The Best is Yet to Come
This past Sunday Hiroshi, The Wife, and I catered a party for 80+ people in Brooklyn. It was a birthday party for my cousin who is fighting Cervical Cancer. Friday was her birthday, and Monday she went back into the hospital for another 4-day Chemo treatment. We were happy to donate our time for her. She's a great kid and a cool musician, as well.
Large Marge had just gotten all her repairs done and she was ready to cook and smoke again. This was a great opportunity to see what she could do because we had a wide array of items to cook-- Salmon steaks, Spareribs, Babyback ribs, Beef ribs, white + dark meat chicken, baked beans, grilled vegetables, hamburgers and hotdogs.
It was great to have the grill fired up to have the option to finish the chicken and salmon with a glaze of sauce over higher heat while we were grilling the vegetables, hotdogs and hamburgers.
While we were cooking a few people tried to buy food from us, which was a great compliment (it really did smell great out there!). We also had a few people ask for business cards or just stop to ogle the bbq pit. It was cold, but the whole experience warmed our hearts.
Here are a few pictures-- didn't have time to get many.
Getting set up and warming up the pit:
Working on some vegetables while the grill heats up:
Cooking dogs and finishing some chicken:
UPDATE @ (1:10pm):
My man Hiroshi has some awesome cell phone pics from Sunday up on his brand swanky new blog, On The D/L so click anywhere on this text to stop by and see him. Tell him we said hi!
Labels: BBQ, catering, Large Marge, love, Meadow Creek
posted by Backyard Chef @ 8:04 AM
11 Comments:
Were you by chance in the Marine Park/Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn?
Hiya, Pjay! We were actually around the Kensington/Flatbush area for the party. The bbq contest that I organize takes place March 31st in Sheepshead Bay, though. Hope you can make it out.
http://www.grillinonthebay.org
Couple questions about "large marge" (she looks like a real beauty!)
- Is that a firebox under the upright chamber? Or is it on the opposite end ?
- I see a LP tank in the picture, is that attached to the smoker? If so, where?
Thanks!
Tom in New England
Hi Tom! Yup, the firebox is under the vertical section, just like you thought. Marge's design is what they call 'reverse flow'-- there's a strip of steel running almost the whole length inside the horizontal section. Heat and smoke enters underneath that, runs the length of the chamber and returns to go out the stack.
The tank is not connected to the pit-- just the torch that I used to start the charcoal. We started the fire with charcoal and then switched to logs. She's a real stick burner, but shockingly efficient...
"Reverse Flow"...that sounds cool!
Two more questions...sorry! I love this stuff....
- Is the vertical chamber heated at the end of the heat path (i.e. after the horizontal chamber)? Or does some the heat from the firebox go directly up to the vertical chamber?
- Can you offer any sites/links on net where I could learn more about the advantages of this design?
I'm very interested....
Thanks!
Love the blog!!!
Tom in New England
Tom-- questions are no problem! Love talking bbq. You can also email me with any other questions, or advice on cookers, etc...
The vertical can be used as just a warming oven/holding oven, or as a vertical smoker-- I had them add vents that go straight up into the vertical so you can smoke in the vertical. The standard model comes without smoke.
A few sites to look at for some reverse flow cookers are meadowcreekbbq.com (Marge's maker), cookersandgrills.com and pigroast.com.
Matt, my man. It looks like another great party artfully, skillfully and joyfully hosted by the amazing husband and wife cook team of the Fishers.
Wait a minute - aren't they funeral home directors? Hmmm, what were you serving anyway?
No, honestly, I am always impressed by your prowess at the grill and barbecue. It's great to see Large Marge on her feet again. So to speak.
Actually I am from the Mill Basin area of Brooklyn - the other end of Flatbush Avenue, right by the mall. The street in the pic looked familiar which is why I asked. But I guess most streets in Brooklyn all look the same.
I'm familiar with Grilln on the Bay, and hope to be able to stop by this year!!
Thanks.
Cool! I hope you can make it out, Pjay. We're looking at having some of hte best teams in the northeast, and the entire country at the contest. It really is gonna be fun!
WhiteTrash, once again, your compliments are too much. It really means alot to me. This wasn't competition chow all the way (psst-- the ribs were "falling of the bone!"), but it was all damn tasty....and no one really used any sauce.
hey Chef,
i'm building an reverse flow bbq but can't get the temp above 125 withe full sheet in and tight(it is a constant 15 all the way down) if I move the sheet an inch or 2 i can get it up to temp.' but then it varies 35 degrees from side to side, any suggestions?
You will most likely have a hot spot on the side closest to the firebox, no matter what. Your plate should run almost the full length and have ample room for the air to flow back out the stack. Without adequate draw, you won't get the temps you need. Also, you don't mention how much and what kind of fuel you are using. Raising or lowering the tongue of the pit a few inches can help with evening out the temp, but just don't raise it so much that you have grease running back into the firebox. That would be very bad.
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