DougBlog

OK, so it’s not barbecue, but it is another cool thing you can do with the Bullet. It takes virtually no fuel– a great use for leftover briquets– and one small chunk of smoke wood.

I used a bottomless tin can as a miniature charcoal starter chimney. I crumpled some newspaper and set a few leftover coals on top. This didn’t work so well, as the coals fell away from eachother as the paper burned. I ended up using a high-temperature torch-type cigar lighter to get one of the larger briquets started. When the coals started getting hot, I set a piece of pecan wood on top and waited for the smoke to start.

I built a platform for the cheese out of a rectangle of doubled heavy foil, and the rack from a small Nesco roaster. I figured if the cheese softened, it wouldn’t drip thru the grate and make a mess. The rack allowed smoke to circulate under the cheese. You can see the piece of pecan wood I used sitting next to the rack.

I smoked three different cheses, using approximately a half pound slab each of mild cheddar, Swiss, and provolone. I kept them refrigerated until the smoke started, at which time I placed them on the rack.

I had to monitor the cheese frequently (Notes), as the idea here is to make a lot of smoke, but not a lot of heat.

I used the Polder thermometer to monitor the temp, inserting it in the special tube I had installed last time. I wanted to try to keep the Bullet under 90�, but it ended up running around 98 to as high as 114. It didn’t seem to matter– nothing melted, and the cheese was cool to barely luke warm to the touch.

After ninety minutes, with the fuel exhausting, I removed the cheese and placed it in the refrigerator. I took the cheese to a party later that night. The general consensus was that it was a little too smoky. The mild cheddar was the best; the Swiss was just OK; the provolone didn’t benefit from that much smoke. Next time, I will try just 30 minutes and see how that does. Clean up was fairly easy– nothing to do but empty a little ash from the bowl.

Update: The following day all the cheeses developed an unpleasant taste due to the overly long smoke. 90 minutes was definitely overkill.

Next time, Christmas Day Turkey.

It’s Thanksgiving Day, 2002 and I’m doing my holiday turkey on the Bullet. The day is partly cloudy, 48°, and breezy. Those of you who tuned in may have seen a
first– this cook was webcast live from my patio via Earthcam TV.

The night before, I brined the 11.7 pound bird using a previously prepared and refrigerated solution containing a gallon of chicken broth into which I dissolved 1 cup Kosher salt, 1 Tbsp. Black peppercorns, 1/2 Tbsp. candied ginger, and 1/2 Tbsp. allspice berries, the last three of which I ground in a mortar to speed their dissolution.

At 10:00pm, I placed the bird breast side down into a 3 gallon plastic bucket. This bucket originally contained tropical fish food, so I know it’s safe to use. I poured in 1/2 of my gallon of brine solution, and 1/2 gallon of ice water. I continued to add equal parts brine solution and ice water until the bird was completely submerged. The good thing about this bucket is that it will easily hold a 10-14 pound bird, and it will fit
in my refrigerator.

At 10:45am Thanksgiving Day, I lit a Weber chimney-full of charcoal, which took about 30 minutes to get going. While I waited, I removed the turkey from the brine, patted it dry, brushed it entirely with canola oil, and sprinkled on some rub. I also
steeped a quartered apple and half a large onion, and placed them in the cavity. At 11:15am, I poured the lit charcoal into the charcoal ring and added another Weber chimney-full of unlit briquets. When they got going, in about another 30 minutes, I assembled the Bullet, putting
the foil-covered water pan in place– empty– and leaving out the middle cooking grate. With the bottom vents each open halfway, the temperature quickly rose and stabilized at 425°. I closed the vents down to 50/50/0% to try to bring the cooker down to 350°.

At 12:00noon, the cooker had dropped to 350°, and I placed the bird on the top rack. I inserted my Polder thermometer probe into the thickest part of the breast, not touching bone. I placed 2 chunks of apple and 2 chunks of pecan wood on top of the coals.

To monitor the cooker temp, I modded the Bullet the day before by installing a short length of aluminum tubing into one of the bolt holes on the side of the cooker.
This is a great little mod, because you can monitor the temp at the top grate, but without having to drill a hole in the Bullet. The inset shows the detail of the tube and clip which secures it.

