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Entries in BBQ (62)

Monday
15Feb2010

Daytona 500 & BBQ....2 of My Favorites

I've written about this before, but as usual I cooked for the Daytona 500 and had a few folks over to enjoy the race. 

This year, I decided on brisket.  I hadn't yet used my home made Magic Dust on brisket, so I trimmed up a couple of flats and liberally applied the rub that Mike Mills uses at 17th Street Bar & Grill.

Everything began just fine, but I ran into a snag when I awoke to find my cooker was only running about 160 degrees.  I didn't waste any time trying to fan the fire and get it restoked.  Instead, I disassembled the cooking setup and relit with my MAPP Torch .  I figure I saved a half an hour by going this route rather than waiting for the fire to rekindle via increased air flow.

Turns out, the overall cooking time was longer than I had planned due to this little problem.  And, we didn't have brisket until sometime around the second caution flag.  However, the Magic Dust was very tasty on the brisket and I was pleased with the overall results. 

My only regret is that since the brisket ran late, I caught a lot of grief from my guests.  But it sure didn't stop anyone from putting away the BBQ.

Cheers,
Braddog

Thursday
17Dec2009

Holiday Lunch 2009

Chuck Roast - Before & AfterEvery year it seems, I BBQ for the holiday luncheon at work.  This year is no exception.  After providing pulled pork, brisket, and ABT's at recent office luncheons, my folks asked me if I would cook for the big Christmas lunch.  Of course I obliged.  Heck, all I need is an excuse to BBQ!

With ~60 people attending this years luncheon and gag gift exchange, I spent a couple of days pondering what would be best.  I try to be sensitive to the fact that some folks don't eat pork, some don't eat red meat, and still others are vegetarians.  While I can't help the last group, I can accommodate aversions to pork & red meat.  I also have to consider the quantity and the fact that I don't have a catering rig to cook for dozens of folks.  So planning is pretty important.

20lbs of pulled beefI landed on pulled beef & turkey for the meal.  I considered that my method for pulled beef makes a pretty inexpensive chuck roast go a long way.  Then I decided that I'd do a couple of boneless turkey breasts for the folks who are avoiding red meat.  So I spent the day Wednesday doing the chuck roasts, pulled them, and refrigerated them overnight for lunch on Thursday.  On Thursday morning, I got up at 4:45am and started the Big Green Egg.  I had 3 boneless turkey breasts.  Two of those, I hit with a creole seasoning and the third I just used salt & pepper.

The turkey was done ~9:15am, so I wrapped it and placed it in a cooler for the trip to the office.  The beef, I put in an 18 qt. roaster with a can of Coke and some modified Sweet Baby Ray's.  The team provided buns, paper products, deserts and all of the sides. 

We had a great lunch with very little BBQ left over.  So the team is either afraid to tell the boss that the BBQ is no good, or they really do enjoy it.  I'm going with the latter!  =)

Cheers,

Braddog

Tuesday
27Oct2009

My "Go To" BBQ Sauce

I don't usually make my own sauce or BBQ rub, cause I find that there are so many good sauces & rubs on the market. 

I'll bet you're like me and you find that you have a standard sauce that you go to for most things.  Mine is Sweet Baby Ray's original sauce.  As a result, I typically have a few open bottles with just a little bit left in the bottom.

Recently, I was doing BBQ beef on the Big Green Egg and as I got ready to pull and sauce the chuck roasts I realized that I had 5 partial bottles of Sweet Baby Rays.  I snapped this picture of all the wounded soldiers on my Big Green Egg table.

What's your "go to" sauce?  Drop me a comment and let me know.

Cheers,
Braddog

Monday
19Oct2009

Review: Alford's BBQ Sauce

I've talked about the brotherhood of BBQ fans before, and once again a member of the brotherhood has come bearing gifts.  A co-worker recently returned from a trip to his hometown and brought me a bottle of sauce from his favorite BBQ joint.

Alford's is a BBQ joint in Kennet, MO and apparently folks in that part of the country will drive for miles to enjoy some of their BBQ.  I haven't gotten a chance to eat there, but I do have the pleasure of sampling their sauce.

It's a thin sauce with a vinegary taste and a decent kick.  I applied it to some left over brisket and over the course of a couple of days, I think I went through half of the bottle on my own. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the sauce and can't wait till I find myself in that part of the country to try some of their BBQ.  If you're passing through here's their information, but apparantely you need to go early.  Cause as I understand it, they sometimes run out of BBQ.

Alford's Bar-B-Q
1009 St Francis St, Kennett, MO
(573) 888-4539

Cheers,
Braddog

 

Wednesday
23Sep2009

Review: Peppers Deli & BBQ

I sure like to find local joints to try and when I find a place that has "BBQ" on the sign on front, I like to give those guys a few of my train-ridin' dollars in exchange for their brand of BBQ. So when I spotted Peppers Deli & BBQ in Ellisville, MO, I decided to give them a shot.

First of all, let me say that I really liked the owner and the way he took the time to talk to every person who stepped to the counter. It was very apparent that he has a lot of regular customers and I figure that's a good sign.

