Grilling Burgers and Pork Ribs

I love to grill outside! I simply adore the taste of grilled food, and it's so much more fun to grill dinner outside, rather than in the kitchen. Join me as I share a couple of grilling adventures at home in early June, 2023.

Photo: It's late Sunday afternoon, June 11, 2023, and I've fired up my Weber Smokey Joe grill to enjoy some great grilling on my patio.

The Weber Smokey Joe grill is an "old school," 14" charcoal-fired grill that works great on the patio, camping or just about anywhere. I've "tricked" mine out a bit, as I built a stand that holds all grilling utensils, catches all ash, and allows me to grill comfortably standing up, rather than squatting down, as the "Smokey Joe" is low to the ground.

This little grill cost me $29.95 plus state tax and is one of the best "foodie" investments that I've ever made. I'm not new to "Smokey Joe" as I have an older model, which I purchased back in 1992, that's now simply used for camping.

I use a few commercial charcoal briquettes to get things started, but then I switch to oak wood, as oak grows locally in Roseville, and everywhere in Placer County, and is similar to hickory for delicious barbecue taste. I simply gather the wood that grows locally, bring it home, and cut it to size with my sawsall and axe. Oak wood makes for great barbecue and smoking any day of the week!

Photo: Tonight's dinner was country style pork ribs - boneless - potatoes, corn along with a jalapeno pepper. Check out the great smoke the oak wood provides, which makes for great grilling!

Any way you look at it, this is hands-on grilling, which will connect you to the food and your grill. This is as "old school" as it gets when it comes to grilling, and is as good as grilling can get.

Photo: I lift the lid from the "Smokey Joe" and smile, as my delicious barbecue dinner is almost ready to enjoy.

Photo: Grilled country style pork rib, potato, corn and a jalapeno pepper make for a great dinner. There is ketchup on the side to dip the grilled potato slices into, and the rib has been basted with barbecue sauce.

Photo: The next evening, I took leftover barbecue ribs and added chili verde sauce, garlic, jalapeno peppers and green onions, and made "Chili Verde" for dinner. As in the style of Mexico, I toasted a couple of corn tortillas over the kitchen range to char them a little, and to soften them up. Dinner worked!

Photo: Saturday, June 17, 2023, it was time to grill with propane, using my Weber Spirit E-310 grill, that I've been using since I purchased it, back on June 02, 2015.

I fired up the grill and placed mesquite chips wrapped in aluminum foil, under the grill, near the flame, to add a bit of smoke, along with the flavor, that propane-fired grills lack. Rather than grilling directly on the grill, I used a cast iron griddle, which work worked great with the burgers, as I was using burger domes to seal in the flavor.

I started out grilling the veggies, which were corn and potato.

Photo: Each burger patty was a half pound of 80% ground beef and stuffed with Cheddar cheese. I grilled two slices of bacon on the side for the second burger patty.

Photo: After the corn and potato wedges were cooked, it was time for the burgers. The corn and potato had completely different cooking methods than the meat, so in the interest of simplicity, I decided to cook them separate.

I used a pound of 80% ground beef, and cut the beef into four individual pieces. Using wax paper, I placed a quarter of the beef and flattened it to a thin, maybe 5-inch patty, and added a slice of Cheddar cheese. I set it aside and flattened another patty, placed it on top of the patty with cheese, and molded it all into a juicy, stuffed patty of meat and cheese. Ditto with the second meat patty.

The first meat patty was simply meat stuffed with cheese and topped with more cheese. The second meat patty was stuffed with Cheddar cheese, topped with more cheese, along with two slices of bacon. Talk about goodness!!!

Photo: I recently acquired a "Burger Hat" and it's a great accessory for burgers, as it locks in the moisture along with the juices. It really works to make for a great burger! Not to mention the "cool" factor...

Photo: My totally "old school" burger, along with grilled potato wedges, corn, a jalapeno pepper, along with ketchup for dipping.

The burger was stuffed with Cheddar cheese, topped with another slice of cheese, and placed on a buttered, grilled sesame seed bun. Fresh lettuce, tomato and red onion made the veggies, and the only garnish used was "Thousand Island" dressing, to make for an "old school" cheeseburger, dating back to the 1960's.

Photo: Cheeseburger cut in half to show all of the layers of goodness. There is nothing better, in my "foodie" opinion than a grilled "old school" cheeseburger.

Photo: Bacon-avocado "California style" cheeseburger, grilled potato wedges, grilled corn, and ketchup for garnish. This is what happens with leftovers!

Photo: "California style" cheeseburger, with bacon, avocado, tomato, onion lettuce, on a buttered and toasted sesame seed bun, garnished with "Ranch" dressing. Does life get any better?

I guess you can truly say that I'm a fan of Weber grills, as I simply adore my Smokey Joe and my Spirit E-310! Between the gas and the charcoal/wood grill, I have the best that the world of grilling offers, and I have all of my grilling bases covered.

Cheers!