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

FrenchTart said:
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 :)
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Yeah I was reading that it is recommended to calibrate the ProQ Excel's thermometer as it can be out. I read this over on the BBBQS forum.

I just bought a cheap pair from Amazon, they cost me a fiver. They're called Scan GLOWELRED :)

Glaucus said:
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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Apparently with restaurant grade coal (both lumpwood and briquettes) you don't get any flavour added to the meat as this is the whole point of them being restaurant grade. They certainly didn't smell when I lit them and added more later on.

maccapacca said:
5kg of bricket this weekend, any ideas on temps and times, I may actually buy a meat thermometer for this one, what's all this stalling lark about then?
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I've read that at a certain temperature, the process stalls, and that this is the crucial time where all the connective tissue and fat is being broken down and converted to sugar which makes the meat soft, tender, and juicy. After that has finished the temperature starts to rise again. Is that what you meant by stall, or are you referring to something else?
 
maccapacca said:
5kg of bricket this weekend, any ideas on temps and times, I may actually buy a meat thermometer for this one, what's all this stalling lark about then?
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CHokKA was pretty much bang-on /re the stall. You will hit 70C internal temperature very quickly and then the temperature rise will 'stall' and stay at 70C or not much higher for a long, long while. Sometimes it even drops. You can expect this stage to last for at least a few hours.

I don't know what kind of BBQ you have but generally for smoking a brisket you'll want to get an ambient temperature of about 100-115C (this can be done quite easily with indirect cooking and the use of a hot water pan). For the first ~3 hours of cooking stick wood on there to get some smoke going. After that you'll most likely have hit the stall. At this point some people wrap their brisket, which will help you get through the stall quicker (though then when you unwrap the meat it will cool down more rapidly than if you hadn't wrapped it. Using the tinfoil 'crutch' will also mean that you don't get the tasty crispy/chewy bark around the meat. If you prefer having bark then don't wrap (assuming you have time)).

Keep an eye on the internal temperature and stress out when it stays at ~70C for a few hours :p Once it hits target temperature you should bring it off, wrap it in foil and a few towels and let it rest for at least 45 minutes. This will tenderise the meat.

Suggested target temperatures vary. I've seen anything between 85C and 95C suggested. Personally I aim for 90C but that's partially because I often don't get a chance to rest the meat as long as I should do. As you probably already know (but I'll repeat it just in case), the internal temperature of the meat will continue to rise for a while after you take it off the heat. I think if you're resting the meat for over an hour you probably want to aim for a slightly lower finishing temperature. Might seem illogical but I reckon that will get the best results.
 
maccapacca said:
Thanks chaps, I've ordered a thermometer that'll let me know when the meat gets to temp.

What do yo reckon for 5kg brisket time wise?
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It's quite hard to say. Make sure you unroll the brisket (more bark and quicker cooking). It would be at least 9 hours..perhaps more, especially including rest time.

It has been said loads before so apologies if you've heard it a thousand times, but each piece of meat is different so you should probably plan for the longest possible time and make sure you have a really good setup for the resting/keeping warm stage of things should your meat finish earlier than expected.
 
Need some advice...I was after ribs from the butcher but he only had pork belly with bone ins. So I have just over 1.2kg with ribs in just under half the meat.

I was planning on a low and slow with a finish over flames and a JD BBQ sauce baste but now its more belly than rib I'm really not sure how long I need to be cooking this for, so...help please?!
 
Got myself an almost impossible to find beef brisket yesterday, coupled with a pork shoulder and a whole chicken :D

Will go for beer up the butt chicken tonight but ideally id like a decent bit of weather before i grill up the other two, its windy as balls here at the minute and raining on and off. Not ideal for controlling temps, especially for a relative noob at long smoking.
 
Did my first whole chicken on the ProQ yesterday, wow it was good. Essentially had a home made pesto rubbed underneath the skin and all over the chicken with a rub on top of that consisting of: Rosemary, oregano, sea salt, black pepper and ground coriander

And smoked with cherry wood, gorgeous!
 
10am and working from home. The BBQing starts now...

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Morning folks.
Trying my first smoke on my new kettle. Pork ribs. Having slight trouble keeping the temp up, I'm aiming for about 150oC (?) even with vents fully open I can just about keep it at 140.
I have about 8 hot coals either side of the water bath, and a couple of new coals on top of the hot ones.
Should I just leave it or add some more coals?
Thanks
 
Well damn it I have a pork shoulder to use by tomorrow and the weather is terrible and looks set to continue :( Going to have to do it in the oven methinks as I dont fancy trying to keep a steady temp for hours in strong wind and rain.

I have a small 4lb shoulder, does 6/7 hours at 110C sound good? Another method I am considering is sticking it in at 200C for an hour to crisp it up, and then dropping to 110 for about 5 hours?

Any opinions?
 
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