Living the Life

Today is WSM Smoke Day IV, it's an event, hosted by the virtual weber bullet , where over 400 Weber Smokey Mountain owners worldwide make real barbecue. I lit my coals at noon, when the WSM was at the right temperature I put in 6 racks of ribs. Two hours before the ribs were done I added some brats and BBQ beans. After five hours the ribs were done, I used a new sauce I made from the Jack Daniels Barbecue book. It was ok for me, the others liked it a lot. For me it lacked depth so I'll have to make a batch of my regular sauce before the next barbecue. I served rosemary garlic potato wedges on the side.

Yesterday was the 3rd Annual International WSM Smoke Day. It's an event initiated by the Virtual Weber Bullet site and invites people to smoke something that day, and I did! Last week I had two smokes that didn't went very well, rabbit legs on Sunday that should have been on, according to the recipe for 1.5 hours, but took over 5 hours to reach the right temperature and beef ribs on Thursday that should have taken 4-5 hours but ended up like beef jerky (they looked right after 3 hours and probably were), so I decided to do my tried and tested rib recipe Noskos' Classic Baby Back Ribs. The recipe is an altered one from Steven Raichlin's book: Raichlen on Ribs, Ribs, Outrageous Ribs Ingredients: Rub: 2 tablespoons sea salt 2 tablespoons paprika 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar 1 tablespoon black pepper, freshly ground 2 teaspoons garlic powder 2 teaspoons mustard powder Mop Sauce: 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 cup apple cider 3 tablespoons soy sauce Glaze: Noskos' Sw...

Last Sunday I had my first cook on the weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. I had decided to follow a well tried recipe from the Virtual Weber Bullet site, the B.R.I.T.U. which stands for the Best Ribs In The Universe. At 11 AM I fired up the weber and at 1 PM the temperature had stabilized at about 250 F, that is about 50 F too high but that is normal for a new WSM. The reason for the higher temperature is that the inside is still shiny and reflects the heat back inside, when the WSM is used a couple of times, the inside will become dull from smoke and grease and will conduct the heat out. At 1 PM I put on 3 racks of ribs and closed the lid for 3 hours, the temperature hardly changes, it did get a bit lower but that must have been the layer building up on the inside. After 3 hours I turned the ribs, checked the water pan, which had still plenty of water, and opened the bottom vents a bit to take the temperature up to 275 F for the final stretch. One hour later the ribs were done, suck of t...

I love barbecue , I love to barbecue and until now I used my trusty weber kettle for that. But it's hard to maintain a low steady temperature for a long time on a regular barbecue . So I ordered a WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker) today. I wanted one for quite a while but the reason I waited for a long time was mainly a financial one. In the US these babies go for $199 and if you are lucky a lot cheaper on sale. Here the regular price is €449, at the current rate $610!! But yesterday when I checked the local online barbecue store they had them on sale for €299, which is still $406 but I thought what the heck let's get one! So now it's waiting for it to arrive, put it together and start with all the great recipes I have laying around. A great place to find info on this smoker is the Virtual Weber Bulletin Board , They have lots of info on modifications, recipes etc.