Bought a bone in pork butt that I plan on brining overnight and then smoking the entire day tomorrow. Smallest cut they had was 7 pounds. Is it possible to oversmoke a cut of that size? I have mesquite and hickory wood, which would taste better for this? I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to smoking, any help would be appreciated.
Ah, springtime= barbecue competition season beginning, not to mention various grilling out happenings with my friends. The whole diet and exercise thing will be put to a severe test for me. FOCUS: To add a little twang to your rubs, I advise adding 1 tsp. of GOOD coffee (no, not the cheap shit) and 1 tsp. of brown sugar. I guarantee this will increase the enjoyment of your food. Also, the whole gas vs. wood/charcoal debate is really an apples and oranges thing in most cases; however, good steaks deserve a woodchip/ good charcoal grill. Gas is ok in a need for expediency, but if you want the good stuff, go with some good wood charcoal or briquettes.
Coffee grounds will also add a smoky flavor to chili. I've also seen them used as a secret ingredient in barbecue sauce.
This shit is the shit: I love to marinate skirt steak in mojo criollo with some chopped up lime. Grill it and slice it and you can make mean motherfucking tacos or just eat it as is. Skirt steak in general is awesome on the grill. If you're looking for a different cut than your standard strips, ribeyes, etc. or if you are feeding a group (skirt steak is cheap), you ought to check it out. I probably don't need to mention it as this is the BBQ thread and I'm sure we all eat our meat as rare as possible (or raw when we are feeling extra manly), but don't overcook skirt steak or it gets really tough.
Never use Mesquite on something you are going to smoke for more than an hour or so! It is too strong of a flavor. For pork I prefer a combination or hickory, cherry, and/or applewood. Also, make sure you soak your chips/chunks for at least and hour and just add a couple at a time. You don't need to smoke the shit out of something that is going to be in the pit for that long. Just a thin line white smoke coming out of the stack is all you need. For 7 lbs you probably need at least 8 hours at 250d for a bone-in.
Best thing I know of for salmon is to brush it with a mixture of honey, soy sauce, and chopped spring onions. Then just stick it on until it's, y'know, cooked. And while BBQs are traditionally a carnivores delight, anyone have any good recipes for either things to go WITH the BBQ (I've still yet to find a potato salad recipe I really like, for example) or vegetarian BBQ options? (I'm not, but if I want to do a BBQ for my friends I need to have some vegetarian friendly things to cook). Oh yeah, last thing. If you want ketchup with a bit more kick then do one of two things. If it's available, get some reggae reggae ketchup. If not, find a scotch bonnet pepper (Jamaican food stores should have them), then dice it and mix it with regular ketchup. Gives it a nice spicy kick.
Here's a baked potato salad recipe that usually gets rave reviews as a side dish at barbecues. 2 lbs potatoes (idaho russets work best, but yukon golds are rather nice as well) 1/2 lbs thick cut bacon at least 1/2 lbs of shredded cheese (my pref is colby-jack, but knock yourself out) 12-16 oz sour cream 12 oz mayo* Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning to taste * if you are mayo-phobic like me, you can switch the mayo out with 12 oz regular unsweetened yogurt Bake the potatoes like you would normally (Skin on or off is a personal preference). After they're done to your texture liking (I like the outside VERY crunchy and the inside soft), chop them up. Fry the bacon to your personal taste preference, and mix all the other ingredients together. Let set for 1 hour. Schedule a 5 mile walk the next day and a lifetime of Lipitor.
These are always a favorite at my BBQs: Large, sweet Vidalia onions. (1 per person and manybe a few extras) 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup worshtishire sauce 2 cloves crushed garlic. butter sugar Mix the soy and worshtishire sauces together with the garlic and let sit for an hour at least in the fridge. Peel the onions and make sure they sit flat when you cut the bottoms off. Scoop out about 1/4 inch of the top of each onion. (Make it like a small bowl in the top of the onion) Coat the outside of each onion with butter and sprinkle it with sugar. Set each onion on a piece of foil big enough to cover it with some room at the top left over. Spoon in the sauce and garlic mix and loosely cover with the foil but make sure the top is sealed tight. Cook on the gril over meduim heat for about an hour. The onion practically falls apart and the juice is AMAZING to dip a steak in.
Do this with sweet onions and after you pull the brats out, cook the onions down in the remaining beer until carmelized-consistency and serve them on the brats. Grilled Chicken Breast Boneless breasts thick-sliced bacon Kickin'Chicken Seasoning Sliced tomatoes Muenster Cheese Wash & dry the chicken then liberally season and wrap in bacon and let stand for at least 2 hours. Grill until bacon is crisp, layer then with tomato then cheese. Once cheese is melted, serve. You're welcome.
