Yep. I remember you. I thought it was bold showing up in Ohio with the Pittsburgh gear! I like it. Probably not too hard to spot my plate in the parking lot. PIN ST8.
OT: What is That Delightful Smell? Or, Is Something Burning?
- Thread starter PAgeologist
- Start date
Let's talk ribs. Baby back or spare ribs?
I'm a baby back guy. They just seem easier to deal with than spare ribs.
I'm a baby back guy. They just seem easier to deal with than spare ribs.
It all depends on the hog. I find both similar in taste as I use the same cooking method and rubs for both. A well trimmed St. Louis rack from a Berkshire hog is my go to. Great flavor and not too fatty.
I've only ever smoked baby back. I could be mistaken but don't spare ribs have that large hunk of cartilage between each rib about the size of a golf tee? That grosses me out.... no thanks. 🤢
Yes and no. Untrimmed spare ribs have the hard breastbone, chewy cartilage and gristle. Trimming them down to a St. Louis cut removes most all of that. BB ribs are more tender but St. Louis spares are meatier.
Pic of spare rib trimmed to St. Louis.
Know Your Pork Ribs • AnswerLine • Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
blogs.extension.iastate.edu
I love the top part of the spare rib. I smoke it separately with a taco seasoning then shred it up for tacos or burritos.Yes and no. Untrimmed spare ribs have the hard breastbone, chewy cartilage and gristle. Trimming them down to a St. Louis cut removes most all of that. BB ribs are more tender but St. Louis spares are meatier.
Pic of spare rib trimmed to St. Louis.
Know Your Pork Ribs • AnswerLine • Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
I found an old flat top grill that came from a restaurant. It is 1" thick and an absolute pig to deal with. Built a set of burners for it. Then using an old boat trailer made a grill on wheels. I left burners out of one edge to have a cool side. It is 34" deep and 46" wide. The trailer wheel wells get a single burner on them for a dutch oven or bean pot. It is a beast to do breakfast for the masses on. It will do 30 burgers at a time or 30 4" pancakes. I have a couple other grills. One a Blackstone and one a Sam's club knock off. They are good but the consistent heat of the heavy top is much easier to control. Just know where you want it set. Turn on the heat and let it come up to temperature. My wife has a devil of a time with it. She wants to turn it to high then turn it down. Big nope. Just let it come up to temp slow to where you want it. The heavier the top the better in my opinion. More consistent and even heat. The trade off is moving the beast.
1" top? holy cow, that's bigger than Fred Flintstone's rig where he cooks Brontosaurus burgers. It would take 20 minutes on full high just to hit temperature, not to mention the crane needed to move it around. I think your micrometer needs some calibration.
I hear brontosaurus 🦕 has a great fat cap.
It is his grill and I assume he knows the dimensions better than say, YOU.
He did say it was an absolute pig to deal with and mounted it on a boat trailer. I guess he could have used a crane. You are calling this guy out for being some sort of dolt at best and an out right lier at worst. Do better.
I would love to see your portable flattop setup. Kudos to you!
How do you clean the surface after service?
I have used grill bricks, screen pads, stainless scrubbies with club soda.
While still hot, try throwing ice cubes on it. It does wonders for steaming off grime and stuck on food.
I worked at a sub shop/restaurant out of high school. They had a similar size commercial griddle as Idaho mentioned. At the end of every day we'd clean it. Turn off the gas and dump about 1 cup of commercial grill cleaner on it while it's still hot. Then using a screen pad we'd scrubb it down and added water as necessary to keep it wet. Scrape, then using water we'd give it a couple thorough rinses along with a paper towel wipe down to make sure everything was off the surface. Basically raw clean spotless metal at this point. We then give it a heavy mist of vinegar and wipe down to neutralize.
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My first response was meant to be humorous. Obviously. No serious critique involves the Flintstones my friend
However, since you took it upon yourself to overreact to my kidding and and call me out. I will now absolutely call bull shit formally.
As a degreed and licensed mechanical engineer some things don't pass the sniff test. Maybe there is a 1" thick cooking surface out there somewhere designed by a crazy person. The world is full of them. As for economic, practicality, and structural reasons noone short of someone raiding the scrap heap at a steel mill for a free price of plate, would build such a monstrosity.
Common sense would indicate the obvious reasons not to do so. Most notably heat transfer, cost and of course weight. There is no practical reason to make a 3' x 4' surface for cooking more than 3/8ths of an inch thick even for commercial applications.
I could do the calculations but with massive burners, that large a heat sink might never come up to a proper sear temperature of say 500 degrees. A whole tank of propane to cook a burger doesn't sound fun to me, and the wife will find more reasons to be pissed off for a family BBQ if I had to say 'I am going out to preheat the grill' at 2:00 pm in prep for dinner at 6:00.
No matter, since you over reacted, I agree on one point, someone should do better - you!
So let's put aside the fact the wasted cost for 1" steel, and that you probably can't even cook on it reliably.
