Meat Porn - My New Orion Cooker

[grenthor]

So I finally managed to pick up an Orion Cooker. I've been eyeing these for a year or two but couldn't justify the $150.00 cost when I've already got a grill and my trash can smoker which I've already posted about.

I haven't done ribs myself before and this seemed to be a good reason to do so, especially being Super Bowl Sunday.

So I went ahead and all I can say is holy crap these were outstanding. And the fact that they cook in a hour is simply unbelieveable. Everyone tried them out and loved them.

They tell you to put the lid on and trust them. You can't open the cooker until the time is up and while it seems wrong to let fiddle with them, it really does work.

I've posted several pics on my flickr page here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bingo2/sets/72157613212994125/

Here is a before shot with a brown sugar dry rub:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3108/3245163553_b2dc833432_b.jpg

A shot with everything put together and seriously going:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3497/3246004586_2445af0f79_b.jpg

And finally, the aftermath. Delicious carnage!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3476/3246011778_64c7e087c3_b.jpg

[Drew2]

I want to rub that meat all over my body.

[Stanley Burrell]

I want to rub that meat all over my body.

lol

[Some Rogue]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a64/lrenzo2/drooling_homer-712749.png

[Skeeter]

ribs in an hour? That just seems wrong. Were they fall off the bone tender, or kinda tough and chewey?

[Drew]

I'm definitely considering one, it looks good!

[thefarmer]

Can you not use wood? Charcoal doesn't give the best flavor.

[Drew]

Can you not use wood? Charcoal doesn't give the best flavor.

You can use wood to smoke inside (I read up on the website). Apparently it doesn't give as much a flavour as a full blown smoker, but still pretty good. The charcoal is used for indirect heat so there is no charcoal flavour.


http://orionoutdoors.com/products/cooker/how-it-works.php

[thefarmer]

You can use wood to smoke inside (I read up on the website). Apparently it doesn't give as much a flavour as a full blown smoker, but still pretty good. The charcoal is used for indirect heat so there is no charcoal flavour.


http://orionoutdoors.com/products/cooker/how-it-works.php

Ah. Guess I could have found that out if I weren't lazy. Thanks for having the energy that I didn't.

[Parkbandit]

Ribs in an hour? Feel free to turn in your man card. Better yet.. why not just microwave them and get them in under 10 minutes?

I smoked some baby back ribs with some hickory yesterday. 6 hours, not including preparation the day before with the removal of the membrane, excess fat and application of the super secret rib rub.

1 hour? Did you enjoy your shoe leather?

[Drew]

Can someone tell me why they don't remove the membrane at the butchers?

[Clove]

Can someone tell me why they don't remove the membrane at the butchers?Drew thought this thread was about something else...

[Parkbandit]

Can someone tell me why they don't remove the membrane at the butchers?

I prefer to remove it myself and it really isn't that difficult to do with a very sharp knife. Cut back a 1" piece and then just pull to remove the rest. I view it as like an outer skin and once removed, the rub seems to really stick to the ribs in that area.

[grenthor]

Couple of responses all together


ribs in an hour? That just seems wrong. Were they fall off the bone tender, or kinda tough and chewey?

Amazingly enough, they were totally fall off the bone. In fact in the finished picture you can see that they all fell off the rib holders down into the pan at various lengths just from their own weight. Even the short racks were so tender they couldn't hold their own weight.


Can you not use wood? Charcoal doesn't give the best flavor.

I know Drew already responded to this. In the first picture though you can see how the charcoal goes all around the outside. It's actually one of the nice things about it. Since it's outside you can use cheap instant light charcoal and not worry about the charcoal taste.

On my flickr page is a picture showing the inside where you can put wood chips and get some smoke flavor too which is a nice touch.


Ribs in an hour? Feel free to turn in your man card. Better yet.. why not just microwave them and get them in under 10 minutes?

I smoked some baby back ribs with some hickory yesterday. 6 hours, not including preparation the day before with the removal of the membrane, excess fat and application of the super secret rib rub.

1 hour? Did you enjoy your shoe leather?

See above about tenderness. There's no denying that this thing won't replace a serious smoking or BBQ rig. It's not supposed to either. I have a smoker if I'm wanting to do a real smoke job. I have a grill if I'm wanting to do up some steaks right.

This is just another option. And it's damn good one based on my results yesterday. It got some good char on the outside of the ribs. It got a light smoke flavor from the hickory. Hell you can see in the picture how much the meat pulled back from the bones to get an idea of how tender it was.

Honestly, I thought the result was better than ribs done in an oven/broiler combination and was faster even than that.

It uses convection, steam, radiant heat and smoke. That's why it's able to cook so quick.

Like I said, it won't stand up to a professional rib cookoff, but for hanging out drinking and NOT having to spend all day cooking 'em it was unbelievably good.

[Cephalopod]

Ribs in an hour? Feel free to turn in your man card. Better yet.. why not just microwave them and get them in under 10 minutes?

I'm pretty sure the amount of metal and fire involved in that contraption lets him keep his man card.

Having read his responses, I would not say no to a rack of ribs prepared thusly in an hour.

[NocturnalRob]

Having read his responses, I would not say no to a rack of ribs prepared thusly in an hour.
i'm pretty much a die-hard "full day to prepare" rib man myself, but those things look pretty damn good.

[Belnia]

The next step is to invite us all over for a BBQ and we can compare your hour-ribs to a "full day preparation" rack.

[Drew]

Looking at your flicker album the outdoor shot definitely looks like Florida.

[Stanley Burrell]

Can someone tell me why they don't remove the membrane at the butchers?

I'm going to hazard a guess and say it's because people might use it for ... soup flavoring?

That, or maybe it's extra work for the butcher and there's some kind of unwritten law wqwerewrewfewefdsdwewwqwewshoobadadoowap.

[Khariz]

The butcher's union says that it's not their job, so they don't have to.

[grenthor]

The next step is to invite us all over for a BBQ and we can compare your hour-ribs to a "full day preparation" rack.

That's actually something I want to try now. I'll have to do up a set in the regular smoker that I made. Just have to make some hangers. This is it about 5 hours into smoking a brisket.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3138/2580829539_32a1ab4a0b.jpg


Figure I'll smoke a couple racks for 6 or 7 hours and then do a couple racks in the Orion. Should make for an interesting taste test.