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Wednesday
Jul212010

The Most Important Ingredient for Great BBQ

DateWednesday, July 21, 2010 at 9:53PM

While I've always appreciated good BBQ, I haven't always been able to create good BBQ.  Over the years, I've tried my hand at it with a variety of different BBQ pits.  My failures usually left me thinking that it was an equipment problem.  Finally, after going through a couple of ECB's (El Cheapo Brinkman water smokers) and an off-set cooker, I finally decided that maybe the common denomenator was the guy running the show.

I began to read a lot of the BBQ forums on line and decided to give it one more shot.  My folks had a gas powered, bullet smoker that they'd never used.  I pressed it into service and applied the techniques I'd read about and much to my surprise, I turned out some awesome pulled pork.  I finally realized the most important ingredient that I'd been missing in my previous attempts.

You see, I'd been following the FDA guidelines regarding safe temps for food preparation.  You know, those numbers printed on the back of meat thermometers and such.  I'd always pulled pork shoulder off of the cooker when it reached 165 degrees.  What I failed to realize is that while no one will die from eating pork cooked to 165 degrees, that doesn't mean it's done.  In fact, the magic is only starting when pork shoulder hits 165 degress.

The ingredient that I'd been missing all along wasn't a rub, a sauce, or a cooker.  It was patience.  It turns out that you can't rush good BBQ.  You can't cook by your watch.  You have to cook by temperature (for the most part) and pork shoulder isn't done at 165 degrees, it's done at 195 deegrees.

So grasshopper, now that you know the secret.  Be patient, cause great things come to those who wait!

Cheers,
Braddog

 

AuthorBraddog | Comment2 Comments |
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Wednesday
Jul142010

Best BBQ in St. Louis

DateWednesday, July 14, 2010 at 10:20AM

I try to make it a habit of visiting as many BBQ joints as I can for a couple of reasons.  First I like good BBQ, and second it's great blog fodder. ;)

Over the past couple of years, I've eaten at most of the BBQ joints in the St. Louis area.  There are a couple of chains that I typically avoid and I'm sure there are places that I haven't had the opportunity to try.

However, I though I'd put together the short list of the places that I think are at the top of the heap in the St. Louis area.  Note that this includes the metro-east or Illinois side of the metro area, mainly cause that's where I think you'll find the best BBQ in town.

Here goes:

  1. 17th St. Barbeque- This is my favorite place to eat BBQ in the St. Louis area.  It's one of Mike Mills' restaurants.  If you track the BBQ culture, you know that Mike "The Legend" Mills is a well respected competition cook, restaurateur, and pitmaster.  If you live in the St. Louis metro area, it's worth the drive to try Mike's ribs in O'fallon, IL.
  2. Pappy's Smokehouse -Another joint with great credentials, Pappy's sports some trophies from Memphis in May and folks line up at lunch time to get a taste of some really great BBQ.  Pappy's has also been featured on food & travel shows on cable TV.  They're located in the downtown area so there's no excuse not to sample their fare, but get there early.  When they run out of BBQ, they close early.
  3. Plush Pig- This is a place that I nearly overlooked when they were located in downtown Clayton, MO.  They've since relocated, revamped the menu, and if possible made the BBQ even better.  Still one of my top 5 places to eat BBQ in St. Louis, they're now located at McKnight & Manchester.
  4. Hick's BBQ- Another Illinois place, I discovered them after buying some of their sauce at a BBQ shop in St. Louis.  I've enjoyed their BBQ a couple of times, but when I attended a backyard party that they catered I really became a fan.  I highly recommend their sauce and their BBQ.  I've also had the opportunity to meet the owner and he's a super nice guy, further reinforcing my belief that if you BBQ you're my friend.

So there you have it gang.  To my taste buds, these are the best BBQ joints in the St. Louis metro area.  Who'd I miss? Which joints do I need to visit?  Where do you think the best BBQ in St. Louis can be found?  Drop me a comment and let me know.


Cheers,
Braddog

AuthorBraddog | Comment5 Comments |
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Saturday
Jun262010

Review: Wine Barrel Grilling & Smoking Staves

DateSaturday, June 26, 2010 at 9:06AM

For years, I've cooked over mostly hickory or apple wood.  I really enjoy the smell of the smoke and the taste that it imparts to the meat.

Recently, I had the chance to use Wine Barrel staves on a couple of different cooks and cookers.  The staves are from actual oak wine barrels used to make red wine.  You can see how the wine has stained the inside of the staves.  Simply add these to your grill or smoker in the place of other smoking woods.

