Introducing the "Grilling and Smoking" Community

in Grilling and Smoking17 days ago

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So I did a thing today... I was getting ready to write my post this morning about a cook I did on my Weber Kettle this past weekend and I realized there isn't really a great place to share this kind of stuff. Sure, the @foodiesbeehive community has a subsection for BBQ, and back in the day @s3rg3 had a community called "Grillin and Chillin", but it looks like he left the chain back in early 2023.

So I decided to start my own community about all things grilling and smoking. I'm in a number of groups over on that Web 2.0 platform called Facebook and the number of people in those communities is pretty impressive. I'm talking up to 100x the total number of active users here on Hive. It's impressive and frustrating all at the same time!

If you have been following me for a while, you know that I love to grill. I live in Michigan where the winters can be a bit brutal at times, but that doesn't stop me from grilling year round. I've owned small grills, upright smokers, offset barrel smokers, gas grills, and my current cooker is a Weber kettle. The only thing I haven't cooked on is a pellet grill or a Big Green Egg style, but that doesn't mean those aren't allowed.

I hope this can be a place where people share their favorite cooks, recipes, methods or anything in between. I'm still working on the details as far as rules and things like that. There are a lot more options for communities these days than the last time I created one many years ago.

My hope is that this can grow into a great resource for many people.

If nothing else, the photos alone should be worth it!

I got home from running some errands on Saturday morning and @mrsbozz said to me, "you're having steak tonight for dinner".

Okay, twist my arm!

She had already gotten the steak and chicken out of the freezer so it could start to defrost, but we needed to get her chicken marinating since she doesn't eat beef. Lately I've been pounding down our chicken to tenderize it as woody chicken is becoming more common and it's not very fun when you bite into a piece.

She uses a simple marinade of soy sauce, oil, garlic, honey, and some spices. It's a really easy and flavorful marinade.

Then she asked what I wanted as a side for the meal along with the brussels sprouts she planned on cooking. My choices were mac and cheese or potatoes. Since I had already had home fries for breakfast and tater tots for lunch, I decided to go with mac and cheese.

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We've been doing mac and cheese in this small Lodge cast iron pan for several years no. It's so well seasoned that when you are finished you can basically just wipe it with a wet paper towel and it is totally clean for your next use.

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Her chicken cooked off fairly quickly since I had pounded it pretty thin. This was actually enough chicken for both her dinner and here on Wednesday she is still taking it for lunch at work.

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It doesn't really look like it, but I think my steak was a New York Strip that I got from Sam's Club on one of our recent visits. Either that or it was a ribeye I picked up at our local meat market a while ago. It actually looks more like a ribeye to me now that I take a closer look. It certainly had a decent amount of fat on it like a ribeye would have.

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Again, if you have been following me for a while, you know that I pretty much exclusively use charcoal when I am grilling. I can use gas (my Blackstone Griddle uses gas), and I have in the past, but I always prefer wood or charcoal to do the majority of my grilling on. Some might argue it takes too long, but with the right tools, it's usually not too bad.

Plus it just gets hot as hell as you can see from the photo above. I've yet to see a pellet grill that can sear off a steak like charcoal or infrared can.

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Plus, I just love rolling smoke! Well, this kind of smoke...

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If you are a Weber aficionado, you know that the built in thermometer is pretty much useless when it comes to your kettle. Most people either replace them or buy a stand alone thermometer to gauge the temperature inside the grill. While I have no doubt it was quite hot inside my kettle, I don't think it was really as close to 500 degrees as the photo shows.

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In the end, it was a delicious dinner and a very successful cook. Try not to laugh at me too hard for cutting up my steak ahead of time. I wanted to show how perfectly medium rare it was and I was also eating while sitting on the couch watching basketball, so I didn't want to try to use a steak knife with the plate sitting on my lap!

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I'm not expecting a couple hundred thousand users or anything, but I hope one day we can grow this community into something really great. Hive has a lot of potential and having these "groups" set up ahead of time could go a long way when the masses finally start adopting the platform.

