BBQ Simple

click photos for larger version

I think that's a good name for a cookbook. BBQ Simple. So many BBQ books seem like they are for reading not for using. I agree all the details are important and it can be interesting to read about all the aspects that go along with some good low and slow cooking.  But sometimes you just want to cook something to eat. You aren't in a competition, don't own a food truck, or catering service, or run a restaurant. Here's my favorite BBQ cookbook. I like all of Ray Lampe's books.

I recently made some really good pulled pork on my Big Green Egg and it was about as easy as could be. I saw some pre rubbed ready to cook Swift Premium Dry Rubbed Santa Maria Boneless Petite Pork Shoulder Roast and thought I'd give it a try.

As you can see by the label it is ready for a crock pot slow cooker but I was going to use it on my BBQ.

I didn't do anything to prep it. I got my BBQ going with some hardwood charcoal and some big apple wood chunks. I used the Big Green Egg plate setter for indirect heat. Any indirect setup would work on a BBQ like a Weber or even a gas grill. Check out The Snake Method. I put a pan of water and the grate on top of that and the pork with a temperature probe centered over all of that.

The BBQ temps ran about 275 to 300 and at first the pork shoulder was about 50 degrees. (I set it out from the fridge for an hour or so before I put it on.)

That was it. I didn't add any charcoal or wood or baste or mop or anything else. I just looked at the temperature on the BBQ to make sure it was running below 300 and above 250.

During the day the pork slowly came up to 100 then 150 then 175 and finally it hit 200 about 5 hours after I started. The BBQ temps were dropping as it ran out of fuel but with the lower vents open it stayed above 225 so that was OK. I let it go a little more to get it to 205 and took it off. It cooked down to a perfect size for dinner for 2.

There was a small cap of BBQ "bark" on top that was a little dry so I threw that away. The rest of it was moist and full of flavor. It was a little salty but the Heinz Kansas City Sweet and Smoky BBQ Sauce balanced it out.

I am a fan of these sauces. They are regional style BBQ sauces with Kansas City, Texas, Carolina, and more. Check them out here.

It was a Paleo friendly dinner with pulled pork and spaghetti squash dressed with a little bit of California olive oil.

You can do this. BBQ Simple.

Cleanin' The BBQ or Cleanin' The Cooker!

I guess this should be called Cleanin' The Cooker as in the Orion Cooker.

The what? you say. It is a 2 part cooker where the heat is outside around the bottom in an outer ring and in the top in a little part that looks like a smokestack (but isn't)

Inside you put whatever is cooking, ribs, a turkey, chicken, pork roasts, really anything that can be cooked in a bbq. You can also add wood chips for flavor on the inside.

The food gets a nice smokey flavor and stays really moist. I've had mine for over 10 years and use it a lot. I really like it!

Check out the video that explains what they do.

I recently did ribs for 50 people at a friend's party. That involved a few test cooks to get my flavors right and 2 cooks for the party that ended up being 9 racks of ribs as well 2 tri-tips.

The Orion was a mess! I hadn't given it a really good cleaning in a while. After the party I decided this was the time. I only wanted to clean the outside and just to make it look better.

I don't think there is any reason to clean the inside. I didn't want to introduce cleaner chemicals or soap to the fine bbq smoke patina that had developed over these years. I do wipe the inside down and hose it off after every cook.

Here is a BEFORE picture of what I had to deal with. The big black marks are baked on and when I cleaned it with just soap and water they actually stood out more.

My strategy was to not use anything too harsh like oven cleaner or to not use power tools like a drill with a polishing or sanding wheel. Both of those would probably do the job quicker.

I assembled some things I'm pretty familiar with for this job.

cleaning/dish washing gloves or some disposable gloves
spray bottle with water
dish washing soap
Bar Keeper's Friend
coarse sanding sponge
Lava soap
Meguiar's A3714 Compound Water Spot Remover (auto detailing product)
Buck knife
Stainless Steel Cleaner

Amazon links above help by making a donation to The ALS Association Golden West Chapter. The price you pay stays the same.

With all of that ready to go I wanted to get this stainless steel looking better.

I started with a simple wash with dish washing soap and the coarse sanding sponge just to get a baseline to see what I had to do.

When that was done I put on some gloves and got the spray bottle of water and the Bar Keeper's Friend (BKF)

BKF has a little bit of oxalic acid powder as an active ingredient. It is pretty mild but follow the safety instructions. Oxalic acid is really popular among boaters and you can find stronger cleaners that use it at boat supply places. Here is a review of some of the marine cleaners that also use oxalic acid.

With the gloves on I put some BKF powder in my hand about enough to fill my palm. Then with the spray bottle I squirted the powder to make it pretty wet and rubbed it on the Orion.

You could also make a slurry of BKF in a plastic tub or something.

