OrbandBullet

On 7/27/2023 at 1:06 PM, valve90210 said:

Has anyone else used this method?

Yep. Been using a 3mm stainless steel disc that sits on the water pan tabs for a number of years. That greasy mess which is the waterpan was a PITB! I put a foil tray on the disc to catch any drippings. It's a no-brainer imo.

It also allowed me to use an extended charcoal ring for longer cooks. Having to re-fuel is not even on my radar.

  .      

Edit: I also found a titanium camping grill on Amazon that was the exact size of the OEM charcoal grate. I attached with 4 x stainless steel zip ties to the charcoal basket and it makes it a breeze to sift out the ash, and any unburnt briqs gets re-used on the next cook.

I'm another one for coarse ground Sichuan pepper for my rub. (SPOG). I find it less bitter, but it is a bit more fiery, so has to be used more sparingly.

Having used many different commercial rubs in the past I cannot see past SPOG. It's the basis of most of the commercial rubs out there. I've got a 1ltr Kilner jar of all leftover shop bought rubs mixed together. I very rarely use it.

For my SPOG rub, if anyone is interested, is:

1. *Onion granules - 100g.

2. *Garlic granules - 100g.

3. Coarse Black or Sichuan pepper - 50g or 30g. 

4. Any of the Tony Chachere's Creole seasonings for the salt content - 25g. Add a little at a time to preferred taste. (I prefer the Spice 'n' Herb one).

*Make sure you buy onion/garlic granules and NOT the onion/garlic salt granules!!

Edit: If you like a bit of sweetness to your rub you can also add some fine molasses sugar.

Apologies of the thread drift. 

On 7/6/2023 at 7:59 AM, Wade said:

We all have our preferred methods... I find that I get a better flavour and have more control of the end result if I sear first as there is less chance of the meat becoming overcooked. I find this especially important when cooking burgers and chicken.

When I make burgers fresh (or even if I buy them) I will always chill or freeze them first before cooking. When you then place them over the high heat the meat does not immediately start to char and you have more control over the colour produced by the sear and also the depth if flavour that is produced through the maillard reaction. The sear then seals the surface of the meat keeping the juices inside. At this point the inside is still raw/chilled/frozen. When you then complete the cooking by convection on the "cool" side of the grill the flavours of the sear have time to penetrate the patty and also less of the juices are lost. As soon as the patty is up to temperature then is is ready.

I like my burgers to be moist and on the "rare" side. If i have ground my own meat i will cook them to 65C but if i have used shop bought mince or ready made patties I will cook them to 73C. I found that by cooking indirectly first and then searing after, it was too easy for them to become overdone - as the sear continued to raise the internal temperature. More of a problem when cooking relatively thin burgers.

Same here Wade. I do this all the time, especially with steaks. Give them 45 mins in the freezer, (pre-rubbed), then on to a screaming hot grill. Get a nice char on both sides then move to the cooler side of the grill, stick a probe in, and bring them up to preferred temp. Since the steak is chilled there is very little chance of stuffing up the cook. I've done them from frozen before as a giggle, & they turned out good. Just take a bit longer to cook. I rarely cook a steak that's less than 1.5" thick, so even more wiggle-room to play with.

I've tried the reverse sear, and in my opinion it's a bit of a gamble.....or I'm just useless at it. 

9 hours ago, vk2003 said:

Cheers for the heads up. I’ll keep a lookout next time I need some. Where did you buy it from?

BigK website. I bought the lump, but I see they also have Binchostix, which I like the look of.

Edit: At £2.99/kg it appears to be expensive. As I mentioned above these days I'm not a big user of lump so I don't know how economical it would be in comparison with other types of lump. BigK Restaurant Grade,(ACH15) @£1.80/kg for example, which seems popular.

Maybe someone else who mainly use lump could chime in with regards to how much mileage/re-use they get on their regular lump.

Bit of a thread resurrection. 

I'm not much of a hot 'n' fast cook. Maybe once or twice a month. Mainly L&S or indirect with briqs. However, last summer I bought a 10kg box of BigK Binchotan lump for £29.99. Just to see what all the fuss was about using binchotan. (Reputedly the best lump one can buy). I could have gone for an expensive option, but at £60/10kg I wasn't prepared to pay that, just to experiment with, so I went with the lower-end option.

I can say without doubt this is the best lump I've ever used. I've managed three 1hr grilling sessions, mainly hibachi-style, on just a 3/4 full small Weber chimney, which seems pretty economical to me, shutting the kettle down after each grill. The lump has a metallic ring to it when you knock two pieces together and doesn't leave as much ash compared to other brands I've used. And it burns hot!

