Now this is interesting Dim. I may be PMing you for ideas
I have just started with this sort of cooking and am taking a while to get my head around it. I am using a landman smoker but find it difficult to keep an even temperature although I think I am getting better. I also use my gas/ charcoal BBQ for rotisserieing meat and adding smoke.
I think you should start your own post with tips and hints for those of us who are new to it.
We had a mustard and herb rub chicken smoked over applewood today, with HG roast spuds, boiled spuds, ratatouille ( obligatory), french and runner beans, parsnips, and a smoky gravy.
Blackcurrant and apple pie with vanilla icecream and whipped cream.
Not sure if it warrants a new thread, so will just post some basic info on this thread:
Here is a way to do 'proper' BBQ using a charcoal weber (or weber style) kettle BBQ, and it involves smoking your meat .... you use lumpwood charcoal and add pieces of wood to add the smoke .... you can buy wood pieces/chips off amazon or ebay (such as pecan wood, apple, hickory, oak etc)
here is a diagram showing how it's done:
firstly, you need to have a thermometer so that you can monitor the internal temperature at all times .... most weber BBQ's have the thermometer fitted on the top of the lid .... this is not good, as the heat is a lot different on the grill where the meat is cooking as opposed to the top of the dome lid. I purchased a cheap BBQ thermometer for approx £5 off amazon and installed it in the bottom of the lid close to the grill .... Ideally, you want to place it in line with the top vent and on the side of the vent so that the smoke is drawn over the meat. .... Similar to this picture, but its better to place it in line with the top vent: (I have mine placed lower down than in the photo)
altenatively, you can purchase something like a Maverick BBQ digital thermometer .... it has 2 probes .... one is placed into the meat, and the other is placed ontop of the grid next to the meat .... it works remotely with a receiver, and you can watch telly as your meat cooks .... it will beep you if the temp falls too low, or rises too high .... a snazzy gadget for the serious BBQ chef .... costs approx £60 here in the UK:
http://www.maverickhousewares.com/et732.htmThe way you BBQ is on low heat .... you smoke/BBQ at between 110-130 degrees C ... you set up a coil of charcoal (its best to use lumpwood and not briquettes), and you add some wood chips/logs ontop, and add a few burning coals on one side only .... it will slowly burn along the ring like a fuse, and if properly set up, you can smoke on a 57cm BBQ for 8-9 hours .... some bbq's have grids with hinges where you can add additional coals if need be. (I do not add the coals in the centre as shown in the photo....)... I add more wood than in the photo below (I buy the wood from our local garden centre which is a weber BBQ stockist).... it's important to have loads of woods on the part of the coals that is first lit, as the smoke penetrates the meat when it's still raw
you then add a pyrex dish or stainless steel dish on the farside of the fire (where the meat will be placed), and when you BBQ, the bowl is filled with boiling water and the meat sits above that (to steam it from below) .... some people add an additional bowl ontop, but I don't
meat that works well is pork ribs (ask your butcher to cut it St Louis style), or brisket (not rolled), or chicken with ribs and brisket, tell him to remove the silver skin on the bottom of the pork ribs and brisket .... this is how the ribs look when trimmed to St Louis style:
for ribs, chicken, brisket etc it's best to add a dry rub on a few hours before, wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge to absorb the flavours .... heres one that I sometimes use:
first apply a little american mustard (the stuff in the yellow squeezy bottle that you add to hotdogs) .... rub it all around the meat before adding the spice (it aids to keep the spices on the meat and you wont taste the mustard when the meat is done)
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup coarse sea salt
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground ginger powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons rosemary powder (dried rosemary crushed)
mix well and add liberaly to the meat ... alternatively, keep it simple with salt, black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder
once the temp of the bbq has reached 110 degrees C, add the boiling water to the bowl, and place the ribs above the bowl (bone sides down).... Its important to keep the top vent 1/2 open (or else you will get soot building up), and start off with the bottom vent half open .... if you need to adjust the heat, adjust the bottom vent
leave the ribs cooking for 2hrs, then brush on some apple juice and close the lid for 1/2 an hour, then brush on more apple juice. Once the meat has been smoking/cooking for 3 hrs, remove the meat and wrap in tin foil with some apple juice .... place it back in the BBQ and cook it for a further 2 hrs .... then unwrap, add more spice blend and cook it for a further hour basting with apple juice every 20 minutes .... (so, in a nutshell, you have smoked the meat for 3 hrs, cooked in tinfoil for 2 hours, and finished it off in 1 hr .... so, total cook time is 6hrs) .... plus a couple of minutes at the end when you brown it off on the hot coals just before serving
the ribs should look similar to this (meat starts shrinking at the bone edges and when held in the middle, it bends nearly 90 degrees):
then it's time to baste with a sauce and finish off on hot coals .... you can use any shop bought BBQ sauce or make your own .... baste the meat and cook on high heat, but only for a few moments or else the sauce will burn .... if you want to make your own, this one is ok:
¾ Cup Yellow Mustard
¾ Cup Red Wine Vinegar
½ Cup White Sugar
3 Tbsp. Dark Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tsp. Salt
½ Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce (Lea & Perrins)
½ Tsp. Soy Sauce
½ Tsp. Tabasco Sauce
1½ Tsp. Course Ground Black Pepper
1 Tsp. White Pepper
In a medium saucepan, combine ingredients, stirring to blend. Bring to boil, then lower to simmer for at least 30 minutes. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.
thats it for ribs .... better than what you will buy in a restaurant but it takes 6 hrs to do .... it should end up looking similar to this: (when you add the sauce to finish them off on higher heat, your neighbour's neighbours will smell them)
for brisket, it takes approx 8-9 hrs at 110-130 degrees then you have to let it rest covered in tinfoil for an additional 40 minutes, but well worth the effort .... this is what it looks like when done (the darker brown and pinkinsh edge on the perimiter of the slices of meat is the 'smoke ring' .... i.e. the depth that the smoke has penetrated:
for a whole chicken, it takes 2hrs per kilo of chicken (I smoked a 2kg chicken for 4 hrs and the meat just fell off the bones) ... leg of lamb is also really good when done this way
lots of info on google about using your kettle BBQ as a smoker, and well worth the effort if you want a good BBQ ...
if you have a gas BBQ, you can also get the smoke taste by adding wood chips in a smoker box .... it's actually easier to use a gas BBQ as you can control the temperature much easier: