Whole Chicken in the Vortex

So ... if you've been following along for the past couple of weeks, you might remember that I've been using a (knockoff version) Vortex in my Weber Kettle for some of my weekend meals.

I've done Chicken Thighs and Steaks with corn.

One of the specific reasons I asked for a Vortex was based on a Weber Kettle Facebook group post I saw awhile ago where someone cooked a whole chicken inside the cone with charcoal surrounding it.

The main advantage to this (at least in my mind) is that the chicken can sit upright without being in danger of hitting the top of the kettle lid.

In my experience, whole chickens seem to turn out best when sitting upright like this.

So, on Saturday, I got to try this Vortex configuration with a whole chicken I had thawed from my freezer.

I placed aluminum foil on the bottom to catch chicken grease to hopefully help in cleanup.

Then, I placed a non-alcoholic beer can in my beer can holder and the chicken on top of that. The whole thing fit perfectly inside the Vortex.

And ... I let it cook for a couple of hours with apple and pecan wood to give a little smoke flavor.

It was a beautiful day to cook in the back yard.

The yard bird cooked a bit slower than last time I cooked a whole chicken, but nothing too concerning.

The cooking temperature stayed nice and consistent at 375ish or so.

The bird turned out beautifully. I don't think it turned out quite as good as the Infusion Roaster Chicken I made last time, but it was pretty good.

I think I'll have to try both ways again. Bookmark Sheppy's Blog: Chicken, and you can see how those turn out.

As always, stay tuned on the regular SheppyBrew Channels to see what is happening with beer and other things: SheppyBrew's Facebook Page; Sheppy's Twitter Feed; SheppyBrew's Instagram Page; and SheppyBrew's Website.

Of course, don't forget to visit this blog often as well!

Go Cubs Go!

6th Everest of 2021

According to Strava ... I'm up to 174,890 feet of elevation gained on my bicycles so far this year, putting me just over 6 Everests in 2021.

It's true. 29,032 x 6 = 174,192.

I'm still ahead of schedule to hit my 300,000 goal by the end of the year.

F is for Fiction Beer Company

It's been almost 2 months since I posted E is for Evergreen Brewery.

With covid restrictions loosening up, I really thought I'd make more progress on our A to Z Denver Breweries Project.

But, with other things going on, we just have not had a chance to visit new breweries. 

This past Saturday, though, the SheppyBrew Beer Model wanted to go to our "F" brewery.

Obviously, she almost always gets what she wants, so that is what we did.

We got in the car, stopped by Qdoba to pick up some food, and then headed to .... 

F is for Fiction Beer Company

More Paddle Board Pics

As I mentioned in Paddle Board, I got my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) a paddle board for her birthday.

This past weekend, she and I packed up her board,  one of our kayaks, some sandwiches, and some beers to head over to Chatfield Reservoir. 

We spent an hour or so on the water and then came back and had lunch.

After lunch, we packed up a few beers and headed back onto the water.

The weather was great ... sunny and in the mid-80. Not too terribly hot.

It also wasn't as crowded as Chatfield Reservoir is quite often on a summer Saturday mid-day.

Here are some pictures:

Summer Lovin' American Wheat (Batch 291)

I brewed Sunday. My 15th batch of the year. My 291st batch in my brewing "career". This was also my 20th batch brewed on the Anvil Foundry.

The beer I brewed was the original Summer Lovin' American Wheat, 

Summer Lovin' is the base recipe of a bunch of beers that I brew. Lots of my fruit wheats use this as a base. But, it's been almost 4 years since I brewed this as a stand-alone beer.

Both my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) and myself were shocked when I looked up when the last brew day was.

And ... as I am spending 2021 exploring older recipes, I thought I had to brew this one up.

Summer Lovin' American Wheat

Vortex Steaks and Corn

On the 5th of July (Independence Day Observed), I had some ribeye steaks and corn on the cob to grill.

As you may remember from First Vortex Use, I received a (knockoff version of ) the Vortex, and I mentioned that it could be used in various configurations.

Monday, I thought I'd try another configuration. I turned it upside down and placed it towards the side of the trusty Weber kettle, filling it about 75% with lit charcoal.

I then started reverse searing the steaks with pecan wood chunks for awhile.

Paddle Board

If you've been following this blog for awhile ... you may know that the family has a couple of kayaks we use from time to time.

Good family fun.

My wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) has tried out paddle boarding a few times and seemed to enjoy it.

I thought that getting her a paddle board would be a something she would enjoy.

She had a birthday over the weekend, and this is the year I decided to buy her one. 

Nothing too fancy. I decided to get an inflatable one that could be packed up so that transporting it would be fairly easy.

Over the weekend, we headed up to the Lake Dillon area to have her try out her new toy.