Well after seasoning the side burner this week - "spray" on some oil and cook
for several hours.

This Saturday I did a medium sized tri tip - a bit of overkill with the little
tri-tip and the giant chamber but what the heck.

I filled a chimney starter and a few minutes later dumped all the coals into the
sidebox.

I browned the trimmed little devil for a few minutes in the side box on to start
the cooking process, then transferred the meat to the main chamber, closed both
lids & opened the vents to heat up the unit. At 225 closed down the vents to
about 10% dropped 2 chunks about the size of a fist of red oak into the side
box, and walked away.

The tri-tip had been sitting in Garlic, Onion, salt, pepper and red wine for
several hours.

That was about 3:45 The guests were supposed to be there at 6:00. a little later
they called to say they were delayed until about 6:30.

About 6:00 the meat read 135 on an instant read, and the chamber temp was down
to about 180 or so. Transferred the meat back to the side burner to "finish"
the browning. When that was done the out it came into a warm oven while the rest
of the dinner was finished.

At 7:00 we ate - the tri-tip had a fantastic flavor, the meat was tinged red
around the outside for about 1/8th of an inch. This was one of the most tender
tri-tips I have ever cooked. Served with some local Central Coast red Q sauce
on the side.

Next experiment - 16 pound turkey.

It seems that one chimney of charcoal will not get over 225.

Dimitri

Dimitri wrote:

> This Saturday I did a medium sized tri tip - a bit of overkill with
> the little tri-tip and the giant chamber but what the heck.

<good accounting snipped>


Sounds like a great first run! Congrats!

--
Andy

I just saw there is a new show on Food Network and it's
online. It's called Eat This. Foodnetwork.com/eatthis

Starts at 11am. FYI.

nancy

Nancy Young wrote:

> I just saw there is a new show on Food Network and it's
> online. It's called Eat This. Foodnetwork.com/eatthis
>
> Starts at 11am. FYI.
>
> nancy


Rats! I see the page you gave and it says premiers today but not in
Philly!

Oh well. Thanks for the fyi.

--
Andy

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
...
>I just saw there is a new show on Food Network and it's
> online. It's called Eat This. Foodnetwork.com/eatthis
>
> Starts at 11am. FYI.
>
> nancy
Tee Hee.
Dee Dee

"Andy" <q> wrote in message .. .
> Dimitri wrote:
>
>> This Saturday I did a medium sized tri tip - a bit of overkill with
>> the little tri-tip and the giant chamber but what the heck.
>
> <good accounting snipped>
>
>
> Sounds like a great first run! Congrats!
>
> --
> Andy

Thanks,

Worth the effort.

;-)

Dimitri

Dimitri wrote:
> ....[snip] This Saturday I did a medium sized tri tip - a bit of overkill with the little
> tri-tip and the giant chamber but what the heck.
> [snip]
> At 7:00 we ate - the tri-tip had a fantastic flavor, the meat was tinged red
> around the outside for about 1/8th of an inch. This was one of the most tender
> tri-tips I have ever cooked. Served with some local Central Coast red Q sauce
> on the side. [snip]

> It seems that one chimney of charcoal will not get over 225.
>
This is good, right? You don't want it hotter except for browning,
right?

Anything that can tame the toughness of tri-tip is worth continuing to
play with. -aem

"aem" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Dimitri wrote:
>> ....[snip] This Saturday I did a medium sized tri tip - a bit of overkill
>> with the little
>> tri-tip and the giant chamber but what the heck.
>> [snip]
>> At 7:00 we ate - the tri-tip had a fantastic flavor, the meat was tinged red
>> around the outside for about 1/8th of an inch. This was one of the most
>> tender
>> tri-tips I have ever cooked. Served with some local Central Coast red Q
>> sauce
>> on the side. [snip]
>
>> It seems that one chimney of charcoal will not get over 225.
>>
> This is good, right?

Delicious!

You don't want it hotter except for browning, right?

Not me - I like it rare buth the other half won't eat rere to medium rare :-(

> Anything that can tame the toughness of tri-tip is worth continuing to
> play with.

Agreed - thin slicing is almost a necessity.

BTW this was the el-cheapo $2.99 per pound untrimmed. I did the trimming.

Dimitri

On Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:24:58 GMT, "Dimitri" >
wrote:

>Well after seasoning the side burner this week - "spray" on some oil and cook
>for several hours.
>
>This Saturday I did a medium sized tri tip - a bit of overkill with the little
>tri-tip and the giant chamber but what the heck.
>
>I filled a chimney starter and a few minutes later dumped all the coals into the
>sidebox.
>
>I browned the trimmed little devil for a few minutes in the side box on to start
>the cooking process, then transferred the meat to the main chamber, closed both
>lids & opened the vents to heat up the unit. At 225 closed down the vents to
>about 10% dropped 2 chunks about the size of a fist of red oak into the side
>box, and walked away.
>
>The tri-tip had been sitting in Garlic, Onion, salt, pepper and red wine for
>several hours.
>
>That was about 3:45 The guests were supposed to be there at 6:00. a little later
>they called to say they were delayed until about 6:30.
>
>About 6:00 the meat read 135 on an instant read, and the chamber temp was down
>to about 180 or so. Transferred the meat back to the side burner to "finish"
>the browning. When that was done the out it came into a warm oven while the rest
>of the dinner was finished.
>
>At 7:00 we ate - the tri-tip had a fantastic flavor, the meat was tinged red
>around the outside for about 1/8th of an inch. This was one of the most tender
>tri-tips I have ever cooked. Served with some local Central Coast red Q sauce
>on the side.
>
>Next experiment - 16 pound turkey.
>
>It seems that one chimney of charcoal will not get over 225.
>
>Dimitri
>
In smoking turkey in the old, cheap, Brinkman brand smoker....
I found that the smoke must be started prior to turkey getting even
warm.. It's as if the turkey is "sealed" even after a couple minutes
of cooking temps..
Pan of cheap apple juice over coals , under turkey makes it nice too..
Chuck (in SC)