*****Official 2013 BBQ Thread- it's sizzlin'!!!!*****

I was using Australian heat beads.
But ATM I'm using tescos, I'm very impressed with it, on my third bag so far and it's still good.
 
Tried out my ProQ Excel for the first time on the weekend, first night I did some pork loin steaks with a piri piri rub and hot smoked cajun sea bream. Took about 40-50 mins, not entirely sure if I could've taken them off sooner but I guess that's just down to experience.

Steaks were lovely, fish was probably a bit too smoky though. I used the meat hooks and put it through the fleshy part of the tail but they fell off, where's the best place to hook them? Through the jaw?

Also did a pulled pork which was really nice, took about 7-8hrs to get to over 90c (the last couple I wrapped it in foil as I was fearful of a stall) not sure how easy it was supposed to be to pull but it did take a bit of tearing so perhaps I should've cooked for longer?
 
PaulStat said:
Tried out my ProQ Excel for the first time on the weekend, first night I did some pork loin steaks with a piri piri rub and hot smoked cajun sea bream. Took about 40-50 mins, not entirely sure if I could've taken them off sooner but I guess that's just down to experience.

Steaks were lovely, fish was probably a bit too smoky though. I used the meat hooks and put it through the fleshy part of the tail but they fell off, where's the best place to hook them? Through the jaw?

Also did a pulled pork which was really nice, took about 7-8hrs to get to over 90c (the last couple I wrapped it in foil as I was fearful of a stall) not sure how easy it was supposed to be to pull but it did take a bit of tearing so perhaps I should've cooked for longer?
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Through the neck I believe but I'd still just do as above and use a rack.

Probably you needed to let the pork cook a bit longer yeah. Did you test it in multiple places at the end? Sometimes one part will be 90 whilst another is still at 82, etc. I tend to not wrap in foil and just 'fight through the stall' but then let is rest in foil for a little bit after. This seems to keep the bark nice and crisp but also helps tenderise the meat somewhat.
 
I have 2kg of feather blade and 2.5kg of pork belly tomorrow. Going to be doing a couple of different rolls from the pitt cue book along with some smoked beans and slaw as part of a warm up to my BIG BBQ in 3 weeks time.

Btw this is the meat order for that big BBQ:
Packer Cut Brisket :: 6kg (already been picked for extra ageing)
Feather Blade :: 2kg
Short ribs :: 2kg
Marrow shafts :: 2kg splits
Pork Belly :: 2kg
Pork Butt :: 4kg
Pork Loin Ribs :: 6 x 600g

May add another pork butt - got around 40-50 coming for lunch/dinner..
 
Hey everyone

I bought a 4kg pork shoulder to smoke on my ProQ. First time using it. I have a question for those that smoke. At the moment the shoulder has been in for under an hour and the thermometer is ready 63 degrees C. The smoker reads 94 degrees C. The meat seems to be rather high right now given that it hasn't been in for long. Is this right? I'm worried about how hot it'll get if I am meant to smoke it for 9 hours. Anyone know if that temp is ok?

I have opened the vent holes fully at the bottom but the internal temp of the BBQ is rising really slowly. Do I wait it out or add more boiling water to the pan?
 
CHokKA said:
Hey everyone

I bought a 4kg pork shoulder to smoke on my ProQ. First time using it. I have a question for those that smoke. At the moment the shoulder has been in for under an hour and the thermometer is ready 63 degrees C. The smoker reads 94 degrees C. The meat seems to be rather high right now given that it hasn't been in for long. Is this right? I'm worried about how hot it'll get if I am meant to smoke it for 9 hours. Anyone know if that temp is ok?

I have opened the vent holes fully at the bottom but the internal temp of the BBQ is rising really slowly. Do I wait it out or add more boiling water to the pan?
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Bit late, but your meat will get to 60-70C in no time at all. My 2kg featherblade I cooked earlier got to 60C in about 90mins, but took hours to get to 80C.

The problem with BBQ is that cooking times and so on vary so much with your meat, not just the volume but the fat content etc. I've had briskets which stalled for hours around the 75C mark, other times they won't stall so much. It's why it becomes more important to carefully monitor the meat whilst it's cooking


In other news, I've realised my meat order for my BBQ is nowhere near sufficient. Tonight we went through the whole 2kg featherblade and a 2.5kg pork belly, between 8 of us. Scaling that up, that's 20kg for 40 people, for one meal. That means for 40-50 people across at least one sitting.. I need to look at over 30kg. This is going to mean refrigeration issues and all sorts. Now I'm starting to worry.
 
oli collett said:
Bit late, but your meat will get to 60-70C in no time at all. My 2kg featherblade I cooked earlier got to 60C in about 90mins, but took hours to get to 80C.

