Help keep AmazingRibs free!
With a $25 donation you'll get a 100% cotton, brushed twill, adjustable, low profile cap with the AmazingRibs.com patch sewn on. I'll even toss in a small bag of BBQ'rs Delight excellent wood smoke pellets.
Click for more info and pictures of the hat.
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Testimonials
You've elevated me to the level of deity in my family. Gonna go make a donation to the cause right now.
Matt Archer
Hi Meathead! I've been a fan of yours for years and I've tried a ton of your recipes.
Liz Kupillas, Hungary
Tried that recipe for our Thanksgiving in Canada last month. The BEST damn bird I EVER had!!! Was only my second attempt using a smoker. And Craig is right: get a good thermometer. I got two digitals: one to check smoker temp and one for the bird. Was even wireless so I could keep an eye on the temp while watching football in the house!! WOOHOO!!
Mike Daigneault, via Facebook
I have to start off with that I was not a big fan of ribs, however, my wife had them at a BBQ a few weeks ago and insisted on making them at home. This is when I found your site and followed your recipe and suggestions. What a success! They were by far the best tasting ribs that I have ever had! I can now say that, "I am a fan of ribs"!
Tye, Corona, CA
Forgoing the deep fryer, we decided to smoke the bird using your "Ultimate Smoked Turkey" recipe. Suffice it to say, it was a massive success! I don't think I've ever gotten that kind of reaction from a meal before and, to be honest, I can see why as I was just as taken aback as everyone else. I have never been a huge turkey guy but, this is spectacular! In fact, I've already received a few requests to bring birds to other gatherings: for the remainder of the year, it appears I am on semi-full-time turkey duty! Good thing I can't think of a single thing I'd rather be doing. Thanks a lot for what is, without question, THE "Ultimate" turkey recipe!!
Zachary Barnett
I found your website today and tried the sweet tea recipe as I have been looking for one. I tried it, it is easy to make and fabulous!!
Sara MacRovine
I grilled the the last meal ribs tonight for family and friends tonight and all I have to say is "WOW". Saying they were a big hit would be a under statement. Even my three year old daughter was begging for more. We are trying the pulled pork next weekend!
Stephen Barnett
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Click here for more testimonials and pix from readers
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Show Me Yours
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I've been getting wonderful emails and pix from you. Man, you folks
know how to party! Send me pix of your versions of my recipes or your party and I might publish them on my site.
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Be My FB Friend
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| Smoke Signals is Free
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About Smoke Signals
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 Smoke Signals is the free email from AmazingRibs.com and Hedonism Evangelist Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn. Please send me feedback, especially if you think an article or recipe is
confusing, if you know a better way, or if I made a mistake. Daddy
taught me that "praise is cheap, criticism priceless." If you like my website, please click here to forward a copy of this to a friend. And remember: No rules in the bedroom or the kitchen!
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A Lump of Coal for Meathead
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 Yours Truly is surely the only one in my family hoping for a lump of coal for the holidays.
If your family has someone similarly inclined, there are many gift options to chose from. This issue is devoted to my faves with links to them on Amazon.com.
Why Amazon.com? It often has the best prices anywhere, even better than many manufacturers' websites. Also, Amazon.com pays me a small commission, so purchasing from them helps underwrite the cost of operating AmazingRibs.com. But low prices, fast delivery, and good refund policies are the real reasons to buy from Amazon.com.
In fact, if you like all the info I give you for free and would like to help me buy charcoal, copy this url link and save it: http://tinyurl.com/yazmwlq. It takes you to Amazon.com and tags anything you buy with my affiliate code so I get that small commission. It works on anything from grills to diapers and it has zero impact on the price you pay.
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The Single Most Important Tool
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A radio host once interviewed me and asked "What is the single most important advice you can give a barbecue cook?" My answer, without hesitation, was "Get a good thermometer for your cooker and another for your meat."
The fact is that most grills and smokers come with bimetal coil thermometers, and they're crap. They can be off as much as 50F.
