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So we finally had some awesome weather this weekend (and a bit of rain too), but I was wondering who got out the grills and smokers and cooked up a feast!?

I had a bunch of friends come over Sunday and did the whole BBQ thing. Did baby back ribs and baked beans (from scratch) on the smoker. First time I've ever made baked beans starting with dried beans. I must say they turned out pretty awesome. Also did some grilled asparagus (fresh from the garden), cast iron skillet cornbread (the sweet yankee kind), and macaroni & cheese.

The food all turned out fantastic, and my only regret is I had too much fun with friends eating and enjoying it all that I didn't get any food porn One of my friends also brought over homemade ice cream for dessert. An awesome feast to kickoff summer! Best of all while Toledo was getting dumped on Sunday evening, BG escaped the inclement weather and had a nice evening.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend cooking outside too! Long live grilling season

I didn't have a lot of time yesterday -- we got home from Ohio at about 1:00 and I was going to marinate and hot smoke some chicken breasts (I wanted to do thighs and legs, but white meat rules with the rest of the family) in the Smokey Mountain.

But we got an invite over to friends for a cook-out, so I had a bunch of chicken marinating and a change in plans. Got home at about 6:30, and put an hour dry smoke on the chicken at about 325 degrees. Came out pretty good, we're having it for dinner tonight.

I got the smoker a couple of weeks ago, and I've done some baby back ribs. Beautiful result, but Lady Byron and the Princess thought the rub was too spicy for them. They were right-- so I'll adjust next time.

I think I'm going to do spare ribs this weekend using the 3/2/1 method.

Alas no photos here either. I smoked some brined thick cut pork loin chops and some dry rubbed western style ribs. Really should have brined the pork loin longer but it was a last minute decision, will definately try it again. All in all a bunch of smokey goodness.

Hammb could you post up your recipe for homemade baked beans? I am also reallly interested in a campfire Pinto bean recipe.

Lord_Byron wrote:I didn't have a lot of time yesterday -- we got home from Ohio at about 1:00 and I was going to marinate and hot smoke some chicken breasts (I wanted to do thighs and legs, but white meat rules with the rest of the family) in the Smokey Mountain.

But we got an invite over to friends for a cook-out, so I had a bunch of chicken marinating and a change in plans. Got home at about 6:30, and put an hour dry smoke on the chicken at about 325 degrees. Came out pretty good, we're having it for dinner tonight.

I got the smoker a couple of weeks ago, and I've done some baby back ribs. Beautiful result, but Lady Byron and the Princess thought the rub was too spicy for them. They were right-- so I'll adjust next time.

I think I'm going to do spare ribs this weekend using the 3/2/1 method.

I've got a WSM too! AWESOME cooker! Love it for Ribs, pulled pork, brisket, beans, etc. I routinely get 12-15 hours on one load of charcoal, and once you get the temp stable it just sits there. I don't ever fill the water pan with anything anymore, though, I just wrap it in foil, and use it as a heat buffer.

I did babybacks this week using 2/2/1. I want to perfect spares sometime. They're cheaper, and when I've had great spares, I think I like them better than great babybacks. Problem is they seem to be more touchy and don't turn out great all the time.

Nothing better than smoke coming out of the top of the WSM and a cold beer in hand That is summertime!

Pete Segaard wrote:Alas no photos here either. I smoked some brined thick cut pork loin chops and some dry rubbed western style ribs. Really should have brined the pork loin longer but it was a last minute decision, will definately try it again. All in all a bunch of smokey goodness.

Hammb could you post up your recipe for homemade baked beans? I am also reallly interested in a campfire Pinto bean recipe.

Sorry man, I did them purely by taste/feel, no recipe.

I can give ya a rundown though...no real amounts...

I used 2 pounds of dried navy beans. I soaked them in water overnight. Then I put them in a large pot and let them simmer in water for about 90 mins. The beans were pretty much cooked at that point.

While they were cooking, in an aluminum pan I put one large sweet onion (cut into slivers), 5-6 large cloves of minced garlic, and I mixed up my sauce. It basically consisted of ketchup (a lot of it, probably almost 2 cups), yellow mustard, brown sugar & maple syrup (I like my beans kinda sweet), worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and BBQ rub (I use Mike Mills' Magic Dust). I basically just fiddled with the ingredients until I got a sweet and tangy ratio.

I drained them of excess water and added them to the aluminum pan. I also cut up a pound of bacon and stirred it all together.

I then smoked them on the bottom rack of the WSM the entire time the ribs were on (about 5 hours total @ 225-250*). The ribs were on the top rack, so any drippings made their way into the beans as well

The result was a sweet and tangy bean sauce, with a lot of smokey pork flavor from the bacon & rib drippings I would say they were very good, but not any better than just doctoring up some pre-made Bush's beans or whatever. They were much better than eating canned beans right out of the can. They were also cheaper than Bush's beans since I usually add pretty much the same thing to bush's as I did to these...and the dried beans were less than $1/lb. I always try to do beans underneath some other BBQ meat though, really can't beat that!

Love my WSM

hammb wrote: I want to perfect spares sometime. They're cheaper, and when I've had great spares, I think I like them better than great babybacks. Problem is they seem to be more touchy and don't turn out great all the time.

Nothing better than smoke coming out of the top of the WSM and a cold beer in hand That is summertime!

I compare it to the difference between beef tenderloin and rib-eye. Tenderloin is good quality but rib-eye is where the flavor is. Same with ribs -- baby-backs are meatier and more forgiving, but spares are chock full of flavor.

+1 on the smoke pouring out the top while I sit there and watch. . .