Western Ribs, Pit Beans, Fried Bread, Fried Pies, on the Trunk Monkey

This cook was done on my Char-Broil 500X which is affectionately called the “Trunk Monkey” on some other forums. I had the grid setup with 1/2 direct and 1/2 indirect for this large cook. 



I started with my Pit Beans which will take the longest and used this recipe...it is cut down from my larger recipe. (Rick Salmon’s Pit Beans)

one 16 or 16-1/2 oz can of Bush’s Original baked beans
4 oz your favorite sweet bbq sauce
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup finely diced onion
3 TBL finely diced bell pepper
3 TBL finely diced celery stalk
2 TBL prepared mustard
1-1/2 tsp your favorite pork rub
1-1/2 tsp celery seed
one cup of loosely packed cooked and chopped pork butt

enough brown sugar to adequately cover to a depth of at least 1/2” on top of your container of beans. Bout 1 to 1- 1/2 cups should work depending on the size of your cooking container.

Place all but the brown sugar in your pot and stir well. Then add the brown sugar on top but DO NOT stir it into the mix. Let the brown sugar melt down into the beans. Throw them on a smoker and let them do the low and slow for a few hours. 



I used a 2 quart black iron pot and this is the beans less the brown sugar. 



Ready to go on the cooker.

At this time I also prepared 3 large Western ribs for the cook with my favorite pork rub and got them ready for the cooker.



Looking at the cooker, I have the left side indirect and the right side direct. I placed the pot of beans on the indirect side and then added a cooking grid over the top of the pot. I then placed two of my large Western ribs on this raised grid so all that goodness can run off into my beans. I placed the 3rd rib on the standard cooking grid. On the right or direct side, I placed my black iron skillet which will be used for the fried cornbread and the fried pies.



Nice crisp morning with a temp of around 29 degrees....perfect weather for an outside cook. The “Trunk Monkey” doing its thing!

While my pan is heating up, I made up my cornbread mix. Now, I said bread and not corn cake which most folks think is corn bread.

Old Dave’s recipe for REAL  cornbread. This is also cut down from my larger recipe.

1 cup of fresh coarse ground corn meal
2 TBL flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sweet buttermilk
1 beaten egg
1 TBL bacon grease
Enough bacon grease or lard for the pan.

Sift the dry ingredients together and then add the wet stuff and stir lightly until it is mixed...do not over-stir or over-mix as lumpy batter is ok. 



Spoon it into the hot skillet and it’s ready to go.



Brown em up and get them off the cooker when they are done.



Come off the cooker looking good.



Pork and the Pit Beans starting to look pretty good.

Next step was to make up my fried apple pies. I got them ready and cooked them as well in my black iron skillet. 



The pies fried up nice and I couldn’t wait and split one with the bride. 



Fried apple pies.



The Western ribs and Pit Beans about ready to come off the cooker. They both cooked about 4 hours. 



Pit Beans just off the cooker.



Two of the Western ribs just off the cooker.



My plate.



Fried apple pie cut open.



That is one slick little cooker for sure........

Beef Ribs, Pork Steak, Rib Tips on the CB 940X

For this cook, I needed maximum indirect grilling space so I chose my classic Char-Broil 940X and then added a second grid to this cooker to get even more space. I planned for about a 5-6 hour cook so I used a smaller fuse burn so I wouldn’t have to fool with it all day. 



I poured in about 13 pounds of the Wicked Good all natural brickettes into the firebox which I had divided out with 3 firebricks and then added some hickory chunks for flavor wood. Used a Weber fire cube to start it off in the front end of the cooker. 



Since I needed maximum indirect grill space, I used two full hotel pan covers right under the cooking grids on the left side of the cooker and this just left me with about 1/4th of the cooker direct and I needed this to keep the cooker flowing correctly. With the smoke and heat coming up on the far right side of the cooker, I planned to use only the exhaust vent on the Left side of the cooker which will pull all the smoke and heat back across my food for the best flavor. As with all my fuse burns in this cooker, I used the front service door for my air intake to the fire. 



These rib tips were trimmed off of those big “bronto” spare ribs I get from the Kroger store which I store in the freezer until I make sausage or just want some tips. I gave these a good sprinkle of my no-carb rub and they were ready to go.