Opening the cooker and placing a 53°, 11.7 pound object inside really had an effect on the temperature. The Bullet dropped to 250°. In the next half hour, it rose to 300°. In an effort to get it up to 350, I set the vents 100/100/30% open. At 12:45pm, the bird registered 96° internal.

By 1:30pm, the temp had dropped to 280, and I set the vents all to wide open. This was a bit frustrating because we were to take the finished bird to friends’ house for dinner at 3:00pm. At 1:45pm, I stirred the coals to try to rejuvenate the fire. I also took the opportunity to baste the bird and cover the wing tips with foil to prevent their burning. The
bird registered 120° internal.

By 2:00pm, the temp was up to 300°, but if I was to make my deadline, I really needed 350°. At 2:15pm, I added 10 unlit briquets on top of the coals. By 2:30pm, I was up to 340, and by 2:45pm achieved 350. I phoned our hosts and told them we would be pulling out of our driveway at 3:00pm rather than into theirs– it wasn’t a problem. At
3:00pm on the dot, the bird hit 161° internal. I spot checked the other breast– which coincided– and the thigh, which registered 185. Whew!

I wrapped the bird in heavy foil, placed it in towels in a dry ice chest, and off we went. Ninety minutes later, when I unwrapped the bird, it was still steamy hot. The aroma permeating the room got everyone’s attention. I don’t think it could have turned out any
better. Our host had also done a turkey– soaked overnight in Louisiana crab boil, and then deep-fried. While the fried bird was very tasty, most guests– and the host himself, who is not a smoked turkey fan– preferred my smoke roasted bird. (Yeah!)

What made this meal extra special— besides the great company and great food– was the wine selection. We started off before dinner with appetizers and a 1999 Sterling California Vintner’s Collection Chardonnay Central Coast. With a salad of baby greens tossed with red grapes, pecans, bleu cheese, and a balsamic, terragon, and chervil vinaigrette, we chose a 2001 Kendall-Jackson California Sauvignon Blanc. Dinner consisted of the two birds, various sides including ambrosia, oyster dressing, candied yams, baked macaroni and cheese, the ubiquitous green bean casserole, and a German-style warm potato salad I make using sweet potatoes instead of white. With dinner, we had a 1990 Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley — which complemented the smoked bird nicely– followed by a
1991 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. Unfortunately, the 1990 Robert Mondavi Napa Cab Unfiltered was a goner, even though it had been properly cellared. Win some, lose some…

After dessert and coffee, everyone headed home stuffed, with plenty of leftovers in hand.

What have we learned? Once again, you gotta roll with the punches– expect the unexpected. Even though I had plenty of fuel left at the end of the cook, I still had to kick the fire in the butt with some extra coals to hit my target of 350°. With the vents wide open, the temp should have run too high rather than low. In retrospect, I failed to consider the breeze pulling some degree of heat out of the cooker. This was my first cook with an outdoor temp in the low 50’s– a much different animal than a sunny 80° day. I’ll be ready next time, though…

Next time, smoked cheese.

This time I’m doing a Boston Butt, a rack of pork spares, and some gourmet sausages. I intend to put the butt on first and cook at a grate temp of 250-255�. Then, about 3 hours in, I will add the spares, and finally the sausages for about the last 2 hours. I’m getting started late this time, but hope the higher temp on the butt in the beginning will speed things up a little, and I can be finished by 6:00pm. The day is partly cloudy, 83�, and breezy.

I used the alternate method to fire the Bullet. At 10:30am, I lit 21 briquets in the chimney, and within 15 minutes they were ready. During that time, I prepped the 4lb. butt by removing the cap of fat (seen at left in picture), coating it in spicy brown mustard, and giving it a good rub. I purchased the meat just prior to the cook and, at the time the butt went on the cooker, it had been off refrigeration for about 90 minutes.

At 10:45am, I filled the charcoal ring full and spread the lit coals on top. I assembled the Bullet, and filled the water pan with very hot tap water. This method differs from the conventional firing method in that you are trying to bring the Bullet up to temperature, rather than down, before putting the meat on. Starting with hot water in the pan accelerates the temperature rise because energy is not lost heating up the water. An added benefit of this method is that you “get cooking” much sooner than if you waited for the entire amount of charcoal to catch fire.