Cooking with a bad thermometer is like driving at night without headlights. Spend the money for a good one. It will pay for itself by saving your meat and your face.
Without a good thermometer there's a good chance you'll be making lame excuses for overcooked meat, undercooked meat, or dinner at midnight. Or worst of all, apologies at bedside in the hospital.
Here's what the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says: "The color of cooked meat and poultry is not always a sure sign of its degree of doneness. Only by using a food thermometer can one accurately determine that a meat has reached a safe temperature. Turkey, fresh pork, ground beef or veal can remain pink even after cooking to temperatures of 160F and higher. The meat of smoked turkey is always pink."
Finally, you absolutely positively cannot tell anything about the temp of a cooker is by holding your hand over it and counting until you have to pull your hand away. Anyone who says so is severely misinformed.
 The ThermoWorks ThermaPen is a model I strongly recommend. It reads fast, has large easy-to-see numbers, and a long thin probe for getting into the center of a steak, a chicken breast, or even a large hunk like a ham. The probe is a thermocouple, the most accurate and fastest sensor, and it is thin so it will not open a gusher when you pull it out. It is on a pivot so it can reach into awkward places. The heat sensor is extremely small, so you know you are reading just where you put it and not a lot of the meat around it. Another nice thing about the ThermaPen is that the company stands behind it. Mine began to malfunction after eight years. I called them, gave no indication that I was a writer, described my problem, and rather than hit me up for a nice repair bill, they told me how to fix it. Click here for discount pricing and direct ordering of the Thermoworks Thermapen from Amazon.com.
 The Maverick ET-73 RediChek Remote Wireless Smoker Thermometer is cool tool is a digital thermometer and timer combo with two thermistor probes on cables, one to insert into the meat, and another to leave in your grill or smoker to get the oven temp. Thermistors are very accurate, but a bit slower than thermocouples like the Thermapen.
Both probes plug into a sender module that transmits temperatures to a receiver that you can take into the living room with you and place on the couch next to the beer and chips. That's right, with the Maverick ET-73 you can monitor your smoker and your meat while you watch the game. You can also set the timer to remind you when to start the side dishes or wake you up if the game is really boring. If you can afford only one thermometer, this is the one since it is really two thermometers in one.
Maverick has good tech support. When my receiver began to malfunction, they told me the problem sounded like a bad backlight and told me to ship it back for a replacement. No question about when I bought it!
There is still room for improvement, however. You must turn on the receiver first or else it won't work, and turning on the sender is a pain because you have to remove the battery cover! Also, some of the programming is a bit tricky, so make sure to keep the instructions handy. Unfortunately, the instructions are not well written or organized. My final complaint: The range of the transmitter can be diminished by obstructions (like walls), so it may not reach you in the living room. But I still love mine. Click here to check current pricing onf the Maverick ET-73 on Amazon.com (I just checked and it is on sale!).
Click here to learn more about the different types of thermometer, to see some more recommendations, even a few less expensive models, how to calibrate a thermometer, and more.
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The Smokenator and the Hovergrill
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If you have a Weber Kettle grill, you need a Smokenator and Hovergrill.
For less than $70 you can easily convert a standard Weber Kettle into a smoker capable of making restaurant quality smoked ribs, pork shoulder, brisket, turkey, or salmon. If you have a limited budget or limited deck space, there is no need to buy a standalone smoker.
 Here's how it works: The Smokenator is a simple piece of bent 18 gauge stainless steel that inserts into the lower half of the kettle. You can place meat on the lower and the upper rack so it is possible you can get 8-10 slabs of ribs on at once! Then you put some unlit charcoal in the Smokenator, some wood on top of them, some lit charcoal on top of the wood, and some water in the water cup. And, no, unlit charcoal will not make your food taste bad unless you use the stuff that has accelerant in it like Matchlight.
