Ms. K, Author at Grill Nation

Where’s Summer? We’re Ready to Grill!

April 18, 2022 By Ms. K

Well, we’ve cracked the mid-April threshold, and we’re still digging ourselves out from yet another load of snow. In these parts, we love a good extreme-conditions, winter-grilling tale – but we are chomping at the bit for some warmer grilling times!

Here’s hoping that many of you in the Nation are already stripping down to shirtsleeves and grilling to your heart’s content. But for those of us still floundering in flurries, here’s a gallery of some of last year’s greatest hits from our still-rather-new Yoder Smoker, the Yoder YS640s pellet grill. Let’s hope these pics help to coax summer grilling time our way…

Burger Patties
Building Burgers
Burger Art
Beef Short Ribs
Smoking the Short Ribs
Shorts Ribs in Red Wine Braise
Short Ribs Plates
Pork Shoulder
Pork Shoulder Seasoned with Killer Hogs Rub
Pulling Apart Tender Smoked Pork
Pulled Pork for Days
Pulled Pork Sandwich
Seasoning a Beef Brisket
Come closer…
Brisket in Butcher Paper
Brisket Plated
Salmon
Salmon Flaking Beautifully
Salmon Plated and a Crisp White
Baby Back Ribs
Traditional Boston Baked Beans
Best Version Ever of Pork and Beans

You’ll notice a few common themes in our gallery that deserve a shout out. First, all this glorious food was prepared on our spectacular Yoder Smoker’s Yoder YS640s pellet grill. We bought ours through the good folks at Luxe Barbeque Company – assembled and delivered, thank you very much. We often find ourselves stocking up on pellets, specialty seasonings and other grilling supplies at this one-stop luxury bbq stop.

Speaking of seasonings, we’ve been taking our grilling and smoking to the next level with the superb line of Killer Hogs barbecue rubs and seasonings, created by brothers Malcolm and Waylon Reed. Big shout out to Malcolm not just for the killer blends, but also his awesome recipes and smoker video tutorials. We’ve certainly learned more than a thing or two about doing ribs, pork shoulder, brisket and more from his award-winning competition bbq expertise.

Finally, as you can tell from our pics, we like our wine. Our go-to local shop for the finest bottles as well as curated cottage cases for easy summer sipping is Jones and Company Wine Merchants. A friendly, first-class shop!

Looking forward to summer (- if you find it, let us know)!

Winter Cookery: The Thermal Jacket for the Yoder YS640s

February 14, 2022 By Ms. K

Nothing says Christmas Holiday Dinner like baby back ribs.

Okay–maybe not.

But then again, why not? If you’re like us, the answer up until now is that for a big chunk of the winter, it’s just too darn cold to be thinking of smoking meat low and slow outside. That’s why we were excited to come across Yoder Smokers’ Thermal Jacket for our Yoder YS640s pellet grill.

YS604S with Thermal Jacket — YS604S with Yoder Smokers’ Thermal Jacket

The jacket is an insulated cover custom-made to fit over the cooking chamber of our YS640S. It’s a three-piece system that easily attaches to the unit and to the other jacket pieces with simple hooks straps.

Another View of Thermal Jacket on Yoder YS640S

The idea is that when the cooking chamber is insulated, your smoker won’t have to work as hard – i.e., consume more pellets than necessary – to fight cold outside temperatures.

Note that the thermal jacket is specifically designed for low cooking or “smoking” temperatures (below 300 degrees). Yoder recommends that you remove the jacket for higher temperature cooking.

We gave our insulating jacket a whirl on December 23rd when the thermometer dipped to -9 degrees Celsius (about 16 degrees Fahrenheit). It definitely gets colder than that around here, so we’ll be updating you on our experiences with more frigid temps.

As you can see from the time and temperature chart above, we were able to keep a low smoking temperature (~225 degrees) nice and steady for hours – exactly what our Holiday Ribs needed. Despite the cold temperatures, we went through an average amount of pellets and didn’t have any problematic temperature swings.

