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About Smoke Signals
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|  Smoke Signals is the free email newsletter from AmazingRibs.com's Barbecue Whisperer & Hedonism Evangelist, Meathead Goldwyn. I use it to tell folks about new stuff on AmazingRibs.com. If you like my work, please click here to . And remember: No rules in the bedroom or dining room! |
My Meat Temperature Magnet Has Won First Prize!!!
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The prize for "Best BBQ Tool" at the 2012 The National Barbecue Association conference did not go to a fancy grilling gadget. It was a simple inexpensive, indispensable, refrigerator magnet by Yours Truly. Hey, I've always known I was a tool, now I'm the best tool!
 The AmazingRibs.com Meat Temperature Magnet (now in its second revision) is a comprehensive guide to meat temperatures. It includes the latest USDA recommendations as well as chef recommendations (and they often differ) as well as color photos of the different stages of doneness for red meats. Designed for grillers' quick reference, the temperatures are the same for both indoor and outdoor cooks.
Most cookbooks contain outdated meat temperature info since the USDA has has changed its recommendations several times. Knowing the best temps is essential to cooking safe and great food. The Center for Disease Control estimates that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans gets sick from foodborne illnesses, (often mistakenly called "stomach flu,"), and 3,000 die. And nobody knows how many millions of dollars were wasted on overcooked food.
"Meathead converted me after 30 years of poking my meat with my finger and throwing out a lot of overcooked steaks," laughs Brad Barrett, manufacturer of GrillGrate, an innovative cooking surface for grills. "I was so impressed by the guide on his website that I converted it to a magnet and got exclusive rights to sell it." Barrett offers it for $5.99 on Amazon.
Cooking without a thermometer is like driving without a speedometer. A good temperature guide like this and a good digital thermometer are essential for every cook, especially backyard cooks.
Click this link for a detailed discussion of how the Meat Temperature Guide works and for ordering info.
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Read About the nifty grill and smoker combo the Obamas gave the Camerons
|  This time the Obamas got it right. This week they gave the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, and his wife, a very cool gift, a $1,900 wood and charcoal-burning grill and smoker combo, made, where else, in Obama's home state, Illinois.
Last time the Obamas didn't do so well. They gave Cameron's predecessor, Gordon Brown, a set of movie DVDs that didn't play on the devices sold in the UK.
You will not be surprised to know that I have cooked on the same grill given to the Camerons. Click here to read about the estimable Engelbrecht Braten 1000.
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Cook Your Corned Beef & Cabbage Right
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Surprisingly, corned beef and cabbage is not an Irish tradition. It is an Irish-American tradition. Corned pork and cabbage is more common in the Emerald Isles, but Irish immigrants to the US found beef more plentiful in their lower Manhattan ghettos where the butchers were mostly kosher Jews and pork was verboten.
Traditional on St. Patrick's Day when everyone is Irish, it's a shame that CB&C is not served more often, and my guess is that's because people just take it out of the wrapper and throw it in a pot with carrots, potatoes, cabbage and maybe some onions, and they feel they have met their obligation. But everything is soooooo salty, the meat is tough and fatty, and the veggies and potatoes are mushy. Click here to learn how to cook Corned Beef and Cabbage properly.
If you have leftovers, make Corned Beef Hash for breakfast.
Then make Rockin' Reuben Sandwiches for lunch.
And for dinner, throw it on the smoker and make Close To Katz's Pastrami
But if you do it right, there won't be leftovers. To do it right, make your own corned beef from scratch!
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Fun Gifts for the Barbecue Fan
| |  Shop for the barbecue lover at the AmazingRibs.com Gift Shop or just drop in for a chuckle. There are more than 30 BBQ-themed designs, about 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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Help Keep AmazingRibs.com Free
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Thix Amazon Link Helps Me a Lot, Please Use it!
http://tinyurl.com/3rlglce
Just copy and paste this link into your "favorites" or "bookmarks" and use it to take you to Amazon. It will tell Amazon I sent you and you help keep me supplied with charcoal and meat!
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