Pork Shoulders

So Chef Butts got us two pork shoulders for this weekend. I picked them up Saturday afternoon at about 5 and started the process of cleaning and firing up the smoker. I figured these would take 12-14 hours so I ended up using the Minion Method for a long burn with steady temps.

The Minion Method consist of filling a chimney starter about 3/4 of the way full and then dumping pretty much the rest of the bag of charcoal, mixed with the variety and amount of whatever type of smoke would you choose, into the ring on a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker. I have the 22", so the 18" might not hold the rest of the entire bag. From there you light the coals in the chimney starter and when they're ready, you dump them on top of the coals in the smoker. The few coals that are lit will get the smoker up to about 250 degrees without getting it too hot and making it hard to bring the temperature down. They'll slowly light the coals underneath allowing for steady temps and a long cook time.

Now, onto the meat.

Steak Roll Up

What you need:
Steak (Flank, hopefully)
Asparagus
Baby portabella mushrooms
BBQ saws (WV slang)
Provolone cheese
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Popeye's wife

The mix is chopped asparagus, chopped baby portabellas, minced garlic, salt & pepper sauteed in some olive oil to soften it up a bit.

Usually I use flank steak sliced in half to make a long thin piece to roll up, but the local podunk grocery store didn't have any so I ended up with one of there "Flat Iron Grillers". I sliced the top 1/3 almost all the way through leaving just enough to henge open. Then from the top hinge, I sliced another 1/3 back to other way doing the same for a nice long thing sliced piece of steak.

Layered with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ, provolone, and then the mixture and rolled it, skewered it, then cooked it to a medium rare/medium. I don't have any finished photos, but it didn't survive the onslaught of the 5 people that were in the kitchen when it came out of the oven.

Spare parts from spare ribs

So Sunday night was an easy night. All the left over trimmings from the ribs went into a put with BBQ sauce and a cup of water at a time. It was simmered for about an hour or two, adding water when needed.

After it was cooked long enough, the leftovers were pulled and more BBQ sauce was added for some very tender pulled pork. So I think I lived off of those ribs for a little over a week.

More ribs

So I got to test out my 22.5" WSM on Sunday and smoked 7 racks of ribs. I know I could have at least fixed 12 with the two racks on there. Unfortunately, my camera decide to transform itself from a camera into a paper weight, so I don't have any photos.

Peanut Butter Burgers

Sorry, pictureless. That's ok though, they weren't very picture worthy...but man did they taste amazing.

Stuff:
2lbs 80/20 ground beef
Smooth peanut butter
Extra sharp cheddar

Optional:
Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Chipotle pepper powder
Salt

I like adding stuff to my beef before cooking burgers. I'm guessing if you were to measure, you'd find that the two large squirts of Sweet Baby Ray's I used was equal to 6-8 Tbsp. The rest was about 1 tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder, and chipotle pepper powder. You could substitute cayenne for that. The salt was just added to taste. Stir it up, and throw it in with the 2lbs of ground beef.

Mix all that up and make patties. I like making mine extra large and thing, so when they cook, you don't end up with burger balls like at all the cookouts you've probably ever been to. 5 Guys has this cool way of taking a large iron press type device and smashing the hell out of them when they're on the grill.

So at about the 85% done phase, toss on a slice of extra sharp cheddar and top with a spoonful of peanut butter. When both start to melt to an exceptional gooey mess, toss it on a bun and each.

Warning: If you're allergic to peanuts, it may be worth dying to experience this amazing combination at least once in your life...right before you die. But I didn't tell you to try it and if you do, I'm not liable for it what so ever.

I finally did it

I ordered the Weber Smokey Mountain smoker that I've been debating on for a while now. I ended up going with th 22". If I get it by this weekend, I'll have photos and a report of it in use.

The worst part about a diet...

...is missing all the good food. So after riding 10-20 miles after work, I don't have much of an appetite and it would really be a waste to fix something. I guess maybe I'll pig out next week some time. Future projects planned include:

• More ribs, smoked - Really can't go wrong with these.
• A McGanbang - Just sounds mutha f'in delicious.
• Stuffed flank steak - Sliced and used for sandwiches with a oil, vinegar, basil, etc topping.
• Soup - I bought a new cook book with nothing but soups.