Eggtable - Round 2

Okay, I've worked on the table over the previous few days. I've been meaning to get some pics up and I am finally getting around to doing just that, enjoy!

Just cut the pieces for the top. I did the last cutting for the top and bottom last Friday, and the rest of the stuff today.








The top and bottom pieces have been cut, test fitting the 18"X18" tile into place.







Just finished attaching the top and botton pieces to the frame. I ran out of screws during this step and had to run to Home Depot for another box of screws.






Attached the wheels and tires to the frame. I'm really hoping these work out, I found these at Harbor Freight for about 6 bucks each.

I think they give the table a real off road kind of look...hehe If Drew sees this he'll be wanting to put a lift kit on the eggtable.



And here's the table's current state. After Sanding the top and bottom shelves, I pretreated then stained. I had already stained the frame, the bottom and top shelves, and in between the slats for the shelves. I have to wait at least 24 hours before finishing with the the Helmsman Spar treatment, so I probably won't get to do anymore until after Thanksgiving. I'm also thinking about giving it one more coat of stain before the final protector coat with the Helmsman Spar stuff.

I also added 1/4 inch plywood backers to the tile, just for a little extra strength and to lift them up closer to the same level of the top and bottom shelves.

More to come after Thanksgiving!!!

Building a Table for my Egg! - Round 1

Well, I finally got around to starting this project. I've been wanting to build a table for the Egg since I brought it home back in April. I used the The Naked Whiz's plans that he's created and are available as a download from his site. I had it all planned out really good as far as lumber and how much I'd need and all, then when I got to Home Depot I had to buy 8ft boards for my 1x4's instead of the 10ft boards I had done all my planning. Oh well, I guess we'll see how many trips to Home Depot I'll have to make to finish it...hehe.

Oh, did I mention that what I really needed to do was build a Mailbox for my house? Yeah, never got around to that I have priorities...hehe

Here's the first round of pics, I got the major part of the frame built today, I need to finish the top for the upper and lower shelves next. I hope I can work on this some this week, but we'll see.

Just arrived home with all the wood. Well at least I hope this is all I need, I had to guesstimate at the last moment, and I'm not good at math.

The thing in the white box is the mailbox I should be working on...hehe



Here's the wood all cut for the frame of the table. I used the measure twice and cut once method for sure! Of course, with my limited woodworking skilz I went ahead and measured more like 3 or 4 times. Did I mention that I'm bad at math?





Here's the Frame for the upper shelf. I screwed up when building this piece, I should have built the inner square to the right in the picture first and then installed it before putting the right side board on. I will know better for next time.





Here's the Frame for the Lower shelf. After my experience with the upper shelf I was much smarter building the inner framing first and then adding to the frame. I did have one little problem, I accidentally drilled my thumb at one part during the lower shelf construction...DOH!

Oh well, good thing I have lots of FSA money to go buy more bandaids...hehe.

Adding the four posts to the lower frame. There may be a better way of doing this, not sure, I never took shop class. I took accounting and business machines for my high school electives...ugh, I wish I had taken shop class so I would know what I'm doing...hehe




And here's the top frame added to the posts. All in all it went together pretty well.

I'm using all white pine for the majority of the construction. I really considered using red oak or cedar, but I wasn't confident enough in my wood working skilz to risk the more expensive wood. I figure I can always build another table down the road if I really want something else, I'm sure I can find someone who needs an egg table, what? am I crazy?

That's pretty much it for tonight, it got dark way earlier than I was expecting. I guess I'll have to wait until Friday to install my mailbox...hehe

Smokin!
The Alfster

Am I Mad ?!?!

Pumpkin Pie? Hell Yeah! After the brisket cooked we brought the temp up on the egg to 375 degrees and in a little more than an hour had a hot fresh pumpkin pie to eat for dessert! How awesome is that?

Top that bad boy with a little cool whip and we are good to go!

Smokin',

The Alfster

Brisket to go!

Wow. That's all I have to say. I've had trouble getting brisket right for some time. It's either on or off it seems. But this last weekend Cousin Alan and I cooked one using a fast method that Skee and I have been kicking around, and all I have to say is...Wow. It turned out great. This is by far the best brisket I've made to date. It was moist, juicy, tender and oh so good. I'm super pleased with the results. Here's the rundown of the cook prep and process we used.

