Fatties rule!

So I'm surfing around looking for ideas, inspiration and I came across this website called the BBQ Brethren. Signed up, grabbed a handle and started reading. Like every sub-culture, these guys have their own language. I saw references to something called a fatty, and wondered what the hell they were talking about. So using the Google, I come to find out that a fatty is a sausage log, like Jimmy Dean's or Bob Evans, where you take the wrapper off and throw it on the smoker for a couple of hours. Are you kidding me?

So I dig a little further and I find all these cool riffs on a fatty. Like, guys are taking the sausage log and stuffing them with all kinds of shit. Cheese, veggies, bacon, whatever. The kicker is the bacon lattice that some of them put around the log before they put it on the smoker. I finally come across the coolest one yet, the "Philly Phattie." It consists of Italian sausage wrapped around sauteed onions and peppers, Parmesan and provolone cheese. Since I am a huge fan of sausage and peppers, I HAD to give that a try.

So, I sauteed my onions and peppers for about 20 minutes in a little olive oil and butter.




I cut open the sausage log and flattened it out with my hands. It wasn't as easy as I thought! I put it on some aluminum foil covered with PAM so I could fold it over the filling. Put a little too much in...

The other fatty that I cooked was just a Bob Evans maple sausage log. I smoked for about 3 hours using lump and a hickory log up to a temp of around 170.. Holy crap was it some good stuff.

Smoked tri-tip

So I found a piece of Tri Tip, also known as rump roast in the freezer and decided I'd like to give it a go. This piece of meat can be done many different ways, in California it is prepared Santa Maria style. It is fairly lean and is often used in pot roast, like a long crock pot cook.

I thawed it completely and doused it with Worchestershire, and applied my combination of Mike Mills' Magic Dust and Texas BBQ rub. You can order Texas BBQ rub here, and I highly recommend it. I threw it in my vacuum barrel and let it rotate for about 20 minutes. I find the vacuum makes the meat a little more tender and lets the rub/sauce combo sink in. I put it in the fridge and let it sit overnight.

In the meantime, I was checking lots of websites to determine what the proper temperature should be for the cut of meat. Some places I read said to treat it like a roast and cook no higher than 140; others said to cook it like a brisket and take it up to 190-200. I thought better err on the side of caution and stick with the low temps.

Sunday was cool and overcast, with a fairly decent wind. I started my fire about 1230, using Frontier Lump charcoal with a single hickory log for smoke. I put the meat on the top grid of the ECB (El Cheapo Brinkmann) at about 130, with the starting temp at about 45. I had taken the meat out of the fridge about 2 hours earlier, but it didn't get anywhere near room temp.

I was initially worried that the wind would steal all my heat and make this take forever, but the temp started climbing nicely and was at 135 in about 2 hours. I pulled it off and put a loose foil tent over the top, with the temp maxing out at about 138. When I sliced it, it was perfectly medium rare:



There was also a nice smoke ring on it, which you can sort of make out despite my shitty camera. The rub was probably more for a pork shoulder, as I think this wold have kicked ass with a salt based rub and a few less spices. All in all, a very successful experiment. I think I am going to add this to the menu for Easter dinner.

Infected with the Q virus

I'm starting this blog because I, plain and simple, have been infected with the Q virus. I'm not sure when I became infected, the seeds of which were sown earlier in my life. It certainly took on an acute stage when I bought my smoker a few years ago and discovered a wonderful subculture that celebrates all things smoke.

My intent is to infect as many as I can with my experiences, good and bad, while trying to provide as much detail as possible on the hows and how longs that all of this stuff takes. Along the way I hope to be joined by those with other viruses, specifically beer and cocktails, so they can spread their viruses as well. And we all can get fat and drunk. Cheers!