Just the cooking surface alone would be 462.8 lbs let alone the additional 2-300++lbs for a proper frame. Look it up - https://www.chapelsteel.com/weight-steel-plate.html
When I see a cross-section picture of a 1" thick steel grill top, I am will eat crow, and gladly donate another $100 to the NLWC. If however it's less than 1/2" as I pretty much guarantee, you can do the same. Fair?
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It takes 30 minutes to come to temperature of that you are correct. And yes we had a crane in the shop when we built the damn thing. It isn't something you pull out for 2 people to do the blackstone thing. It is when the whole famdamly shows up and you are charged with feeding 75 folks breakfast. On wheels with a couple guys you can roll it anywhere you want. The front hitch has a jack and then a spare jack to fit to the low wheel. With one fixed and 2 jack points it is easy to level or slightly pitch to make the grease run when you want. It is a pig to deal with but cooks like a dream once up to temperature. Clean it just like Creek Side said. Reseason as needed. I have canvas cover made for it that works to keep it mostly clean. It usually needs scraped and wiped down before each use. (I have never had success trying to post pictures to this site. But if some one wants to send an email to karim at sargentengineers.com I would be happy to send pictures of said rig.)
Quick search. One inch pretty standard.
Everyone knows guys can’t measure things accurately when it comes to inches.
How well does it cook crow? Sounds like this might be relevant
Of course, now I need to know:....What kind of whine goes well with crow? @82bordeaux??
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Very fair. !5 minutes after you posted your little butt hurt response to my post, Wexford posted a spec sheet, photo's, and a weight of 855 lbs on the 72"x33.1 x1" Vulcan model. I'm sure you have viewed that post. Sooooo, eat a little crow while making out your check to NLWC. Vulcan is a very reputable Co. and has been around since the stone age. If Fred did grill back in the day, he likely used a Vulcan Grill.
By the way, you stated the wife (pics would be nice) would find more reasons to be pissed off for a family BBQ if you started preheating the grill at 2:00 for a 6:00 meal. Do tell, what generally pisses her off? The quality of the food you grill, not being done on time, your drunk when the grilling is done or what? When you learn that volumes could be written on what you don't know, you will feel better about yourself and you will gradually
DO BETTER!!!
NLWC just got $100 richer!
HR/GIA freaking out!!
HR/GIA freaking out!!
Fair enough. NLWC will soon be $100 richer!
Thank you. It will be put to good use. When world domination is the goal, every penny counts.
So… how thick of a griddle is “too thick”?
I have a couple 5’x10‘ sheets of 3.75” thick A-36 I would consider selling if Goggles has any money left.
I have a couple 5’x10‘ sheets of 3.75” thick A-36 I would consider selling if Goggles has any money left.
I will throw in Penn State Wrestling Club link also for anyone not already a member.
Join the PSWC – Penn State Wrestling Club
pennstatewrestlingclub.org
Done (PSWC).
I will throw in Penn State Wrestling Club link also for anyone not already a member.
Join the PSWC – Penn State Wrestling Club
What wood would be best to smoke peppers that I plan on dehydrating and turning into flakes/powder? Cayennes, jalapeños, habaneros and such.
Pecan is the traditional wood used for chipotle. Other fruitwoods are also used. I grow poblanos and may give smoking them a try using some of my home-harvested cherry. There are plenty of "how to" on the web. Here are a few I thought looked good.
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/smoked-peppers
https://furiousgrill.com/how-to-smoke-peppers/
Since the convo went to peppers, you guys had candied jalapeños before? My nephew made some and I tried them for the first time a few weeks ago. I fell in love with these things. I bought a peck of jalapeños and made 12 jars of them and they are supposed to rest for two weeks but I couldn't resist and opened one yesterday. The recipe calls them cowboy candy. Yum.
bellyfull.net
Candied Jalapenos - Sweet & Spicy Cowboy Candy
Spicy jalapeño slices in a sugary glaze, these Candied Jalapeños (aka Cowboy Candy) are the perfect sweet-and-spicy condiment to liven up your favorite foods!
bellyfull.net
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For poblanos, anaheim, and other meatier sauce-base peppers, I like to stem, grill until the skins are pretty black, then seal in a container to self-steam for about 10 min, then the skin peels easily and you can freeze in batches useful to your mexican recipes. You could de-seed the pepers before freezing--I usually don't, but it's the whitish ribbing that holds the seeds that also have the most capsaicin.
Tomorrow's dinner I am making a low country boil. Shrimp, corn, baby potatoes, andouille sausage. Boil with water, apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, onion, lemons.
Cowboy caviar. I have a jar in the fridge.Since the convo went to peppers, you guys had candied jalapeños before? My nephew made some and I tried them for the first time a few weeks ago. I fell in love with these things. I bought a peck of jalapeños and made 12 jars of them and they are supposed to rest for two weeks but I couldn't resist and opened one yesterday. They recipe calls them cowboy candy. Yum.
Candied Jalapenos - Sweet & Spicy Cowboy Candy
Spicy jalapeño slices in a sugary glaze, these Candied Jalapeños (aka Cowboy Candy) are the perfect sweet-and-spicy condiment to liven up your favorite foods!
