Speaking of Santa Maria's...

[SmokinVOLfan]

That's a pretty sweet unit for sure! The cooks excellent!!!! Although you now have a problem.....Once you get the taste of open flame cooking its very difficult to go back to anything else.....

Here is a trick for steaks.... Put a bed of coal, just need 1 full basket, fully engaged, then split up a couple of cherry logs into 1 to 2 inch splits, spread them over the lite coals in a single level line and once the are burning clean, hot and high lower the steaks into the flames and let the flames sear them. Be sure to flip them often till they get a nice color (not black or burnt, ie just till the fat edges start to char), then lift them up so the flames are just under but not touching to finish to temp....you will need to add some more splits but do the 1-2 inch ones so they flame up quick. Its crazy how much flavor can be infused in such a short time!

Thanks Civil I appreciate the helpful tip! I think smaller splits will help out a lot. Robert also mentioned a charcoal pan so I am looking into that as well. Got some huge ribeye's in the freezer that are calling my name to cook in this fashion.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

And once you have that mastered come back and he'll teach ya how to take some awesome fire pics!
This was off the 360 rotisserie last night...just imagine them spinning on your santa maria!

View attachment 521863

Ryan

Damn Ryan that looks great man! Would be hard to pass up a plate of that for peach dump cake.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Thanks for the like John appreciate it

Warren

 

[tx smoker]

.We need a friendly competition on the tx smoker tx smoker cookers.

I think this would be a ton of fun. I have another SM grill sitting in the garage that needs a new home. It was the first one I built. Not as large as the others but equally as functional and I'll donate it to a forum member and we can have a 3-way cook-off

I'd help kick in on a prize for the winner.

I'm in for some of this action. I'll donate the aforementioned grill as well as toss a little bit into the till for "prize money"

I wonder if he is handsome like me:

Dude, you are just too funny!! I may not be as handsome but I can cut a Hell of a jig when the banjos get fired up

Although you now have a problem.....Once you get the taste of open flame cooking its very difficult to go back to anything else.....

He makes a very valid point here. You may wanna find a charcoal that you really like (if you haven't already) and load up on it.

I am still in awe that Robert hasn't been welding his whole life! Wish I had the skills to just pick it up and build something this awesome!

Thank you again for the kind words. I'm still getting harassed by Tracy to build you a new one. Yours was the 2nd project I'd done and I've learned a ton since then. She's also heartbroken (as am I) about the disrespect that UPS showed in the delivery. She just thinks you need a new one with all the bells and whistles along with the benefits of what I've learned.

Robert

 

[civilsmoker]

Thanks Civil I appreciate the helpful tip! I think smaller splits will help out a lot. Robert also mentioned a charcoal pan so I am looking into that as well. Got some huge ribeye's in the freezer that are calling my name to cook in this fashion.

You are welcome, the smaller splits light up fast and burn clean so you keep flame heat vs coals. Another version is flame searing a rack of lamb then slow cook over the coals after the flame goes down......man oh man, I'm hungry now.....

 

[jcam222]

Another fine Txsmokes TM Santa Maria!! Food looks great too John.

 

[OldSmoke]

Wow, that is a beautiful bit of fabrication! I am particularly impressed by the gear. tx smoker How did you do it?

 

[Steve H]

Excellent meal John! And Roberts build is fantastic. Still sucks that it got damaged like it did.

 

[Smokin' in AZ]

Nice score John!

And great start on the Santa Maria Cooking Trail.

Yep, gotta say Robert is one solid dude!

John

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Another fine Txsmokes TM Santa Maria!! Food looks great too John.

Thanks Jeff!

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Wow, that is a beautiful bit of fabrication! I am particularly impressed by the gear. tx smoker How did you do it?

Robert nailed that build. Beautiful grill and works great!

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

You are welcome, the smaller splits light up fast and burn clean so you keep flame heat vs coals. Another version is flame searing a rack of lamb then slow cook over the coals after the flame goes down......man oh man, I'm hungry now.....

You got me excited now! Love some lamb!

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Excellent meal John! And Roberts build is fantastic. Still sucks that it got damaged like it did.

Thanks Steve! Yeah man I wasn't happy about that due to all of Robert's hard work and insane shipping cost but the grill is top notch and a lot of fun to cook on!

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Nice score John!

And great start on the Santa Maria Cooking Trail.

Yep, gotta say Robert is one solid dude!

John

John, it is great to hear from you man! Miss chatting with you. We all know Robert is a top notch guy. Now a master pit builder to go on top of that. Fun grill to cook on. Don't be a stranger!

 

[civilsmoker]

You got me excited now! Love some lamb!

This should fan the flames of excitement!!!

Here is a YouTube link to ribeyes in the act of being flame seared...


Rack of Lamb....
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/cherry-wood-roasted-rack-of-lamb.291178/

Note I now use smaller splits as I mentioned above as I have found they sear and flavor much better for short cooks.... They also turn to coals quick for the finish to perfect temp....

 

[clifish]

Great, now you have me looking on FB for a SM grill, wife will kill me, but as the saying goes "It is easier to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission"!

 

[tx smoker]

tx smoker tx smoker How did you do it?

How did I do what? Build the grill? Wasn't difficult except for having to re-fabricate all the hardware for the rotisserie. That was a pain in the a$$.

Here is a YouTube link to ribeyes in the act of being flame seared...

Breathtaking....simple gorgeous. You gonna get a lot of people in trouble with their wives showing stuff like that

Robert

 

[civilsmoker]

....Breathtaking....simple gorgeous. You gonna get a lot of people in trouble with their wives showing stuff like that

Robert

LOL, well since I'm in trouble with my wife most days I thought I would share the love......LOL Oh and I've been dying not having the X-Fire set up to cook since being in the new place.....The plan is to have it up and running again this coming summer to fall....I can't wait to open flame cook again...... Till then, will just have to live through others flaming cooks!

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Great, now you have me looking on FB for a SM grill, wife will kill me, but as the saying goes "It is easier to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission"!

Lol yep! Plus the flavor of the food that comes off this thing...I meant how could she be mad?

 

[Smokin' in AZ]

John, it is great to hear from you man! Miss chatting with you. We all know Robert is a top notch guy. Now a master pit builder to go on top of that. Fun grill to cook on. Don't be a stranger!

Thanks John, I miss being a regular as well.

Still fightin' hard trying to beat this thing but every time I make progress it slaps me in the face....

Not goin' to give up though!

John