I look forward to seeing your posts!


Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports


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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or @mrsbozz unless otherwise sourced

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What a cool idea, best of luck and I just might have to join and be apart of this community too.

Thanks, feel free. Even if it is just to look a the tasty photos!

Yes, that too. I'm hungry now, Haha.

Nice, I joined it just for the yummy pictures.😂 I have a wood pellet grill and an electric smoker. My old-school smoker lasted like 15 years until it rusted out all the way. I miss that one.

It sounds like it was quite the workhorse. I'll accept electric if it is used for smoking. I've thought about getting a small one myself to take camping with us.

That's really nice! To be honest, the foodies community was once one that I loved to publish in but as the admin requires you to publish a few selfies mandatory with every post, holding ingredients etc, I unsubscribed because I won't do that.

It's good to see some sub communities like this. Even though I don't have my own bbq, I could publish there when I eat it somewhere else I hope? I need to RTFM first :)

Good luck with the community!

That's a good point. I hadn't thought about people eating at a BBQ place, I might have to change the rules and allow for that. You should definitely feel free to do that. I can understand why they probably made those changes to the foodies community, but I also understand why that is a non starter for some people.

You know what bothered me the most was probably the fact that I had been publishing there for a few years without any issues and suddenly I received a comment to read the rules and add selfies. I had no clue this was a new rule, because let's be honest, once you are familiar with a community, you won't read the rules every time before you hit publish.

The tone in the message was rude even though I said that's a shame because I can't do that I was met with more rudeness. I'm not your typical "f the rules" hive member who doesn't care if you made them. It's the fact I didn't know and a friendlier message was probably smarter to send people who are long time publishers in the community.

It's sad though because since then I didn't really feel that some content (food related) fit anywhere when hitting publish. I would love to see more sub communities like this. And of course when you allow it, you don't have the "prepping" pictures so I would set a minimum set of photos as a requirement or X words whatever.

You can create a good post without being the chef, I have written quite a few good foodies posts over the years..

Your community will definitely get some more visibility if you allow it, so please let me know when you do because I love eating BBQ :)

Yeah, that sucks. Sometimes people let the power go to their heads a bit too much. I've probably done it a time or two myself outside of Hive. The changes have already been made, so you should be good to go.

Ah that's fast lol. I will publish as soon as I have some BBQ content again.. Thanks for that!

And yes power gets to some people's heads sometimes for sure lol.

Looking good... got yourself a new subscriber 🔥🔥🔥

Thanks!

This is so cool!
I hope that we will enjoy grilling soon, its been a while since we last smoked it :)

Uff that steak looks so juicy and tempting. The white sauce pasta and Mac and cheese should be super filling. 🍴

They were quite good yes. My wife makes the mac and cheese from scratch, so it's a bit healthier than you might find other places.

Nice community but my first post will take a bit longer since my bbq is covered by ice and snow 😂. By the way nice you have a charcoal webber grill like me 😁. You know what is good !!! I hate propane bbq!
By the way you are good in grilling i saw the color of the meat!! Good job!!

Thanks, I appreciate it! It's getting to be the time of year when I move my grill into the garage. Then I just roll it out in the driveway when I want to use it. We haven't gotten too much snow yet though.

Cool hehehe take advantages of the winter reliefs hehehehe , I used to continue grilling all winter long when I had a covered patio... good days lol

I wish our patio was covered. I should have had them do that when I had the new deck built, but I was short on funds!

What a good friend to have in #I made a community like "Grilling and Smoking" ideal for lovers of charcoal and outdoor cooking

Thank you!

Wow, what a wonderful idea, @bozz! I love grilling. Of course... here in Minnesota we don't grill much in the winter. I guess I'll have to break out the indoor grill! Looking forward to seeing some yummy good and great recipes. Your grilled meat and mac and cheese look amazing!

Thanks, I appreciate it. I've been known to fire the grill up with a few snowdrifts around me. There is no shame!

Cool community. My steak I take blue and very rarely can I find people that can do it apart from me, so will settle for rare!

