I doubt that they had been anywhere near Cornwall. Cornish Game Hens. Hmmm. Little chickens. I took four out of the freezer two days ago. This afternoon I was planning to cook them. Following directions in several cookbooks I have read (a little) I defrosted the little birds in the refrigerator.
So, I cleaned the Char-Broil Silver Smoker (including knocking off a bit of rust where the paint has burned off of the fire box) and used vegetable oil on my grates. I didn't have any newspaper to use to start my charcoal. This required thought. I did have an empty tuna can.
I put a quarter inch of rubbing alcohol in the can and lit it. Good flame. I let it burn. Good duration. It might work. Once it burned out I put another load of alcohol in the can and put it in the firebox. I racked up some charcoal in my starting chimney, fired up the alcohol and placed the chimney on top of the can.
My charcoal is still Kingsford briquettes, the ones with mesquite wood chunks in them. I only had a little of the hickory chips left, so I would be relying on the mesquite in the charcoal for a larger part of my smoke flavoring.
The alcohol starter worked just fine. Since I can get rubbing alcohol for a buck a bottle at the Dollar Tree, and I used about one ounce for the start, I think that this may be my regular starter from now on. At least until someone can show me it is a bad idea. Then maybe Everclear. More costly, but I can drink Everclear.
Maybe not.
So, coals going, temp rising in the smoke chamber. I opened the packages on the little birds. There was still ice in there! Hot bath, pat dry. Oil. Add my rub. (Equal parts ground black pepper, cheap seasoned salt, salt, and a bit of garlic powder.) Haul the little birds down and arrange them on the cooking surface.
The coals were going good even after forty minutes. I chucked on a few more coals, and closed the vents to about a quarter top and bottom. My cooking chamber was solid, at about 250 degrees. The fresh coals provided some smoke. After another thirty minutes I checked the fire. It was steady, even and had a good color. I added all of my soaked smoke chips.
At this point I turned the birds and adjusted their locations inside the cooking chamber to even out the cooking. I have no idea if this helps, but it makes me feel like I am cooking.
I figured another hour. I spent much of my waiting time talking with my granddaughter or reading my new barbecue book. Eventually my temperature alarm indicated that we were at temperature. I had bumped the target temp to 170 degrees, to insure we were properly done. Since we still had to wait for my wife to arrive from an errand, I closed the dampers and let them continue to cook.
After another fifteen minutes my wife got home, and I prepared to remove the birds. The skins were firm but lacked the crispness that is appealing, so I moved all four birds onto the grill over the fire in the firebox to crisp them up a touch. Just a couple of minutes, including a turn for each bird. I took them out and carried them to the kitchen.
They looked good. Plump, with a reddish brown color. Juicy. Each family member got one, and they were readily devoured. I kept a bit of my rub handy, and added a pinch or two to the meat as I consumed it.
Another winner!
What next? Who knows? I am dangerous, now. I have a little bit of knowledge. I have a modest amount of skill. My eyes are larger than my stomach, and my stomach is HUGE!
(Note: If you wish to use your rub as a table spice, don't use the same stuff you were using when preparing your birds. Use a fresh batch to avoid any cross contamination.)
Showing posts with label thermometers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thermometers. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Tri Tip Steaks-
Linda had purchased some nice tri-tip steaks. Everything I had read recommended a marinade, but I wanted to see just how the smoking process might affect a nice cut of meat without any preparation.
I got the fire up and running. The smoke chamber was at around 200 degrees when I introduced the meat. I really do want a better chamber thermometer, since this one is a small dial with color divisions and really does not provide much information. Anyway, as best I could tell I was starting at 200 degrees or so.
The new digital thermometer is a single probe. I have read of dual probes, but was not aware of them at the time Linda ordered this one. So, I selected a piece of meat in the midst of the others, and inserted the probe. I set the temperature for 165 degrees, as recommended by the thermometer manufacturer.
I maintained the fire by adding charcoal. Again, a mix of lump and biscuit charcoal. My smoke was produced by chunks of mesquite. My estimate based on the volume of meat and the thickness of the cuts was about an hour and thirty minutes to two hours.
After the hour and thirty minutes I found the temperature inside the meat was about 135 degrees. I turned the meat and stoked the fire. After another ten minutes I noticed the temperature was not going up. I added some more charcoal and applied a hair dryer to the air intake. Over the next fifteen minutes I achieved the target temperature and took the meat out.
