Well, it seems like I've fallen into a den of musicians! How cool is that?!? Beer-drinkin', smoked-meat eatin', guitar-strummin' good ol' boys (and gals!; the post office website says my Tatonka Dust and koozies were delivered yesterday; better check my mail box!). Yee howdy!
One quick anecdote.
I was 4 years old when I ran away from home for the first time. I was the oldest of 5, and had had enough. I was always taking off, not running away so much, just looking for something new, not boring. Fast forward 7 years. I was living in St. Louis in the early 60s, and used to bus down to Gaslight Square (before it went south), get a slice of pizza and a soda, and site on the benches outside of the clubs that had live music. I really fell in love with the Mississippi Delta blues. Fast forward 4 years. Christmas time, 1965. I was living in Wisconsin at the time, and had just gotten turned on to Chicago blues (Buddy Guy was 17-18 years old a time). We went to Chicago for the holidays. I'd heard of Old Town (Wells St. south of Division) and seen some clips of the area on the Chicago PBS station, so I snuck out again and trained downtown. I walked up and down the street a bit, checking out the different clubs. There was one that a lot of peeps were going into. I couldn't hear much from the street, so I wormed my way into a group going up the stairs to the second floor club. I was 5'10" when I was 12 (still the same height; don't ask). I didn't even get carded. I went and sat in the back of the room and listened to some music unlike anything I'd ever heard before, being played by musicians I'd never heard of. Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Anthony Williams. Have you guessed the name of the club yet? Yup, the Plugged Nickel. What an introduction to jazz! That was the night I fell in love with the bass. Herbie was fun to watch (still playing acoustic piano at the time), but Ron Carter blew me away. All I'd ever experienced, bass-wise, was orchestral.
Back on topic: It just started raining, so I ran out to the mailbox and, voila, there was my Tatonka Dust kit (bag, bottle and 2 koozies). Woot! I was going to do a pork tenderloin for this weekend's contest, but now I'm going to have to do beef.
So there's a musician under those BBQr's dreads, BP? Cool! Love to meet you sometime.
Not to hijack the thread - but as a pianist you would probably appreciate the fact that I have a Bosendorfer Imperial sitting downstairs. We have concert pianists perform at the house for groups of 50-60 people.
Impressive! I had a 6' Kawai baby grand at home, but my preference was a Yamaha Concert Grand that I played at school. I always preferred the sound and the feel of the Yamaha keyboard to the Steinway I had access to. I never had a chance to play a Bosendorfer (back when I was still playing; now I just listen). Can't even imagine what one of those would cost now. You're a lucky guy.
I'm sorry but earlier I said I'd be in but I forgot about the goodguys car show this weekend. I will be there and not able to play. But next time I will. Thanks.
Had another good monsoon rain yesterday, so I switched from a planned smoke on the Weber/Smokenator to a grill on the Weber. I used the "opportunity" to try TatOnKa Dust (okay, so it should have been TOK'd Tri-tip, but that wouldn't have gotten your attention ) for the first time. It was the only spice I used. No salt even. I coated the tri-tip and let it rest at room temp for 45 minutes while I got the coals lit and the grill up to temp. I grilled it indirect to an IT of 125°F, then gave it 2-3 minutes per side direct to an internal temp of 145°F. I foiled it for 30 minutes, got the rest of dinner ready, sliced and ate.
I'll be using TD regularly from now on. Very good, indeed! Product.
The only photo I took was the money shot at the end. The jus in the glass bowl was poured from the foil. There was a lot more jus under the cut slices. View attachment 2344
The weather is gloomy on the east coast, but that doesn't stop me from making delicious food.
All organic bird from local farm
TBSP of olive oil over the bird
Bit of MAK bird rub
BBQ delight apple/hickory mix
Preheated 2-star to 450°F, placed bird on and dropped temp down to 350°. I used two probes to play with the datalogging via wireless. This is my first whole chicken test, I'm fairly new to pellet cooking, and absolutely amazed at how juicy it is without needing to brine the bird first! Convection pellet grill cooking rocks.
On a side note, the 2-star holds its temp very well in the rain, you can see it coming down in the second picture.
First ever cook on the new Mak, first ever cook of ribs (or any other BBQ). The cooking method uses was one I learned at a local BBQ class given by someone that competes nationally (I wish I remembered his name, it was a few years ago).
Then back to the Mak (still @230) for another 2 hours. Basted with a carolina style mustard sauce a friend made (and kindly provided me the recipe for, it was very good).
Everyone loved them, I had one rib that was a tiny bit dry but other than that they were great. Next time I'll spray them with apple juice once an hour or so.
I've admired BP stainless drum ever since I saw it, so I built one for myself. What a beauty. Although charcoal fired, pellets work just fine on one of these cookers. Especially BBQr's Delight 100% pellets. Although I did use some pecan and cherry chunks as well. First cook on our new smoker garden and drum. Easy simple cook pulled pork and chicken breast. Used Sweet Money and Obie Cue on the butt and Fin and Feather on the chicken. Delicious!
To celebrate my wife's birthday we wanted to do a version of fajitas.
Prepped the Brisket with chili lime and peppered Cow then let site for 6 hours in plastic wrap.
On the smoker at 1am (we were having a few beers with friends so figure put it on before bed
1am Smoke I love my MAK! Set to 225.
Hit 170 around 7am. Boated with onions on the bottom beef broth worchester and a little lime/cilantro.
Marinated the chicken in fajita. Used the griddle and grill part to cook off the veggies (onions,peppers and zucchini) and the chicken.
Finished:
And sliced:
The party is busy and I did not take pictures of the assembled fajitas. We made a bar out of salsa , sour cream, corn, cheese, jalapanos, and a fruit salad.
Wow, such great looking entries I don't know that I should even bother with this one!
Nothing fancy, just playing around here with a spatchcock chicken coated with mayo, sage, salt, pepper & rosemary. Cooked in the MAK running Apple pellets at 400°.
I'm pretty happy with the crispy skin we've been getting using the mayo/high heat combo. I just want to see if flipping it over for the last 10 minutes or so improves it any more.
It turned out great. Nice crispy skin like we've been getting. The skin was maybe a tad more crispy, but it's really hard to say without a side by side comparison. All I know is it was good. I really like the sage/rosemary/pepper flavor profile with the Applewood smoke. It makes a great flavor combo.