I like to make a grilled salsa/relish for my brats and sausages when I grill them up. Take a couple of nice tomatoes, onions, garlic cloves, and peppers of your choice and cut them into grill-manageable chunks, rub them with olive or canola oil, salt, and pepper, and toss them on the grill, turning until par-cooked. You want them to have a nice char but you don't want to cook the tomatoes and peppers through to mush. Then just dice all of them up and add a little red or white wine vinegar and cilantro if you like. It makes a fantasic relish for any grilled dog or even burgers.
The Verdict is in - This recipe was awful. Nowhere near enough connective tissue or fat in that sirloin to come close to pulled pork. This was a dry and brittle mess. bah. Ah well..
Whenever I grill (charcoal), I like to cook a couple vegetable dishes with the meat. Potatoes/onions go on before the meat and asparagus/leeks/green onions go on after. The potatoes and onions are about as simple as it gets... Roughly cube up or slice equal parts potatoes and onions (white or yellow work fine) and put them in a 9x9 aluminum pan. Use as many as it takes to get a little above level with the pan. Take some butter (half a stick to a stick- however much you want), chop it up, and scatter it throughout the potatoes and onions. Chop up some chives and put them on top with salt and pepper to taste. Cover this with a layer of aluminum foil and poke a couple holes in the top. Place this on the grill right when all of the coals are lit and the flames have died down and cover with all of the vents open. They're simply done when you can poke something (knife, fork) right through the potatoes. After the meat is off the grill, I like to throw on some green vegetables- asparagus, leeks, and sometimes green onions. I wash them well, trim the ends, and toss with olive oil (enough to cover everything), salt, and pepper. I put them directly on the grill until they are done. Some will char up pretty well, however they're still good. On a side note (kinda on topic), I was in Kansas City this past week and went to Arthur Bryant's twice with my girlfriend. On the first visit we split beef and pork sandwiches with fries. The two inches of meat between white bread with fries (still fried in lard) were phenomenal. You can see the dark, smoky layers in the beef on the left. Fuck. Yes. The three bbq sauces on the table were a must with these.
OH, my favorite time of year. My grill gets so much attention! In the spring/summertime, I make chicken quesadillas like they're going out of style. The marinade is simple and delicious, the prep work is minimal and it's great for a crowd. The marinade: I never measure anything. I eyeball it and just go from there. -Fresh lemon juice, never bottled -Garlic powder -Onion powder -Seasoned salt -Freshly ground black pepper -Cumin -Paprika -Olive oil -McCormick's Steakhouse Seasoning (I go easy on this) Mix well, should resemble a thick dressing. Pour over thinly sliced chicken breasts. Let marinate for as little as 15 minutes and as much as overnight. Don't let it go longer than that since the acid from the lemon will cook the chicken. On a screaming hot grill, cook chicken for four minutes on each side. I assemble the quesadillas with pepperjack cheese melted into the top and bottom tortillas, piled high with sauteed peppers and onions (just cook them down in olive oil, adding salt and pepper and garlic) and the chicken and grilled until the tortilla is crispy, about 45 seconds. Cut into fourths. Serve with sour cream, salsa and homemade guac. Anyone with a guac recipe that excludes cilantro and tomatoes, lemme hear it. Heaven.
A very simple and quite tasty all-purpose meat rub that I use is seasoned salt, black pepper, chili powder, and Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy. I apply each directly to the meat and on both sides and don't follow a set guideline for however much to use. However, it's typically a good dusting with the seasoned salt (too much will ruin it though), equal amounts of black pepper and chili powder, and a couple shakes of the Dash ES. I typically put it on right after lighting the grill. I have started to really enjoy spicier foods and while your meat won't be muy picante, it's just spicy enough to compliment the taste of beef, pork, or chicken equally well. It shouldn't overpower the natural flavors of the meat too. It's also an easy one because you should have everything in your cupboard already, aside from the Mrs. Dash.
I do basically the same thing only I don't put anything on the outside and I core out more of the onion and stuff with a mixture of softened butter, cooked bacon pieces, fresh thyme, bleu cheese and salt and pepper. Your friends will love you.