I first used them in a Big Green Egg when I was smoking baby back ribs.  The smoke was lighter than hickory or mesquite.  I really enjoyed the milder flavor as well.  Most recently, I used them in a Backwoods Fatboy and the experience was the same.  Although I'm not sure I could detect any flavor from the wine itself, I'd highly recommend this product for a lighter, milder result.

The staves were from RedEnvelope.com.  I really like the package that I received and would highly recommend this site to order up personalized gifts for the grillmeister in your life.  There's a nice selection of personalized and grilling gifts.  You should definitely keep them in mind at your next gift giving opportunity.

Cheers,
Braddog

AuthorBraddog | Comment2 Comments |
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Tuesday
Jun152010

Spatchcock Chicken on the Big Green Egg

DateTuesday, June 15, 2010 at 8:07PM

I’ve done this several times and pulled the chicken for sandwhiches and the like.  However, I’ve had two conversations this week with folks who didn’t necessarily get what I was talking about.  So here’s a shot of a “spatchcock” or butterflied chicken.

To do this, just cut down each side of the backbone/spine of a whole chicken and remove it.  Place your fingers in each side of the incision, press inward on the breast bone with your thumbs, pull each side apart apart at the incision that you’ve made, and the breast bone will crack open till the bird lies flat.  I grill these at ~325 degrees or so for ~1 hour & 15 mins (or until they’re done).

If you haven’t tried this, you should.  It’s pretty darned tasty.

 

 

Cheers,
Braddog



AuthorBraddog | Comment1 Comment |
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Saturday
Jun122010

Update: Pig-a-palooza 2010

DateSaturday, June 12, 2010 at 8:17PM

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I volunteered to help with the cooking at a local fund raiser.  The main course was to be a whole hog, but there were also plenty of pork butts & ribs to cook too.

We convened on the cooking site at 3:00pm on Friday and began preparing the rotissiere/spit that we would use to cook the hog.  Now, I'd never done a whole hog before but one of the volunteers was experienced with the process so he took the lead.

We prepped the hog, got it mounted on the spit, and had the first coals under the 159 lb. guest of honor shortly before 6:00pm.  We had a large trailer-mounted pit that we used for the ongoing process of lighting fresh coals and readying them for shoveling under the spit.

We decided that we'd use my Backwoods Fatboy to cook the butts and ribs.  We picked up my cooker and had 12 boneless pork butts (~60 lbs.) on by 9:00pm.  That would allow us to get the butts done and the ribs started early in the morning and hopefully have things finishing up by the noon serving time.

It was all revelry and good times early on, but slowly the observers drifted off to their homes for a comfortable night's rest as the night wore on.  By 1:00am we were down to three guys who were committed to the process and whatever outcome morning would bring.  We had one close call around that same time.  We hadn't anticipated that the hog would shrink as much as it did, and we had to readjust the clamps that held it on the spit to keep it from flopping around and coming apart.

The hog finished up around 7:00am, about the same time that we began taking pork butts off of the Fatboy and started putting the ribs on.  We had the hog picked by 8:00 or so.  We kept it in pans on the pit we used for charcoal starting and waited for lunchtime.

Once we pulled the pork butts and began to serve lunch, it became clear to us that the pulled pork butts were much tastier than the whole hog.  Over the course of the afternoon, we served all the pulled pork and the ribs.  We only served about half of the pickings from the whole hog.

So here are a couple of observations about my first time doing a whole hog.

  • I don't care for it.  There's so much of it and no real good way to season it, so it ends up tasting mosly like pork roast.
  • I think we cooked it too fast early on.  The pit that we rented for the event had no thermometer, so we were cooking by feel.  I think we should have started at a lower temp.
  • Doing a whole hog is really all about the process and presentation.  For pure eating pleasure, I think the pulled pork and ribs were much better.

After tending the pits for 23 straight hours, I'm beat.  But I do feel a sense of satisfaction and pride when I see folks' reaction to our efforts.

Additionally, we helped a great cause.  I hope the whole event was successful enough to warrant doing it again next year, cause I had a blast.

Cheers,
Braddog

 

AuthorBraddog | Comment6 Comments |
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Sunday
Jun062010

Beef Tenderloin - Round 2

DateSunday, June 6, 2010 at 8:44PM

I've had family in town for a long weekend and we've had a world class weekend running the cookers.  Today, I decided it'd be steak & potatoes in recognition of my father-in-law's birthday.

Last week I took a run at trimming a beef tenderloin and slicing it into steaks.  This week I elected to roast the tenderloin whole.  Wow!  This thing rocked.  I cooked it till it was ~155 degrees in the thickest part.  This allowed me to cut steaks of different levels of doneness to allow for personal preferences.

Here's a shot the whole tenderloin cut in half before I carved it.