(BTW – we’re totally loving our smoker’s built-in FireBoard wireless temperature monitoring technology, where the screenshot above is from. It lets you monitor what’s going on with your grill via an app on a tablet or smarthphone. Handy all year round, but especially welcome when it’s cold outside! Read more in our Yoder Grill overview.)

Ribs in late December is no longer just a dream thanks to our new Yoder Thermal Jacket. At about $270 US, it’s not cheap but it saves pellets, constant checking, and the potential for weird temperature swings when what your meat needs is consistency. In our books, it’s a win.

We definitely recommend that cold-weather citizens of Grill Nation with Yoder Smokers’ pellet grills check it out.

Baby Back Ribs on Yoder Smokers YS640S Smoker

August 3, 2021 By Ms. K

One of the primary reasons we invested in a Yoder YS640S Smoker was the ability to make a mess of baby back ribs. Our first attempt turned out really well, and we learned a few things for next time (which is right around the corner). Let’s get right to it!

First, after zipping off those membranes, we prepped two racks of baby back ribs by brushing on a coating of yellow mustard and a generous sprinkle of Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub.

Baby Back Ribs with Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub

Meanwhile, we filled up the smoker’s hopper with pellets and got it heated to 225 F. For reference, it probably took about 20 minutes or so to get to temp. (We’ve been allowing about 30 mins. in our planning for the heat up process just to be on the safe side – and have never been sorry.)

Another look at the Yoder Smoker — The YS640S Smoker from Yoder Smokers

Once the ribs went on, the whole process was set to take about 4 hours, give or take. Unlike some other meats, we weren’t using a probe with ribs (too finicky) – instead we planned to cook according to some timed steps, and a bit of peeking. Basically: 2 hours of low and slow cooking and smoke absorption, ~ 2 hours (or less) with racks wrapped in foil, and about 30-40 mins unwrapped and sauced.

The first step was to get the ribs onto the smoker. For the next two hours, it was all about low and slow cooking, and allowing the ribs to absorb all that smokey goodness.

Ribs on the Yoder Smoker's S640S Smoker — WRibs on the Yoder Smoker’s YS640S Smoker

With the ribs taken care of for the next while, we moved back into the kitchen and mixed up a tasty pot of Boston Baked Beans as our featured accompaniment. (We used a slightly different recipe than the one linked to here – our recipe came with the pot – but there seem to be a few variations out there. The beans themselves seem quite forgiving and flexible!)

Making Boston Baked Beans for a Scrumptious Side

We took a pound of navy beans, pre-soaked overnight, and brought them to a boil to soften them up. We then mixed them up in our super-cool, authentic Boston Baked Beans pot with thick cut bacon, molasses, brown sugar, onion, s&p, spices… Even at this point this tasty side smelled goooooooood. This baked in a 300 degree oven for a good 3 1/2 hours, so it was a good match timing-wise for the ribs.

Prepping the Boston Baked Beans (Bacon!)

Of course, we could have made the beans in advance and simply kept them warm for dinner, but making them while the ribs did their thing on the smoker happened to work great.

Preparing the Crutch with Margarine, Brown Sugar and Honey

All right – back to those baby backs! With the beans doing their thing in the oven, after about two hours of smoking on the Yoder it was time to bring the ribs in for some TLC. They’d taken in a great smoke flavour, but we weren’t done yet.

To hasten the cooking (and eating) process and keep everything moist and wonderful, we used the ‘Texas crutch’ technique. To prep the crutch, we laid out a sheet of foil for each rib, smearing them with some margarine, a sprinkle of brown sugar and a drizzle of honey to create a tasty, moisture-enhancing glaze.

Note to ourselves (and maybe to you, too) – we went a little heavy handed on the spread this time around. We’ll be more sparing in the future. You’re not making a sauce here, you’re just giving the meat a ‘crutch’ to hasten things along.

