Archive for the ‘ceramic cooker’ Tag
I had to perform a “sterilization” operation on my BGE this morning. Because of the recent rain and lack of use, I noticed some mold growing inside my ceramic cooker. This is not un-common, and usually happens in humid climates. The solution is to simply make a very hot fire to burn off and sterilize the cooking area.
I made a screaming hot fire, over 500 to 550 degrees F.
Since I wanted to cook a pair of tri-tip roasts later in the day, I wanted to snuff the fire and let it cool down so I could use it later. So, I closed the top and bottom vents, and let the fire starve for several minutes.
When it reached around 250 or 300 degrees (4 or 6 hours later), I “burped” the lid three times (my normal procedure to prevent flash-back), and opened the lid to see if the heat burned and killed off the inside surfaces. About two seconds after I lifted the lid, I heard that scary “whoooooosh” sound of the fire coming back to life. This was the biggest and loudest flash-back I have ever survived.
Here’s a picture of my “lifting arm” —
I was lucky – No burns to my skin, just some very singed arm-hair.
Meanwhile, the two tri-tip roasts came out perfect – Those will make great sandwiches for the next few weeks….
Getting the Big Green Egg up to temperature (250 degrees F). Hickory chips were added.
A recap of my first few cooks with a Big Green Egg ceramic cooker. Click the link >>>> A Barbecue Summer
I wanted to try making baked potatoes on the BGE for over a year, and I finally tried it. This is based on the directions by The Naked Whiz, a ceramic cooker expert.
You can go here to see the original recipe. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/bakedpotato.htm
I cut the salt down to one-half cup and scrubbed the potatoes to make sure all traces of dirt were removed from the skin. I used my own “universal rub” for meats instead of the Dizzy Pig rub.
And this made me think about creating a rub for baked potatoes. Something like onion and pepper and garlic – sounds almost like the rub I use for Santa Maria Style tri-tip.
I cooked an entire 5 pound sack of russet potatoes for this trial.
The original procedure said to turn the spuds half-way through the cooking time. I just let them bake on their own and did not turn them.
Naked Whiz says to bake the potatoes for one hour – My potatoes took one hour plus 10 minutes. If you try this, test for doneness using a skewer – it should easily push into the potato.
These were excellent – the texture is very good. The skin has a smoky flavor, which could be another area to play with – add hickory chips next time? More baked potato experiments are in order.
Here are some pictures. . .
Someone asked me where my BBQ information and pictures are on this site. I have not posted any of my BBQ projects lately, but here is something from the archives. This is a pair of tri-tip roasts on my Big Green Egg ceramic cooker. This was my first cook using a new Maverick wireless thermometer. It allows me to roam around the house and yard while monitoring the grate as well as the meat temperature. It includes a low- and high-temperature warning. One unit stays with the cooker, and the other unit has a wire belt clip and looks like a cell phone.
Here is a picture of the setup:
Beef tri-tip smoke-roasting on the Big Green Egg. The wires you see in the picture are for the Maverick remote thermometer. One probe goes into the item being cooked, and the other probe monitors the grill temperature. The remote unit has a digital display for timing and high- or low-temperature.
And here is one of the roasts being sliced:
Santa Maria Style Beef Tri-Tip – amazingly juicy and tender.
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