Yeah, I can't do that. Hat's off to you though. You and my mother in law would get along really well!

"I was also eating while sitting on the couch..."

I do that, too, so I cut my food ahead of time as well 😁

Cool idea for a community! GOOD LUCK with it!

Thank you! I appreciate it. If I had been sitting at a table I probably would have waited for each bite.

See... that was not hard, !LOL

I might have some posts for the community, @bozz!
CONGRATULATIONS for taking the leap! Good luck!
!BBH
!LADY

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Looking forward to it!

I posted, @bozz!

Men, I can all but perceive the divine smell of the chicken, I'm sure your whole backyard must have been covered in it😅, You might have had your neighbors peeping through their windows.

I love how tender the steak looks. And creating a community where fellow grillers can come to share their work is amazing. I might not a griller but I don't mind staring at photos of perfectly cooked steak.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! It's one of my favorite things to do, so it only felt right that I should create a community for it. I know there are plenty of other like minded individuals out there in the world!

So basically a BBQ community? Great idea 👍

Yep, that's pretty much it!

So basically a BBQ community?

nub of the gist as my tour guide used to say 😅.

Good luck with the new community!

Thanks, I appreciate it!

Your photos made me want to eat dinner again. Will check this community from time to time. Keep up the great grilling bro !BBH

Thanks, I appreciate it!

This looks and sounds fantastic! (Probably not the best idea to look at those stunning photographs while hungry, but alas!) We in South Africa have a pretty big "Braai" (BBQ) tradition with some people doing it every day. I love to braai - essentially BBQ but over wood coals. This sounds like the perfect community and opportunity to write down my steak and other recipes! (Love to cook with cast iron pots over the fire as well!) Looking forward to sharing and reading from others with the same BBQ (or Braai) passions.

Awesome! I am glad you found this place. There is a guy who used to be really active on here named @braaiboy. I follow him on Instagram, but I haven't seen him post in a while, maybe I just haven't been looking closely enough. I think cast iron would be acceptable as long as it is on some kind of grill. I'll look forward to seeing your posts!

Thanks for creating this place and space! Looking forward to seeing what takes place on other people's grills!

Yes, I live close to him! But I have yet to visit his bar - I think he is the head chef there if I am not mistaken.

For sure, when we grill a steak and some chicken, we always use the cast iron skillet to cook either onions (caramelised) or potatoes (fried) with the extra coals!

Happy grilling!

I'm looking forward to it was well. I hope we get some good shots and stories. I may not look like it, but I am a total amatuer comapred to some folks! I want to start doing some more open fire cooking on our camping trips in the future.

This will then hopefully become a great space to share skills and ideas with others, and then learn as well. Never cease to be a scholar, and learn from others. Open coal cooking is really fascinating and a skill to learn. I have been doing it for the last 20 or so years (as we in South Africa are taught from a very early age to cook over open coals).

Yes, I hope this can grow into something really special!

Yes, I live close to him! But I have yet to visit his bar

SHAME ON YOU!

!LOLZ ... hahaha, all good... drop me a WhatsApp on 082 822 1626 and let's make a plan to grab a beer or two around the braai ;-)

!LUV
!WINE
!BBH

That sounds like a good plan! I am travelling throughout the country, as my fiance is in PTA and I live in CPT, and I work on contract for various universities. Flying back to Cape Town next week on Friday, I think. But will check if I can drop a visit next week. Will contact you soon! Nou gaan ons braai.

@fermentedphil! @braaiboy likes your content! so I just sent 1 BBH to your account on behalf of @braaiboy. (2/20)

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Thanks for the shoutout !LUV

Yeah, every time I get into a bit of active blogging here on HIVE (or on Web2.0 for that matter), then life gets in the way. I get behind with 2 or 3 posts that catching up seems like a whole day's work, and then when I look again I go weeks & months without posting ANYTHING #FacePalm.

I should just learn to let the posts/content that I missed stay behind, and post the new stuff... I'm literally able to "create content" every day... it's the editing & publishing part that takes the time.

