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.

Beef Ribs - Grape Juice Beef Rib Marinade

These beef ribs were marinated for 14 hours in a Grape Juice Beef Rib Marinade. Click here for recipe and procedure.

They were cooked for 4 hours at 220° before the cover was opened. Then, they were spritzed down with grape juice and left for 2 more hours at ~ 200° (I just closed the bottom vents on the smoker and let it cool down.)

No, that's not BBQ sauce on them! The marinade and hickory smoke turned out some very nice looking beef ribs. Nothing else was added and nothing else was needed - they were great!

Sliced and ready to eat!

Pork Sirloin

Cooked to an internal temperature of 160° in the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM), using Hickory for smoke.

During the last 30 minutes, they were coated with a glaze made up of: 1 cup Red Currant Jelly + 1/4 cup orange juice + zest (shredded) rind of 1 lemon. Bring to low boil and stir. Easy to do and very good!

Smoked Turkey

This is a 15.08 Lb turkey. Notice that I tucked the wings behind its back and pinned the skin over the neck opening with toothpicks.

The turkey was washed and patted dry the night before the cook. It was then placed in the refrigerator, uncovered, overnight to allow the skin to air dry. This is a picture of it just before rubbing it down with a light coat of olive oil. (The olive oil helps retain moisture.)

Normally, the small, square pan is not used. This time, I decided to put a little water in it instead of in the larger water pan. It was an attempt to keep some moisture inside the cooking chamber but not as much as the full-size pan provides, since it is directly above the fire. This was for two purposes - allow a higher cooking temperature (325° instead of my normal 180° - 250° range) and to allow the skin to get crispy. Lump charcoal was used to provide a higher temperature, too.

This cooker set rock steady between 320° and 330° for the entire 3.5 hour cook. It is very responsive to the air vents!

The Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) with the dome lid installed. And, me in the reflection! :)

Initially, the temperature inside the smoker went up to over 400°. Closing the bottom vents made the temperature start to fall. As soon as it came back down to 375°, I opened the lid just long enough to put the turkey inside and take this picture. Then, I cracked the vents to about 1/3rd and was able to use them to keep a very constant temperature for the entire 3.5 hour cook.

Estimating that it would take 3.5 hours at 325° for this 15.08 lb turkey, I opened the smoker at what I thought would be the halfway point to spritz the turkey with apple juice and to insert the remote temperature probe that I had failed to insert at the beginning of the cook. We also lightly wrapped the wing tips with aluminum foil to keep them from overcooking. This was the ONLY time the dome was removed before the turkey was done.

At the halfway point of the cook (1.75 hours), the breast temperature was at 131°.

When the alarm went off (at exactly 3.5 hours!), I decided to let it go on up to 170°. By the time I had checked the temperature of the thighs and a couple more places on the breast, the breast temperature had gone up to 176°. Lesson learned - start checking when the breast temperature reaches 165°.

This picture is just after the turkey was taken out of the smoker. Notice the small pieces of foil at the wings - the ends of the wings were wrapped loosely with it at the halfway point. Also, notice the spray bottle with a little apple juice and the multiple temperature probes. Good smoking is a little common sense and experience mixed with just a touch of science! Like, why does a pork shoulder or beef brisket require long cooking times at low temperatures? If you don't know, just ask.

Back to the counter and allowed to rest under an aluminum tent for about 30 minutes before carving. This gives the juices time to settle back into the meat and also makes the carving easier.

What? No stuffing? Well, it's not suggested that you cook stuffing inside the turkey when it's done in a smoker or on a grill. This is especially true if you cook at a temperature lower than 325°. If you do attempt to cook your stuffing inside the turkey, make sure it's AT LEAST 165° in the center before you consider it done. Salmonella is always a danger with undercooked poultry so don't take any chances.