Rack on Margarine, Sugar and Honey "Glaze" — Rack on Margarine, Sugar and Honey “Glaze”

Wrapping the racks snugly is a crucial part of the crutch to be sure to prevent leaks. Once this was done, our ribs went back on the grill for another 2 hours.

For these particular racks, we actually found that this step was a bit long. The meat was literally coming off the bone – and while still ultimately tasty, it wasn’t ideal. Pitmasters actually strive for a situation where you can bend the rack and see the meat crack. You’re not wanting the rack separate into pieces (see below). We’ve since found that an hour and a half is more like it!

We knew at this point that our ribs were a bit more done than we wanted, but we continued with the plan anyway. We removed the racks from the foil and sauced them up. They then went back into the smoker for about 30-40 mins. more until the sauce got tacky. (You want your fingers sticky, right?)

All in all, not bad for a first try.

Baby back ribs, Boston baked bean, and Ms. K’s Homemade Slaw made for a pretty fine meal.

Pork Shoulder on the YS640S Yoder Smoker

June 30, 2021 By Ms. K

9 1/2 lb. Pork Shoulder Fresh from the Grocery Store

One of the first things we tried on our new Yoder Smoker’s YS640S Smoker was a 9 1/2 lb. (4.3kg) pork shoulder blade roast. Turned out that pulled pork heaven was a mere 14 hours or so away. Did we learn some stuff? Yup. Would we tweak things next time around? Sure. But was there a delicious learning curve to be had? You’d better believe it.

Our epic day began at about 4:30 am to get the smoker going. (The alarm was set for a more decadent 5:00am wake up call, but we just couldn’t wait.) We loaded up the hopper to the max with 20lb of wood pellets (Pitmaster’s Choice Premium Fruit Blend Pellets to be exact). We set the smoker for a super-low 200F and waited about 30 minutes for it to get to temp.

Found the fine looking roast below at my local grocery store where pork shoulder roasts happened to be that week’s featured item. Always nice when that happens.

As we waited for the smoker to be ready, we rubbed the roast with some canola oil (mustard would have worked, too) then seasoned with a one-two punch from Malcolm Reed’s Killer Hogs line of spice blends: A.P. Seasoning and The BBQ Rub. (For you Grill Nation Canucks out there, we order our Killer Hogs and other premium BBQ spices spices from The Rub Shack located in London, Ontario. Great selection!)

Seasoning up the Pork with Killer Hogs Seasonings

For our cooking method, we decided to follow pitmaster Malcolm Reed’s ultra low-and-slow, no-wrap pork shoulder method. Definitely check out his detailed video tutorial for a masterclass session.

The no-wrap method aims to infuse adequate smokey goodness into the meat and allow the roast to develop a beautiful bark. You’re shooting for an internal temperature of about 200F (195-205F). But you do need time. Lots of time. (In the video, Reed’s roast takes ~ 14 hours, and ours came in around the same. More on this below.)

Pork Shoulder Getting Started on the YS640S

For hours and hours, our roast was a-smokin’. We kept the smoker at 200F for about 12 hours. During that time beginning at about the 8 hour mark, the roast’s internal temperature stalled out as expected between 158-170F. It literally wouldn’t budge. (Using our smoker’s built-in Fireboard technology, we were keeping track of all this remotely with an app – but we did step out on the deck fairly often to peek.)

This ‘stall’ point is of course the point where other methods have you wrap the thing, urging those internal temperatures to keep on rising.

We waited as patiently as we could through the stall. But after about 4 hours seeing no change (so, about 12 hungry hours now into the process) we decided to bump up the smoker’s temperature to 250F. It was getting late, we were getting hungry, and we’d been smelling smoked meat all day for Pete’s sake. Anyway, raising the temperature got things moving in the right direction.

The roast came off the smoker at about 7pm with an internal temp of 190F (a little below what Reed recommends). This was 14 hours after we put it into the Yoder.

Then we had to rest it for about 30 minutes which may have been the hardest part of all. But look at these pics – the meat is as tender and buttery as it looks, and the bark had a pleasing bite.

