Walt's Corner

It is that time of year once again when my wife is unemployed for the summer. Did I mention she is a teacher? After slaving the entire school year away from oh-dark-thirty AM to oh-dark-thirty PM, she has certainly earned her summer off. But these summers seem to be getting smaller.

I remember as a kid, summers were hella-long and are where some of my most favorite memories stem from.

3^rd grade summer is especially memorable for me. We lived in the country in Michigan. The forest was our back yard. Our nearest neighbor was miles down the road. My sister and I would be gone all day exploring those woods and dirt county roads. Once we found a pear tree. None of them were ripe. None of them were given the opportunity to become ripe. We had the entire tree bare of fruit within a couple of days.

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Roasted 3 pounds of Brazil over the weekend. I like the flavor of this coffee but I don’t like roasting it. It makes my roaster dirtier than other coffees. Puts out more smoke while roasting. Also, the cracks are very hard to hear compared to my other coffees. I’ve only got one more pound left.

Finally ran out of the last 20 pound bag of Nicaragua and opened my next one from the Papandayan Region – think Maylasia, Indonesia area. This is Java Sunda Wet Process Siki Alit. This time the 20-pound bag came in just 43 grams over weight.

I was also lucky enough to score a pound of some Kona before it sold out, and it sold out fast. Really looking forward to that coming in!

I thought it was my lucky day yesterday. During lunch I went to the Fort Bliss Post Office to send off a certified letter. During lunch the staff is down to the absolute minimum of one. I was expecting to have to wait in line for 10 or 15 minutes.

I opened the door, looked around to gauge the wait time. Lo and behold, there was no line. The one guy standing at the counter. A beam of sunshine lighting up my path to the counter. Ecstatic, I said “It’s my lucky day!”

The clerk said, “Unfortunately, it’s not, motherfucker.” OK, he may not have dropped that F bomb. My Head just throws random F-bombs throughout the day. He continued, “We can’t print any postage,” and proceeded to give me directions to the nearest post office. He then complemented me on my shirt, saying something to the effect that my day was somewhat lucky with a shirt like that.

I’ll try my luck today.

This was not only my first time cooking a tri-tip, but I did it unconventionally – smoked it like a brisket. It turned out amazing.

Mustard was the binder. Seasonings consisted of Killer Hogs AP, Fiesta Fajita Seasoning, and shit-ton of fresh cracked pepper. I do not eat brisket by the slice with the exception my taste test after smoking it; I use it for my tacos, nachos, and burritos. That’s why I went ahead and threw some fajita seasoning in the mix.

Post oak and a small amount of cherry wood was used for the smoke. Temperature was maintained between 250-264 for the whole cook. Reached 165º at almost 4 hours in at which point I wrapped it in foil and placed back on until it was probe tender, almost 2 hours. Final temp was 203º.

After a 30 minute rest on the counter the slicing began. It was so juicy and pull apart tender. Tasted just like a brisket.

This tri-cut is going to be my go-to for when I don’t spend all morning, afternoon, and some evening smoking a real brisket. Previously, my go-to was a good chuck or roast and I would end up discarding probably a fifth of the weight in fat after it was cooked.

There’s not a whole lot of fat on a trimmed tri-cut but there is enough internal marbling to keep it juicy during a 5-6 hour cook. In the picture here you can see just how lean this piece was. There was no fat left for me to cut off. Most impressive.

Every now and then, Weber puts out an exclusive version of their iconic BBQ Kettle.

Years ago, I was skeptical of kettle BBQs. I looked down on them. I saw them as a beginners’ grill. I was way past a beginner. I skip-shifted to what I viewed as the higher grills and smokers.

However, after seeing Malcolm from HOW TO BBQ RIGHT getting down on his trusty Weber my views started to change and I eventually picked up the cheapest model to check it out. I was so wrong. Pretty much after my first cook I upgraded to a Master-Touch model and gave away the other one.

Soon after I bought the high end Weber Performer Deluxe which is just their kettle mounted to a hefty cart and includes a gas-fueled lighter to get your coals lit.

I’ve smoked everything from my standard brisket and pork shoulders to the occasional chicken shawarma or gyro meat spikes. I even turned my old Master-Touch into a pizza oven.

I haven’t used my Old Country BBQ stick smoker in the last 2 years and anyone that knows me knows I’m constantly smoking brisket and pork shoulders. I need to sell it. Someone will be happy to get a deal on it.

I’ve even picked up some smaller versions of Weber’s kettle for camping, whether it’s just a couple wieners or burgers for the two of us (Smokey Joe) or something small but slightly bigger/capable than the Smokey Joe (Jumbo Joe). I also have a the small Weber Go Anywhere propane grill for those times when charcoal grilling is banned due to fire-restrictions in the forest.

Which brings me to my subject – The Star Spangled Kettle. Sold exclusively at the Walmart, I had mine delivered for $150. Just a standard low end BBQ kettle but with the red stripes on white background on the bowl and the lid is blue with white stars around the edges. Beautiful. But being the low end kettle, it lacks the advanced ash catcher though it still has the standard pan. Also missing from this tier of kettle is the build in thermometer. Regardless of the lack of features it is still a beautiful kettle and I wanted it.

I ordered a cart similar to the Performer cart, a (red, white and blue) thermometer to install in the lid, some handles for the three daisy wheel dampers son in the bowl, and Weber’s Gourmet BBQ System I have many of the inserts for this system on my Performer and wanted to have the same options available without having to swap grates.

End result turned out grate! I mean GREAT!

‘MERICA!