I rubbed it all over the Orion Cooker and let it sit. I don't know how long it is takes to do it's thing but I waited about an hour.

When that was done I rinsed it off with the hose to see how good it worked. Things went well. The cleaner parts were now really clean. However the baked on black streaks were still there.

Now I took the Lava soap and the Water Spot Remover and the heavy duty rubbing began.

I squirted the Water Spot Remover on the Orion and rubbed the stubborn spots with the Lava soap. With a lot of elbow grease parts of the baked on spots started to lift. The Water Spot Remover  has some grit and helps lubricate the surface for the Lava soap (that also has some grit) to work better.

There wasn't much cleaning going on here it was really sanding the spots down. I used the coarse sanding sponge with the Lava soap and Water Spot Remover as well. More came off.

Next I took my Buck knife and lightly scraped the spots followed by the sanding sponge rubbed with Lava soap. More came off. (yes I'll have to resharpen my knife after all of this)

After a few laps around the Orion Cooker with the knife I figured to let BKF have another shot at it so I repeated it all over again.

Clean with soap, apply Bar Keeper's Friend, wait, coarse sponge, Lava soap, Water Spot Remover, scrape.

Like I said mine was pretty bad. I ended up doing this about 6 times over 2 days!

When I decided I was done I gave it a last wash and dry then used some Stainless Steel cleaner.

There are still a few spots I didn't get but it sure looks a lot better!




I know there are other and probably better ways to do this but this worked for me, it just took a while!

If you are looking to clean some stainless steel you can apply these tips however know that the sanding and scraping will scratch the surface. It's not a big deal on the Orion Cooker but be aware of that on things you might clean. By the way I mostly rubbed in line with the grain of the stainless steel but also went in circles and against the grain. I think that variety of angles helped remove some stubborn areas.

The Bar Keeper's Friend is a good medium strength chemical cleaner to use and will get most of the non baked on stuff. I think I'll use it as a maintenance cleaner for the Orion Cooker as needed.


 


Like I said other than looks there isn't a reason to do this, and I know some people are proud of their BBQ Stripes. I look at it this way - now mine is clean and I can earn some new stripes!

Love Me Tender #BBQ Ribs With Irish Peat Bricks Here's How...

Over the weekend the weather cleared up just enough for just long enough that I finally had a chance to really do a nice long BBQ.

It was also the first NASCAR race of the season, the Daytona 500, so I got to stay home and do some barbecue and and watch some Motorsports and that's a good day for me any time.

For the smoke on my baby back ribs I decided to use Irish peat blocks. For most BBQ cooks they're kind of weird, they're definitely different, you don't see them everywhere, and I've never seen peat used in a restaurant setting, but they're really really unique. The website for this brand in the photo gives me a browser warning that the site is unsafe. Use the search link above to find some if you want to try it.

Irish peat is basically plants that grow in Ireland and they are cut and dried and then compressed so you don't get any wood flavor and you get a real earthy flavor in the smell of the barbecue. It is just incredible. It's something totally different, very unique but also very mellow, but there's a lot of smoke as you can see in the shots of these ribs. What they call the Smoke Ring really really penetrated and it made for a wonderful smell of a smoky barbecue all afternoon as the ribs were cooking.

These ribs are called Love Me Tender Ribs by my friends and family that I cook for. If I don't cook them this way everyone gets mad and upset and they say how come they're not the Love Me Tender Ribs. Well it takes a few extra steps and it takes a little bit longer to cook so you kind of have to get started the night before and then there's a finishing process that's definitely mandatory to make them come out as soft as they do. They are so tender that you can pull the bones out with just a soft tug.

This recipe is based on a recipe from Dr BBQ. I highly recommend his books. His cookbooks are great they cover a lot of topics and if you want to just start with some of the basics like brisket, ribs, chicken, things like that it's definitely a place to get a lot of really good knowledge and a lot of cool tricks and techniques.

You definitely don't need Irish peat moss bricks to do this but it does make for a unique flavor. Most the time I use wood chips - cherry apple things like that with the pork ribs.

Follow along and make sure to keep track of the time and temperatures. Those are probably the two most important things things can get really bad rib results.

I'll throw in a couple different options in this recipe for you to try and make sure you get started the night before that's a really important part of this to kind of give that full flavor effect.

I do cook these for someone that says they never order ribs in a restaurant because they're always disappointed. That's a pretty good compliment.

There are probably at least a million ways to cook bbq ribs and 999,999 of them are good.

Enjoy some ribs this year and try the The Love Me Tender Ribs recipe and techniques.

