” 

  For me the meat onions and provolone over rode the taste of the cheese whiz, however he wife said she’d prefer axing the whiz and using cream cheese. 

  I used to buy Cheese Whiz as a kid and dip Ritz crackers in it. (You put the jar in hot water for awhile to get the “cheese” more spreadable, this being before microwaves)

Not sure the difference between it and Velveeta...

 

[Danh650]

On 1/26/2020 at 1:33 AM, Hudson said:

Sportsguy was quite enthused at his DIY skottle so I was inspired to try one and looked online. Southwest Disc takes old steel plow discs and welds on horseshoe handles. Season them and drop them onto a propane burner assembly and ya got yourself a handy cooker.

Cooked up some Carne Asada tonight- quite lovely. Might put my Kamado out to rest for a while as I try this new toy out.

Here’s a review: 

I helped with a charity event a few years ago. I stood over one of those and sauteed onions for about two hours. 

I actually loved cooking on it. I would love to have one at the house. You could cook up some nice stir fries on that thing. 

 

[Knifemaker]

Well, back to smoking. My plan is to smoke a shoulder tomorrow. A lamb shoulder. Was watching a Jamie Oliver cooking show last week where he cooked up a lamb shoulder in the oven. I though, hey, I bet you can smoke one of those just like a pork shoulder. And apparently I was right. Same basic premise of slow and low and getting it up to 195-203 F to render the fat. 

   Unfortunately, local markets around here rarely carry lamb meat. Sometimes you’ll see a lamb chop, but never larger cuts.

    But Fortunately, living near a large city with great ethnic diversity,  there are markets catering to that. There’s a Mid East market between where I work and home,  that specialize in Mideast, Indian, Thai, and Pakistani foods. A quick phone call confirmed they have the meat. I also hear they make a great gyro, which is kinda where I want to end up after smoking the shoulder. Pulled lamb stuffed in pita bread with some onion, tomato, and Tzatziki sauce.

   Photos to follow

 

[Bounce]

That's a great idea. I may "borrow" it. Thx

 

[Knifemaker]

Hey, you’re welcome.

So I ended up buying 2 lamb shoulders. They looked kinda small (about 3 pounds each with bone) I went ahead and had them remove the bone in each. My thought was to tie them together. Here’s what they looked like before:

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I then seasoned them, using granulated garlic, kosher salt, thyme, and a pepper mix (of paprika, white pepper, onion and garlic powder, cayenne, and Italian seasoning)  I then rolled them both together with butcher string, and wrapped it in plastic wrap for the fridge:

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 I began prep on my tzatziki. Here’s my recipe for that:

[SIZE=28pt]TZATZIKI[/SIZE]

[SIZE=28pt]INGREDIENTS[/SIZE]

[SIZE=28pt]• [/SIZE]1/2 of a large cucumber, unpeeled

[SIZE=28pt]• [/SIZE]1 1/2 cups plain full-fat Greek yogurt

[SIZE=28pt]• [/SIZE]2 large garlic cloves, finely minced

[SIZE=28pt]• [/SIZE]2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

[SIZE=28pt]• [/SIZE]1 tablespoon white vinegar

[SIZE=28pt]• [/SIZE]1/2 teaspoon salt

[SIZE=28pt]• [/SIZE]1 tablespoon minced fresh dill

[SIZE=28pt]INSTRUCTIONS[/SIZE]

[SIZE=28pt]1 [/SIZE]Grate the cucumber and drain through a fine mesh sieve overnight in the fridge.

[SIZE=28pt]2 [/SIZE]Combine the yogurt, garlic, oil, vinegar, and salt in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

[SIZE=28pt]3 [/SIZE]Transfer the grated cucumber and fresh dill to the yogurt mixture and stir to combine.

[SIZE=28pt]so all ready for tomorrow morning.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=28pt](sorry about the big text, no size option on my phone)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=28pt]more pics tomorrow [/SIZE]

 

[Knifemaker]

About two hours in. Sitting here checking my emails, I just got this link from Thermoworks:

https://blog.thermoworks.com/beef/smoked-lamb-shoulder/?browse_eid=15ee5c71-7535-432b-ba94-71e764713d73&utm_source=bm23&utm_medium=email&utm_term=blog-CTA1&utm_content=2020-02-22&utm_campaign=Feb2020-ThermoPop-open-box-content-SAT-cs&_bta_tid=12570991905476395030097811535750949116382721674017740259725422930948652743524320344018476264556404655624

 Weird. 

 

[BigOgre]

They know.

That's why I wear the colander.

 

[Knifemaker]

Well, with apologizes to Thermoworks, I kinda been following this instead:

https://www.vindulge.com/smoked-lamb-shoulder/

Pulled shoulder at 167 F and wrapped in foil. Back in at 262. Internal temp around 181 now, 7 hours in to the cook. Going for around 195. Will put in styrofoam cooler when it gets there for about 1 hour, while I slice up the onion and tomato.

 

[Knifemaker]

So, all went well. Was a great day to be out, sunny high 55 here. Decided to use my offset instead of the UDS, do to less heat below the meat:

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Pulled meat when it hit 200 F and put in cooler. About 50 minutes later took out, unraveling foil to see this:

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Ended up using a sharp Chinese cleaver to cut up as the trying to pull using forks was difficult do to the “grain” being so mixed up:

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Made gyros with lettuce, red onion, tomato, and tzatziki, along with a good scoop of meat. Awesome. Wife impressed. So, definitely a winner.

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Enough leftovers for 1-2 more meals. Meat was tasty. Even one of our cats loved it.  Likely be awhile before I do this again, as the price was higher than I like to spend on any regular basis. ($8.99 a pound) But a great change from ordinary. Total cook time was 8-1/2 hours. I spritzed a few times during the first 4 hours with a mixture of vinegar, water and lemon juice. Kept cooker at 245-255 for most of the cook, let it rise to 265 or so after it was foiled. 

  Very happy with the results.

 

[biknflyfisher]

Looks fantastic!

Great job on branching out and trying something new - I need to do more of that....

Biknflyfisher