Weber Ranch Kettle / First Cook

I have lusted for a Weber Ranch Kettle for about 15 years and I just purchased one from a gentleman in Sheridan, Indiana. It is about 2 years old and has not been used very much and is in great condition.





Was a tight fit but it did go into my car.





Cleaned it up a little and am ready to cook something. 

I know this is overkill but I decided to cook a couple of St. Louis cut spare ribs over a big pan of Rick Salmon’s Pit beans. A fellow has got to learn on something!

I installed (4) Weber Charcoal Rails to hold my charcoal on each side of the cooker. I then split a full Weber chimney of cold Stubb’s briquets  (85 pieces) between the two sides of the cooker. Planned to split another 3/4 full Weber chimney of hot coals (70 pieces) on top of the cold briquets. The total weight of the charcoal was six pounds. 



I planned to cook the pan of beans on the charcoal grate. 



While I was at it, I tried two full pans under the main grid and they fit nicely. I have other ideas for this type of setup. 





I prepped the ribs and then got my full pan of beans ready for the cooker. I also poured in my 3/4 chimney of hot coals into the cooker and added some hickory chunks. 



Placed my full pan of beans on the charcoal grate and then added my cooking grate.



Placed the ribs over the top of my pan of pit beans so the drippings will go into the beans for additional flavor.



Cooked at about 250 degrees measured on the cooking grate for about 3 hours and then pulled the ribs. 



I wrapped the ribs with the goodies and placed them back on the cooker. 



Charcoal was still doing fine and it looked like it was enough for the whole cook. 



I also added some slab potatoes at this time. The ribs were cooked an additional 80 minutes in the foil until done at 205-208 degrees internal. 



I unwrapped the ribs, put them back on the cooker and then glazed them for a few minutes and took them off the cooker.



I also removed my potatoes and pit beans from the cooker.

The cooker ran about 5 hours and 15 minutes on just the six pounds of charcoal briquets. I did stir them up once but that probably wasn’t necessary. Very pleased with the results of this cook. 





The ribs, beans, and potatoes looked great. 





Added some fresh cut off the cob and fried sweet corn and some fruit and had a wonderful meal.

This kettle is going to be fun and I can't wait for an excuse to do a small pig. 

  

Pepper Stout Beef / Weber Jumbo Joe

This is Larry Wolfe’s (The Wolfe Pit) great recipe for making chuck roast into pulled beef. I make a few minor changes to suit my style of cooking and really enjoy this recipe and method for this treat. 

Ingredients:

3.67 pound chuck roast
Kosher salt and black pepper
About 1-1/2 sliced bell peppers
One large sliced onion
Sliced Jalapenos
Six garlic cloves
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
One 12oz bottle Guinness Extra Stout
Better than Bouillon Beef Base
Sliced Mushrooms



I prepped the meat by trimming some of the hard fat off of the meat. I then sprinkled on a heavy dose of Kosher salt and some fresh cracked black pepper. 



I set my Jumbo Joe up with a Weber rail or fence on the charcoal grid to hold my lump charcoal. I also added a foil drip pan to make for an easy cleanup. This setup works great in the little cooker for temperatures in the range of about 225 to 325 degrees. It will just set there unattended and run for hours with this method. 



Filled it up with lump charcoal, added a couple of hickory chunks, and fired it off with a Weber fire cube. 





Ran the kettle at about 265 degrees for about 3-1/2 hours or until the meat looked good (about 168 internal) and then panned it with the goodies.





I also added a couple pieces of charcoal at this point.





Foiled the pan and cooked the roast to 210 degrees internal as this is about what it takes to have the meat pull like a pork butt. 





Meat looked good just off of the kettle. Next step was to shred it up for my sandwiches.



I like to squirt on some horsy sauce, then add about 3 tablespoons of the soppy to the bottom bun and then add a generous portion of the pulled beef. I then add a couple of slices of provolone cheese and some sliced tomatoes and then finish it up with some Jalapeno slices. 





Makes a great pulled beef hoagie.

Cinco de Mayo Burgers / Cobb Grill

This is a great burger for the holiday or celebration and fairly easy to fix. 



Great tasting burger.



Ingredients for two large burgers:

1 pound of 70/30 ground beef
2 thin burger buns
2 slices colby jack cheese
2 slices (about 3/8”thick) tomato
2 slices bacon
1/2 of a medium onion sliced into half rings
1 TBL chipotle in adobo sauce
1/3 to 1/2 cup of mayo
1 to 2 TBL of a Mexican rub
Dash of vinegar
Nacho cheese chips
Peanut oil
lettuce

Mexican Rub

2 TBL oregano
1 TBL chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp celery salt

I started by mixing in about a tablespoon of the rub into the ground meat and forming my two half pound burgers. I also sprinkled some on the outside of the burgers. Then back into the fridge for a couple of hours.

Next step was to slice my two pieces of  tomato and wrap each slice with a strip of bacon.



Fired the Cobb up with about 12 briquettes and waited for them to ash over.



Brushed a little peanut oil on my buns and browned them on the grill.



Cooked my bacon wrapped tomato slices.



Browned up my onion half rings, added the chipotle and adobo and a dash of vinegar and cooked it a few more minutes and then added my mayo and cooked for about one more minute and my Southwest onion sauce was ready. 





Cooked the two half pound burgers and then added the cheese just before they were done. 



The burgers, bacon wrapped tomatoes, and the Southwest sauce ready for my sandwiches. 







Added a piece of lettuce, the bacon wrapped tomato, the burger, a layer of the nacho cheese chips and then the Southwest sauce.



This was a nice change for a burger and we will sure make it again. 

Hot Buffalo Bites & Wings / Weber Jumbo Joe

This cook was done in my Weber Jumbo Joe with the Mini-Vortex SS charcoal ring and using  a hickory chunk for smoke.




The hot wings were breaded by going thru an egg wash and then rolled into a mixture containing flour, cornmeal, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.

The wings were sauced several times with a mixture of Louisiana hot sauce, butter, Rooster, Tabasco, cayenne pepper, and honey. 



Just off the kettle.



The Buffalo bites went thru the same wash and breading as above but with far less ground cayenne. The bites are for the wife and she doesn’t do hot stuff! 



The sauce used for this treat was Louisiana hot sauce, butter, and honey.



Looking good.





Sure made a fine lunch.