This package of pork steaks has 6 nice slabs and they as well were prepped with my rub. 



Good meaty beef ribs are about impossible to find in my area so I usually fall back on these lousy looking beef ribs from wallyworld. They are injected with salt water and trimmed way to close to the bones. I do live with them once in a while as I guess they are better than nothing. I used my no sugar Texas rub on the beef ribs. 



I managed to get it all loaded on the indirect part of the cooker and it took up all the space I had allocated for the cook. I had the beef ribs which I think will take the longest on the raised second grid which runs a little hotter that the standard level in the cooker. 



Nice cool sunny morning with just a light frost and a great day to be outside and cooking something.



Pork steak about done so I slopped on some low carb bbq sauce and then let them glaze for a few minutes until they were done to suit me.





Hard to beat the taste of a well prepared pork steak in my opinion.



With the pork steak off, I had room for my hot wings so they got a dose of rub and a heavy sprinkling of ground cayenne and they were ready for the cooker. 



I got them on under my beef ribs.



Next step was to wrap the beef ribs and I used a little broth  and some Splinda in the foil for additional flavor.

The rib tip pieces were wrapped as well with the above broth and sweetener.

About the same time, I slopped on a heavy dose of my hot sauce which consists of a large cup of Frank’s hot sauce,  bout 1/3rd stick of butter, one tbl Splinda, and 2 tsp ground cayenne pepper.



Hot wings just of the cooker and I couldn’t wait and ate one....oh my!!!





Later into the cook, my rib tips came off the cooker and I cut them to size and placed them into my pan. I added a little pork marinade and mixed it all up and then back on the cooker. 



Had a few peppers left so I added them to my cook.



Later in the cook, I unwrapped the beef ribs and slopped on a heavy dose of my low carb sauce. 



The beef ribs come off the cooker looking good. At this time I poured some sauce into my rib tip pan and stirred them up real well. 





After my tips come off the cooker, I plated up my meal.



I had one big beef rib, 4-5 rib tips, one hot wing, and some salad, cheese, and veggies. Made one nice low carb supper.



Not that it means anything, look at that smoke ring on those beef ribs. 

Pit Beef / Roast Beef on the Weber Performer Rotisserie

We were out of pit beef or roast beef and Kroger had put some choice angus rump roasts on sale for under $3.00 a pound so another cook was born. Like I need an excuse!! This is a very lean and very flavorful and tough piece of meat that is usually used as a pot roast as it takes about two weeks of cooking in a pot with some veggies to get it tender. Another method that we love is to rotisserie cook them as hot as the cooker will run and then slice them very thin for our pit beef. Can’t have most the veggies anyway as we are low-carbing so this method was chosen. 

Rotisserie cooking limits me to about 4 cookers and I don’t have a unit for my CB 940X so I decided to use my Weber Performer with my EZ-Que rotisserie setup. 



Jan purchased one at 2.44 lbs, the second at 2.82 lbs and I just trimmed off some of the fat caps and then cracked on some fresh black pepper and then sprinkled on some garlic salt and they were ready for the grill. 



I had the cooker loaded up with charcoal and a couple pieces of wood and just turned it loose with all the vents wide open as I do want maxi heat. The temp got to 425 degrees and was still climbing when I put the meat on the spinner for the short cook.



The cooker doing its thing!



The next step is the gravy....you got to have gravy with your roast beef and this is my no-carb gravy that we use for our beef products. I start with a black iron pan and add a little oil, and then the onions. I cook them until they carmelize and then add a can of beef broth, a small can of mushrooms, and some spices like salt, pepper, and garlic or just use whatever you like.  



The roasts are about done on the cooker. I take them off with an internal of about 120 degrees.



I plate the roasts and then cover them with foil for about an hour so the juice has time to redistribute thru out the meat and I get the slicer ready to cut the meat. 





The roast beef just off the slicer.



I start with a piece of low carb wheat bread and then toast it and place it on my plate. I cover it with a generous amount of the roast beef.



I then add a big dipper of that wonderful gravy right on top of that treat  and I am ready to eat. 



Now, that’s a great 6 carb meal.

The balance of the meat will be frozen for future use.