The BBQ and Smoking Thread

[ercchry]

Rib practice is coming along nicely...

Being backs, and having the smoker at the lake trying to creep up to 250-275 I did 3-1.5-1 and it was much better results than 3-2-1 for backs... last time they fell apart when I unwrapped them

[tcon]

Where's a good place to find some legit rubs in Calgary? I usually mess up ratios when I try to throw my own together.

[ercchry]

^BBQ Galore usually has a decent selection... Weber brand rubs are also starting to show up at sobey's/Safeway... tried a few and they're decent... don't like that they have salt though as I usually brine or dry brine prior to the rub

Round two on thigh practice... fingers crossed that the damn skins don't pull up this time

[ExtraSlow]

How are you screwing up your rub? Find a recipe or tweak one until you are happy and head to bulk barn. They usually have e everything you need and you can easily weigh out the portions.

[ercchry]

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^BBQ Galore usually has a decent selection... Weber brand rubs are also starting to show up at sobey's/Safeway... tried a few and they're decent... don't like that they have salt though as I usually brine or dry brine prior to the rub

Round two on thigh practice... fingers crossed that the damn skins don't pull up this time

Those were a fail... today I tried again.... not perfect, but getting there

[ExtraSlow]

What is the goal for "competition" chicken thighs? I only smoke these for use in pasta or chili, so I never focus on appearance.

[ercchry]

I think the goal is to make grown men cry... but judges are looking for:

Appearance: the entry should always be sauced, offering up a nice ‘clear coat’ of color.
Taste: the sauce, injection, and rub should all combine to form a unified flavor profile.
Tenderness: skin needs to have just a tiny hint of “presence” to it, but still be bite through.
Tenderness: the chicken meat should offer just a little bit of bite resistance and offer up a little juice.

[phreezee]

Fire ban is bullshit... no smoking this weekend

Even if you have a propane smoker, as soon as you add solid fuel (chips/pellets) you are in violation I believe.

[ercchry]

Had to do my last dialling in for the chicken using the oven... but I was only trying to figure out texture stuff anyways so it worked fine

Good news is these are pretty much bang on!

Can even see my tooth marks

[ExtraSlow]

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Fire ban is bullshit... no smoking this weekend

Even if you have a propane smoker, as soon as you add solid fuel (chips/pellets) you are in violation I believe.

I don't know about the letter of the law but that seems wrong. Smokers are so well contained and controlled. It wasn't on my schedule but I feel like I should smoke something just to be a rebel.

[ercchry]

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I don't know about the letter of the law but that seems wrong. Smokers are so well contained and controlled. It wasn't on my schedule but I feel like I should smoke something just to be a rebel.

No... its a real thing

The competition this weekend is still happening thanks to an exception, but everyone has been moved to the parking lot, and there are additional fire precautions taking place... like not being able to light charcoal in a chimney

[Brent.ff]

..how bout an electric traeger..?

[ercchry]

It's official, I'm pretty good at cooking... not BBQ



The dish:



Tuna poke... with a BBQ twist to the type of supporting ingredients, and their preparation

ie. instead of sesame seeds... we used jalapeño seeds, carrots were smoked... and pickled in Apple cider vinegar, cashews... dry roasted with pecan smoke, etc

17th/42 overall... would of been stronger but got 35 in chicken... not sure why, was a more citrus flavour, lighter coloured thigh... but the skins and whatnot was bang on... personally I think it's the best chicken I've done yet



Everything else was pretty standard finishes and was just out of the money 13th ribs, 11th pork, and 18th brisket

Was super fun though, would do it again

[ExtraSlow]

would love to hear a fuller review of how the whole event went down. I've never attended.

[ercchry]

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would love to hear a fuller review of how the whole event went down. I've never attended.

From a spectator perspective it's a pretty laid back event... you have teams with their tents, trailers, and pits all over cooking and prepping, you can walk in and bug everyone... then of course live music, food trucks, beer gardens, etc... bonus football games going on in the background too

Usually for guys that have their food handling stuff there are samples for $2, but I'm not sure why not this time (maybe fire ban related?)

Then for us..

We showed up around 9am Saturday... got everything setup, started prepping our chef's choice... got our meat inspected (make sure it hasn't been injected or brined or anything, and temp was food safe) then we had our head chef meeting... they went over the rules and schedule and modified fire ban rules (no chimneys was kind of annoying, but at least we were able to still run it). Went back to our booth and got our big meats trimmed and dry brined, then injected... worked on our chef's choice

Then at 4pm we had turn in for chef's choice... then back to playing with more meat... got our first meat on around 9pm, then 11pm got our second on... then ordered some Chinese food of course, cause we also needed to eat

At about 3am we started prepping our chicken, then we had an hour or two of down time, just the odd pit check going on so we started putting our turn in boxes together... also battled that damn wind storm most of the night... so happy our tent wasn't fire rated and we were in a really solid city tent... it didn't even shift in the wind.. mean while some teams were literally hanging off their tents holding them down

Then ???? Sleep deprivation started to kick in... got ribs on at like 6:45, think some time around 7am I went over to timmy's and got a large coffee and put a healthy amount of Bailey's in it... then the Canadian BBQ society guys did a 9am shot of jack's for everyone... then I was feeling good again... got the chicken on right before 10... then it was just pit checks, getting sauces made up... then at 11:45, got the chicken sauced, let it set up... then in a box, and 25min later did the same for the ribs, then pork, then brisket, then beer... but turned out I drank it all over the night

so we cleaned and packed up, then went to the awards at 5... walked for my chef's choice... then after that we got the detailed points list for everyone for each category and ran before the sky opened up (sky was getting darker and darker, wind picking up, etc) got home and realized no storm actually happened and wished I stuck around to figure out why our chicken was such a poor score

Then I forced myself to stay up till 10 and crashed HARD... crazy time

[ExtraSlow]

Wings tonight. Plain for the kids, Mrs dash for the "lemon pepper" style and my homemade rub some some light heat.

[R-Audi]

I did a smoked meatloaf last night, turned out quite well for using a regular meatloaf pan instead of a BBQ one with holes. Meatloaf recipe could have been seasoned a bit more, but the smoke was great!

[ExtraSlow]

Never considered smoking meatloaf but that sounds great.

Wings were good. The Mrs dash is a little odd with the smoke. But the ones with rub were excellent.

[ExtraSlow]

Did up some chicken quarters recently. The skin came up nice and crispy, but seems like my family doesn't like it. May skin them next time. Love having some leftover smoked chicken to add to things like chili or to throw on top of a salad for a quick meal.

[hampstor]

Thread bump with some things i've smoked in the last few months...
Maple Espresso Bacon: (recipe here: https://leitesculinaria.com/95593/wr...-espresso.html)



Honey Smoked Salmon:



Honey smoked trout


Beef Ribs