I bought a USDA Choice packer brisket from Sam's. That's basically the flat and the point all in once piece with very little trimming, pretty much like you've seen on here before. I trimmed some of the fat off the brisket and then prepared a rub using kosher salt, black pepper, and white pepper, with basically 2/3 black to 1/3 white peppercorns. I ground the peppercorns in my spice grinder to a slightly course consistency. I used a little worschester sauce on the brisket to moisten it and then added the spices. That was pretty much it.

We got the egg up to temperature, 225 degrees, added some smoking chunks, the plate setter and then set the brisket down on the grid to begin cooking. We cooked the brisket like this until it reached a temperature of 165 degrees. We then wrapped the brisket in heavy duty aluminum foil and added the juice from one jar of pepperocini peppers, with a few peppers sprinkled on top (we figured it couldn't hurt...hehe) We then brought the temp of the egg up to 350 degrees, yeah that's hot! We then tested the brisket about every hour to hour and a half for doneness, we were looking for the temp probe to just slide in to the meat with very little resistance. After a few hours we pulled the brisket and then let it sit in a cooler to rest.

After about 2 hours we sliced the flat away from the point and proceded to slice up the flat. OMG...it was awesome! Definately the best I have done to date. We slopped a little of Cuz's special bbq sauce he got from Rudy's and we ate until we could hardly move. It was goodness. I can't wait to try this again. I'd cook one for Thanksgiving if I thought I could get away with it...hehe

Wow, it only took about 7 hours for this bad boy to cook! Another couple hours for a rest and it was fast compared to other brisket cooks I've done. Good stuff!

Smokin'!!!
The Alfster

You know why?....Chicken Thigh!

Yep, thought I've give some chicken thighs a try today. Oh man are they cheap, and they turned out really good. I couldn't believe the flavor on these babies, and they were so moist and juicy. I know, I know, chicken is chicken, and I do believe that, but I really liked these. I need to work on crisping the skins, but they still tasted good.

I did brine these the night before, I should have taken a pic, but forgot. May have been the cigar smoke...hehe

I used two different rubs, one of my own concoctions and then an Italian herb rub that I just had sitting around in my spice cabinet. I also left two of the thighs plain w/o any rub, I was just wanting to see the differences. I cooked them about four hours total, the last hour I brought the Egg temp up to 350 to help the skins crisp up. I also glazed them at finishing with some Dan T's Raspberry Chipolte sauce that I thinned a little with some apple juice. I should have eaten them straight away, but I was working on cleaning out the garage still (okay I was smoking a stogie) and I couldn't get to them right away. I have enough for lunch tomorrow...hehe!

Smokin',

The Alfster

Ribs Second Attempt

Here's my second attempt at the ribs. They turned out much better than the first attempt. I just lightly seasoned these. I smoke these for 3 hours, then foiled for an hour, and then brought up egg to grilling temps for about another hour.

They aren't perfect, but I'm still practicing. They were pretty good tho, just didn't look as good as I was hoping.

Here they are, I trimmed the ribs Saint Louis style and then rubbed each one lightly. One I did with only salt and pepper, the other one I did with a little rub I made up.

Here they are on the egg, notice I had to roll them and pin them with a skewer. I think a rib rack is in my immediate future. Although this worked pretty well. I was worried that they may be all funky when I foiled them, but they straightened out just fine. Those other pieces of meat are some of the trimmings from the ribs. You have to work at them a little bit, but there is some decent meat in there.

Here's the finished product, not the best looking, but they tasted pretty good. I've still got a lot of work to do before I get the style ribs I'm looking for. As for the meat they were really tender, maybe a bit too tender, the bones were just falling off of them when I had them on the grill.

Oh well, practice makes perfect, and I at least can eat my mistakes..hehe

Chase cleaned up the bones that dropped on the ground, he's good to have around for just such emergencies...hehe

Smokin',

The Alfster

The GridLifter!!!

Hey everyone, check out the cool Gridlifter that my buddy got me:
It's totally sweet! If you want one you can go to Lawn Ranger BBQ Tools and get one for your very own, of course I hear there is a bit of a wait, each one is custom made. Thanks Skee!

Jenks BBQ Competition

The Little Pig Town BBQ Competition team will be entering our first official contest.

