PBR vs. PBR

If you follow along on this blog, you likely remember that I screwed up the Potato Beer.

I won't go into details ... if you need a reminder you can check out the I screwed up the Potato Beer link. For now, I'll just say SheppyBrew's Potato Barley Rye (PBR) is a bit salty.

It isn't completely undrinkable, and I don't have a lot of HomeBrew "Inventory", so I still have the beer on tap.

4th of July Steak and Corn

For our 4th of July grilling, we took advantage of our grocery store's holiday sales on Ribeye Steak and Corn-on-the-Cob.

Both of these are things I feel like I have not perfected grilling.

My main issue with steak is that I hardly ever am able to consistently get them to the right temperature before searing. There is always one or two that cooks faster.

So, either one or two are over-done or one or two are under-done.

But ... Ribeyes are fairly forgiving even if cooked a little long, so I always make it work.

For corn, I'm just never sure how the best way to cook them is. Should I remove the husks and cook indirect? Should I remove the husks and cook them direct? Should I leave the husks on and when I do, should I cook them over the fire or off?

Pork Butt and Kumbucha

Summer is almost over!

My youngest son is heading off to college this week. How did this happen so fast?

One of the things he requested before heading off to school was to have pulled pork for dinner some night.

So, this past Sunday I smoked a pork butt.

Generally, I use Kombucha to spray my bbq. My spray bottle was empty, but I've had a batch fermenting for quite awhile.

So, I had to bottle up that batch.

I got started around 6am, applying rub to the butt, getting the kettle ready, and getting the kombucha ready to bottle.

Gypsy Magic, Wings and Corn

So.... I sort of had a weird issue with Gypsy Magic Bière de Garde, but I seem to have gotten past it.

The issue was that the beer was quite cloudy when I kegged it.

I'm really not sure why. It attenuated fully and I thought I had given enough time to clear up.

I thought that once it was chilled it would take a day or two to clear up, but it really stayed cloudy for longer than I expected. Eventually, I added gelatin to help settle out the "crud", and a couple days after, that seems to have done the trick.

But, I probably had almost a whole gallon of beer before it was where I thought it was finally good to drink.

I guess the good news is that the beer is exactly what I think it should be now. 

Smooth and malty with clean yeast character. Fairly strong, but dangerously drinkable. Not much hop character. Nice and dry. Beautiful dark amber / brown.

Mothers' Day Kettles

This past Sunday was Mothers' Day.

My wife's parents were visiting so we had two mothers in the house.

My older son also came home from college.

The two mothers decided they wanted grilled ribeye steaks for their dinner, which at our house means I had to cook.

As I generally reverse-sear my steaks, the 6 ribeyes fit just perfectly around my vortex on the 26 inch kettle.

In order to get sides done, I needed to pull out both of my Weber Kettles, and do the sides on my 22 inch.

The main side I made was the dish I made for Easter, Pecan Smoked Potatoes Au Gratin. I also grilled some corn.

Spare Ribs and Corn

As usual, I barbequed this past Sunday. A family favorite ... Spare Ribs.

Spare Ribs are certainly a time commitment, but well worth the effort. 

Not only does it provide a delicious dinner, but I always cook a couple of large racks, which always results in left-over that I can enjoy as lunches the following week.

For the first time in quite awhile, I used the Weber Rib Rack to smoke these ribs.

I guess I still have not decided on the best way to smoke my ribs.

I also made Corn on the Cob. I am still in the process of fine-tuning grilling corn. I think I'm close.

Pork Butt and Corn on the Cob

If you follow this blog ... you'll see me posting about smoking Pork Butts on my Weber Kettle quite a bit.

The family really likes pulled pork sandwiches, and Pork Butts are fairly easy to smoke. They are also pretty economical to buy.

It is pretty much an all-day commitment, but that is ok on most Sundays.

I can let the pork cook while I'm doing a lot of other things. As long as the charcoal is set up well at the beginning, the cook just sort of takes care of itself for the most part.

So ... it is a great meal for Sundays.

Last Sunday I made a pork butt for pulled pork sandwiches again. 

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.