Grilling chicken on a plank may sound easy enough, but not all things work out as planned. Here is a quick story of how I dealt with an unexpected situation when I was planking on the grill, and was able to adapt to the problem and produce an unbelievable result, which I would like to … [Read more…]
When my family is trying to figure out our weekly menu, we usually start with the common chicken, turkey, beef, and pork suggestions and go from there. I’m referring to the main dish, not the side dish (but meat as a side dish? oh yeah!). One main dish that gets overlooked is ground pork – … [Read more…]
For the following, I used this sun-dried tomato recipe as inspiration: Ingredients & Directions: Wash and stem ripened tomatoes. Slice horizontally, about 1/4 inch thick. Salt on both sides and let sit for 30 minutes. Rinse. Lay on foil covered baking sheets. Cover lightly with cheese cloth. Place in sun for several hours, turning occasionally … [Read more…]
After a few hours of home plumbing renovations to our bathroom, which included replacing shower handles, entire valve body, faucet, etc., what’s next on the list of things to do? Bake a cake. Lately, I’ve been consistent of producing excellent grilled/smoked meats, so I figured on starting a series of articles on baking and cooking … [Read more…]
It seems like many people are complaining about keeping an elevated temperature in their vertical smokers. I am no exception, so I decided to modify mine with an extra grate to vent the charcoal. In most vertical charcoal smokers, there is a bowl (bin or basket) that holds the charcoal. It usually sits either on … [Read more…]
I’ve always wanted to bottle a product that I’ve developed. I figured a piquant sauce is a good, easy start. I read about a recipe for a sauce that many restaurants keep on their tables for customers. It was a “piquant sauce” or spicy, tart sauce. Most of them were vinegar based, with spicy peppers … [Read more…]
I’ve been craving a good, smoked ham. Easter sounded like a good time as any to tease the senses for 4 hours. I had to really think about what kind and size of ham to purchase. Easter time of course has many sales that go on, you can’t go more than a few minutes without … [Read more…]
I decided that the plain temperature gauge or “heat gauge” as I like to call it, on the lid of the smoker wasn’t enough. It basically only shows “warm”, “ideal”, and “hot”. Here is a simple way of adding a thermometer to a smoker on your average non-expensive vertical smoker’s lid.
Over the first week July, I usually have a few days off, so I figured I would fire up the smoker and make some 4th of July smoked chicken.