By 11:00am, the temp was up to 210� and I added the butt to the top grate. I placed 2 fist-sized chunks of hickory and one of oak on top of the charcoal. At 11:30am, the temp had climbed to 273�, and I set the bottom vents to 25% each. By 11:45am the temp dropped to 266, and the vents were set to 50% each. I was in the range where I wanted to be, figuring the temp measured thru the vent to be 15� higher than the temp at the top grate.

Right after putting the butt on, I prepped the ribs. The membrane was intact, but the skirt had already been removed and was not in the package. I removed the membrane and trimmed the rack as shown in the picture, removing the sections at left and upper left. The two pieces at top right were in the package when I opened it. After rubbing, I placed the ribs in the refrigerator to await their time to go in the cooker.

At 1:30pm, I set the ribs out of the refrigerator, in anticipation of starting them at 2:00pm. The Bullet was holding relatively steady this cook, and I was hoping to get the ribs on, mop the butt, and quickly close the Bullet back up without causing a temperature spike.

At 2:00pm, I turned and mopped the butt, and placed the rolled and skewered ribs next to it on the top grate. The miscellaneous rib trimmings went on the middle grate. You can see thru the open access door that there was still quite a bit of unburnt charcoal. A spot check of the butt showed it was averaging 160� internal. Opening the Bullet and adding the ribs took about 5 minutes total. There was no temperature spike, but the remaining smoke wood revived– a good thing for the ribs. By 2:15pm, the temp was registering 251� thru the lid.

The temp was slow to rebound after opening the Bullet at 2:00pm, but did not appear to present a problem since the butt was well on its way at 160� internal, aiming towards 190 with 4 hours to go. At 2:45pm, the Bullet was at 253�, measured thru the lid, which I figured was fine for the ribs and should also keep the butt on course.

At 4:00pm, I turned/mopped the butt, which registered 165� internal, and flipped/rotated and basted the ribs. I added the fresh gourmet sausages to the top grate– a pound each of chicken/spinach/feta and chicken/black bean/lime/tequila.

My “ambitious and complex” plan was for everything to be done at 6:00pm– 7 hours for the butt, 4 hours for the ribs, and 2 hours for the sausages. Bearing in mind that I was cooking at a target grate temp of 250-255� instead of the usual 212-225, I figured these times would be about right.

At 4:35pm, I stirred the coals– the temp still hadn’t rebounded too well from the 4:00pm opening. The photo of the coals shows quite a bit has been consumed– more than anticipated. At 4:45pm, with the temp still reading 253�, and all bottom vents fully open, I added 12 additional unlit briquets.

At 5:15pm, I again turn/mopped/basted and checked the butt for doneness. It varied from 169 to 181. Visual inspection of the sausages revealed they had a ways to go. I was happy to see the reflected glowing of the added briquets down on the inside of the Bullet. Even at an average measurement of 253�, I’m still cooking at around 239, which is not where I wanted to be, but OK.

Then, at 5:30pm, boom!– just that quick– it’s reading 294�. I closed down the vents to compensate. In 15 minutes, I was back to 253�.

At 5:45pm, coming down the home stretch, the ribs passed the tear test, and I glazed them with a little finishing sauce. The sausages read 190– ouch! too high– and I pulled them off. They had only been exposed to the temperature spike for a short time, so it didn’t end up being a problem. The butt read from 172-183� internal– the various muscles in a pork butt tend to cook at different rates, much like light and dark poultry meat. As long as I see about 172� minimum, I’m happy.

At 6:00pm, as hoped for, everything was done. I wrapped the butt in heavy foil to rest, and had some ribs and sausages for dinner.

After dinner, around 7:00pm, I pulled the pork butt, which had minimal fat left, and a very small bone from which the meat separated cleanly.

I left clean-up until the next morning. I awoke to the sound of rain at about 4:00am, and thought about the previous cook in the rain. The Bullet wasn’t exposed to more than about 20 minutes of moderate rain that time, but this time it had to be a couple of hours– I should have left the umbrella up. When I got up and went out to start the cleaning, there was a slurry of ash and water in the charcoal bowl that I would guesstimate to be about a half gallon. The leftover coals were dry, though.

What have we learned? This cook went pretty well, I think. All in all, everything turned out great. Using the alternate firing method, I found the temps to be fairly stable and easier to control, and I think I will use this technique next time. I would have done better to add fewer briquets near the end. In hindsight, I should have considered their potential to catch fire in about 15 minutes, and closed the vents earlier in anticipation of the spike they ultimately caused. I now know that the 2/3 of a chimney-full added on the last cook was way too much, and explains why things got so out of control. A little freshly-lit charcoal goes a long way to heat things up.

