Cookaholics Bulletin Board

The Weber 22.5 Grill arrived from the USA in excellent condition today. My major worry was it getting banged up in transit and becoming out of round which would present some serious problems for using it as a smoker and pizza oven. Happily it looked like it had been shipped across town, not the Pacific Ocean.

The day before a "Smokenator 1000" arrived via separate shipper. Also in excellent condition. So, I have my 30 pound bag of local lump charcoal, the Weber one touch gold, the Smokenator insert that drops into the Weber's kettle, converting it into an indirect hot smoke unit. Some smokers in other forums had initially been put off by the Smokenator's name, but after a couple of the older hands tried it and reported very good results back, it seems to be handy unit for smaller jobs.

I will post a couple of photos when we get a nice clear day showing the Weber & Smokenator insert on my balcony with the South China Sea in the distance as a backdrop.

Next month I will get the Pizza Kettle for it. I wanted to make sure I had a Weber in good shape before throwing more money at accessories. Nice that stuff is coming together. More adventures in food starting soon!

Picture perfect! What was the elapsed "smoking time" to get it looking so good?

It is actually a picture from their website to show the unit, not my handiwork. My Weber and the stainless steel Smokenator insert are still pristine, though I do have a 30 pound bag of the local lump charcoal I'm eyeballing as I type. I'll post photos of my results, which it is unlikely to be quite so beautiful as the photo I snagged from the makers homepage.

The manufacturer's recommendation for turkey is 6 to 8 hours of smoking, then finishing to internal temp in a oven, tented in aluminum foil. Someone else on the maker's forum talked about after smoking, they brought the Weber's temperature up to the 350F-400F range and finished the turkey on the grill. I'll do a bit more research before I do a turkey here, since they go for about fifty bucks for a 15 to 16 pounder.

Tatoosh, very cool, but I too can't get past the name. I have visions of Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb inventing it. Does it have a self-destruct button?

And for those who have no idea what I am talking about:
http://phineasandferb.wikia.com/wiki/Heinz_Doofenshmirtz

Phineas and Ferb are definitely the cream of the crop. Whenever a fellow fogey says that cartoons were soooo much better when they were kids I point out --
1.) Yeah, because then you were a kid.
2.) Superfriends was story-telling on an epic scale, and by "story-telling" I mean "nap-inducing."
3.) Go watch some Phineas and Ferb.

I love Phineas and Ferb! No self-destruct button found yet, but maybe I haven't looked at the right place. If Perry shows up, I know he'll point it out to me.

Hi,

While lusting for a Smokenator, I have adapted firebricks in my Weber kettle. A large firebrick provides the right radiant heat shield and an heat-sink. Two bricks is even better. Sometimes I use a stainless water pan on top of the coals.

I've finally mastered the 250-280 degree heat range in the kettle. (This after years of following Cook's Illustrated's recommendation for 50 briquettes resulting in 325 degrees.) I now use 10 all natural briquettes and add two briquettes every 30 minutes to maintain the steady temperature. The briquettes are topped with a chunk of pecan; think of mild hickory.

The hard part is starting the charcoal. One layer in a chimney doesn't work. You can use an electric starter in a small pot. I used one fat stick which stopped putting off creosote after 10 minutes.

I reversed seared a standing rib on Easter. Yes, S&P and herbs/seasonings. After two hours, the internal was at 125 and I didn't bother with my propane torch. I had wonderful flavor. The left-overs have been cut into 1 1/2" steaks and grilled on my cast iron Hackman.

I'm on the lookout for some St. Louis ribs.

Tim

ps: I wish I could get some fresh San Miquel to eat with the ribs!

I'm not sure what kind of briquettes CI uses, but I find their guidance invariably bad on my Weber with my briquettes. As an example, they recommend in the Fajita recipe to put one chimney worth's in, then a bunch more. I never put the bunch more, and the total time they recommend is still a little long. If I followed their guidance, everything would be burned. This goes for most recipes I've tried with charcoal. Not sure if they assume really crappy charcoal or what.

Paul,

I agree with your judgement about CI and charcoal. I assume there may be two reasons: They test summer recipes in the winter or spring. Their rooftop kitchen grill area in Brookline receives a sea breaze.

Tim

rooftop I thought it was the back alley...Lindsay?