BBQpalooza!

[Piratecat]

I fired up the smoker this morning. Four hours in, I am halfway to a pulled pork dinner for KidCthulhu's gaming group. I used black pepper, chipotle, garlic and cumin for a rub. The mustard/vinegar sauce is made, the potato salad is made, the Jamaican jerk chicken is marinating (I'm experimenting with a new recipe), country-style jerk pork ribs are currently on the smoker, and corn on the cob is waiting to be boiled.

I get to game AND cook! Woot!

Any recipes folks want to share? What's your favorite bbq technique?

 

[diaglo]

Sauce...

you stole my recipe.

ground mustard, garlic, cumin/chili powder, chives heated on the bottom of a pot until the garlic browns.

edit: RangerWickett reminded me in his post i forgot the brown sugar. however, being diabetic i often leave it out anyway.


add ketchup, cheap beer, and white vinegar as needed

cook all day over low heat.

let cool.

bottle and put in the frig until needed.

 

[Umbran]

Not long ago, I watched an episode of Alton Brown's "Good Eats" in which Alton assembled a nifty little smoker out of a couple large ceramic pots and such. While I could go out and purchase a commercially made smoker, Alton's design has some advantages, and is simply elegant in it's simplicity. I'm hoping a few extra bucks come my way sometime soon so that I can try it...

 

[RangerWickett]

As a man from Texas, I'm often bewildered by these things that northerners call barbecue. True, my family is originally from the north, but my friends are all native Texans, and any sort of BBQ sauce that isn't red is just alien and frightening to me.

I love brown sugar sauces. I can't imagine garlic in a barbecue, except for perhaps very very subtle amounts.

I was also highly amused when, this past week at Origins, the group of Georgians I was with took us to a 'Texas Steakhouse.' *snert* I mean, the food was perfectly fine; I'm not complaining that it was somehow besmirching the name of Texas. I just find it amusing that in Columbus, Ohio, I was paying $20 for a meal I could have gotten for $6.50 at a hole in the wall store half a block from my high school.

Sadly, I don't cook any southern foods. My mother is from Wisconsin, descended from an Italian family, so while I know how to make some Italian dishes, I never learned the art of boudain, or crawfish, or barbecue, or even black-eyed peas. But when I go home, I savor the food that my friends' moms cook.

I think I'll order a delivery BBQ Burger tonight for dinner. Thanks, Pkitty, for wetting my appetite.

 

[orchid blossom]

I get to game AND cook! Woot!

See? I'm not the only one. I cook for our group just about every friday. It's just easier than trying to arrange ordering out every week.

Sadly, bbq is not something I do.

 

[Bass Puppet]

mmmmmmmm...that sounds delish P-Kitty.

This past weekend, I bbq/smoked some nice game hens. I soaked the hickory chips with Beer, Jack Daniels and some Chicken Rub I found in my friends cabnet. I like to use real charcoal when I BBQ and I like to just stand there drinkin my Newcastle Brown Ale until it's done. There something macho about standing next to a smokin bbq that I just love.

Now, for the sauce, I only use Sweet Baby Ray's Original Award Winning Sauce. It's more of a honey flavored sauce as aposed to a brown sugar.

 

[Krieg]

As a man from Texas, I'm often bewildered by these things that northerners call barbecue. True, my family is originally from the north, but my friends are all native Texans, and any sort of BBQ sauce that isn't red is just alien and frightening to me.

As a man who has spent time in the heart of barbecue country (read: Memphis) I am bewildered by Texans who think that sauce has anything to do with barbecue.

I fired up the smoker this morning.

P'Cat hit the nail on the head.

Barbecue = Smoke

 

[Dark Jezter]

Barbecuing is a passion of mine, and during the summer months I leap at every chance to fire up my Weber grill. I cook steaks, burgers, hot dogs, fish, et cetera. Here are some grilling tips I'll pass along to those who are new to grilling...

• Get a charcoal grill. While gas grills are quicker and easier to use, they don't give the same great taste as charcoal.
• Don't use lighter fluid to light your coals, get a chimney starter. A chimney starter costs about $10-$15 at most hardware and grill stores, and will allow you to ignite the charcoal briquettes chemical-free (so you won't be tasting lighter fluid in your food).
• Clean the ashes out of your grill when not in use. When ash mixes with moisture, it creates lye that will eat away at the metal. Keeping your grill clean will extend its life by several years.
• Do not use a fork to pick up the meat, as it will cause the flavor-filled juices to leak out. Use tongs or a spatula.
• If cooking burgers, do not press down on the patties while they're cooking because you will squeeze out the juices, causing the burgers to dry out. You might also cause flare-ups, which can burn the patties.
• Buy a pair of rubber-handled tongs to move the coals. Do not use the same tongs you use to pick up the meat.
• Buy a pair of welding gloves to wear while you grill. They'll protect your hands from being burned by hot meat juices, sparks, or accidently brushing your hand against the metal.
• Use a meat thermometer to determine how done your steaks are rather than slicing them open (and draining the juices). Depending on how done you like your steaks, the temperature should be 145 degrees farenheit for rare, 160 degrees farenheit for medium, and 170 degrees farenheit for well done.
• Soaking hickory or mesquite wood chips in water for a few hours and then placing them on the hot charcoals right before you grill can add delicious hickory or mesquite taste to whatever you're cooking.
• Making your own barbecue sauce is easy, and recipies can be found everywhere on the internet. If you don't feel like making your own, though, Bullseye is my personal favorite over-the-counter brand.
• Learn your cuts of meat.

Maybe later I'll be back and post a recipe or two.

 

[Umbran]

As a man who has spent time in the heart of barbecue country (read: Memphis) I am bewildered by Texans who think that sauce has anything to do with barbecue.

As a man without much regional bias towards food, I am bewildered by folks from particular places who feel they know "The One True Q" (or True Chili, for that matter).

The fact is, when done properly, it's all good food, darn it! Doesn't matter if it's about the smoke, or about the sauce, or the brine, or whatever. All that matters is that it tastes good.

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Dark Jezter is now my BBQ God.

I do a lot of tri-tips with a spicy marinade from a local butcher chain that's just amazing; if you want some lemme know and I will send it to you - it's that good. BBQ burgers are probably the easiest thing I make that consistently come out better than something I can buy at a restaurant. Hot links and italian sausages are another must; in fact, my BBQ season inaugural this year was spicy italians and grilled onions & peppers for the Sopranos finale last month.