Hopefully that changes soon. Got a new sponsor onboard backing my YouTube channel from next Year... so now I'll be paid (i.e. read forced) to publish weekly content at the very least ;-)

!WINE
!BBH

That's awesome about the sponsor! This time of year I kind of wish I had content sitting in the hopper that I could share. Things tend to slow down a bit for me in the Winter as far as traveling and things like that. I like to keep it fun and if it starts feeling like a job, then I just let it go.

if it starts feeling like a job, then I just let it go.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

@bozz! @braaiboy likes your content! so I just sent 1 BBH to your account on behalf of @braaiboy. (1/20)

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Cutting up of the steak before eating must have been painful! lol That's a great idea for a community, a great place to share our grilling tips. I like wood or charcoal too, the flavor is just better. Gas just isn't the same!

That food came out beautifully, Great job grilling!

Thanks, I appreciate it. I didn't want to duplicate something that is already out there, but it looks like this is still a niche that needed a home. I hope more people start subscribing and sharing stuff. I didn't really mind about the steak, but I know some people frown on that. My buddy was really upset the first time he went to a Japanese steakhouse and they cut his steak into little bits for him!

They always do that in Japanese steakhouses! You have a great idea, let's hope we see some nice smokers tips. Suddenly I feel like some Brazilian BBQ, there's a great place not far from where I live. You can't go wrong with some great BBQ!

We had a Brazilian place near where I live, but I never got the chance to visit there before they closed it down. I've heard they are amazing.

I love these grilling and smoking posts, so different from the UK where we're just not mmm ... frontiers ... enough.

Also, grilling and smoking makes a nice change from begging and pleading, as in "no begging and pleading" a sign often seen over the public bar of pubs, especially in the seedier parts of town.

Oh really? That's quite interesting! I don't think we have signs like that over here, but maybe in the bigger cities. In the one Weber group I am in on Facebook, there are people from all over the globe with Weber Kettles. It's pretty crazy.

Ah, I must find where they are :)

Good luck with the community,it's a great idea.

Establishing a new community ain't easy! Good luck with that :)

Oh, I know! @steevc started the #whisky/whiskey group a while ago and that thing should be on fire, but it isn't...

excellent community friend here supporting you I am also a fan of having our meals outdoors plus that flavor that the embers and smoke give is great

I totally agree with you! Thanks for stopping by!

Bought a grill this summer, but can't get the charcoal to light without an accelerator. And that doesn't taste good on the food!😀

Shared this post on BlueSky. https://bsky.app/profile/betterpath.bsky.social/post/3lbfjxbdhn22t

Just joined BlueSky this week and it looks like it might be an interesting social network. A few Hiveans over there already.

I've heard of Blue Sky, but I couldn't even keep up with Twitter, so I don't know if I want to add another Web 2.0 to the mix.

You need one of these:

https://www.weber.com/US/en/blog/burning-questions/how-to-use-a-chimney-starter/weber-30557.html

and then something like these:

https://www.amazon.com/Shwuevei-pcs-Fire-Starter-Fireplace/dp/B0BNMJPR9W?th=1

Thanks for the tips....will check it out. Right now the grill is a nice ornament on the deck :)

Don't use Facebook. Don't use Twitter (ugh). Love Hive, but to reach another audience thought I'd add a microblogging site to the mix. I used to love Twitter. But.....

:) I understand. I have three of those chimney's. The one is starting to rust out, but it still works. I've had it for close to thirty years now.

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Mmmmmmm looks tasty out the door my man! Ya can't beat Weber. I bought one four years ago, what an investment. I'd never settle for anything else now.

I'm the same way. I could see myself owning a Kamodo one day, but I would always have a Weber too. I actually wouldn't mind having a couple webers for bigger cooks.

Great idea.

I’m always trying to get that perfect rare Blue Tenderloin.

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I've tried to do rare in the past and I just can't do it. I'm not even a big fan of prime rib for that reason. I dunno, it just never appealed to me. Medium to Medium Rare is about the most I can handle.

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