On the whole, it was good. Not especially good, but good. I found the meat to be adequately juicy, but not especially so. I had done nothing to the meat, and the results were consistent with what I did not do.
In the future, I will definitely do a marinade. If I don't have time for that, I will definitely coat the meat with olive oil, and add salt, pepper, and some spices in a rub. Either of these will add flavor and improve the juiciness. I may also look for a bit more fat in the meat, as this was quite lean. It did prove quite tender, however.
I also plan to find a way to introduce more air at a steady rate. I saw a device made using a computer cooling fan that might just do the trick.
Another practice I will adopt is to light the next batch of coals in my chimney before introducing them to the fire box. I think I was losing some consistency in temperature by introducing cold charcoal to the fire box.
Until I can get some good wood to try charcoal/wood fires I plan to use the chips rather than the chunks. I get better smoke and have more control with the chips.
So, a learning experience, and another good meal. I hope to make the next tri-tip better than good. I want to shoot for fabulous.
Oh, and I really need to make sure I have some beer. For the cook. It is an important ingredient, and would have helped a lot.
I may buy a second thermometer like the one I have to use to monitor the chamber temperature. Together they would cost no more than a dual probe thermometer, especially since I already have the one.
The paint continues to burn off of the outer surface of the smoke box. I may have to get some high temperature paint to protect the outer surface from oxidizing. I may just use the fire bricks I saw in one YouTube video about barbecue in a Silver Smoker. I need to explore modifications that will aid in getting good barbecue consistently.
So far, I am very pleased with what I have learned, and look forward to the next adventure.
I got the fire up and running. The smoke chamber was at around 200 degrees when I introduced the meat. I really do want a better chamber thermometer, since this one is a small dial with color divisions and really does not provide much information. Anyway, as best I could tell I was starting at 200 degrees or so.
The new digital thermometer is a single probe. I have read of dual probes, but was not aware of them at the time Linda ordered this one. So, I selected a piece of meat in the midst of the others, and inserted the probe. I set the temperature for 165 degrees, as recommended by the thermometer manufacturer.
I maintained the fire by adding charcoal. Again, a mix of lump and biscuit charcoal. My smoke was produced by chunks of mesquite. My estimate based on the volume of meat and the thickness of the cuts was about an hour and thirty minutes to two hours.
After the hour and thirty minutes I found the temperature inside the meat was about 135 degrees. I turned the meat and stoked the fire. After another ten minutes I noticed the temperature was not going up. I added some more charcoal and applied a hair dryer to the air intake. Over the next fifteen minutes I achieved the target temperature and took the meat out.
On the whole, it was good. Not especially good, but good. I found the meat to be adequately juicy, but not especially so. I had done nothing to the meat, and the results were consistent with what I did not do.
In the future, I will definitely do a marinade. If I don't have time for that, I will definitely coat the meat with olive oil, and add salt, pepper, and some spices in a rub. Either of these will add flavor and improve the juiciness. I may also look for a bit more fat in the meat, as this was quite lean. It did prove quite tender, however.
I also plan to find a way to introduce more air at a steady rate. I saw a device made using a computer cooling fan that might just do the trick.
Another practice I will adopt is to light the next batch of coals in my chimney before introducing them to the fire box. I think I was losing some consistency in temperature by introducing cold charcoal to the fire box.
Until I can get some good wood to try charcoal/wood fires I plan to use the chips rather than the chunks. I get better smoke and have more control with the chips.
So, a learning experience, and another good meal. I hope to make the next tri-tip better than good. I want to shoot for fabulous.
Oh, and I really need to make sure I have some beer. For the cook. It is an important ingredient, and would have helped a lot.
I may buy a second thermometer like the one I have to use to monitor the chamber temperature. Together they would cost no more than a dual probe thermometer, especially since I already have the one.
The paint continues to burn off of the outer surface of the smoke box. I may have to get some high temperature paint to protect the outer surface from oxidizing. I may just use the fire bricks I saw in one YouTube video about barbecue in a Silver Smoker. I need to explore modifications that will aid in getting good barbecue consistently.
So far, I am very pleased with what I have learned, and look forward to the next adventure.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Thermometer-
I poked around on the Internet, looking for a digital thermometer. I found one that had features and a price I liked, and sent the site to my wife. I was just suggesting that we needed something like the one I had found. It happened to be offered by Target in conjunction with Amazon.com.
A few days later I came home from work, and there was a package sitting by my computer. Cool! A digital thermometer. It was a bit over twenty bucks. Not bad.
