Brick Pig

Been meaning to post this since Sunday. Hot & fast, ~400F, RO lump, 2 small chunks of hickory, just a smidge over 4.5 hours. Served up with slaw and some "imported from NC" hushpuppies. The puppies are a little misshapen from my mom vacuum-sealing them and mailing them to me, but they were still plenty tasty.

I have not used the boxed stuff yet, but to me the bagged Big Block very definitely smells much more ... I don't know the right word ... chemical-ly? ... than RO lump when it's first lit. I still prefer the KJ, especially for long cooks, because I feel like it burns longer than the RO. (Purely anecdotal speculation on my part.) But when I use the KJ, I do let it burn longer than the RO before I put any meat in. I always wait until I'm completely sure I don't smell any of the volatiles. With the RO, that smell goes away in a very short time.

I don't have any grates other than the ones that came with my original purchase, but all the accessories I do have (boxes of firestarter cubes, "beercan" chicken stands, JoeTisserie motor & spit, grill brushes, etc., etc.) are in a kitchen size plastic garbage bin that stays in an enclosed cabinet on my mud porch. In that same cabinet have a second bin just like it that holds one bag of charcoal. I'd prefer a deck box, but a) I haven't found one I like yet and b) I'm a procrastinator, especially when I already have a working solution to the problem I'm addressing.

Wow. That's awful.

I'd forgotten about this thread. Here's a pic from last weekend. Just plain old burgers and dogs, but I think it's a pretty good photo. Also, I made the hot dog chili from scratch, finishing it off in some hickory smoke in the Big Joe. Very happy with how it turned out.

Yeah, the Joetisserie is awesome!

A month or two ago I made a batch with leftover pulled pork and a couple leftover bacon strips broken up in it. Served it to my monthly beer tasting group. Made me an instant hero.

I put fish on heavy duty aluminum foil and place that on the grill. Works with skin-on and skinless fish for me. I tried a couple different baskets over the years, but as the OP mentioned, cleanup was always a chore.

I start with uncooked pasta, pour in milk and heavy cream, shredded cheese(s), a bit of dry mustard, and salt and pepper. Mix it all up in a foil tray and cook indirect for an hour and 45 minutes. I give it all a good thorough stir at the one hour mark. I use one chunk of smoking wood (usually hickory) and have never had a complaint about too much smoke. Quite the contrary; over time I have learned to double my recipe because people can't get enough of it. Just served it at a cookout this past Saturday and it was the only dish that was completely gone at the end of the night. FWIW, I always grate the cheese myself, and I find that Cracker Barrel brand cheeses are a bit softer and stay creamier than other brands. I'm quite sure Velveeta would be even better, but I haven't ever tried it; for some reason my wife won't stand for it.

We finally finished the series and the movie on Friday night. I think this pretty easily one of the top 2 or 3 TV shows ever produced. The movie was not quite up to the level of the series, IMO, but I don't think that's a big surprise, and we still absolutely loved it. So happy we decided to watch it again.

We still haven't finished our re-watch of the series. We saw episode 10 and 11 of season three last night, and it was all we could do to NOT stay up waaaayy too late to finish it up with episode 12. It's just such a great show. And I'd forgotten how funny it is. Can't wait to get to the movie.

This pickle shop is a block and a half from my house. I have no idea if they have what you're looking for, or how much their shipping costs, but it might be worth a phone call or shooting them an email. There are a lot of varieties of pickles in the store that I don't see on the website. FWIW, their half sours are easily among the best I've ever had.

Haha. Yeah. And "those stale biscuits that were tomb and grave to so many insects."

Thanks. To clarify: my wife was entirely agreeable, too. The grill and the kitchen are completely my domain, as far as she's concerned.

My spot “ain’t all that,” but I can absolutely guarantee that nobody here is happier with their spot than I am with mine. After 3 years of rolling this thing (and 15 years of rolling various other grills & smokers) in & out of the garage at my previous house, as soon as we looked at this house I said to my wife, “The space at the foot of back stairs in MINE!”