The competition is on October 12&13 in Jenks on the Riverwalk. It should be a load of fun, I can't wait.

Here's the official website for more info:

http://www.riverwalkbbq.com/

Should be fun!

Smokin'

The Alfster

Jurassic Park is real

Here's the proof!

Dinosaur Eggs....

I've had people ask me what these are, i'm such a dolt that I didn't even think about posting the recipe, here it is:

Ground Sausage rolled into balls, in the middle is stuffed a little jalepeno slice (like from the jar) and a little cube of cheese. Smoked them for about an hour @ 225 degrees.

They make a great little appetizer.

Smokin',

Alfster

Hooters? No, but the next best thing...

Last year I took a trip to Denver and while there I visited The Breckenridge Brewery. Really good beer, but also good food. My buddy and I ordered the BBQ Chicken Wings and they blew our minds! Ever since I have been craving those smoked, BBQ wings, so today I tried my first attempt at smoking some wings.

I had heard that you can take frozen wings and throw them right on the smoker, so being the lazy guy I am, I decided to give it a whirl. I purchased a ginormous bag of wings from Sam's about a week ago. They have been sitting in my freezer just waiting to get cooked. Well, it can't get much simpler, I got the egg to around 250, threw some smoking wook on the coals, and using the indirect method I placed the rock solid, frozen wings directly on the grill ( actually I used one of those little cheap grill savers, but you get the idea.) I let the wings smoke for about 3 1/2 hours. I pulled the plate setter out and opened up the egg to get up to grilling temp then basted the wings in a Rasberry Chipolte sauce and put the wings back on to crisp up the skins. Then pretty much pulled them off and began shutting down the egg.

Well let me tell you. These definately gave me flashbacks to my Denver trip. They were good and smoky (but not over smoked), the rasberry chipolte gave them a little sweet and spicy kick, and with a beer, well...they were really good. I can't wait to "experiment" with wings again...perhaps tomorrow?

Oh, the beer...that's a Samuel Adams Summer Ale.

--Smokin!!!

The Alfster

Brisket!

Hey all, I wanted to post some quick pics I took of a brisket I made the other day.

I can't remember exactly how much it weighed, but I think it was around 10-11 lbs. I set the egg up with the BBQ Guru @ 225 degrees and it cooked for nearly 22 hours until it read an internal temp of 200 degrees. I then foiled it and put it in a cooler to rest for about 2 hours before I couldn't wait anymore to slice it.

This was my second attempt at a brisket, I didn't get any pics of the first one, but no need, this one was so much better than the first attempt. I sliced the flat and chopped the point. I then froze all the left overs (which was all but a slice or two's worth, plus enough for one sandwich.) I vac pac'd the cooked meat and I'm hoping it reheats okay. This is a test to see if it will.

I will definately be doing this again. I think I'm going to try to get a raised grid so I can do a brisket and pork butt at the same time.

--Smokin'....The Alfster

I just love picnics.....it's the romantic in me.

I actually smoked this for the camping trip because I was concerned about not having enough bbq...boy was I wrong...hehe, I had so much pulled pork left over after the camping trip I didn't know what to do with it all. The raccoons down at Arbuckle may find themselves a bit fatter after our camping weekend.

I had wanted to just do a shoulder butt; however, this was all the Wal-Mart had. I was pretty unsure about it but said, "Heck, with enough sauce and smoke on it no one will tell the difference. I prepared this pretty much like I did before, I just had to be a little more careful when placing the thermometer so that the probe wasn't hitting the bone. I also added more wood this time so I could get a bit more smoke into the meat.

I started this on a Sunday night and just let it go all the next day while I was at work (thank you BBQ Guru.) I pulled the butt off the egg around 6 pm (it was @ 190) and let it sit in some foil to rest for a bit. Man, this one turned out really awesome, much better smoke and it pulled so easy, man was it good. Oh did I mention I had to sacrifice some in the name of science...for dinner.



Smokin!!!

--The Alfster

Babybacks...

I got some pics out of order, but here's some Babybacks I did a few weeks ago. They turned out pretty good. I used version of the 3/2/1 method, but by the time they came out of the foil they were falling apart so I didn't grill them for too long.

I also tried reheating the next day and they were no where near as good as right after I pulled them from the grill. I've since read that after the foiling you can just cool them down and then reheat the next day for the last step.