Pork Shoulder Falling Apart and Ready to Go

These Bear Claws are an indispensable tool for pulling the pork apart.

Shredding the Pulled Pork with Ultra-Handy Bear Claws

…and look at what we made! Mmmm-mmm. We feasted on pulled pork sandwiches for days and shrink-wrapped and froze three generous portions for future meals. Hard to argue that all that time and waiting isn’t worth it when it tastes like this.

Our new Yoder YS640S definitely shone throughout the process and made start up, smoking and cleaning up ultra easy. I should note that we did end up topping up the hopper with pellets several hours in. AS we get acquainted with this machine, we’re finding that it uses about 1 1/2 lbs. pellets per hour, so for a huge smoking day like this one, simply filling once isn’t enough. Something to keep your eye on.

All in all we buy the logic of Reed’s no-wrap method. The meat was certainly buttery tender, perfectly infused with smoke, with a pleasing bark. It is a long process though.

You’ll notice that in Reed’s video, he puts his roast on overnight aiming to serve pulled pork at lunch. So, you’re sleeping during a lot of the waiting time, and not really tense about whether it will be done or not. Putting it on in the morning and aiming for dinner – even a later one – got a little tense as we started to wonder if we’d ever get around to eating. We had no choice but to bump up the temp to push it along this time.

Next time, we’re planning on raising the smoker’s temp from 200 to 225 after about 5 hours, then moving it up to 250F if need be. This might help us get to the more ideal 195F internal temp – and sooner. We’ll let you know how it goes!

Pulled Pork Sandwich with Chopped White Onions and Ms. K's Homemade Coleslaw — Pulled Pork Sandwich with Chopped White Onions and Ms. K’s Homemade Coleslaw

Great results from this method and our first time doing pork shoulder on our Yoder YS640S. More Yoder experiences coming soon…

The Yoder YS640S Competition Smoker. It’s Here.

June 13, 2021 By Ms. K

Yoder Smoker YS640S Competition Smoker - Beautiful — Yoder Smoker’s YS640S Competition Smoker – Beautiful

There’s a new addition to our outdoor kitchen, and it’s a serious piece of equipment. Our Yoder YS640S Competition Smoker has arrived. It’s big, heavy, solid, and very impressive. We thought you’d enjoy an ‘unboxing’ tour and a few comments about the unit.

So, we got it up on the deck and love that despite the beefiness of this competition-worthy wood pellet smoker, the YS640S fits surprisingly well on our deck. And it’s so well-built that it really is an attractive thing (if you’re into grills, of course). Speaking of looks, we chose the black and silver style, but a flashier orange and black option – as well as custom cart colours – is also available.

As a competition grill, it’s meant to be mobile. We like how even if we’re staying put and smoking at home, the solid tires make it easy to pull the unit away from the wall and reposition when desired.

Of course, what really matters is how it performs. We were drawn to the YS640S for the promise of top-notch slow-and-low cooking, and the ability to sear at extreme temps. So far it’s met and exceeded our expectations for ease-of-use, clean-up and most importantly, results. (Cooking and food-related articles coming soon with mouth-watering pics.)

We ordered our YS640S through our local barbeque supply dealer, Luxe Barbeque Company. They had it pre-assembled so that on delivery other than popping on the front and side shelves, there was little for us to do. The delivery was definitely a two-person job (the machine weighs in at a cool 418 lbs). Getting it into place was not without its challenges – the guys had to negotiate a few steps up onto the deck (thanks, guys!).

The shot above of the cooking chamber shows off the awesome construction of the YS640S – and its spaciousness. You can immediately picture smoking multiple pork shoulders, chickens or turkeys if the need arises, all super-doable with this sort of capacity.

Here’s the hopper where you drop in your wood pellets. The auger at the bottom automatically feeds the pellets into the fire pot within the chamber.

And here’s said fire pot in action:

The hopper holds 20 lbs of pellets. We’ve already taken advantage of Luxe’s pellet-delivery service to keep the fires burning, so to speak. So far, so good.

