Texas Oak Smoking


 

Lory Harrison

TVWBB Member
I smoked some chicken and ribs between our rain showers this week.

It's slightly challenging on a Smokey Jumbo Joe, 22, the surface area is great but these models lack the depth but it worked. I'll try a brisket slab this weekend and see. I received it as a gift and my dad got it for $39 on sale and it's got a few battle scars already. I'll post that incident later. ;)

Here's a simple rib rack

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All yellerd up!



Smokin on oak I cut from a tree I had to take down last year




Crispin her up at the end!



Fall off the bone but with a little tug, the way of the tree



S'mores anyone??? These were just great!!!!




I thought I was finished but my father came over with two snappers and they went down so some poppers got assembled quick and they went down too!!! All during a light shower!!



Here's the culprit in the rain. I have my PBC and other Kettles in my garage because if you can see beyond my table, there's an 8x4 rocked and tiled area I made for additional grill area and I'm having this patio covered with an arbor and with this rain, it's easier to have one out and I wanted to cook on it since my dad just got it.



Thank youz all for looking at my pics !!!
 
Wow, aggressive cook. It all looks delicious. Like how you did the squash on that first grill pic. That arbor over your patio will look great and be very functional when grilling!
 
Thank you everyone for your replies!! It's nice of everyone.

Thank you Cliff, I like the squashes, they're like $5 for 2lbs at Costco, great deal and they hold up well on skewers too. I can't wait to break ground on that arbor, I'm building it w my father and were bolting it to the cement.

I'm posting today's post rainout meal here instead of cluttering up the board with a new thread.

Today was lambed out.

Boneless leg of lamb. I prefer bone in but boneless has the advantage of being able to be stuffed a little.



Lots of pockets to stuff garlic and onion into.



I turned around and realized I was out of string!! Necessity is the mother of invention.



Smoking for two hours. I really need to get a thermometer, I just have one on the hood that's all. One day I'll get one and catch up w the cool kids.



And here she is a couple hours later. Crispy outside and a cool juicy red inside, I love smoking!



And some quick chops I picked up 30% off!!!!



Real quick sear!



We ate lunch but later for dinner I had a cold lamb sourdough sandwich, yum.



This is all still done on my Halfa Weber Jumbo Joe 22' :blackkettle: ;)
 
Thank you everyone! The lamb is being devoured mostly by my Boxer and me, I have a rib and brisket eating house!!! That's ok, we've done some creative leftover recipes with it. The snapper is great grilled, I need to score it next time and flash fry and thrown on the wood for a minute, but I don't have that setup yet either, the weather and my patio project has me running around like I'm camping.

Today it's pouring again with wicked thunder and lighting. It was clear blue yesterday and humid enough to cut and now it's all filled up with Gulf storms, South Texas is like a drier Florida. We have palms and cactus with scorching sun and violent storms. It's one of those non stop Forest Gump in Vietnam rains today and I have a rib rack that I promised a friend I'm meeting at the chicken shack today and without a covered patio, I'm thinking I'll take my Halfa Weber out to the garage and grill with it open.

I'm going to tailgate my own country BBQ today. I hope it works. I just need 3 hrs. If I could only start a fire, I could smoke rain or not but it won't let up and the chainsaw will slip on the oak, I think I saved a few chunks last night when I was done. I really didn't think it would storm again. Ah!!! More snakes. This means more snakes and I'm picking up two rabbits tomorrow too at my butchers. Between the rain and rabbit, I know they'll draw out. Dang.
 
Thank you again everyone for all your nice compliments. My father is from Mexico City so I'll be doing some family recipes this coming week too. Paella is high on the list and turtle soup. In mazatlan we grilled a lot of lizard but you can't get that here. I'm conflicted too because I have reptiles of my own. We normally would marinate in a heavy tomato sauce then hit the coals.

I'm thankful for the rain, we've gotten a lot this yr. sometimes we go 4-5 months without nuthin but a drizzle and all the birds are panting but this yr we got some real rain, nice winter too. Just a lot of snakes and tarantula this spring. I got struck by a hognose last yr and the widow took me down in 2004 so never again, I keep my lawn short and brush cut.

Well Bolners meat market where I get specialty meats only , because it's far from me to drive, had only frozen rabbit left by the time I got there. The rain stopped and everyone was buying up everything to go to the lakes, rivers and horse trails so I missed the fresh!!! I paid in advance for next weekend and also for cabrito. My family owned a rabbitry with the restaurant adjacent for Conejos Al Carbon so despite loving these cute guys growing up, I learned how to prepare from them.

So no thrilling pics, this is just that ole rib rack I promised my friend yesterday and I managed to get a fire lit when the rain went down to a drizzle and I got a real good billowy smoke from the pressure in the weather. Love it!!!



I added these old apples because my tree dwindled and I had to run up and actually buy wood! So in the interim, these apples were the only flavoring besides the coals in my Halfa Weber until I got the dried out store bought wood.



Some chicken thighs and bakers! Love these. I hadn't mopped either, I just lifted the after about 45 min or so. I think. I was watching Evil Dead 2 out there in the drizzle. Distracted Smokin!!!!




Here they are, they smelled great and my friend loved them. I lost my gallbladder from an injury so I can't eat heavy animal fat like these St. Louis or bacon, sausage. I can handle a couple pieces of baby back but that's it. I'm glad she dug em. And next to them is probably the dullest knife I've ever owned. I hate it so much, I keep, keeping it. It should be thrown out by the railroad tracks but luck is on its side.



Here's the new wood I bought today. I need to go to the yard or buy a large amount off the sellers on interstate 281 but this was quick and cheap and not dried out like supermarket wood. This is imported from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico and I paid $6. Not bad. They're cut so I can leave em in the rain and not worry about my chainsaw slippin.



What some of the chicken thighs became.



Some non thrillin extra lean burger shots because I was very hungry! My boxer Josephine and I had some quesadillas and a couple burgers to start us off Smokin Saturday!!

I'll post my game smokes this coming week as the meats come in. Thank you for looking everyone and takin the time out.




 
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Did I say I'm thankful for the rain yesterday?

We flooded this morning at 7am.

I ran out to check my grill and make sure my AC wasn't below water. It was the drain I dropped in last year when I had this patio poured, it got clogged at the screen vents and I couldn't see them under the muddy water and I really didn't want to get struck by a wayward Scorp to tarantula, they can hold their breath for very long periods and this water was just sitting.

I remember I siliconed the vents so it took some prying with a screwdriver then machete and they tore loose and that water moved rocks when it was released. Really impressive.

But I didn't marinate 15lbs of chicken and turkey not to smoke today so somehow, someplace, I'm Smokin whether the weather permits or not!!

I've got a solar screen on this window, bad pic but I was scramblin. The AC is to the left. That's 6 inches of water in that dip to the patio. My yard isn't leveled.



The water soaking loosened the silicone otherwise it woulda been hell to pry. I gotta watch this pipe now, I can't have a snake go in there, it's 18 feet long.



There's my Halfa Weber! Safe! I'm so glad I didn't have my other grills out.

 

 

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