Posted on 05/03/2015 11:54:08 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
"Gas or Charcoal?" The most frequently asked question since "Chicken or Egg?" The flame war between charcoal purists and gas hotheads burns brighter than the debate between Mac and PC users. You should read some of the slop slung on the barbecue message boards. On second thought, don't. Let me try to sort it out for you with a few inflammatory thoughts.
(Excerpt) Read more at amazingribs.com ...
I quit using charcoal and started using hardwood coals. I love it!
Calve's-tongue! The best!
(Yeah, lighter fluid is bad stuff.)
“A gas grill? You might as well be using the indoor kitchen stove. You’ll get the same taste.”
When it’s over 100° outside and you don’t have air conditioning? I disagree.
I use a propane BBQ and put a chunk of wood on the grill to provide the smoke flavor. Some people use wood chips, and I have used them too. Wood chunks from available trees is free and I don’t have a wood chipper (yet). I have used apple, cherry, hickory and alder. I like apple and alder the best.
For all of my cooking, I keep the cover closed. For steaks, I open the cover to check the sear, after 3 minutes. I also check for flames and turn the temperature down to reduce flare ups. If the browness is not quite right, I let the first side go for a minute more. Then I flip and let the steak finish with the cover closed for two more minutes before checking with a temperature probe. This is when I leave to cover off, turn up the heat and continuously check with the temperature probe. You do not want to miss that magic time when the steak is perfectly cooked at medium rare.
For roasts, I use a wireless meat probe, which alerts me when the target temperature is reached. Since roasts can take longer, I make sure the wood has not burned up and add fresh wood if it has.
making the roaster chicken in it.
I used my Weber Smokey Mountain for the first time smoking a 7 lb. chicken. I used hickory wood chips.
That chicken was the BEST.
I vowed then, to NEVER cook a chicken any other way.
Juicy, tender, flavorful.
Don’t even ask me about pork ribs or salmon...
Gittin’ hongry just thinking about it.
Americans generally just don’t eat mutton. The only mutton I’ve ever had was by the wife of a friend of mine who came from Surinam. It was really good, but her Caribbean cooking was surely not down-home farm table fare.
Me, too, what can I say?
Thanks! That made me laugh out loud and I needed that.
Mine is a two door vertical smoker like this:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/34083800?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227022626360&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40471976912&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78363539912&veh=sem
Sometimes I put a small pan of water in the top to keep things moist.
Charcoal.
Lump.
That is all.
My sis raises Border Collies and trains them on her 40 or so sheep and each year Spring Lamb comes a round and Mr Webber treats that quite well.
Mutton must be pretty gamey or sheepish
“Weber Charcoal. Fantastic for the Thanksgiving turkey.”
Mmmmmm....and catch the drippings in a foil pan for gravy..
Yeah, it’s good.
I still got my little manual that tells you how many briquets per pound.
Reds from Napa are the best reds in the world. French wines suck.
Chevy trucks are way better than Ram or Ford and Toyota sucks.
Texas cab secede from the Union anytime it wants! No it can't.
Oh wait, am I on the right thread?
I have tried gas, charcoal and charcoal fired smokers. A couple years ago I switched to a Char-Broil TRU-Infrared from Home Depot (better than the Lowe’s version, in my opinion). This version has a trough in the firebox that separates the food on the grill from the flame. I converted mine to natural gas. Mine is a two-burner grill installed on the deck on the main level of our home. Lower level is walk-out to a swimming pool and I have gas available there for a grill on that level.
This grill gives me restaurant quality grilling. For smoking I put cracked hickory nuts on the trough. I smoke ribs, pork roasts etc perfectly. I have found that the hickory nuts work better and provide better smoked flavor than hickory wood, and I do not have to soak them first. I gather hickory nuts whenever I get the opportunity in the fall. They have a long shelf life. I remove the outer shell and store them that way. When I want to smoke anything I put some nuts in a plastic zip-lock and crack them with a hammer. My method with the hickory nuts adds smoke flavor to burgers too, even though cooking time is relatively short.
I have a charcoal fired smoker that is put away, and for now see no reason now to get it out again.
I hve a propane grill and it works great.
We also use the grill for chicken. We like to do a whole chicken up-ended on a half-full can of beer, along with the hickory nuts on the trough for added flavor. I do this with one burner only, turned low for slow cooking. We also do wings, legs, thighs, breasts from time to time. And usually with the hickory nut smoke.
We have even done whole small turkeys up-ended on the beer can...mmm! And the breast stays moist and tender!
For ribs we like a dry rub (my wife combines appropriate ingredients to make the rub) and we prefer the dry rub to BB-Q sauce. When doing ribs or chicken I baste occasionally with melted coconut oil.
So you are saying this smoker box attaches to the gas grill and puts flavored smoke in it??
Charcoal hands down. We have never had a gas grill and you cold not give us the best or biggest one out there, we would pass. Started with a weber kettle, when that wore out we got a weber performer pro. Loved it. It has a cooking table attached and propane ignition on the charcoal so no nasty lighter fluid. When that performer pro went through about 15 years we got a new one a couple of years ago.
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