Two-Piece Heat Diffuser with Access Door in Yoder cooking chamber

Above is a photo of the the Two-Piece Heat Diffuser with Access Door. The ‘access door’ is the removable piece directly above the fire pot. This insert is the critical piece that gives you the ability to smoke at low temps, then to crank things up and sear. With the door above in place, you can maintain low temps for hours and hours in the chamber.

Yoder Smoker - Access door on two-piece diffuser removed — Yoder Smoker – Access door on two-piece diffuser removed

Remove the door as shown above, now you’re able to crank that heat, place grill grates directly above the fire pot, and sear your meat at scorching temps surpassing 700 degrees Fahrenheit (Yup. We’ve done it. And it heats up fast).

An important note on the two-piece diffuser with access door: this part is supposed to be standard-issue with current YS640S units. However, on arrival ours came with the one-piece. Our dealer informed us that some of the newer models have still been shipping with the old part. He made sure we got the correct piece a.s.a.p. – but, be warned. Here’s the thing: you really can’t sear without the two-piece and its access door, and sold separately it will cost you a few hundred dollars. So, this is something to check as soon as you get your machine – it’s supposed to be included!

Above is a shot of the underside of the hopper lid, with some handy cooking tips and a meat temperature chart.

Here’s digital controller unit, located on the front side of the hopper. This is where you fire up the grill and monitor the temperature of the chamber and the meat, too (with a probe) if desired.

So this is pretty cool – the YS640S comes outfitted with FireBoard’s awesome wireless temperature monitoring technology letting you monitor grill and meat temps using an app on your phone or tablet. Not only that, you can create cooking programs with target times and temps, view graphs, get notifications, and keep an ongoing historical log of your sweet outdoor cookery. We’ve talked about using FireBoard digital thermometer before and have always been impressed; the fact that the YS640S has this technology built right in is a huge plus in our books.

Coming soon: several articles showing the YS640S in action where we’ll do a deeper dive into the smoker’s features and our thoughts on function so far. For now, we’ll leave you with this tasty teaser shot of a 10lbs. pork shoulder we smoked on our YS640S according to the expert directions of Killer Hogs’ Malcolm Reed. Grill on, nation.

Killer Hogs Sauces and Rubs

August 17, 2018 By Ms. K

Killer Hogs Rubs and Sauces

Every now and then you try something new and it’s so good it becomes your new standard. That’s what happened to us this summer after discovering the Killer Hogs line of sauces and rubs.

Killer Hogs is in fact an award-winning (many times over) bbq competition team comprised of brothers Malcolm and Waylon Reed. These guys know what they’re talking about, and they love sharing their passion as is evident in their friendly, entertaining and very useful bbq tutorial videos.

Their products are truly worthy of their reputation: flavourful, super versatile, and awesomely tasty in every mix-and-match combo we’ve tried. We highly recommend that you grab some for yourself.

What I’m finding myself most excited about is this gem below, Killer Hogs A.P. (All-purpose) Rub.

Killer Hogs All Purpose Seasoning

The ingredient list is deceptively basic (salt, garlic, spices, etc.); whatever magic they do in the mixing makes this an outstanding blend to put on every kind of meat. It works really well alone, and we’ve had several steaks dressed in nothing but A.P.

But what’s really got us going is the layering technique Killer Hogs suggests in their tutorials. We layered these three on a steak the other day, and couldn’t get over the robust flavour and colour.

Killer Hogs – A Tasty Trio of Rubs

We’ve had fun around the grill combining the rubs in different ways (dialing back this, amping up that…) and haven’t gone wrong yet.

The sauces are also good bbq fun. The BBQ sauce, for instance, is loaded with smokey-sweet-fruity notes I haven’t tasted anywhere else. We do find though that the rubs are so darn good, there’s often no need to dip into the sauces, tasty as they are…

Killer Hogs BBQ Sauce

So do stop in here soon for most posts about this line of rubs and sauces soon as we’ll surely be doing more experimenting. (And head over to the Killer Hogs website for some truly inspiring bbq tutorials – definitely worth a look).

