The fine folks at ThermoWorks were kind enough to invite some local bloggers to tour their facility last month. I did not know their HQ was right up the road. They were kind enough to treat some local bloggers to a tour, educate us on the different types of thermometry devices were on the market and of course: served up some FINE pulled pork. The bottom line though, is that ThermoWorks takes thermometry seriously. Really seriously. Their onsite calibration and support lab is something I could not imagine made-in-china or bargain thermometer manufacturers have available.

I have been blogging and cooking all sorts of things, mostly using the least expensive thermometers and monitoring devices I can find. (I’m broke as a joke.) Results have been hit and miss. Things often come out overcooked even though I followed directions to the letter. I’ve found better results with meats once I learned about letting them rest after cooking, but still coming out overcooked in many cases.

I picked up a  ThermoPop and ChefAlarm while at ThermoWorks.  I gathered up the cheaper thermometers I had in the BBQ drawer from thermpro, Sharper image, Weber and a couple of those silver dial thermometers and checked them all in a ice bath and boiling water to check their accuracy.  They were all within 2 degrees of 32F for the ice bath but the boiling water showed a range varying 26 degrees between them. The ThermoPop and ChefAlarm were both dead on at 32 degrees in the ice bath, and read 204.3 and 204.4 respectively in boiling water. (I’m at ~4250 feet altitude). This is where the largest variance between the different thermometers was found. The silver mechanical dial thermometers were the farthest off, and the other digital thermometers ranged up to 19 degrees off of 204 degrees. With that kind of variance it’s easy to see how BBQ’d meats can go from decent to overcooked. Plus the ThermoWorks products read the temperatures far faster than any of them. This means you have your BBQ open for a shorter amount of time and the BBQ temperature recovers faster when you are done reading.

I did my first cook with the ChefAlarm on a couple of pork roasts, and set them for 140 with the BBQ temp ranging around 260-280. I used Tonguespank Applewood Chipotle rub on one, and Honey Habanero  rub on the other.

The audible alarm on the ChefAlarm can be adjusted pretty high, I could hear it across the street when it was done! I pulled the meats and had them rest in a glass pan and they continue to heat in the middle, up to 150, at which point we served it up. Delicious, tender and not overcooked. I’ll be cooking lots of meats that often wound up overcooked and see how much better accurate temperature readings change the results. The ThermoTorks thermometers will offset their cost by saving ruined BBQs.

OK Home depot, you got me…a hot yellow clearance tag and 20% off for opening a card….this is now mine.

I have always wanted  big fat kamado grill but the Big Green Eggs are just too expensive. My little clay pot smoker did its best but just could not handle a brisket or multiple racks of ribs. Plus the Vision has a nifty pull-out ash pan, electric start and easy to top and bottom vents.

First up: Brisket.

There’s a lot of fancy-ass BBQs and grills out there, but you can’t spend your way into good BBQ.  With a basic big Weber, you can do a lot of great BBQ. This little article will go over the basic Weber, and the basic tools you can use to elevate your backyard BBQ and Smoking to new heights.

Here it is. This is the champ. This is what your dad used, this is what your granpappy used. There’s a reason: It works great.

I got mine for free off the local classifieds. Free, that’s FREE.99. You can find these all over the place for free every fall when it starts getting cold. Or they usually appear all year pretty cheap around $25.

Now the little rickety grates are usually shot to hell or nasty with old bbq schmeg. Since you got the best BBQ for free, you can afford to get this awesome set of cast-iron grates to replace them:

You can get all sorts of little sections with a flat griddle, veggie basket, etc..  These will add a wide variety of capability to your Weber.

The next thing you will need is a charcoal Chimney. You can light your briquettes with a few scraps of paper, no fluid needed. Just pile in your charcoal, light the paper in the bottom of the chimney, 5-10 minutes later: perfectly started charcoal. You can add some olive oil to the paper to make it burn hotter and longer if needed to get your charcoal lit.

Now this is where it gets fancy. The hardest thing to do when BBQing or smoking is keeping the temperature monitored or stable. This is the tool you need to keep an eye on your temps without hovering over the BBQ all day. I smoke a lot on my Weber so I need a steady temperature for 3 or more hours. With this sweet little WIRELESS temperature gauge, you can keep an eye on the temperature of the BBQ AND the internal temperature of the meat so you know exactly when it is done! It has alarms to let you know if the BBQ gets too hot, cold, and you can set the alarm for the meat temp too. Put one probe in the grill area, one into the meat. Adjust your BBQ vents to get the heat where it needs to be, and just let it go. These easliy work a couple hundred feet or more, so you can shuffle around with an ice cold drink while you BBQ or smoke.

The last thing I’m going to recommend is the vortex! this is a thick metal cone that you use to position your briquettes in the BBQ. You can put the coals in the middle, meat on the outside, vice versa, put them both in the middle for a fast sear, or put them off to the side, it makes controlling the heat application to your food very easy! They come in a few sizes, so be sure to order the proper size for your particular Weber. (S, M, L, XL). Check their website out here: http://vortexbbq.com/

Here’s how I do my chicken legs …. Vortex, charcoal and mesquite chunks for smoke in the middle, legs all around the outside so they don’t get direct heat and dry out, Wireless monitor to let me know when they are done, and they are always perfect.

With these tools and your free Weber, you should only be about $250 in the hole but don’t let the wife beat you up over it. When she sinks her teeth into the perfect Q you are putting out, all will be forgiven.