****

Love Me Tender Ribs

1 or 2 slabs of Baby Back Ribs you can cook as much as you want just ramp up ingredients

1/2 cup of BBQ rub I like to use a mild rub as enough flavor will come later. I use CRC Sweet Pecan or Kinder's Mild or Bad Byron's Butt Rub. I like my rub to have a base of some salt, sugar, paprika, garlic, onion powder. I guess by definition these are dry rubs. There are lots of online recipes out there if you want to make your own. If you want to spend a little more time you can brine soak your ribs as well.

2 cups of apple juice since you won't drink it buy the cheap stuff

1 cup of honey

aluminum foil

1 cup of your favorite bbq sauce here in Northern California I grew up with Everett and Jones BBQ so I really like their Super Q sauce

1) Pre-Cook

Thaw ribs if frozen. The night before you will bbq take the membrane off the bone side by sliding a regular table knife under membrane at the small end. Lift a section up and grab and pull across. Sometimes it is hard to get it all in one shot. Sometimes it won't come off at all. In that case I just score the ribs between the bones top to bottom with a sharp knife. As it cooks it will peel back to open up that side to the smoke and sauce flavor.

Press the rub into both sides of the ribs. Use enough to lightly cover with one layer but don't end up with a big powdery slab!

Wrap them up and put them in the fridge overnight to let that rub soak in.

2) Cook set-up

6 hours before you want to eat get things started. Take the ribs out of the fridge for about 1/2 and hour to get to room temperature. Here's is what they look like.

Get your bbq started and up to 275 degrees. It is harder to bring down a bbq once it is hot than it is to slowly control it as it heats up. Once it is going keep an eye on the temperature and keep the air vents closed enough to just let it stay hot. It should stabilize pretty quick. Don't put the ribs on if it is really hot like over 350. You'll char and dry them out and then you can't recover from that.

3) Smoke set-up

The Love Me Tender ribs always use smoke. Sometimes it is wood like cherry or apple in chunks about the size of a baseball, sometimes wood chips, and sometimes I use Irish Peat. You can soak the wood in water but usually I just throw it in. Either way add the wood will change the bbq temperature. Soaked wood will bring it down and dry wood will bring it up. Make sure to watch it. Don't freak out if it changes. Adjust a little but remember to adjust it back as the wood smokes. Don't let things get over 300 degrees.

4) Low and Slow

Ok fire going, smoke wood ready, ribs rubbed and rested and at room temperature let's go!

Cook indirect so the heat isn't directly under the ribs. Move the coals to one side and the ribs to the other, or find a way to cook indirect on your grill. On a gas grill just use one side for heat and the other for ribs. This can be hard to do if you have a small grill. Some people put a pan with water or apple juice under the ribs. It all depends on your set-up. On my Big Green Egg I use a "plate setter" to cook indirect with no water pan underneath.

Add the wood for smoking and then the ribs bone side down. If you are using a vertical rib rack have the bone side facing the heat source.

Close it up. Again watch the temps on the bbq to keep things in the 275 to 300 degree range. As mentioned they will change a little as the smoke starts.

2 Hour Break! Yes now you are done for 2 hours (but watch those temps)

Optional - After 2 hours flip the ribs to the meaty side down. I don't always do this depending on how they look. Sometimes I let them cook the whole way with the bone side down. I think it gives the meat some protection from too much heat and they won't dry out.

1 Hour Break! Yes you are now done for 1 hour (but watch those temps at this point you might be running out of fuel for the fire)

5) Wrap It

Time to wrap. Take 2 long sheets of foil about double the length of a rack of ribs plus a little more and place half of it on a table or baking sheet. Brush honey on the sheet. The more you use the sweeter the pork will be. Put 1 rack of ribs on the sheet meaty side down on the honey. Fold up the sides of the foil and pour in about 1/2 cup of the apple juice. Fold up the foil all the way and seal the edges. Do this with all the ribs and put them back on the heat for 90 minutes at 275.

I don't always use the honey. Sometimes it ends up being a little too sweet. You can just use the apple juice and it will taste great.

90 Minute Break! This is a good time to make the other dishes

6) Sauce It For The Finish

Almost done! Remove the ribs from the foil. It will be a big mess with the juice and honey so have somewhere for it to go. Bump up the heat on the bbq to 350 and put the ribs back on. Lightly brush on your favorite sauce on the meaty side and let it dry for about 15 minutes or more. You can also do this in the oven. When the ribs seem tacky you are done!

7) Eat!

If all went well you will be able to pull the bones out of the meat and the ribs will be super flavorful and tender. Have some warmed sauce on the side if people want to add a little more.

I love a big red wine with these ribs. In the photo is a red blend from Domaine de Nizas with syrah, mourvedre, grenache that really paired well. Zinfandel is a popular bbq wine. I count on friends at Cellar Collections for suggestions and most of my wine buying.

Tips

Other Ways To Do It - Like I said there are other ways to do it. Search for the 3 2 1 BBQ method and try that. Get a cookbook from Dr BBQ and try more.