For more info about Killer Hogs products, helpful how-to videos, and Killer Hogs competition barbecue, visit www.killerhogs.com

Beef Tenderloin on the PK Charcoal Grill

May 21, 2018 By Ms. K

Beef tenderloin ready to grill

Mmm…we sure like our beef, and we are loving our PK360 Grill and Smoker. (Kicking off our second grilling season with it – very, very pleased.)

We’ve been hibernating a bit in these parts, but are dusting off the grill and starting things off with tenderloin steaks. Went super-simple tonight, seasoning a trio of good-looking tenderloins with salt and pepper – that’s it that’s all.

Preparing to cook on the PK Charcoal Grill

We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again – the PK 360’s smart design means it’s a cinch to clean up, quick to prep for grilling, and easy to tend while cooking. (Getting excited thinking of all we’re going to cook on it this summer…)

I have created fire!

(Just an action shot as we get those coals ‘a-glowing.)

The PK Grill in action

(And flames make for cool pictures.)

Delicious – enjoyed with Heartland’s Director’s Cut – Cabernet Sauvignon (2013)

Success.

Served medium rare with a simple Greek salad and beautiful bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Here’s to summer grilling!

Custom Backyard Platform for Karubecue KBQ C-60 Pit

September 26, 2017 By Ms. K

So, we love our Karubecue KBQ C-60 Pit and also like having a not-burned-down wooden deck. This summer, in anticipation of KBQ smoker goodness, we had a stone platform constructed where we can safely use this wood-burning wonder for hours and hours. And, it looks great – don’t ya think?

No, this is not an archaeological dig. (Maybe barbecuelogical.)

Custom BBQ Platform Step 1

Getting things on the level…

Custom BBQ Platform Step 2

Ingenious pattern devised by a brilliant 17-year-old mind (after applying much-appreciated 17-year-old muscle to the excavationary details…)

Custom BBQ Platform Step 3

Cool stones that are going to weather years of bbq to come…

Custom BBQ Platform Close Up

Almost there…

Custom BBQ Platform Step 4

Pit platform perfection!

Inaugural rib fest. Totally. Worth. It.

Karubecue in Action on Custom Platform

Reverse Your Approach to Grilling with the Reverse Sear

August 28, 2017 By Ms. K

Steak that’s tender and juicy on the inside with a gorgeous, delectable crust on the outside. Sound good, right? In fact, it sounds perfect. That’s why you’ve got to try the reverse sear method.

Basically, the reverse sear method means smoking your meat low and slow at first, finish it off over the high heat of blazing-hot coals, and serve immediately. It may fly in the face of what you’ve heard all our lives (it did for us) – get the grill searing hot right away, throw the meat on for a few short mins on each side, then tent and rest. But, when you think about what we’re all after – juicy, beefy inside with a pleasing crust to seal it in – doesn’t the reverse sear make so much sense?

Two Cook Zones on PK Grill

Yes.

And it works.

We grilled up a thick ribeye using this method on our PK Grill – which is the perfect grill to accomplish the reverse sear. Not only is setting up two different heat zones side by side is so easy – a ‘cooler’ indirect heat side for smoking, and a hot direct heat side built up with a neat pile of fiery charcoal for the sear – the adjustable vents allow you to harness the power of the hot coals to turn the cool side into a smoker.

We really like the degree of control we have over temperature and smoke due to the adjustable vents on this unit (two in the lid, two underneath) which you can open or close to get things just right. We created direct and indirect sides in our PK Grill by opening the lower right side vent (the one underneath the coals for the searing stage) and also opening the “opposite” vent (the upper left vent), keeping the other two vents (lower left and upper right) closed. This allowed air to come in through the lower right vent to superheat the coals. It also allowed the smoke from the hot side to be drawn toward the open upper left vent, drifting over the steak while it cooked on the indirect heat side — and thus smoking it low and slow.

