Jamaican Jerk Burgers / Weber Jumbo Joe

This cook was done on my Weber Jumbo Joe and consisted of four 5-1/2 oz Jamaican  jerk burgers and one standard hamburger. Also grilled on the Weber cast iron griddle were six  cornbread griddle cakes, some onions, slab potatoes, and some pineapple slices. 



I started by making up a jerk paste with three Habs to be sure I had enough heat in the burgers. I made up one plain burger for the bride and then mixed up my jerk paste in the remaining meat for the jerk burgers. 





The burgers ready for the grill...I think you can see the peppers in the patties. 



I started with four of the cornbread griddle cakes. 



Next up were both the jerk and standard burgers. 



Then I did a couple more griddle cakes just after the burgers to see if they would pick up some of the jerk flavor from the burger cook. (They did)



Next were the onions and slab potatoes. 



Finished up with the pineapple slices. 







The results of my cook.

For my lunch, I started with a cornbread griddle cake, added some lettuce, a jerk burger,  next on was a pineapple slice, a few rings of the grilled onions, some of my very hot jerk sauce, some grilled pepper strips and then I sprinkled on some chopped up green  onions. 





I completed the meal with one of the slab potatoes and a couple slices of garden tomatoes.

Sure made a nice lunch.

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. 

  

Steak, Pork Burgers, Italian Sausage, and more

This mixed cook was done on my Char-Broil CB500-X which is about my favorite little charcoal cooker. The fuel was Ozark Oak lump charcoal along with some hickory chunks for smoke. The cooker was setup with half the grids direct and the other half indirect.



I cut 3 steaks out of a whole loin about 5/8” thick which will be used for my State Fair ribeye sandwiches. I also cut 2 of the steaks about 1-1/4” thick for our regular use. 



I prepped them by cutting some excess fat off and sprinkling on some garlic salt and fresh black pepper. 



I installed my Grill Grates and got the cooker up to about 550 degrees measured on top of the grates and loaded a couple of steaks.



I cooked the thicker steaks about 3 minutes on each side to an internal of about 125 degrees and removed them from the cooker. I cooked the thinner steaks for about 1-1/2 minute per side to get them done. With this little time on the grill, I didn’t have them on long enough to turn them to get the nice cross hatch grid marks.

Jan formed up eight 1/3 pound pork burgers from our bulk meat and I cooked them next on the grill. This is another State Fair treat we love.

After the above was done I took the grill grates off of the cooker and finished the cook on the standard cast iron grids. 



Next up was my Italian sausage, a block of Spam, and some hot peppers which will be used for blackened peppers.

Jan prepped some slab potatoes by brushing on some peanut oil along with some salt and pepper.



After the peppers were done, I loaded the slab potatoes on the direct side of the cooker.



Cooker still pretty hot so the potatoes didn’t take very long.

Next up and the last cook was some ABT”s made out of the Hungarian Hot Banana Peppers. 



The peppers came out great.









All of the cook came out looking good.



Plated ribeye steak dinner.



State Fair ribeye steak sandwich along with some red beans and rice and other sides.



State Fair type of pork burger sandwich meal.



Italian sausage sandwich with some caramelized onions with some horse radish mustard.

Lollichops / other Stick Foods

This cook was done on the GMG Davy Crockett cooker and consisted of some Porksicles or as sometimes called Lollichops, some Slab Potatoes on a stick, and a block of Spam for some Spam Slyders.



I prepped the slab potatoes by washing the potatoes first, then cutting them into about 3/4” thick slices, and then putting each slice on a stick. Next, I brushed on a coat of Peanut oil and then added my herbs and spices which in this cook was some Garlic salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Other spices and herbs that can be used on this treat are Italian seasoning, thyme, rosemary, basil, chives, dill, oregano, and dried onions to name a few. I sometimes will sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese later into the cook for a different taste. 



Not much prep for my Spam...just added a light coat of my favorite rub and it was ready for the fire.



Rolled my little cooker around to the cooking patio and fired it up. Beautiful morning with a temp of about 55 degrees. I set the cooking temp to 365 degrees and let it come to temp and then loaded my food.



Used my raised cooking grid to get it all on the cooker.



While that was cooking, I prepped my Porksicles by cutting the pork loin into about 3/4” thick slices and then putting them on a stick. Sprinkled on a light coat of rub and they were ready for the fire. 



As soon as my first round was off the cooker, I loaded my Porksicles and later into the cook, I added some sauce and cooked them until done at about 145 degrees internal.

The results of the cook:



Slab potatoes came out great as usual...hard to beat this treat!



The Porksicles or Lollichops looked great as well just off the cooker.



Love that crispy skin on the Spam...just had to have a sandwich.



This is my Spam Slyder...put a little horsey sauce on the Slyder bun and then added some lettuce, tomato, and onion for my sandwich. Also added some slaw, a chunk of slab potato, and some fruit to complete the plate.

Gotta love “stick” food!!