BBQ and Grilling megathread

[Swayze11]

Originally Posted by Shazam

On the high end of your budget but it's worth it.

https://barbecuesgalore.ca/products/...ib-natural-gas

Prestige gives you double walled lid and SS grills.

I second this. Love mine

[Canadianman]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Well, I've decided I am not enough of an enthusiast to be tending to a kettle style bbq all day long for smoking meat. It requires a lot of work, and my temperatures fluctuate a lot.


I'm ready to pull the trigger on a automatic pellet smoker - sorry purists.



Question: Pit Boss vs Traeger? Wifi feature definitely something I'm interested in, and both brands get great reviews. Any thoughts?

I just received my SL1000 from Louisiana Grills from costco.ca. On clearance for $500. No wifi though.



https://www.costco.ca/louisiana-gril...100756946.html


The smaller SL700 was on sale as well, but it appears to be out of stock.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Did the Aaron Franklin Ribs method with my pellet smoker.

Pepper - Salt - Paprika rub
3 hours on smoker at 270 - couple spritzes of apple cider vinegar half way through.
Made a whiskey BBQ sauce slathered that on - let the sauce set on both sides for 10 minutes in the smoker
Tight wrap with foil with some more BBQ sauce.
2 hours back on the smoker.
Pulled and let sit for 30 minutes

Delicious!!

[Wormius]

Not sure if anybody noticed, but Costco lowered the prices of the Kamado Joes down to $899. Saw about 3 or 4 at Beacon Heights.

[PaperBagger'14]

Got a brisket going, started it at 4am and sitting at 175f currently. Gonna chop the point off when I pull the brisket to rest and make some burnt ends.

Edit:

11 hrs in and 189f. Couple more hours but getting closer!

Spoiler!

[PaperBagger'14]

And here's the point after cutting it off for burnt ends. This is better than any brisket I've ever had in any calgary restaurant.

Spoiler!

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

And here's the point after cutting it off for burnt ends. This is better than any brisket I've ever had in any calgary restaurant.

Spoiler!

Looks like you did a fine job!

But I agree, without tooting my own horn I think I've made better BBQ then any place I've had here in Calgary (Big T's/Haydn Block etc)

Plus the satisfaction of doing it yourself... cant beat it.
Just wish Brisket prices weren't through the roof, used to be able to get a 12-15lb for 80-90 bucks, now its about $150 @ the butcher.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Looks like you did a fine job!

But I agree, without tooting my own horn I think I've made better BBQ then any place I've had here in Calgary (Big T's/Haydn Block etc)

Plus the satisfaction of doing it yourself... cant beat it.
Just wish Brisket prices weren't through the roof, used to be able to get a 12-15lb for 80-90 bucks, now its about $150 @ the butcher.

I've always wondered how those bbq joints keep their food fresh. Brisket has such a short shelf life, and re heating it can be ok but it's never as good as the first cook.

Costco is still the go to for a cheap brisket, I think mine was 13lbs all in and it was right around $60. But you're totally right about private butchers, $150 is a crazy high price for what should be a cheap cut.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

I've always wondered how those bbq joints keep their food fresh. Brisket has such a short shelf life, and re heating it can be ok but it's never as good as the first cook.

Costco is still the go to for a cheap brisket, I think mine was 13lbs all in and it was right around $60. But you're totally right about private butchers, $150 is a crazy high price for what should be a cheap cut.

I've gone to a few Texas Pit bbq places in the States and they've been like "sorry, out of brisket today" and I was actually happy to hear it. That means they are a good bbq place.

[MoneyGuy]

Anyone use an insulated cover for heat retention on a smoker? How does it affect cooking and smoking time and efficiency? I have one but have never used it. If I’m smoking for hours it might be useful.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Anyone use an insulated cover for heat retention on a smoker? How does it affect cooking and smoking time and efficiency? I have one but have never used it. If I’m smoking for hours it might be useful.

I bought one for winter for mine. But I use it all the time now. Easier on pellet usage, doesn’t affect cooking at all from what I can tell n

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Anyone use an insulated cover for heat retention on a smoker? How does it affect cooking and smoking time and efficiency? I have one but have never used it. If I’m smoking for hours it might be useful.

Without doing any digging, I'm pretty sure I remember a warning on my traeger insulating blanket that said do not use the blanket above 0 degrees Celsius as it may cause internal temperatures to rise high enough to damage the smoker. I believe it would void the warranty as well. This is all going off memory and may be off.