Of course, we happened to be in the southern part of Santa Cruz county about a week later, and after lunch went to.... Target. The thermometer was there, and not surprisingly a bit cheaper. No shipping charges. Ahem.
The price of these things makes them very practical for most beginning barbecue cooks. From the stuff I have watched on YouTube (and I recommend studying barbecue on YouTube) lots of serious barbecue cooks with considerable experience also rely on these things.
Other forms of thermometers are also available, and for very little money. I will work with what I have right now, but may try other models from time to time. I currently have a small dial thermometer that gives me a reading of chamber temperature, but it is graduated rather generally. I think I might go for a larger dial and more accurate graduations in the not too distant future. At only five or six bucks, it seems a good investment.
A few days later I came home from work, and there was a package sitting by my computer. Cool! A digital thermometer. It was a bit over twenty bucks. Not bad.
Of course, we happened to be in the southern part of Santa Cruz county about a week later, and after lunch went to.... Target. The thermometer was there, and not surprisingly a bit cheaper. No shipping charges. Ahem.
The price of these things makes them very practical for most beginning barbecue cooks. From the stuff I have watched on YouTube (and I recommend studying barbecue on YouTube) lots of serious barbecue cooks with considerable experience also rely on these things.
Other forms of thermometers are also available, and for very little money. I will work with what I have right now, but may try other models from time to time. I currently have a small dial thermometer that gives me a reading of chamber temperature, but it is graduated rather generally. I think I might go for a larger dial and more accurate graduations in the not too distant future. At only five or six bucks, it seems a good investment.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Chicken, thighs and legs
Before I get to the chicken, I must describe what I am eating at this moment. I was planning on writing this, but a bit hungry. I went to the kitchen, and the last piece of chicken was sitting there. However, it is for my son, so I refrained from touching it.
Oh, but what's this? The last piece of that nice roast beef I did up on the barbecue! Yeah! I chopped it up and put it in a pan. Let's see. Rice wine vinegar, just a splash. OK, another splash. Some soy sauce. A dollop of A-1 sesame steak sauce. A bit of olive oil. Heat it up.
How to eat it? On toast! Two slices of whole grain bread, toasted firm and brown. A bit of olive oil. Now, spread the chopped meat on, thick. Too thick for a closed sandwich, so I have two open faced beauties to snack on. Fabulous!
Now, the chicken. Plump thighs and legs, thawed out last night. I want to begin doing meat I go and get just before the barbecue, but these were here and needed to be eaten. I just rubbed them with olive oil, and went to build the fire.
I used lump charcoal as the base. It starts easily, and smokes nicely. Once the bed was started, I built a wall of charcoal biscuits around it. Once I was getting some good heat, I put on the chicken. Just laid them out in the cooking chamber, with a bit of water in the drip pans for moisture.
Now for some smoke. I decided to try chunk mesquite this time. I put on three fist-sized chunks, dry. Partly due to time, I did not soak any before beginning. The chunks did not produce the amount of smoke the soaked-and-dry chips had, but still were satisfactory.
I fed the fire often, and refrained from opening the cooking chamber for forty minutes. At that time I checked temperature (around 350 degrees) and turned the chicken over. The two pieces nearest the firebox were cooking much faster than the rest, so I moved them to the other end.
After an hour and a half, I checked the meat temperature. The chamber had settled to about 250 degrees, and the meat was steady at around 160 degrees. People were hungry (that time thing) so I put the cooking grate into the fire box and grilled these pieces for several minutes with the lid down.
On the whole the end product was pretty good. I should not have grilled the two pieces that had cooked the most, being close to the fire during the early cooking. I got a little burn on these. Still good. Very good, in fact.
The least cooked piece was still done, but I think it could have used just a bit more time. In fact, I think the whole lot could have done no less than two hours and been the better for it.
We are not real wine drinkers, but we had picked up a bottle of Smoking Loon 2005 Viognier on the way home. We had walked by it, it was on sale, and I had no idea what a Viognier was. It came home with us, and proved quite satisfactory to our uneducated palates. Surprisingly sweet for a white wine.
What would I do differently? I think I would plan for a longer cooking time. At least two hours. I would also really like to get a digital thermometer that I can use to read the internal meat temperature remotely, from outside the cooking chamber. Especially for cooking pork and chicken. Something like this.
I do think building the fire a bit hot to start with worked well. I got the temperature up, and it was easier to control this time. I still want to build a fan assembly that can introduce a bit more air when I want to bump up the temperature.