Prepping for High Heat with Bacon Fat

In terms of numbers, we aimed to get our indirect heat side to about 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, we could achieve this level of precision by adjusting the vents described above and monitoring the temperature of the grill and the meat with our handy Fireboard digital thermometer (read our Fireboard post for more info). Our ribeye smoked on the indirect heat side for ~25 minutes, with the lid closed of course. We monitored the temperature of the meat (also with the Fireboard thermometer) and cooked it until abou1 110 degrees before the sear stage (we were aiming for a final temp. of ~130 degrees for a beautiful medium rare).

High Heat Searing Action

The direct heat side took about one chimney starter full of charcoal, and we tossed on a block of white oak for good measure. When we were ready to get the situation sear worthy, we opened up the lid as well as all the vents and got our coals as hot as hot can be. (For added ribeye yum, we used the decadent technique of slathering the meat with bacon fat just before putting it on the high heat. The salty, bacon-y goodness melts into the steak which will soon melt in your mouth.) Not surprisingly, we got some flare up with all that fat and heat (which looks dang cool in pictures, right?, and they key was turning them meat often – every five or ten seconds – for not much more than a minute, in order to caramelize and not burn the outside.

The next critical step is to serve a.s.a.p – no resting. With the traditional high heat/short cooking time method you’re resting the meat to get the juices that have be retreated center-ward from the heat to redistribute inside. With the reverse sear, there’s no need because the meat has basically cooked slow and low with a quick sear at the end (thus no panicky, retreating juices). In the end our reverse-seared ribeye was off-the-hook tasty.

Glorious! (So glorious, in fact, we needed to pair it with a gorgeous wine from Bordeaux – a 2006 Chateau Monbousquet from Saint Emilion. A dinner for the ages!)

Winner, Winner – Ribeye Dinner

– Ms. K

Fireboard Takes the Heat Off Checking Meat

August 1, 2017 By Ms. K

You have got to get yourself one of these babies! The Fireboard is a digital thermometer that really makes slow and low smoking the laid back activity it should be — by keeping track of the temperature of both your grill and your meat.

Fireboard with Probe

Fireboard and Probes

But that’s not all – it sends the data in real time to its Fireboard cloud servers so you can check the real-time status of your meal on your phone, tablet, etc. That means you don’t have to hover near your smoker for hours to either lift the lid for a peek, or even to glance at the readout on a thermometer. Just check your phone wherever you are and get assurance that everything is hunky-dory (…or not. And then you know it’s time for an intervention!).

Below is the sort of useful (and very sciency) graph you’ll see on your device that lets you in on what’s going on in your grill (taken from our epic low-and-slow pork shoulder made on our Big Green Egg):

Fireboard Graph

So that’s the graph, and here’s the meat the Fireboard was charting – mmmmm…..

Fireboard with Pork Shoulder on Big Green Egg

Super useful — your Fireboard lets you go even more low maintenance by allowing you to set up alerts to warn you if temps go too far up, down, or sideways. Since this can mean the difference between delicious dining or dinner disaster — totally worth it!

Here’s a pic of our Fireboard hooked up to monitor the ambient heat of our PK 360 Grill. Notice how the thermometer’s probe attaches to the grate:

Fireboard Monitoring Ambient Heat

Here’s another pic — and this time we’re measuring both the ambient heat (heat inside the grill) and the meat itself. Note the two cables and follow where their probes go – one attaches to the grate, one nestles into the meat:

Fireboard measuring ambient and meat temperature

Here’s another photo of the Fireboard just hanging out and doing its thing, while we hung out somewhere else doing our thing…

Fireboard in Use (With PK360 Grill)

More than handy, potentially a dinner-saver, and super reliable every time we’ve used it, we’re really pleased with our Fireboard and can’t imagine not using it when we grill. So far, we’ve put it to use with a pork shoulder on our Big Green Egg, and for back ribs, reverse-seared steak, and cedar planked salmon on our PK 360 Grill.

Want to get a Fireboard for yourself?

Check out www.fireboard.com to purchase or for more information.