Put the lid on, adjust the dampers, and go drink a beer. The Smokenator will pump out aromatic smoke and just the right low and slow temp for hours. I have no trouble keeping the temp under 250F on a 100F day. The thick steel plate blocks your meat from direct exposure to the flames becoming a large flat radiator providing indirect heat. The water bowl puts moisture in the oven which helps develop the smoke ring. Keep in mind that this is a "hot" smoker so it can't do cold smoking for things like lox or cheese. But it can do just about anything else the fancy-schmancy smokers do. A very clever, inexpensive gadget that actually works as advertised.
 The Hovergrill is a grate that sits on top of the grill's top grate. It is a bit flimsy, but if you don't abuse it, it should last for years and increase your capacity significantly.
I find another use for the Hovergrill. When I am grilling steaks I want high heat, like they get in steakhouses, so I remove the Smokenator and place the Hovergrill on top of the charcoal grate and under the cooking grate. Then I put a layer of hot coals on the Hovergrill. This locates the heat about 1" below the meat and generates 700F or more. That's what you nead to get steaks dark brown and crispy on the outside and still have them rare to medium rare in the center. For discount pricing and direct ordering of the Smokenator and Hovergrill Kit from Amazon.com, click here.
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Weber Chimney Starter
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 Help break our addiction to oil! Reduce air pollution! Or just get your charcoal started faster, cheaper, and without that petrochemical smell.
This Weber chimney holds enough briquettes to start most cookers. Just stuff some newspaper in the bottom and dump the charcoal in the top. Light the paper, and in a few minutes the coals are glowing white, and there is no residual solvent in the coals to flavor your food and poison your guests. The thermoplastic handle doesn't melt, and it stays cool. Made from durable aluminized steel, mine is five years old and it sits out all winter. The previous one I bought, another brand, rusted out and the wooden handle fell off in one year. For discount pricing and direct ordering of the latest model by Weber from Amazon.com, click here.
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GrillGrates Take Your Grill Into the Infrared Zone
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GrillGrates are the best new product I have tested in years and the best thing to happen to beef since salt and pepper.
They sit on top of your current grill's grates. The hard anodized aircraft grade aluminum rail tops are flat and wide and make perfect dark crunchy grill marks. The base superheats yet eliminates hot spots and blocks flareups. This is the same concept behind the expensive new infrared grills.
Juices drip in the valleys between the rails and are vaporized and penetrate the meat enhancing flavor. I throw wood between the rails and they impart a delicate smoke flavor. I have made my best steaks and burgers ever with Grill Grates. This is a really great new product! Click here for sizes and pricing of GrillGrates from Amazon.com .
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Extra Long Suede Leather Gloves
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 Real heavy duty 15" suede gloves with cotton lining that go almost to my elbow (OK, I have short arms). I use mine to lift hot grates, push coals around, reach into the fire box to place logs, lift food from deep down inside the Weber Smokey Mountain. I have even used it to pick up hot coals.
They beat oven mits because they have fingers making it much easier to manipulate tongs and handle grates. I have two pairs, one for lifting food, and one for all else. When they get dirty I just put them on and wash my hands with a bar of soap. Ranked #1 by Cook's Illustrated. For discount pricing and direct ordering from Amazon.com, click here.
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My Favorite Book on Food and Cooking
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 On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee
I don't know about you, but I want to know why as much as I want to know how.
If you want to know why we do what we do in the kitchen, not just what to do or how to do it, this fat tome is a must have. It is a fascinating and easy to read book that explains what food is made of, and how it reacts with heat and other foods. McGee is a food scientist first, and now he has a column in the New York Times. He describes scores of different kinds of foods and their characteristics as well as every cooking method and how it changes the food.
The meticulous black and white pen and ink illustrations are illuminating, and if you have the technical bent, the molecular drawings will give you the real nitty gritty. This book belongs in every kitchen. Click here to check pricing and order from Amazon.com.
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Great Gifts for the Barbecue Fan
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 Visit the AmazingRibs.com Gift Shop for a chuckle. There are now more than 30 steak-themed designs, about 20 hotdog-themed designs, and more than 30 wine-themed designs. Order aprons, hats, shirts, sweatshirts, intimate wear, and
other apparel for men, women, kids and pets, beer mugs, posters, and
other tschotschkes.
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