With that said I use mine during the winter consistently and it helps a ton. I don't tend to do as many long smokes with it during the winter but for chicken, fish and steaks it's a good deal. I don't notice much in the way of savings on pellets though.

[guzzy]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Anyone use an insulated cover for heat retention on a smoker? How does it affect cooking and smoking time and efficiency? I have one but have never used it. If I’m smoking for hours it might be useful.

just go buy a welding blanket. 4 x6 at princess auto


Does an amazing job even in the middle of winter. You can spend big bucks on name brand smoker jackets as well. They definitely help in winter. In summer I don't find it makes much of a difference.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by guzzy

just go buy a welding blanket. 4 x6 at princess auto


Does an amazing job even in the middle of winter. You can spend big bucks on name brand smoker jackets as well. They definitely help in winter. In summer I don't find it makes much of a difference.

As I said, I already have one. Was just wondering if it’d be effective, especially in summer. I’d definitely use it in winter if I smoke.

[Canadianman]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Anyone use an insulated cover for heat retention on a smoker? How does it affect cooking and smoking time and efficiency? I have one but have never used it. If I’m smoking for hours it might be useful.

I use a welding blanket on mine. helps a lot in winter.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Not sure if anybody noticed, but Costco lowered the prices of the Kamado Joes down to $899. Saw about 3 or 4 at Beacon Heights.

Solid price. I wasn't sure how far I wanted to foray, so I picked up an Acorn Jr kamado style for a fraction of that. I'm still tinkering around with it. I do like whipping up my own pellet and wood chip combo to toss into the grill for flavour.

I've been experimenting with cinnamon wood, dried ginger, sage and dried branches from fruit trees for smoldering as well... and I've been interested in making my own charcoal and using wild mallow plant to enhance the flavours that can be imparted from the charcoal. I saw it once on TV almost a decade ago and I've always remembered it. I don't get how mallow could impart a great flavour in charcoal like a typical fruit wood or hickory etc. so that's why I wanted to give it a go.

A Kamado style grill is pretty interesting. I'm enjoying it significantly more than the entry level charcoal grills I used in the past. I see the allure of the pellet grills/smokers though.

[Delgar]

My Large BGE is currently at a friends because I'm in a condo and don't have a backyard (it was the wolves that made me move!) so I picked this up as a balcony friendly kamado and it works great for smaller cooks:

https://ca.londonsunshine.com/produc...-13-inch-black

I really like it, though I still prefer the BGE with the extra space it gives and with the accessories which aren't available on a small cooker.

Also, to light charcoal, which I find a pain due to time, I have used a chimney, and the looftlighter (https://looft.com/products/looft-lighter) but have started to like this more, especially on the smaller grill: (https://grillblazer.com/products/su-vgun-basic-1) I also use it when I need to brown meats because of cooking method.

With the SV-Gun I have the charcoal ready quicker. I think for the large BGE i'd still use the looftlighter.

I got the Looftlighter at BBQs Galore and the SV gun online, the small kamado online, and the Large BGE at BBQs Galore. The prices of the BGE's seem a lot higher than when I bought at BBQs Galore, but there some very knowledgeable staff there and they always help when I have a BGE issue, even 10 years after buying it. Buy locally at a brick and mortar outfit, in my view.

That price at Costo on the KJ is very attractive even if it doesn't come with support. Half the price of the BGE and the KJ is just as good.

[DoubleF]

To light charcoal, I used to use a chimney with a starter inside or other variations of using a flammable fluid, but I nabbed this type of electric starter a few years ago and I haven't gone back.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08DNHM67X/...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

It's basically a wand broiler that you use to light coals with direct contact.

You'll have to rake the coals slightly more than other methods and you need to find a place to let it cool off slightly longer than other methods, but I find it easier and less hassle than other methods I've tried so far. I plug in a fan to speed up the lighting of the coals, so it's not too much extra work to plug this in as well.

[PaperBagger'14]

Gonna try some smoked spam tonight, found one regular recipe and one for burnt ends. This could either be terrible, or at best, decent for a cheap meal. Wish me luck

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Gonna try some smoked spam tonight, found one regular recipe and one for burnt ends. This could either be terrible, or at best, decent for a cheap meal. Wish me luck

Oh... it's good. You can't really mess up those spam options other than by being terrible at cutting. Consider adding some Tabasco for an extra kick before smoking. Tabasco synergizes really well with spam.