On a final note, I read somewhere about someone having supposedly-extinguished coals reignite upon their exposure to oxygen. This cook had a fair amount of leftover coals that I wanted to reuse, but I had a real problem walking out of the house the next morning with that story on my mind– a galvanized bucket full of spontaneously burning charcoal in my garage was a frightening thought. I wrapped the bucket up in a large trash bag, tied it tight and set it outside.

Tune in next time— literally– for the Thanksgiving Day Weber WebCast Turkey Roast.

It’s been a month since my last cook (sounds like something you’d hear at a BBQ Anonymous meeting). So far, I’ve done chicken, ribs, gourmet sausage, brisket, pork loin roast, and even a chuck roast (the last three in the pre-Bullet days on the old cheapo smoker). This time I’m trying Boston butt.

I remembered, from last time, that I didn’t want to use leftover charcoal to start the fire. (I’ve thought more about this subject since then, and have decided the real problem was that I stored the leftover charcoal in the chimney, inside the bullet, outside on the patio– humidity was the culprit.) Since this is really only half a Boston butt I’m cooking, I will fire the Bullet using regular methods. Alternate firing methods include spreading a relatively small amount of hot coals atop a bed of unlit charcoal, and letting them gradually ignite the rest. At 3.85 lbs, this half a butt won’t take as long as a whole, so I won’t need to fire the cooker for an extended period.

I prepped the butt the day before, trimming excess fat, and using a combination of yellow and brown mustards to coat the butt before giving it a good rub.

As far as rub goes, I usually just improvise mixture of paprika, cayenne, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and cumin to taste.

At 9:00am, I lit a full chimney of briquettes, which took a half hour to get going, and set the meat out to take the chill off it. At 9:30, I added the lit coals to the charcoal ring and added another unlit chimney-full on top of them. At 9:55am, the fire was going well and I assembled the Bullet, placing the butt on the top rack, and two 4lb. chickens on the middle grate. I used two chunks of hickory and one of oak. The temp registered 320�, but, by 10:25, had dropped down to 240, which is where I wanted to be. The temp measured through the top vent is usually about 10 to 15 degrees higher than that at the actual top cooking grate level. I cracked the bottom vents each to about 10% open.

At 11:00am, the sky opened up and poured rain for about 20 minutes. The temp dropped to 208, and I was holding my breath that it wouldn’t drop further. As I watched water run down the dome lid and sides of the Bullet, I wondered why the designers didn’t make the pieces fit the other way around– that is to say why the dome didn’t fit over the body, and why didn’t the body fit over the charcoal bowl, instead of the opposite. Water had to be seeping into the Bullet. The answer, of course, is that what drips down the inside of the Bullet would then seep out, and drip down the outside. Guess the Weber people know what they’re doing after all, and I need to go buy a big umbrella. I learned from this experience that quick temperature drops call for equally quick reactions; I opened all the bottom vents all the way, and, within 15 minutes, was back up to 239.

At 12:10pm, the temp showed signs of declining, so I stirred the coals a little. As I did, I could hear a sizzling in the bottom of the Bullet, and knew that I had rainwater in the charcoal bowl. How much was the question, but I was not inclined to disassemble everything to find out. Over the next hour and a half, the temp hung around 237�, and would not go higher, even with the vents wide open. Maybe the water in the bottom was absorbing the heat? Did I have too little charcoal? Or both? At 1:15pm, I decided to light two-thirds of a chimney-full of charcoal to give myself some breathing room in case problems arose later.

At 1:45pm, I mopped the butt with a mixture of apple cider vinegar, water, and some rub, and checked internal temps on the meat. The butt was at 149�, the chicken breast was at 150. Not much more to go on the chicken, but 190� on the butt is a long way off. I think I needed to shoot for 250� cooking temp instead of 225. The extra charcoal was ready, and, even though the fire was showing signs of recovery, I decided to go ahead and add it. I was going to need a lot more time on the butt.

The added charcoal was a mixed blessing. I had a temperature spike– to be expected– when I added it, but the next three hours would prove most vexing. From 2:45pm on, it was all I could do to keep the temperature down, and, in contrast, the butt temperature rose so slowly, it looked like it was never going to reach 190�. The chickens, on the other hand, hit 160 around 3:10pm, and I hastily removed them in an effort to avoid more temperature problems.