Cheers,
Braddog

AuthorBraddog | Comment3 Comments |
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Saturday
Jun052010

Bananas Johnson

DateSaturday, June 5, 2010 at 9:30PM

Okay, I know there's a dish called Bananas Foster but this is my take on bananas on the grill.  So I've decided to call it Bananas Johnson (after a potato dish called Potatoes Johnson).

There's really nothing to this one.  Just some cut the ends off of a couple of bananas, slit them lengthwise, and put them in the cooker.  Once the peels get good and black, sprinkle some brown sugar in the slit.  Once the brown sugar carmelized, I served these with a little vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.  Wow!  This rocks!

Got a variation on this trick?  Drop me a note and let me know.

Cheers,
Braddog

AuthorBraddog | Comment1 Comment |
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Monday
May312010

First Overnighter on the Backwoods FatBoy

DateMonday, May 31, 2010 at 9:12AM

With the long holiday weekend, I decided that I had plenty of time to pull an overnighter on the Fatboy.  So, I picked up a brisket & a pork butt and decided that I'd cook on Sunday night for the Memorial Holiday on Monday.

I loaded up the firebox about 8:30pm on Sunday evening and had the cooker read to put the meat in by 10:00pm.  I'd done a couple of long burns just to get a feel for how long the cooker would run on a single load of charcoal.  I was expecting ~8-9hrs.

The meat went on at 10:00pm and I topped off the water pan & charcoal pan around 11:30pm, then hit the rack.  I was up 5:00am to check and I was pleased to find the cooker chugging along at 250*, so I decided to grab a couple of more hours. 

At 7:00am, it was still hanging on to 250* like a bad habit.  I inserted my meat probes and was surprised to find that they were both nearly done.  I was expecting the cook to last until sometime closer to noon.  At 8:00am, the brisket went in the cooler and the butt followed at 8:45am.

I had the end of a beef tenderloin ready, so I popped it in the cooker and it's roasting now as I type this.

I'm really surprised about a couple of things:

  • I'm getting a really long burn from this fire.  Longer than I'd ever hoped for.
  • The meat seems to get done much quicker than I'm used to.  I'd noticed this with ribs and pork steaks also.

I'm gonna have lots of opportunites to cook this summer, so I'm glad to be getting this practice in.  Hope you have/had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

Cheers,
Braddog

AuthorBraddog | Comment2 Comments |
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Saturday
May292010

Trimming a Beef Tenderloin

DateSaturday, May 29, 2010 at 8:21PM

Around my house my family only goes for one kind of steak, filet mignon.  Well that can be a pricey proposition.  In fact, the last time that I bought filets from the market they were running $23.95/lb.  Not the kind of thing I can afford to do very often.

So, I've been thinking about picking up a whole tenderloin and trimming it myself.  Today, I took the plunge and bought a small(ish) one at Sams Club.  The thing weighed in at a little over 5 lbs. and was priced at $9.98/lb.  Still expensive, but much more affordable than buying the steaks individually.

Now I'd never trimmed a tenderloin before but I figured, how hard can it be?  Well the step by step guidance was just a quick Google search away.  I should have known that I'd find all the video help I need on YouTube.  There I found two different videos and after spending less than 10 minutes in front of my iMac, I was ready.

I had the tenderloin trimmed and cut into steaks in less than 20 minutes.  I cut filets a little on the thin side since my family also thinks steaks (or any meat for that matter) should be well done and it's tough to get a really thick steak done enough for them without charring the outside too much.

After marinating for about an hour, I put the steaks and baked potatoes on the Bubba Keg.  Man, they were every bit as good as the $23.95/lb steaks that I'd gotten at the market before.  And the best part is, I've got a nice piece of the tenderloin left.  I plan to smoke it on Monday and cut it thin for sandwiches next week.  I've got a taste for a steak panini.  Stay tuned for that!

Here are  links to the 2 videos that I found on Youtube.


Cheers,
Braddog

AuthorBraddog | Comment2 Comments |
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Sunday
May162010

Learning on the Backwoods Fatboy

DateSunday, May 16, 2010 at 8:27PM

I've done a couple of short cooks on the new Fatboy so far.  Today, I did a variety of items.  I picked up a rack of St. Louis cut spare ribs, a couple of pork tenderloins, the neighbors brought over a couple of racks of baby back ribs, and a couple of hot links.

I'm getting more comfortable with temperature control, but I have to confess that I haven't gotten used to the water pan and the mess associated with it and the ash pan.  I also haven't gotten used to the fuel consumption.  I've been pretty spoiled by the fuel efficiency of the Big Green Egg.  I don't think I'll ever have a cooker that's as efficient as my Egg.

In any event, here are a couple of shots of today's efforts.

Cheers,
Braddog

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