I over rubbed them, but they still tasted really good. My BBQ Master (Skee) gave me a little recipe for a glaze that was really awesome. I can't wait to try these again. I need to make some more to practice for 4th of July...

Next time less rubbin my ribs...


Smokin!!!

--The Alfster

How about a little dessert!

Well, I really wanted to work on a desert for my little BBQ dinner on Sunday. I had recently purchased some fresh blackberries and thought, Blackberry Cobbler!

I basically just did the lazy cobbler (or dump cobbler) like for a camp out. My camping buddies told me about this and I quickly found a recipe on the internet. Basically the recipe is this: 2-3 cans of blackberry (or other fruit) filling, 1 package of Jiffy Yellow Cake mix, and 1 12oz can of Sprite. I used the blackberries I had fresh and the night before I prepared them with a little sugar and left them in the fridge overnight. Then added the ingredients just as listed and put on the egg @ 350 degrees F for about and hour (just until it started browning.) I also added some butter on the top for fun...hehe

Well, it turned out pretty decent. No smoke flavor, just a hint of something from the egg, it was good, we dished it out in bowls and topped with a little ice cream, I'll play with this some more!

Smokin'

--The Alfster

MMM....Brisket

Well, I talked about it all week so I thought I had better put my money where my mouth was and smoke a brisket. This will be my first attempt, and I'm not going all fancy with rubs and whatnot, i just made a blend of salt and cracked black and white pepper and rubbed it down with little mustard thrown in there.

Set the smoker up @ 225 degrees F and loaded with a little cherry and hickory for smoke. Inverted plate setter, and a drip pan filled with half apple juice and water. I hope it turns out okay, I'm pretty nervous on this one.

Started it today at 2pm and I'm going to hold off until I hit a temp of 195 to see what happens.

Sorry for not having any pics, my camera is MIA since the camping trip. Perhaps I'll find it by the time the brisket comes out of the smoker. Until later....

Update: I pulled the brisket at 190 degrees around 7:30 AM Sunday Morning. wrapped in foil and left it in a cooler until lunch time. It looked awesome!

attempt, a little on the dry side, but not too bad. I'll have to talk with my BBQ Mentor (Skee) about what I should change, here are some pics anyway. I also smoked some bologna and hot links. Good stuff all in all though, and for a first attempt I amAt Lunch I unwrapped and sliced it, it was pretty good for a first happy. I can't wait to try this again.

Smokin!

--The Alfster

Smokin a Fattie

Or two! I tried a couple this weekend. I picked up a maple flavored and a regular flavored sausage. On the Maple flavored one I pressed it out into a big patty and sprinkled it with a little brown sugar and then rerolled it up. The regular flavored one I pressed out and stuffed it with a little pepper jack cheese and some diced jalepeno, then rubbed it with a little Head Country Rub.

Brought the egg up to 350 degrees F, added a little hickory and cherry wood for smoke and cooked them indirect until they reached an internal temp of 155 degrees F a little over 2 hours. Let me tell you that was some good eaten! I can't wait to try these again.

Smokin!!

--The Alfster

A.B.T.'s

Otherwise known as Atomic Buffalo Turds, basically halve and seed a jalepeno, stuff with cream cheese, a little smokie, and wrap in bacon (none of that sounds bad), then on the egg at 350 degrees F for 45-60 min, and oh man they are delicious!

Smokin!

-- The Alfster

Let's Smoke a Butt

My BBQ Jedi Master has been talking to me about pulled pork sandwiches, so I thought I would give it a try. I went over to Sam's and bought two 7+ lbs Boston Butts, they come in a package of 2 at Sam's which is good because I wanted to use one for sandwiches and then another one to vacuum seal and freeze for a big camping trip I have coming up in a couple of weeks. When I first saw the meat in the butcher case I was like, OMG, those are some narly looking pieces of meat. Didn't look very appetizing at all, but after remembering the wise words of my master I picked out a two pack of butts and headed for the checkout.


