Brick Pig

I really have to get back to weeknight grilling. I blame my 80-minute commute for not doing it, but the truth is I go in earlier and I still get home at the same time now as I did at my old job, and I grilled 3, 4, or even 5 nights per week back then. Agree with @ckreef: the only real trick is to start the fire as soon as you get home. After that it's easy-peasy. Maybe I'll consider this my New Year's resolution.

Looks delicious.

Yes, but you should not use soap on unglazed stoneware, such as the baking dishes I posted above. The soap will get into the pores and your food will taste like soap. And since I mentioned cast iron in my post, I should also say that you shouldn't soak cast iron. Not because of soap, but because the prolonged exposure to water can cause it to rust.

It's the same unglazed ceramic as a common pizza stone. You clean them similar to a cast iron pan. Hot water and a scraper. No soap*. If something is really stuck, you can just fill the dish with water and let it soak. Then a hot water and scraper rinse will do the trick. (Like a pizza stone, the do get discolored.) *I realize it's a myth that you can never use soap on cast iron, which is why I'm saying "similar to."

I have four unglazed stoneware baking dishes of varying sizes and shapes that I use all the time in my Big Joe. They're all discolored from sitting in smoke, but they work beautifully. The one on the left was fairly new in this picture. You can see how dark the other one is after years of use. It's like seasoning on cast iron.

When we moved 18 months ago, I asked the movers how they wanted me to prepare my Big Joe. The main guy told me to empty it and bubble wrap all the innards, and otherwise don't do anything. When the day came, they rolled it up into the truck, padded it, strapped it down, and went on about their business. I was skeptical, to put it very mildly, but a week later when they showed up at the new house, they rolled it right down the ramp and onto the patio. Done and done.

Amen to variety. I've never been able to understand how people can narrow down their musical tastes to just two or three types. Heck, I have a pretty hard time even distinguishing between genres. There's just so much great music out there. Make a joyful noise, everybody!

Great, thanks! Definitely going to try this.

Looks fantastic. I need to stop looking at these cook threads while I'm eating my puny little lunches. (Or I need to make better lunches. ) The umami powder you mention is very interesting. You just put shiitakes and porchinis in a blender/processor until they're powdered? That's it? Am I the only one who didn't know about this?

Been carrying this cheapo card case for several years now. (I virtually never carry cash.) Other side has a pocket with a plastic window for my license. I still carry it in my back pocket even though it will easily fit in front. I just don't like carrying anything in my front pockets.

I don't believe I have any cooking-specific music. Just whatever I want to listen to at that particular time. We pay for Apple Music, and we get Amazon Music via our Prime membership. I have free Spotify and Pandora accounts, which we never use. But I would guess the single thing we listen to most is The Loft on SiriusXM.

I've only cooked one turkey in my entire life, so I am by no means an authority on the subject. However, the one turkey I did cook was on my Joetisserie last year on Thanksgiving. If I remember correctly, it was about 13 pounds and I spun it at about 375 degrees. According to my iPhone photos, it went on the grill at 9AM and at 11:40AM it was on my kitchen counter ready to be tented with foil. So roughly 2.5 hours in the Joe. It was much faster than I expected. And it was delicious.

She is indeed.

I've never tried brining a pork butt. And maybe brining the ribs is more important than I think it is. I just don't ever recall that any of the ribs I've brined were noticeably better or different than ribs I didn't brine. But as I say, my wife wants me to brine them, so I do. I'm an agreeable guy, what can I say?

It’s been ages since I smoked ribs, so I made a point to do some this weekend. Nothing fancy, just plain old dry rub, more or less the 2-2-1 method. I’m not 100% convinced brining makes a difference, but my wife thinks it does, so I did a quick brine for about 40 minutes Slapped on a light coating of PYM and then a solid dusting of my everyday homemade rub. Into the KJBJ at roughly 240° About two hours later, ready to be wrapped. Off the heat at around the 4 hour & 40 minute mark. Covered this pan with heavy duty foil and kept them in a cooler with towels for another hour-ish until dinner time. Hastily and kind of sloppily plated. Zero complaints.