A good cooking experience. With salad and baked beans (canned) the meal was quite satisfying.
Oh, but what's this? The last piece of that nice roast beef I did up on the barbecue! Yeah! I chopped it up and put it in a pan. Let's see. Rice wine vinegar, just a splash. OK, another splash. Some soy sauce. A dollop of A-1 sesame steak sauce. A bit of olive oil. Heat it up.
How to eat it? On toast! Two slices of whole grain bread, toasted firm and brown. A bit of olive oil. Now, spread the chopped meat on, thick. Too thick for a closed sandwich, so I have two open faced beauties to snack on. Fabulous!
Now, the chicken. Plump thighs and legs, thawed out last night. I want to begin doing meat I go and get just before the barbecue, but these were here and needed to be eaten. I just rubbed them with olive oil, and went to build the fire.
I used lump charcoal as the base. It starts easily, and smokes nicely. Once the bed was started, I built a wall of charcoal biscuits around it. Once I was getting some good heat, I put on the chicken. Just laid them out in the cooking chamber, with a bit of water in the drip pans for moisture.
Now for some smoke. I decided to try chunk mesquite this time. I put on three fist-sized chunks, dry. Partly due to time, I did not soak any before beginning. The chunks did not produce the amount of smoke the soaked-and-dry chips had, but still were satisfactory.
I fed the fire often, and refrained from opening the cooking chamber for forty minutes. At that time I checked temperature (around 350 degrees) and turned the chicken over. The two pieces nearest the firebox were cooking much faster than the rest, so I moved them to the other end.
After an hour and a half, I checked the meat temperature. The chamber had settled to about 250 degrees, and the meat was steady at around 160 degrees. People were hungry (that time thing) so I put the cooking grate into the fire box and grilled these pieces for several minutes with the lid down.
On the whole the end product was pretty good. I should not have grilled the two pieces that had cooked the most, being close to the fire during the early cooking. I got a little burn on these. Still good. Very good, in fact.
The least cooked piece was still done, but I think it could have used just a bit more time. In fact, I think the whole lot could have done no less than two hours and been the better for it.
We are not real wine drinkers, but we had picked up a bottle of Smoking Loon 2005 Viognier on the way home. We had walked by it, it was on sale, and I had no idea what a Viognier was. It came home with us, and proved quite satisfactory to our uneducated palates. Surprisingly sweet for a white wine.
What would I do differently? I think I would plan for a longer cooking time. At least two hours. I would also really like to get a digital thermometer that I can use to read the internal meat temperature remotely, from outside the cooking chamber. Especially for cooking pork and chicken. Something like this.
I do think building the fire a bit hot to start with worked well. I got the temperature up, and it was easier to control this time. I still want to build a fan assembly that can introduce a bit more air when I want to bump up the temperature.
A good cooking experience. With salad and baked beans (canned) the meal was quite satisfying.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Research-
I could not find books on real home barbecue. They were all books on grilling. So, where did I go? YouTube!
I have learned a lot from YouTube, watching people share how they barbecue. Various equipment choices. Off-set smoker, upright smoker, Terra cotta smoker (made from planters), and good old Webber Grills used for smoking. Oh, and oil drums.
Dial thermometers. Digital probe thermometers. Remote reading digital probe thermometers. Infra red thermometers. Whew!
One person has a Silver Smoker, which has been modified to help it work better. Lined with fire brick and aluminum foil. New baffles to contain the smoke as long as possible. Good ideas, and I might just try them.
The idea I liked best was a twelve volt computer fan used to aid in temperature control. That is what I needed. I think I shall fabricate something that will help get the heat up. So, perhaps lining the firebox would be a good idea, after all.
Yep, this is fun. Tasty, too.
I have learned a lot from YouTube, watching people share how they barbecue. Various equipment choices. Off-set smoker, upright smoker, Terra cotta smoker (made from planters), and good old Webber Grills used for smoking. Oh, and oil drums.
Dial thermometers. Digital probe thermometers. Remote reading digital probe thermometers. Infra red thermometers. Whew!
One person has a Silver Smoker, which has been modified to help it work better. Lined with fire brick and aluminum foil. New baffles to contain the smoke as long as possible. Good ideas, and I might just try them.
The idea I liked best was a twelve volt computer fan used to aid in temperature control. That is what I needed. I think I shall fabricate something that will help get the heat up. So, perhaps lining the firebox would be a good idea, after all.
Yep, this is fun. Tasty, too.
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