The problem with BBQ is that cooking times and so on vary so much with your meat, not just the volume but the fat content etc. I've had briskets which stalled for hours around the 75C mark, other times they won't stall so much. It's why it becomes more important to carefully monitor the meat whilst it's cooking


In other news, I've realised my meat order for my BBQ is nowhere near sufficient. Tonight we went through the whole 2kg featherblade and a 2.5kg pork belly, between 8 of us. Scaling that up, that's 20kg for 40 people, for one meal. That means for 40-50 people across at least one sitting.. I need to look at over 30kg. This is going to mean refrigeration issues and all sorts. Now I'm starting to worry.
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Well it ended in total disaster :( It would seem that the brand new thermometer that I purchased just for the purpose of smoking is duff. I have used it before and it was ok, but this time it the pastic covering that fixes the cable to the probe melted off whilst in and it caused the wire to come out, thus giving a totally incorrect reading on the meat from start to finish. 9 hours came and went and it simply wasn't cooked at all, so both probes must be damaged as it was hovering around the 105 - 120 mark. I had to use my normal meat thermometer to check the temperature and the meat wasn't even at 60 degrees :( Ended up taking it off at about 20:00 last night (I started smoking the meat at 10:15 yesterday morning) and put it in the oven. Unfortunately the meat is a bit tough, still edible, has a lovely flavour from the rub, but it isn't soft and tender like it should be :(

Here's a question for you smokers: How much charcoal would you ordinarily put in to start with? One chimney's worth, over more laid in the charcoal tray? Or two chimneys to burn through? Do you open the bottom vents fully to get it going? Do you also fill the water tray more than 3/4's full? I obviously need to perfect my technique, and get a new thermometer! Are the Maverick's still the best to go for, as the experience I've had with mine leads much to be desired. Thoughts?
 
It depends on bbq and charcoal. As to how much you put in.

The chimney gets it going so shouldn't need bottom vents fully open.

It's all about finding out how much charcoal and when on the vents. Much easier if you pick a charcoal and stick with it. As they all have different temps and burn times as well as burn characteristics.
 
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Glaucus said:
It depends on bbq and charcoal. As to how much you put in.

The chimney gets it going so shouldn't need bottom vents fully open.

It's all about finding out how much charcoal and when on the vents. Much easier if you pick a charcoal and stick with it. As they all have different temps and burn times as well as burn characteristics.
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I was using a mix of the Big K restaurant briquettes and Aussi Heat Beads. I lit the heat beads in the chimney starter and then put them on top of the Big K briquettes. I had to open the vents fully because the internal temperature of the smoker wasn't correct, but I am now putting that down to false readings from the thermometer as I can't honestly believe that it wasn't hot enough with all the vents open, a 3/4 full water pan, and pork shoulder cooking in the middle chamber.
 
Anyone got any recommendations for disposable gloves to use in meat preparation? Should they be vinyl or nitrile?
 
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CHokKA said:
Well it ended in total disaster :( It would seem that the brand new thermometer that I purchased just for the purpose of smoking is duff. I have used it before and it was ok, but this time it the pastic covering that fixes the cable to the probe melted off whilst in and it caused the wire to come out, thus giving a totally incorrect reading on the meat from start to finish. 9 hours came and went and it simply wasn't cooked at all, so both probes must be damaged as it was hovering around the 105 - 120 mark. I had to use my normal meat thermometer to check the temperature and the meat wasn't even at 60 degrees :( Ended up taking it off at about 20:00 last night (I started smoking the meat at 10:15 yesterday morning) and put it in the oven. Unfortunately the meat is a bit tough, still edible, has a lovely flavour from the rub, but it isn't soft and tender like it should be :(

Here's a question for you smokers: How much charcoal would you ordinarily put in to start with? One chimney's worth, over more laid in the charcoal tray? Or two chimneys to burn through? Do you open the bottom vents fully to get it going? Do you also fill the water tray more than 3/4's full? I obviously need to perfect my technique, and get a new thermometer! Are the Maverick's still the best to go for, as the experience I've had with mine leads much to be desired. Thoughts?
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Sorry for the lack of responses. I was away at the weekend and was quite busy.

You're using the ProQ Excel right? I would set up using the minion method. This should last you 5-9 hours, depending on the quality of the coal and how well you limit airflow once the coals are properly lit. Using this method you really should only need to light one set of coals on the chimney.