Tender Test - Ribs are done when you take tongs and pick up the ribs in the middle and both ends drop down close to 90 degrees to the ground. At that point they can be sauced and finished. I cook mine a little more and they get that extra tender texture people seem to love.

Fuel - What Is The Best? There are lots of opinions out there. I think briquettes are ok. I use either Cowboy Charcoal or Lazzari mesquite.

Fuel - You can run out of bbq fuel because this is such a long cook. You can add more but don't add the kind with lighter fluid on it like Match Light. It will make the food smell awful. It can be ok to use before the ribs go on.

You Can Use Too Much - Be careful if you use a lot of fuel the fire can get really hot and it can take a while to get the temps back down to 275.

How much is enough? I don't know it depends on your bbq set-up!

I hope you enjoy trying out this Love Me Tender ribs. I hope you and your friends like eating them as well!

Beef Rib bbq

I am not really a fan of beef ribs. I never order them and rarely cook them. Pork ribs just rule.

But.

I saw a pretty good recipe in a Texas BBQ book and thought I'd give it a try on the Big Green Egg.

First rub a little rub on the beef short ribs. I like the Gates rub here. It isn't too hot, and works well on everything. For my tastes I like rub a little hotter, but these are for sharing, so sweet and mild it is.



The Egg got some Lazzari hardwood charcoal and some big chunks of cherry wood. The temp gets stable at about 300 to 325 and on go the ribs.

The recipe has a little twist, put the ribs in a glass dish over indirect heat. The Egg has a thick plate that goes above the fire and has 3 legs that point up a few inches. That's where you put the grill and that is your indirect fire set up. It works great.

The glass dish with the ribs sits uncovered. You turn the ribs about every 20 minutes and they cook in the fat rendered off them as they cook. Turn and turn to get them cooked like that on all sides.

They kind of "fry" or baste in the liquid while getting smoked by the wood and charcoal.

After 3 hours they looked like this.



Chopped up with some of the fat removed deboned and with a little Everett and Jones BBQ sauce they get to the table looking like this.



Bottom line:

Good flavor with a crispy outer smoky crust, lots of flavor. I still like pork ribs, but this is a good way to do beef shorties on the smoker. More flavor than sitting for hours in a slow cooker, but not as tender.

Oh and the book linked above? Really good. Good stories and recipes. 5 out of 5 stars for that.

To make up for the calories tonight I'm doing a 2 hour bike ride in the Oakland hills, er make that HILLS tomorrow.

BEEF: it's what's for dinner

cue the Aaron Copeland music please...



I really like reading the Wall Street Journal. I know you're thinking boring business paper. Well it was, and some of it still is. But their technology stuff from Walt Mossberg and the Personal Journal, and Weekend Journal are just great. Music reviews, travel info, and well a little of everything. I think (I say think because I rarely ever read it) the editorial section is pretty conservative. But I really read it for investing advice and trends, and really enjoy their features. Probably old timer WSJ readers hate the stuff I like. Oh well.

So today there is an article on The Search for the Perfect Steak. It is a pretty good read. Or a listen. Here's the podcast of the story.

Bottom line:

Get a good cut, some NYC chefs shop at Costco for their beef. I have bought from there, but I really like my local guy "Joe" see below.

Age it at home if you can. A risky thing to do says the health officials, but aged beef makes the beef taste better and stronger. It is like reducing a sauce. But you have to cut away the outside of the beef that goes "bad" during the process.

Cook over really really high heat. No your home broiler probably doesn't get that hot. But a good cast iron pan setting on high for a while will. I love cast iron. There is always a Lodge pan on my stove oiled and ready to go at all times. Yes it is pretty non-stick. Here's a good page with cast iron info.

After reading the article, and thinking about making a brisket with an overnight cook tonight, I figured it was time to go to my local meat market. So I saw my butcher Joe at Galvan's in San Leandro today. He's Da Man. I picked up a brisket for overnight cooking, 2 prime porterhouse steaks, and some sushi tuna.

He said forget about home aged beef. You have to cut so much off it gets
expensive fast. He can get aged beef, but you can't buy a steak or 2 from
him, you have to buy the whole loin. He said if you want aged beef get
mail order (very expensive) or for about the same price just go to a steak
house and live it up a little.

For home just try to find good "Prime" cuts, cook, enjoy. He also he said
it is pretty easy to get Kobe beef these days. He said he can get it
anytime but it can really vary, some is really tender like you'd expect,
some more like prime. Last time he got some it was about 35 a pound I
think he said. Again you buy the whole thing, not a steak or 2. About 10
to 12 pounds.

Phew that's some cash!

Joe, he's good to go.

Maybe I just go to Alfred's Steakhouse in San Francisco. Old school, and good stuff Maynard...