Saturday fun

[Chris Conro]

My beautiful fiance, Luna, and I had another couple and their son over for dinner today, and we had some fun taking photos throughout the process. The weather was great too! Low 60's, bluebird skies, and only a light breeze.

Getting the rub ready.

Baby backs ready.

Using the 22" WSM and Performer.

Apple and cherry.

Wooden deck safety gear: Fire extinguisher, pail of H2O, IR thermometer - to keep an eye on temps of WSM heat shield and steel pan under the WSM. Temps on the pan never got above 180F.

 

[Chris Conro]

Waiting for temps to stabilize.

Archimedes checking out the fire safety gear.

Ribs ready for the smoker. Temp was 240F when I added them to the top rack, then held at around 225 for 3 hours.

For mac n cheese - blend of 5 year aged cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Jarlsberg.

Holey

Homemade iced tea and lemonade.

Wings ready for the grill.

 

[Chris Conro]

After turning.

Mac n cheese with crust of Goldfish and Parmesan (before baking).

Green beans trimmed and washed.

Ribs after 3 hours. Ready to turn.

Crisping the skins.

 

[Chris Conro]

Naked.

Sauced. Orange Marmalade Sriracha recipe.

Blanched the beans the sauteed with butter, olive oil, and garlic.

Ribs off the smoker.

Sauced. KC Masterpiece with added honey.

Test piece.

Bowl of bones.

Don't forget the Parmesan!

 

[Chris Conro]

Finally, the plate.

This one's name is Bean!

Cheesecake for dessert.

Thanks for looking!!

 

[Clint]

such an awesome post & photos - the only thing I don't "love" is the cat, but I almost got my first one until I looked around and figured I might need to do a little organizing before I got a cat (shelves etc).

 

[Mickey]

Wow, Chris! What an awesome cook! Great variety of foods, tastes, colors, and textures. Wish I was there - must've missed my invite. Seriously, that's impressive stuff. As for the kitty cats, it looks like Archimedes means business and 'ol Bean "presides" over it.

 

[Rich G]

Very nice, Chris. Excellent photos! Not your first photographic rodeo, is it? Keep posting up pics like these, of food like that, please!!

Rich

 

[Rich Dahl]

Great pictures and great food, nicely done!

 

[Rolf Jacobsen]

Very, very nice. Actually......... WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[NeilH]

Nothing wrong with that cook.

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Gorgeous cook Chris and excellent photos from your rub assembly to that great dessert! Like the kitty shots and that mac and cheese. Great idea using that IR Thermometer on that wooden deck.

PS. Your yard looks gorgeous!

 

[CLasko]

Looks awesome! Not too far from you...probably smelled those delicious smells on my run yesterday, which made it the longest 5 miles of my life. Haha.

 

[Sam B]

Great cook and awesome photos!

Two questions:
1. What camera are use using?
2. How do you like the rolled rib results? I've been thinking about trying that method, but just can't get my head around curling those ribs up.

 

[Enrico Brandizzi]

Impressive cooks and pics! Thanks for sharing

 

[Enrico Brandizzi]

May I ask you which lens do you use for close up?

 

[Chris Conro]

Thanks very much for the kind comments everyone! Photographer duty was split between myself and my fiance, so she deserves most of the credit.

Great cook and awesome photos!

Two questions:
1. What camera are use using?
2. How do you like the rolled rib results? I've been thinking about trying that method, but just can't get my head around curling those ribs up.

To answer the questions from Sam B and Enrico, the camera we used for this occasion is a Canon G15. We have a Canon DSLR too and a small variety of lenses for it, but for occasions like this, it's nice to have a high quality point and shoot. Fewer "missed" photo opportunities...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B009B0MY6S/tvwb-20

To answer Sam's question about the rolled ribs, I did this because I wanted to fit all 3 racks on the top grate of the 22" WSM, but I still wanted to have an air temperature probe attached to the cooking grate and not touching one of the racks of ribs. The end result was fine. As you can see from the sauced photos, they laid pretty flat after taking out the skewers; and for serving they were cut into 2-bone portions, so you'd barely be able to tell they were ever rolled up like that. If I had a rib rack, I probably could have used that and skipped rolling them.

 

[John Sp]

Wow Chris - what a feast! Great meal and excellent technique throughout. Those wings look especially awesome...

Regards,

John

 

[Chris Conro]

Wow Chris - what a feast! Great meal and excellent technique throughout. Those wings look especially awesome...

Regards,

John

Thank you, sir! The wings disappeared fast. If there was one failing in technique, it's that we just sauced the wings after taking them off the grill, and never reheated them to "set" the sauce. One member of the party was allergic to some of the sauce ingredients, and I took a shortcut to avoid cross contamination (and to make cleaning the grill easier).

 

[Chris Conro]

such an awesome post & photos - the only thing I don't "love" is the cat, but I almost got my first one until I looked around and figured I might need to do a little organizing before I got a cat (shelves etc).

I'm not sure which way to take this!

We have 3 cats (Pythagoras, brother of Archimedes, didn't feel like joining the photo shoot). Let me tell you, these 3 are certainly a handful, and we've had to come up with a number of creative solutions for keeping them out of places they're not wanted, so if you're really thinking about getting one, be prepared for that. You have to kind of accept that it's their house and you're just living in it. It's sad, but I bet other cat owners can relate...

We've built them a number of shelves, but they are most easily distracted by whatever random beer case or shipping box you set on the floor.