I'm on a bit of a Jamaican food kick at the moment (given the area I'm in at the moment, it was kinda inevitable, I guess) so I thought I'd share this recipe with you guys...it's taken from a website for the Reggae Reggae products, but the ketchup is basically normal ketchup with a scotch bonnet pepper mixed in (you could use any kind of chili if you can't get those, and I bet the result would be pretty similiar) Ingredients: 2 Skinless Chicken Breasts 4 large Crusty Rolls ¼ Iceberg Lettuce - Shredded 2 tbsp Mayonnaise 1 Bottle Reggae Reggae Tomato Ketchup Add 2 tbsp Reggae Reggae Tomato Ketchup sauce to the mayonnaise, mix well and refrigerate Add the rest of the sauce to a mixing bowl/ dish and add the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour After 1 hour shake off the excess sauce and place the chicken on a greased barbecue, turning and basting throughout Once chicken is cooked thoroughly, approx 25 minutes, place on a board to rest Meanwhile slice the crusty rolls and top with the shredded lettuce and a dollop of the spicy mayonnaise Slice or tear the cooked chicken and place a generous portion on top of the lettuce & mayonnaise, & replace the top. Edit: It's Worcestershire people, Worcestershire.. Worcester sauce for short. [/end English person ranting mode] Second Edit: Since I'm pretty sure I can't get vidalia onions over here, any reccomendations on a substitute?
I did three pork shoulders during the winter because I got hooked on the show BBQ Pit Masters and tried a couple of different types of wood. Personally cherry tasted the best to me. My understanding is that you only want to infuse smoke for a couple of hours and let indirect heat cook the rest of the way. My final one was the best and I made it for a Super Bowl party. I smoked the shoulder (with a rub on) for about two and a half hours on the grill and then transfered it to my oven set at 255. Every half hour i basted it with an Apple Cider Vinegar mop (you can find a ton of recipes through google) and turned it over every hour and a half. I pulled it off when it registered 195 on my instant read thermometer and let it sit for 45 minutes after that. Including the smoking it took about 13 hours but turned out amazing. I made a Mustard Vinegar Sauce for it the night before to try something different and it blew everybody away. You really need to let the sauce sit overnight to let all of the flavors meld together and add it after you have pulled the shoulder. It compliments the pork very well and you don't need to put very much on. I think that next time I'm going to inject the shoulder with some of the mop before it goes in the smoker. Mustard Vinegar Sauce 1 cup apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup Yellow mustard 1/4 cup onion finely minced 2 cloves garlic pureed 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce Combine ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Blend on high for a few minutes. Edit: The shoulder was about 8 pounds which is why it took so long. Just go by temperature, not time. It's done when it's done. Double Edit: One thing that I read about and found true is that when the pork gets to 165 degrees, it will sit at that temperature for an hour or two. 165 is the temperature when the fat begins to render and once the fat is rendered out, the temperature will climb again. Don't turn the heat up. It threw me off the first time I did it but just be patient.
We did this a couple times last summer and it was delightful - a nice twist on hot dogs. Asian Slaw Dogs * Vegetable cooking spray * 1 (16-oz.) package Beef Franks (or veggie dogs! They aren't that bad, really) * 1/4 cup hoisin sauce, divided * 8 hot dog buns * 1 (4-inch) piece fresh ginger * 2/3 cup mayonnaise * 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro * 2 tablespoons lime juice * 1/2 teaspoon salt * 1 (12-oz.) package broccoli slaw * Toppings: crumbled ramen noodles, fresh cilantro sprigs, lime wedges Coat cold cooking grate of grill with cooking spray, and place on grill. Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Brush hot dogs with 2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce. Grill hot dogs, covered with grill lid, 6 to 8 minutes or to desired degree of doneness, turning occasionally. Grill buns, split sides down, covered with grill lid, 1 minute or until grill marks appear. Grate ginger using the large holes of a box grater to equal 2 Tbsp. Squeeze juice from grated ginger into a medium bowl; discard solids. Add mayonnaise, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce, stirring to combine. Add slaw, tossing to coat. Serve grilled hot dogs in buns with slaw mixture and desired toppings. You are welcome
Jalapeno Poppers (not the ones that are fried) * 2 chicken breasts * 1 package of bacon (the longer the slices, the better) * 12 jalapenos * toothpicks and gloves Cut the jalapeno peppers in half lengthwise and remove the stems and seeds. (For fuck's sake, wear gloves!!) Get 12 pieces of bacon and cut each of them in half, giving you 24 pieces of bacon. Cut your two chicken breasts into pieces small enough to fit inside each jalapeno half. Place a piece of chicken inside the jalapeno half, wrap a piece of bacon around the middle of it, and insert a toothpick in the middle to hold it all together. Once you have all 24 of these done, throw them on the grill, cook until the chicken is golden brown. You can use different meats and add cheese if you want.