At 3:30pm, it started to rain again, but I suddenly remembered I did indeed have a large umbrella tucked away in the garage. I dug it out and set it up. I used one of those thick rubber bands that comes on fresh broccoli to mount the Polder to the mast. Heck, I might even have to use this set-up, rain or shine, from now on.

Over the next hour and a half, I mopped the butt twice more. At 5:00pm, the butt was at 172�, where it had remained for the past 40 minutes. 172 is considered done, although, for pulled pork, 190 is considered optimal. I considered the options at this point– I had read about Boston butt hitting temperature “plateaus” that seem to last forever– and, at 8 hours total, decided to call it a day. I removed the butt and wrapped it in foil to rest.

What have we learned? This cook had its share of challenges, but I am the better for it, having learned many lessons– the first being to check the weather before cooking. I also started with too little charcoal. The next time I do a Boston butt, I will use the alternate method of firing the Bullet mentioned above– perhaps it will give me better control– as it appears that even a small Boston butt takes a considerable amount of time. In the end, the meat was very good, and pulled easily enough. The chicken, as usual, was very tasty, but a little greasy– the pork butt rendering fat over them certainly to blame. I think I will try the beer can method on my next chickens. To cook them standing up should help– that and positioning them away from anything dripping from above.

Next time, a “complex and ambitious” cook including Boston butt, pork spare ribs and gourmet sausages.

A few weeks have passed since my last cook. We had a tropical storm pass through last weekend, so my attention was more on preservation of property. I am happy to say no damage occured, and the Bullet made it through just fine, lashed to the fence by the patio.

This time, I only did a small cook. I still had a lot left in the freezer from last time, but it was insisted I do some more gourmet sausages, since we were out. Rummaging thru the freezer, I found some boneless chicken thighs, so I defrosted them and gave them a good rub.

I had about a chimney full of leftover coals from the last cook, so at about 1:45pm, I fired it up, adding 15 new briquets to top it off. It took about 45 minutes to get going. I think all new charcoal lights up faster, so there appears to be a trade-off in re-using unburnt charcoal pieces.

I assembled the Bullet, poured in the hot coals, and opened all the vents. Since this was to be a short cook, I only added about 2 quarts of water to the pan. In about 15 minutes the temp was up to 335�F. I shut all the bottom vents and waited for the temperature to drop down to around 260.

At 3:00pm, I arranged everything on the top grate and left the bottom grate out. No sense cleaning what you don’t have to. This time I used one small chunk of peach wood for smoke.

To monitor the temperature, I drilled out a wine cork, tapered it to fit into one of the top vent holes, and placed the Polder probe through it.

At 3:30pm the temp had dipped to 220�F, so I cracked open the bottom vents halfway each. By 3:45pm, the temp appeared to stabilize at 230. The day was 78�, cloudy-bright with little or no wind, which helped maintain stable temps. At 230�F, I expected the sausages to take about 2 hours. And, since the chicken was boneless, it was expected to finish about the same time.

The sausages didn’t need basting or turning, but I did turn and baste the chicken with apple cider vinegar at around 4:15pm, and again around 4:45pm.

At 4:45pm, I checked the sausages and chicken for doneness by inserting the Polder probe directly into the meats. The sausage was at 154, and the chicken measured 160-ish. The cooker temp had dropped to 226, so I gave the coals a little stir, and opened the bottom vents all the way. I wanted the sausages to reach 160, and the chicken needed to hit 180.

At 5:00pm, the cooker was up to 250�, so I set the bottom vents down to a third open each. My observation for this cook was that the Bullet reacted quickly to vent settings given the day’s conditions.

At 5:15pm, I checked for doneness. The sausages had reached 168, so I removed them. The chicken still registered in the 160’s, but I believe the small, thin pieces quickly lost temperature just from opening the cooker. To be sure, I basted and left them on another 30 minutes. I covered the sausages with heavy foil to await suppertime.

The sausages were great, and the chicken ended up being fine and very tasty.

What have we learned? This was a pretty uneventful cook–no real problems. Next time, I’ll use the leftover coals again, but not to start the fire. I’ll add them in small amounts as additional fuel if necessary.

Next time: Boston Butt.