Brisket

Well, it's been over a year since we made brisket on the BGE, so we thought we'd try again. Turned out pretty good, I'd say. At least it made Bryan smile.

BBQ Guru, Part 2

Last time I wrote about the BBQ Guru, we hadn't tried it yet. I have to say, it's a pretty amazing little gadget. Well worth the money if you value your sleep!

For Father's Day, we tried it when we cooked ribs during the day. Nathon and I felt like it wasn't maintaining the right temperature, so we kept making adjustments. I thought, "Oh, no... this thing isn't going to work as well as they said it would." Then, for some reason, we had to run to the store. That took over an hour, and when we came back, it had done its magic, and the pit was the correct temperature! The ribs came to the right internal temp eventually, but we should have cooked them longer so they were more tender. Not our finest job on the ribs. I only did dry rubs on these ones, instead of the more-involved method we liked so well last time. I think we determined the effort was worth it in the end.

For the 4th of July, we did two pork shoulders for pulled pork. So, we knew we'd have to smoke them overnight. BBQ Guru to the rescue! We made the rub, and started the BGE and hooked up the Guru. When we threw the meat on the Egg, we just plugged in the meat thermometer and WENT TO BED! When we woke up the next morning, it had been cooking for about 7-8 hours, and the meat thermometer said it had about 25 degrees to heat up before the meat was the correct temp. So, we let it smoke for a couple more hours. The end result was very tender and moist. Very flavorful too.

BBQ Guru

Nathon had a brilliant idea for Bryan's Father's Day gift this year. They had seen this contraption at the Eggtoberfest last fall, and it was really the only thing Bryan mentioned when he got home that day that he thought might prove to be very useful.

So, the BBQ Guru Competitor might not look like much, but it monitors the temperature inside the BGE, as well as the temperature of the meat. It's great for maintaining a consistent temperature for long periods of time (like say, when you're sleeping). Some people do overnight smoking, and this thingy keeps the air flowing as needed all night long, instead of us having to get up every hour to check and make sure the fire hasn't gone out.

Bryan was really excited when we told him what we're getting him. I hope it lives up to its hype.

Broken Egg

Our neighbor, Stewart, just bought a Medium Big Green Egg a few weeks ago. He was tired of cooking on a big, bad, stainless steel gas grill that burned everything to a crisp.

Anyway, he came over to our house to look at how ours was assembled when he was putting his together (alone -- first mistake). Apparently, he got his all assembled (in the garage -- second mistake). When he attempted to carry it through his house to the back deck (third mistake), he dropped it on the garage steps and the bottom piece shattered into a thousand pieces! Oops!

Yes, he had to go back and pay to replace the bottom half of his BGE. It was a bummer, and the people at the store dubbed him the "Big Green Idiot." But he felt better immediately after re-assembling the thing and cooking dinner on it. He's LOVIN' it now!

Just call us the Big Green Evangelists!

Egghead Club, Burwick Chapter

Nathon took this picture of himself this fall after attending the Eggtoberfest with Bryan & Mike. They all got new hats, and one to give their Dad. Of course, for most of them, "egghead" could have a double meaning, since they're all computer genuises who like to cook on BGEs!

Razorback Ribs

No, we haven't been starving! We use the Big Green Egg at least a few times a week - especially now that the weather is getting warmer and drier. We use it mostly for burgers, hot dogs, chicken, steak, etc. Nathon's even getting really good at grilling burgers for us. I just don't take pictures every time.

We cooked these baby back ribs for Bryan's birthday dinner. Twice, actually. Once when his parents were visiting for spring break, and again last Sunday for our Journey Group. The dry rub recipe we used was called Arkansas Razorback Ribs (from Ribs, Ribs, Ribs by Steven Reichler). We made the Razorback sauce recipe too, and it was really good.

Apparently, we still have to figure out the best way to cook a lot of ribs at once. And how to keep the temperature from creeping up and charring the ends.