The sandwich board is loaded with all sorts of deli sandwiches and a whole section of "Slow Smoked BBQ" that included everything from pulled pork to BBQ ribs. Unfortunately, the BBQ was not great. It was tender, but it was kept in a warmer with a vinegary kind of sauce. When they served it up, they ladled on a bunch of St. Louis style BBQ sauce (that's a thick, sweet sauce). There was just too much sauce (both kinds) to be able to taste much about the meat.

While I won't go back for their BBQ, the other parts of the place and supporting a small business owner will definitely make me go and try one of the many deli sandwiches on their menu.

Cheers,
Braddog

Tuesday
22Sep2009

Have Bubba Keg, Will Travel

Some friends and I travel to Branson, MO twice each year for the Ozark Mountain Fiddler's Convention. We camp for a couple of nights and enjoy spontaneous jam sessions with the other attendees.

We have a theme of "eating better" each time and since acquiring a Bubba Keg, traveling with a grill has gotten a little easier. Of course, having a hitch on your vehicle helps and my neighbor and traveling partner has that covered.

Since this is the first time that I've traveled with the Bubba Keg mounted to the bumper, I thought I'd share these impressions.


  • It's definitely a two-man job to load/unload it.
  • Although I wasn't at the wheel, I couldn't tell that it was back there.
  • We carried it on a mini-van so we didn't have a ton of clearance below the grill and we drug it a couple of times on steep drives.  So beware of your clearance height.
  • Oh, and it sure gets a ton of looks everywhere you go!

I expect we'll continue to bring this cooker with us when camping and one of these days I'll even buy a new pickup to solve that clearance problem!

Cheers,
Braddog

Monday
24Aug2009

Video: Bubba Keg - Low and Slow

I've been splitting my cooking between the Bubba Keg & my Big Green Egg for most of the summer. One of the things that I've mentioned about cooking on the Bubba Keg is the challenge of maintaining low temperatures for BBQ'ing. This cooker does an awesome job of grilling but it takes some practice to get good at keeping it low 'n slow.

One of the folks over at Bubba Keg put together a video with some tips on starting the fire for BBQ'ing. Take a look.



Cheers,
Braddog

Saturday
15Aug2009

Brisket Fail

Like most bloggers, I like to post about my successes. However, this weekend I didn't fair so well and had a brisket that was a bit of a disappointment.

I'd been reading about a "quick brisket" (and a "quick pork butt"). The recipe claimed that you could cook at a higher temperature than normal and by cooking in an aluminum fan with a little beer you could turn out "fork tender" brisket in just 5-6 hours. These were the steps that I followed.


  • brisketfailCook indirect at 350* in an aluminum pan
  • When the meat reaches an internal temp of 140* cover with aluminum foil and add a can of beer to the pan
  • When the meat hits 170*, uncover and let the bark form until the internal temp hits 190*


I followed these steps, but what I ended up with was more like pot roast than BBQ.  The meat hit 190* in about 3 hours but it was far from tender.  I backed the temp down to 250*, and the meat temp fell back to ~180*.  I let it cook for several more hours until it was tender.  But as I said, it was more like pot roast than I'd hoped for.

But you know what the best part of a BBQ mistake is?  You still end up with something that's pretty tasty.  I enjoyed roast beef sandwiches for a few days after this effort.

Cheers,
Braddog

Saturday
08Aug2009

Review: Peace, Love, and Barbecue

PL&BBQI grew up in southern Illinois and was attending Southern Illinois University about the same time that Mike Mills was opening his first restaurant, 17th St. BBQ, in Murphysboro, IL.  My roommate and I would occasionally make the trip to Lake Egypt to eat BBQ at a place that we liked, but we were totally unaware of the happenings less than 10 miles away from campus.

Mike Mills is an author, a restauranteur, a Memphis in May Champion, and is referred to as The Legend in BBQ circles.  This book, Peace, Love, & Barbecue: Recipes, Secrets, Tall Tales, and Outright Lies from the Legends of Barbecue, is his perspective on the culture of BBQ.

Peace, Love, and Barbecue isn't an autobiography, though it tells Mike's story from his viewpoint.  It's not merely a cookbook, though it's chocked full of awesome recipes from some of the best BBQ'ers in the country.  It's not an instructional guide, but there are lots of tips and recommendations throughout the book.  It's not a travel guide, but you could use it to locate the best BBQ  joints in the country.  This book is all of those things and more.

For every beer you drink, throw on about 6 lumps of charcoal or one small stick of wood - Mike Mills


I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, hearing from the who's who in the BBQ world, perusing the recipes and planning my next BBQ experiment, and getting a deeper look at the culture around one of the most uniquely American foods, BBQ.  This is a must read for anyone who cooks as a hobby, aspires to cook competitively, or simply enjoys good BBQ.

So here's wishing you Peace, Love, and BBQ!

Cheers,
Braddog

Sunday
26Jul2009

Tip: Avoid burns from the Bubba Keg

I must be in the slow class, cause I only burned myself about 3 times before I learned this technique. The last couple of times I've cooked on the BKCG, I've burned my forearm when opening the lid straight up. I finally discovered that you can avoid the rush of escaping heat if you stand to the side of the grill and open it from 3:00 to 9:00 (or vice versa). Opening it straight on from 6:00 to 12:00 exposes your arm to that rush of heat that can (& will) burn the heck out of your forearm.

I've had a couple of close calls and been left with a slight burn a couple of times, so use this tip and my experience to avoid a nasty burn on your forearm.

Cheers,
Braddog