I tend to fill the water pan as high as I can with *freshly boiled* water. Normally I get bored after a pan full and/or a few kettle-fulls. If you were having issues getting up to temperature one of the first things I'd check would be that the water was as hot as possible going into the pan. You also had all the vents open whilst getting up to temp, right?

With a proper setup I found that I hit the target ambient temperature very quickly (30 mins or so, definitely less than 60 mins) and at that point I began closing the vents as the temperature was starting to climb too high. Top vent stays fully open at all times, bottom ones I closed to 1/2 and eventually to 1/4 open. Kept on checking every hour or so using the built in thermometer and my cheap ebay £6 temperature probes. Ambient temp stayed fairly steady and as you've already seen the meat hits 70C fairly quickly. After that it stalls and you simply ride it out. I stopped adding wood after about the 3-4 hour mark.

Once you hit target internal temperature (make sure you probe a few other spots in the meat to ensure it's all up to temp) take the meat out and wrap it in foil. Leave it somewhere covered (to preserve heat) for 30-60 mins to rest and tenderise and then you're good to go.
 
FrenchTart said:
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Thanks for the reply FrenchTart :) Yep, I'm using the ProQ Excel. I have been doing some reading since it all went wrong and there are a few things that I also should have done a bit better, like let the smoker get to the proper temperature before adding the meat, not letting the meat rest up to room temperature before adding it (it had a good 20 minutes but it probably needed a bit longer) as well as actually using more charcoal than I actually did. I used the minion method, but in this instance because I was using the Big K restaurant briquettes, I thought they'd burn for ages and so I just put a single layer in the charcoal basket, and it wasn't full right to the edges either. Next time I'll put another layer in at least and then top that with the Aussie Heat Beads (which are awesome btw) and then let that burn through. I have also since read that I should calibrate the ProQ Excel's thermometer as well. I have received my replacement Maverick ET732's and I'll check their readings tonight using boiling and ice water :)

Next smoke will be much, much better :) I also bought myself a pair of welding gloves so that I can handle the smoker and chimney a lot better. Having gloves on two hands will be much better than having them only on one :)
 
CHokKA said:
Thanks for the reply FrenchTart :) Yep, I'm using the ProQ Excel. I have been doing some reading since it all went wrong and there are a few things that I also should have done a bit better, like let the smoker get to the proper temperature before adding the meat, not letting the meat rest up to room temperature before adding it (it had a good 20 minutes but it probably needed a bit longer) as well as actually using more charcoal than I actually did. I used the minion method, but in this instance because I was using the Big K restaurant briquettes, I thought they'd burn for ages and so I just put a single layer in the charcoal basket, and it wasn't full right to the edges either. Next time I'll put another layer in at least and then top that with the Aussie Heat Beads (which are awesome btw) and then let that burn through. I have also since read that I should calibrate the ProQ Excel's thermometer as well. I have received my replacement Maverick ET732's and I'll check their readings tonight using boiling and ice water :)

Next smoke will be much, much better :) I also bought myself a pair of welding gloves so that I can handle the smoker and chimney a lot better. Having gloves on two hands will be much better than having them only on one :)
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All sounds pretty awesome :)

I've been meaning to get my friend to calibrate the thermometer on his ProQ. I have done it with my cheap ebay temperature probes and they seem fine so I guess given everything else and the sort of temperatures/times we're seeing with cooking it's likely we're okay but I'd still like to do it for peace of mind. I'm guessing you've read the same thing as me that suggests that the gauges you get with BBQs can often be off by as much as 50F?

Welding gloves are a great idea actually. Perhaps I'll look for some of those. At the moment we have access to a single ProQ branded glove that got thrown in with the purchase. It's really good but not amazingly practical by itself :)
 
Perhaps it's the charcoal, but I don't like doing the unlight trick, tried it on my drum, You can taste it. You get big black smoke off briquettes. Look at it when you light it.
Perhaps with lumpwood you wouldn't get this.

It's harder, but refill is my way.

And yes welding gloves are what you want i have a pair for bbqing.
 
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Glaucus said:
Perhaps it's the charcoal, but I don't like doing the unsmoked trick, tried it on my dru. You can taste it. You get big black smoke off briquettes. Looka t it when you light it.
Perhaps with lumpwood you wouldn't get this.
It's harder, but refill is my way.

And yes welding gloves are what you want i have a pair for bbqing.
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I was worried about this at first but when I've tried it and compared it I couldn't detect any off flavours. Perhaps it's the brand of charcoal though I personally reckon the slower lighting that occurs with the minion method perhaps avoid teh issue.
 
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