Outdoor cooking - Barbecues, Barbecue, BBQs, BBQ, Smokers, Grills. And Ribs.

So, how do you cook potatoes on the barbecue? I've always found it to be very hit and miss, and even when it's successful it's not that good. Going for the traditional foil-wrapped "baked" potato ends up with something that's more steamed than baked and risks a charred side if you get too close to the heat. I tried it with some ribs (which were excellent) yesterday and the results were "whelming" at best.

I personally think you're better off making potato salad or mashed potato on the side... I'm not a massive fan of baked potatoes with BBQ, bit heavy, know what I mean?

I also struggle to get them just right on a Weber...

potato salad

No apples or any raisins in the potato salad or you will anger the BBQ gods.

bit heavy, know what I mean?

The question "why are we having baked potatoes on the hottest day of the year" did come up from my ever-appreciative diners. The ribs went down a storm though.

In other news, barbecuing with a migraine when you can't seen anything on your left-hand side adds an extra layer of challenge.

I don't put mayo in mine...

I don't put mayo in mine...

Potato salad bro, do you even?

Had potato salad with the chicken. Everything banged.

Not like that, mate... Too heavy, know what I mean? 🙃

Srsly tho'... I haven't done one in ages but I normally just use oil, salt and rosemary... Maybe a tiny bit of lemon juice just to brighten it up a bit...

If you've got a smoker, then parboil, smoke, and finish off in a deep fryer.

Otherwise get a hotplate and chop em small and fry them on it. They get a smokey taste if you pop the lid on.

Baked potatoes of all forms can get to fuck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dbnIH3RlXo

Potato salad should be the side dish that looks utter delicious so you put too much on the plate. It IS too heavy and you can't finish it so you awkwardly bin it and feel guilty for taking too much in the first place.

Shame. The role of potato salad at a BBQ is shame.

Anybody interested in a GMG Davy Crockett? I'm selling one, it comes with a full bag of pellets, GMG waterproof cover, GMG thermal blanket, the little stainless bucket and all the wire trays. Used condition obviously not massively, no damage etc I'm just not using it much. looking for £400 or near offers. I'm based in E11 for pickup.

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If someone else hasn’t taken this already I will? I can come pick it up from you

I mean yes I'd love it, but I'm in Edinburgh

Hi All,

I bought one of the Aldi kamados and tried my first long cook over the weekend. The results were mixed and any assistance that you could provide in terms of my process would be greatly appreciated!

I put in 1.5kg of beef brisket for four hours at 150degrees c above some trays of water, then opened it to marinade and put it back in for two further hours at 100 degrees c on a foil tray (I intended to raise the temperature to 150 for an hour once more but could not).

The meat was more tough/ less juicy than I wanted. The question is, was it over cooked or not cooked enough?!

Has anyone got any tips that they could share? Should I have wrapped it in foil for the last hour/ opened the kamado more often to check that the water trays were topped up?

All temperatures above are as per the thermometer on the barbecue...

I've attached some pictures because I always enjoy looking at them!

Andrew

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I would say too quick a cook. Did you measure the internal temp of the meat?

Ideally, brisket is an 8-10 (or more) hour cook at very low temps and the final internal temp of the brisket should be around 90 degrees.

Too quick and all the goodness evaporates. It's a tough bit of meat so needs a long time to break everything down.

Further to @Soul's point- that brisket just doesn't have enough fat/ thickness on/to it for true BBQ brisket yank style.
It is more of a braising brisket- which is what is sold in pretty much every butchers.
You want more fat cap, and aim temp at 100 ish.
I learnt this by trial and error:
https://www.lfgss.com/comments/15967058/
vs
https://www.lfgss.com/comments/16006901/
(https://www.lfgss.com/comments/16008074/)

Now you've made me want to buy a smoker and 6kg of beef all over again.

Thanks for the response.

Unfortunately, I didn't measure the internal temperature. I expected instant success at the first try! Are you saying that the cook should stop once the meat hits 90 degrees, or should it be sustained at that temperature throughout?

Would you wrap the meat in foil towards the end? It seems like it would be too late to stop the evaporation of juices by then. But possibly not!

Edit - Texas Crutch

I like to chop the potatoes up and make small-ish foil parcels with garlic, oil, herbs, chopped onion, whatever and put the parcels right at the edge of the coals. Also works well in the outskirts of open fires. It takes a bit of trial and error to get a hang of the correct distancing and cooking times, but when you nail it you get beautiful little parcels of almost confit potatoes with crispy bits bursting with whatever flavours you put in. Quite the treat to open and eat! Also goes well with Indian flavours...

That's great. Thanks. Do you mean internal meat temperature of 100 or a 12 hour cook at 100?

Scratch that - I've just seen the graph from 23 days ago. Thanks!

Read all of this.

It should give you all the technical details you need to master brisket.

These are amongst the best things you can make on a smoker. The deep fried smokiness is so moorish.

Thanks very much. Since posting I've also learnt about the Texas Crutch! Thanks all. I'll let you know how the next one goes.

I'm weighing up whether to try to get hold of one of the larger Aldi Kamados, but it is really hard to work out how big the cooking area is. Their website is not helpful! "Cooking areas: Gas 54 x 37cm (approx.), Charcoal 50.5 x 37cm (Approx.)" Can anyone who has got one let me know what the actual diameter of the grill area is please? Thanks