A Vortex wing-cook is on the cards with this stuff.

Edit: I've not tried L&S with it.

I have received an email from one of the company's that I linked in the first post. (I won't say who in case I get accused again of spamming).

The email stated that they would like to introduce HB lump & HB charcoal briqs in the UK, possibly in 2024. With regards to the HB cocoshell there appears to be some kind of rights issue, (I don't know any details), and it doesn't look like they'll be available in the UK.

Here's a Jacob's Ladder I did a few of weeks ago on the WSM. No injecting, spritzing, wrapping, boating, saucing or mopping. I believe quality meat doesn't need it. (But I'm not competition cooking). Just a generous sprinkling of SPOG, and into the fridge overnight. (I don't use commercial rubs. Far too much salt, sugar and other stuff in them, and to be honest I can't tell much of a difference with them anyway). I keep everything as simple as possible and try not over-think it. Just my 0.02p.....YMMV.

Took 9.5hrs at 250f-275f to an IT of 195f, (it did stall for about 3hrs but I just let it do its thing. All good). Crispy bark on top, succulent middle section, and a bit of tug off the bone for the rib meat. There were no complaints.

On 5/13/2023 at 4:05 PM, AdamG said:

Personally I have never seen heat beads for sale so I have never tried them, I may have to try the lumpwood if I come across it. Heard very good things about heat beads in general👍

Adam,

Personally I cannot see past Heat Beads for low & slow. (And I've tried quite a few types of briqs). After about an hour after start up I can literally walk away and let the Bullet do its thing. Having an extended fire-basket also helps hugely for a long, stress-free cook. HB are so consistent, & I've got so used to using them as easily as I use the oven in my kitchen. I know there are many out there that use different briqs and get the same great results I get with HB. HB are just my preference. I'm also a fan of cocoshell briqs for low and slow. About a fiver more for a 10kg box than Heat beads, but I highly recommend them.

I use HB for all my indirect cooking, three or four times a week. But hardly ever use them for a grilling sesh, where I'll use either binchotan or robot turds. I'll set up fire-bricks in the kettle for grilling skewers hibachi-style, or quick steaks, chops, burgers etc. on the grate. I don't really do that much hot 'n' fast grilling.

BryceRodriguez

"Why I think that you are here for just pasting your site link" 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And which of the three links is my site link? The UK one? The Danish one? The Australian one? All three?

Sorry to disappoint you @BryceRodriguez, but I have no affiliation whatsoever with any of the company's that I linked.  Do you have any irrefutable proof to the contrary? No, I didn't think so!  And I take exception to your unfounded accusation.

If I had been affiliated with any of them then I would have been up front from the start and stated as such. Why? (1) Out of courtesy to the forum. (2) To avoid any ambiguity. In fact I would have contacted Admin prior to posting to enquire whether I was breaking any forum rules by "self-promoting". But that's a moot point because I wasn't.

Heat Beads have been discussed on this forum to the nth degree and back, & many external links have been posted where to purchase said product. Have all those posters been spamming?

If Admin feel that I've transgressed any forum rules, by posting external links, please accept my apologies.

Hi.

As an avid user of Heat Beads (Original) for quite a few years, I was wondering if there is anyone here "in-the-know" who knows if we'll see any of the other Heat Beads fuel products for sale in the UK? I like the look of their cocoshell & hardwood briquettes. I'd give the hardwood lump a try also.

https://heatbeads.com.au/products/

I have contacted Hilton Banks who are sole distributors of Heat Beads into the UK and have asked the question.  I have also contacted Apix Consumers in Denmark, who are the Heat Beads distributors there, and asked who in Denmark/Mainland Europe are stocking other Heat Beads fuels.

Any news I'll update here.

Must dash, got to prep a 5lb crackling pork joint to slow roast on the Orb later.

Cheers,

O&B

Mods. Please delete. I've put this in Chewin' The Fat where it belongs.

Apologies.

I got rid of the water pan in my 14.5 WSM after a couple of cooks. PITB to clean-up.

I use a 4mm SS disc that sits on the waterpan tabs. I have an extended 8 inch fire-basket that can give me an 18+hr cook. I never have to think about refuelling using the larger basket.

I'll put a foil pan on top of the disc to catch any drippings, and bin it after the cook. I don't cook on the lower grate.

Been grilling and smoking, seriously, for about 15yrs.

Been around grills since the mid-70s.

Thank you for having me. Hopefully I can contribute to a UK Q forum.