Cooking

Outdoor cooking experiments—primarily on my Big Green Egg and new Traeger grill—are documented here. Posts recount brisket attempts, sous‑vide pork butt sessions and holiday tenderloin traditions, with candid notes on smoke, temperature and results.

May 30, 2021 ∞

Making breakfast outside is such a blast. And you can make dozens of pancakes in no time at all! Sausage tastes better on the Big Green Egg. 🥞

Person in a gray sweatshirt pouring pancake batter from a bowl onto a large outdoor flat-top griddle with four pancakes cooking Seven golden pancakes cooking on a large outdoor flat top griddle, with a grassy lakeside yard and playground set in the background. Sausage patties grilling on a Big Green Egg kamado grill on a wet deck, with a bowl of pancake batter and condiment bottles nearby

Apr 10, 2021 ∞

Today’s project: Pork butt time on the Big Green Egg! Stack of wood chunks to pump up the smoke. 🤤🐖🔥

Big Green Egg kamado grill open with wood chunks and lump charcoal inside, sitting on an outdoor table

Heavily spice-rubbed pork butt smoking on the grill grate of a Big Green Egg kamado cooker outdoors

Smoking along at 2pm. Will be time to wrap soon. 145-150 temperature.

Pork butt with dark bark smoking on a Big Green Egg grill, smoke rising around the meat

Apr 8, 2021 ∞

Ready to put the steaks on the Big Green Egg! 🔥🥩

Big Green Egg kamado grill smoking outdoors with thermometer reading around 400 degrees F, lake and bare trees in background.

Dec 24, 2020 ∞

Working on “bottom starting” the Big Green Egg. It’s frozen shut and I need to make our traditional Christmas Eve tenderloin steaks! 3 °F 🥶❄️🔥

Big Green Egg kamado grill covered in snow and frost at night with glowing coals visible through the bottom vent

Nov 26, 2020 ∞

We celebrated our first Pandemic Thanksgiving today. I cooked turkey breasts in the Sous Vides and finished on the Big Green Egg. Tammy put the rest of it together including the best sweet potato dish I’ve ever had and a delicious homemade pumpkin pie!

Sliced herb-crusted turkey breast on a wooden cutting board with a grilled onion ring and unsliced turkey loin alongside Family of four smiling at a Thanksgiving dinner table with sliced grilled turkey breast on a cutting board and rolls on plates.

Oct 18, 2020 ∞

Made a 3 1/2 lb tenderloin special dinner tonight. Cubed the tip and fried with olive oil and garlic. Put the rest in Sous Vides for 3 hours and a finish sear in Big Green Egg. Scalloped Potatoes and homemade Peanut Butter Pie for desert. 🤤🔥

Two beef tenderloin steaks searing on a cast iron grate inside a Big Green Egg kamado grill with glowing charcoal below Sliced beef tenderloin cooked medium-rare arranged on a festive blue platter with a pile of seared garlic beef cubes in the corner

Sep 24, 2020 ∞

Sous Vides Brisket

Trying Sous Vides brisket for the first time. Trimmed down the flat. Simple salt and pepper. Texas style. Cut in half to vacuum seal for the bath. In the 155 °F water bath for 36 hours. Will finish on Big Green Egg for 3-4 hours for smoke and bark on Saturday.

Two raw brisket flat pieces heavily coated in salt and pepper rub on a wooden cutting board beside a chef knife

Seasoned beef brisket in a vacuum seal bag submerged in a clear plastic water bath container with an immersion circulator attached

24 hours into the Sous Vides and all proceeding well!

Seasoned beef brisket vacuum-sealed in a FoodSaver bag submerged in a clear polycarbonate sous vide water bath container with an immersion circulator attached, sitting on a wire cooling rack on a

37 hours of Sous Vides complete. Pulled the brisket out and leaving it in bags to cool in the fridge. Will smoke for 3-4 hours to finish this afternoon. 🤤

Two vacuum-sealed FoodSaver bags of raw brisket with dark marinade, resting in a glass baking dish and a metal sheet pan on a white countertop.

After a few hours cooking in the refrigerator I pulled the brisket out of the bags. I put the juice aside to use for something else. Second application of salt and pepper rub, and onto the Big Green Egg to smoke for three or so hours.

Two heavily spiced brisket flats smoking on a Big Green Egg kamado grill in a backyard garden setting.

Aug 8, 2020 ∞

Waited for a break in the rain to fire up the flat top and make smash burgers! Yum! 🤤🍔

Nine smash burger patties topped with melting American cheese cooking on an outdoor flat top griddle, green Big Green Egg visible behind it.

Jul 11, 2020 ∞

Delicious pork butts on the Big Green Egg! 🤤🔥🐖

Two smoked pork butts resting on the grill grate of a Big Green Egg kamado cooker outdoors in a green backyard.

Jul 4, 2020 ∞

Pork butts done with their journey and time to shred. Thank you Big Green Egg and Sous Vides for the journey! 🇺🇸🔥🐖