Cook #2 -- Marinated Spare Ribs

Today was the first time that I got to use the new Daniel Boone outside.  Were the neighbors jealous?  

Yes... Yes they were.  

Basically, my backyard smelled like spring time and heaven put together all day long.  Was I hungry because of it?  

Yes... Yes I was.

I'm not sure if hashtags are allowed in blogs or not, but it's my blog, so I'm going to throw #yeahbaby in here, just for this picture.

This cook involved a nice rack of spare ribs, which I found on sale at my local Cub store for $1.88/lb.  I'm not a huge fan of spare ribs, but they taste pretty good, and for that price I'll cook dang near anything!

Here they are, almost ready:

This was after marinating with a variation of this "Dynamite Baby Back Rib" recipe found here.  I didn't have the onion powder or garlic on hand, but I substituted a dash of garlic salt.  I also did not use any Tobasco.

Per the recipe, I fired up the pit and set it at 165 degrees.  The ribs went in around 11 AM and smoked at this temperature until 3:30 PM.  I gave them a little "spritz" every hour or so.  

Here they are after one short hour in the pit:

At 3:30 PM, I cranked up the temperature to 225 degrees and finished the ribs off for two more hours.  Next thing you know:

I couldn't even stop cutting and eating to take any more pictures.  They were delicious, and nearly fell right off the bones.  

Stay tuned!

Cook #1 -- Smoked Pork Loin and Boneless Beef Ribs

For my first cookout on the GMG Daniel Boone, I prepared a 2.5 to 3 pound piece of pork loin, and six boneless beef ribs.  Here they are, prepared for the pit:  

The pork loin was seasoned liberally with "Pork Barrel BBQ All American Seasoning & Rub", which I found at Costo, and then coated with olive oil to help the spices penetrate the meat.  I let it sit like this in the refrigerator overnight.  The fridge sure smelled good when I went to grab a beer later that evening!

The beef ribs were prepared about four hours before cooking.  I applied a medium amount of "Montreal Steak Seasoning" and olive oil.  

Around noon, I started up the smoker.  It was May 2nd, the ambient temperature was about 52 degrees, and I ran the smoker in my garage due to a forecast of drizzle.  I used a couple of fans to ventilate the space properly.  The smoker heated to 180 degrees in about 15 minutes, and I was ready to begin!

Here they go!

I ran the smoker at 180 degrees for about an hour, and then I gave the meet a little "spritz" with a mixture of apple juice and worcestershire sauce.  It didn't seem like I was getting quite enough smoke, so I lowered the temp to 170.  That did the trick.  After an hour of that, I wrapped the beef ribs in tin foil.  Each rib was wrapped individually, and was then placed back in the smoker. 

At this point, I increased the temperature of the pit to 225 degrees.

The pork loin was finished in another hour or so, and I pulled it from the smoker with an internal temp of 148 degrees.  Afterwards, I let it rest for nearly an hour.  Here's what it looked like when I cut it into slices:

It's a little difficult to see, but it had a very nice smoke ring around the outside, and was tender and moist all the way through.  Next time, I think I'll take it off with an internal temp of 155 to see what the difference might be.

I let the ribs go a little longer after reading that some people had success with cooking them low and slow to an internal temp of 180 degrees.  When I removed the foil packets from the smoker, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the ribs had begun to braise themselves in their own juices.  Here's what one looked like after a 30 minute rest:

The ribs had a very pronounced smoke ring, and were well done in the center.  Even so, they weren't particularly dry or chewy.  If I prepare these again, I think I'll pull them sooner to see if they are juicier and more tender, though.

Next up:  Spare Ribs.  Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!

  

The Green Mountain Daniel Boone Pellet Grill

Greetings!

I recently invested in a Green Mountain Pellet Grill.  I considered several options, and spent a considerable amount of time reading reviews and comparing models.  Finally, I settled on the Greet Mountain Daniel Boone model.  Here it is, fully assembled.  

I decided to complete the assembly myself, rather than have the retailer do it.  I wanted to become familiar with the grill before using it.  The assembly was very easy, and took approximately an hour with no help.  The most difficult part was flipping the grill over after attaching the legs.  Green Mountain has an assembly video on their website, and I do recommend watching it before you put your grill together if you decide to join me in owning one of these. 

Green Mountain Grills Website

My primary reasons for purchasing this grill are:

• Price.  This grill was less than the Traeger Lil' Tex Elite model, which has some mixed reviews.
• It has a built in temperature probe for large cuts of meat.
• The temperature ranges from 150 degrees to 500 degrees (Fahrenheit).  
• I liked the built in "Fan Mode" which helps clean out your firepot after each use.  
• I liked the "tented" lid, which provide ample room for large cuts of meat, or standing chickens up while cooking.
• It has a remote control.  This feature wasn't necessary, but it came with the grill.
• It felt as sturdy as the Louisiana Smokers, which are a couple hundred dollars more. 
• This grill has stainless steel grates, rather than porcelain coated cast iron. 
• This grill has the ability to control its internal temp in 5 degree increments.
• Plenty of accessories available, including an insulation kit for winter cooking.  

I'm going to do some cooking on it this afternoon.  Check back for details on how things turned out!