Standing Rib Roast w/Montreal Steak Seasoning Rub

This is a 3 rib, 4.91 lb, USDA Choice Grade Standing Rib Roast. I decided to prepare it according to the procedure found at The Virtual Weber Bullet Website. Thanks, Chris!

After sprinkling it down with Worcestershire Sauce, it was liberally coated with McCormick's Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning, some really good stuff! (I added some more to the sides, after these pictures were taken.)

Then, it was wrapped tightly in Saran Wrap and placed in the refrigerator overnight.

The smoker's water pan was left empty and covered with aluminum foil. This will diffuse the direct heat, allow a higher cooking temperature with regular Kingsford charcoal briquets, catch any drippings, and make cleanup much easier.

After resting in the refrigerator overnight, the roast was allowed to sit out for a couple of hours before being placed in the smoker.

The smoker's dome temperature stayed between 325°F and 330°F for the entire 2 hour cook. I used a very small amount of Apple wood for a light smoke aroma and flavor. It turned out perfect!

The remote thermometer probe has been inserted into the roast and everything is ready to go!

Sometimes, the liquid sunshine conditions of The Great Northwest require one to take a few extra steps to get the job done. Hello, Honey!

The internal temperature of the roast is now at 54°F and the alarm is set to go off as soon as it goes above 125°F.

This roast took exactly 2 hours (about 24 minutes/lb) for the internal temperature to reach 126°F. It was then placed on a plate and covered with tin foil to rest for 30 minutes. During that time, the internal temperature continued to rise to 138°F.

A perfect medium-rare, all the way through. This was a very good beef rib roast.

Hickory Smoked Turkey

This is the first time this Weber Charcoal Chimney has been used. My other one has seen a lot of use but is not as good as the Weber.

The first chimney full of lit charcoal was poured into the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) and another chimney full of unlit charcoal was poured over it. This should be more than enough for an estimated 3.5 hour cook.

Sometimes, I will stuff the turkey with quartered apples and oranges. They are not good to eat, after cooking, but may add some moisture and, possibly, flavor. I'm not really sure that they do but keep trying it, occasionally.

The turkey was placed on the top rack of the WSM smoker. The water pan was left empty but lined with aluminum foil to catch drippings and make clean-up easier. I kept the foil off the bottom of the water pan in an effort to keep the drippings from burning away. It worked very well and the gravy from it was great!

Usually, we use Apple or Cherry for poultry. This time, we decided to use Hickory.

Monitoring the temperature is the most important part of cooking, indoors or outdoors.

Near the half-way point of time (1:30 PM), the breast temperature was 136°F and the smoker was running a steady 325°F.

The turkey finished at 3:45 PM. The dark skin color is due to the Hickory smoke.

After resting for about 30 minutes, you can see how juicy this turkey is from what has collected in the bottom of the platter. The apples and oranges were discarded and we all enjoyed a very good Thanksgiving dinner. We hope yours was wonderful, too!

Beef Ribs - Grape Juice Beef Rib Marinade - Update

The Beef Ribs - Grape Juice Beef Rib Marinade posting has been updated to include the Recipe and Procedure.

Does a Mustard Slather Affect Taste?

Several people have asked me if the yellow mustard slather gives the meat a bitter or mustard flavor. No, it does not. In fact, you will not be able to tell that it was used, other than the other positive effects it has. Among those effects are moisture retention and a more flavorful and intense "bark". The "bark" is the dark outer layer of meat that forms on barbecue due to the caramelizing of the natural sugars in meat. A plain mustard slather is often used as a base for applying a dry rub. Various other seasonings (garlic, herbs, spices, etc.) can be blended into the mustard that will add flavor to the final product, if one so chooses. A Google search for 'mustard slather' will provide you with lots of information, as well as showing you just how common this practice is. Give it a try!

Pork Shoulder - Boston Butt - Pulled Pork

Two Boston Butts - one is 8.84 lbs and the other is 6.43 lbs.

Slathered with mustard and ready to go into the smoker.

The larger butt was placed on the top rack and the smaller on the bottom rack of the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM).

Minion method of firing the WSM - ring full of Kingsford charcoal with 20 lit briquetes on top. This will provide 225°F for the entire cook, almost unattended.

Four small pieces of Hickory will be used for smoking.

The butts were put on at 12:05 PM. Internal temperature of the top butt was 50°F, the smoker is currently at 220°F.

They finished at ~ 10:30 PM. The top butt was 195°F and the bottom, smaller one was 200°.

After 10.5 hrs, it can be seen that the Minion method of firing the WSM works very well.

Done and ready for pulling...

Using two serving forks, it's quick and easy work to make pulled pork from these two Boston Butts.

Now, where's the buns and cole slaw?

Beef Brisket

7.52 lb beef brisket, before trimming.

After trimming & light dusting with equal parts lemon pepper, onion powder, granulated garlic, paprika, Lawry's seasoned salt and 1/4 part freshly ground peppercorn medley.

I used the Minion method (thanks, Jim!) to fire the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) smoker. 20 lighted briquets were placed on top of ring full of unlit charcoal. This will provide up to 12 hours cooking at 225°F. 3 chunks of hickory were added for smoke.

At 9:15 AM, the brisket was placed into the smoker. The smoker temperature was 238°F and the water pan was full of warm water. Notice the meat temperature probe has been inserted into the point (deckle).

The smoker temperature is being monitored with a NU-Temp wireless thermometer. The current temperature (249°F) is on the left and an alarm temperature (215°F) is on the right. If the cooking temperature falls below 215°F, the alarm will sound.

At 12:30 PM, the brisket was turned over and end-for-end. It was also sprayed down with Martinelli's Sparkling Cider. Current meat temperature is 168°F and the WSM has been holding a steady 250°F for the last two hours.

At 1:30 PM, more water was added to the water pan. The brisket temperature was 176°F and the WSM was 250°F. At 2:15 PM, the brisket was sprayed down with more Martinelli's. At 6:40 PM, the brisket was 195°F (ready), the WSM was 247°F.

Yes, it was just as good as it looks. The flat was sliced for dinner and the deckle (in background) was chopped for sandwiches. This was a very juicy and tasty brisket!

Pork Shoulder - Picnic - Pulled Pork

This was an 11.5 lb Picnic Pork Shoulder. Here, it has just been taken out of the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) smoker, after reaching the magic 195°F in 19.75 hours. See procedure, here.

This is the Picnic Pork Shoulder, after pulling.