Once I got them home I rubbed them down with Head Country Rub, and then a liberal amount of yellow mustard. Yes, you heard right, the cheap plain ol' yellow mustard. I prepared my fire in the Egg for a long cook, did I sort and stack the lump? Nah, I just threw a bunch in there and hoped for the best...hehe This cook was also going to be the inagural run of the BBQ guru. I reread my instructions and got it all ready and lit the fire. I let the BGE get up to 300 before I put the butts on the grill. Once at 300 degrees F, I loaded the Egg with my brand spankin new plate setter (Thanks to Niki) and then added a drip pan with a bout an inch of Apple Juice. Then placed each mustard and rub covered butt on the grill, leaving a little space between the two for a little air circulation. Set the guru up for 225 degrees grid temp and 190 meat temp...and then it was just a waiting game.


I put these on around 7:30PM Friday and they hit 190 around 2:30 PM Saturday. During this entire time I never lifted the lid of the egg. That may have been the toughest part! I so wanted to look and check on the meat in the smoker, but listening to all the Egg wisdom out there I resisted. Well needless to say when I finally did open the lid I took a step back, sitting on my grill were two big hunks of frozen space poo. At least that's the best way I can describe it, they reminded me of the "meteor" lump from the movie Joe Dirt. I was thinking as I transferred them to my cookie sheet to bring them inside that I ruined this cook. They really look not so appetizing.


Well, I said, remember the wise words of my BBQ sensei and go ahead and remove the fat cap that remained and see what's under all that crusty, black, exterior...And Oh Man! I'm glad I did, underneath that nasty meteoric exterior was juicy, perfectly cooked Pork, and man it was unbelievably good. I wrapped one of the butts up in foil and towels and set in a cooler until I could pull it later that afternoon, the other, I shredded and made some sandwiches. All I can say is pulled pork sandwiches may be the best thing since cheap white hamburger buns....hehe It was really awesome and my first big cook turned out really well, I can't wait to do this again!

Smokin!

--The Alfster

A little Oklahoma Round Steak

Yep! that's right BBQ Bologna, it's good and good for you. I bought two 5 pounders, but only smoked one. I quartered it and rubbed half with a Head Country Rub and the other half I left nekid until the last 30 min, then I basted it with BBQ sauce. They turned out really good. I took them to my brother-in-law's bbq this past weekend, and I guess everyone liked it, I didn't have any left.

Thank goodness I have that other 5lbs in the fridge...hehe

Smokin!

--The Alfster

The BBQ Guru has arrived!!!

After much patience (ok, not really too much patience) I purchased a BBQ Guru for my egg. If you would like a guru for yourself, and who wouldn't, you can go to http://www.thebbqguru.com or search out on Ebay.

I purchased the BBQ Guru Competitor model with an adapter for the Big Green Egg....YEAH!!!

Smokin'!!!

--The Alfster

"My First Cook"

Today has been the first time I really had a chance to look over my egg since bringing it home on Saturday. I've been waiting for this day for quite some time. I decided a few months ago that the egg is definitely the smoker I wanted to purchase, of course I have a sensei in my corner, Skee. He's definitely an Obi-wan of the BBQ world. He's been using a BGE for quite some time, and from his expertise and knowledge, I hope to gain a great advantage on this art called barbecue.

I pretty much just played today, seeing how easy it was going to be to light the charcoal, adjusting the front door and the daisy wheel vent in the top to maintain temperatures, and heck play with fire!

I decided to try cooking a couple of steaks. I was able to attend the Trex method of cooking steaks while at OK Eggfest and figured I'd give it a go. I started by building up some charcoal in the fire box of the egg, then lighting it with my new and cool MAPP torch. It was surprisingly easy, and before long the coals were beginning to glow. Eventually the temp inside the egg reached 700 degrees, and it really happened much faster than I had expected. I had seasoned my steaks earlier with a little safflower oil, kosher salt, and cracked pepper. Once the searing temp had been reached I slapped the steaks on the grill and seared on both sides for about a minute and a half, then pulled them off and wrapped them in foil to rest while I brought the temp of the egg down to 400 degrees. After 20 minutes I put the steaks on the grill for about five minutes each side and man oh man, it was good!

I've still got a long way to go, they were a bit on the well done side of medium, and I like a little more pink, but they tasted great and were tender and juicy, I can't complain much at all. Still really dang good steak, better than most restaurants I've eaten.

All in all, I'm very pleased with my first cook. I can't wait to try smoking some stuff. I'd really like to this weekend, but got family plans this weekend.

-- The Alfster