TL;DR - Homemade apple wood smoked jalapeno bacon is easy and awesome!  (http://chaosinthekitchen.com/2010/10/home-cured-jalapeno-bacon/)
 
My wife and I have a Red Beans and Bacon dish we absolutely love, that we've always made with jalapeno bacon sourced from a local supermarket.  Unfortunately during pandemic-times they stopped carrying it, and they don't know if it will ever come back.  We were nearly resigned to using "normal" bacon, until I found the recipe from Chaos in the Kitchen (above).
 
We picked up a 3.5# skin-on pork belly from the local Super Saver, made up the brining solution, and parked it all in the cold box for a week.  Then smoked it at 200F to internal temp of 150F with a chunk of apple wood.  In order to slice it, I put the finished bacon in the freezer for 40 min, which allowed me to cut 'thin enough' strips with a sharp knife for burgers.  For the Red Beans and Bacon, I cut 1/4" strips, then knocked those down into lardons.
 
The bacon had more jalapeno flavor than heat.  We might try adding some birdseye pepper power to subsequent attempts to amp it up a bit.
 
Here's Alton Browns Red Beans recipe we modified (we omit the rice entirely and instead serve dish with deluxe cornbread, and we substitute the pickled pork with jalapeno bacon):
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/red-beans-and-rice-recipe-1943443
 
[In some of the comments on the DIY bacon page, folks mentioned it's "not really" bacon because it hasn't been "cured".  Perhaps that's correct, but my bacon lasted 7 days in fridge just fine post smoking, so I think I'm good with the finished product regardless of the name]
 
 
 

First attempt at chicken shawarma last night on the Joetisserie.
 
Came out really good, very pleased with the result and so easy. Juicy, tender moist chicken, with gnarled crispy edges.
 
Followed Smoking Dad's recipe from his YouTube video.

Finally pulled the trigger on a Joetisserie and can’t wait to start using it. First up want to do a chicken as that seems simple and easy, but given the two pack Costco sells has anyone done two birds at the same time on a KJ Classic? I’ve searched but haven’t found much Info with people cooking two, other than a picture which seems to be a Big Joe. Seems like it might be tight but should make it as long as they aren’t over 5lbs each. Also wondering if that affects cooking time. 

So this finally happened today (just a few days short of 6 weeks). 
 
 
 
Since we’re rapidly running out of month, the inaugural cook also happens to be for the Five Ingredient Challenge.  I was inspired by John Setzler’s SloRoller chicken video so I opted for that method.
 
Ingredients:
Whole chicken
Pineapple
Red pepper
Vidalia onion
Honey
Wayward Gourmet Applewood Smoked BBQ Awesomeness
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil
 

 
I did a dry brine on the chicken the night prior.
 
Finally fired up the grill and set it for 375.  I swapped sides at about the 35 minute point and bumped the temp up to 425, checked on them after an hour and reduced the temp to 400.  Pulled both at about 80-85 minutes.
 

 
Slow roasted the veggies with some salt & pepper and olive oil in the oven at 350, and finished on the grill.
 
True to John’s video, the chicken skin was crispy and the chicken super moist.  My wife’s assessment was ‘the best chicken I’ve ever cooked’ so I consider the first round (of many) a success.
 

 
 
 
 
 

Hey everyone. Call me Tracksoup. I'm an avid outdoorsman who enjoys hunting and fishing, its a great to know that I've played a part in putting food on the table.  
 
A few years ago I saw a BGE and became intrigued with the Kamado cooker. I could never bring myself to spend the $$$ to replace my propane BBQ with a kamado. But after months of saving my pennies to buy a motorcycle, my wife decided that she really didn't want me riding anymore, so I decided this was my opportunity to buy myself a Kamado grill. I did a lot of reading and research about the different kamado grills available (within a reasonable distance from where I live) and made the decision to buy myself a Vision Grills Pro S grill back in April 2020 & I couldn't be happier with my decision to go Kamado.
 
Up until now, my only BBQ experience was a propane grill & although I've got a health appetite, the flavour of the food was 'ho-hum'. Since I got my Vision grill, I've grilled everything from venison steaks & burgers, pork sausages, chicken breasts and thighs, I've smoked pork spare ribs and even a low & slow moose roast, there is so much more flavour in the food now & I'm cooking on my kamado way more often than I ever did with the propane BBQ. This thing is awesome!!! 
 
While looking for info & tips to familiarize myself with this wonderful cooker, I found Kamadoguru.com about mid-June. There is so much info on this forum & I am enjoying reading through the pages