2006 BBQ season approaches

I'm looking forward to the official start of BBQ season. I've already purchased a replacement lighted umbrella for the deck. Added to the candles I'm going to put into the knee-high birdbath, it should provide a nice visual background. I'm already mentally planning a menu and working on getting the pizza stone and wood chips in my propane grill to produce a 'brick oven' pizza.

Hopefully, Plastic Forks will be on again this year and I can field test some ideas.

Plastic Forks 25.

For real.

Depite all ---um, er, whatever---I am going to be there. At Forks.

Can Richlevy grill my chicken breast? Coz it looks like he's good.

PLUS: I want to worship Jinx and wolf. Like the goddesses they are. (I will offer cashmere argyle sox and bullets)

Bri, if you're going I'll be there.... I just need to find a date as LJ is so unreliable on Saturdays.

jinx, honey, my dream date (resplendant with Bowling Outfit) is you and wolf. We can be each other's date insofar as we: #1) will have food, and #2) will have stories! Should ANY ONE OF US bring illegal shit... well, it's up to that person to pray for redemption. And, natch, Chinese food. A lot of Chinese food. Plus, probably, a tent. With a chimney hole. And, a spit to roast whole hogs with apples. But, other than that...it's a clam-bake!


*so wish for a clam-bake*

Brianna wrote:

jinx, honey, my dream date (resplendant with Bowling Outfit) is you and wolf.

Uh-oh

As for the other thing, you can be sure that I will take care of any breasts you put in my hands.:blush:

Lets see. Freaky women, check. Bonfire, check. Mead, check. Yep, it sounds like Forks.

I'm looking forward to the official start of BBQ season.

??????

There's and END to BBQ season ??????

wolf wrote:

Plastic Forks 25.

For real.

Will there be commemorative T-shirts in the gift shop?

That sounds way too organized, but you can always suggest it to Bob.

I'd suggest photos of the horses. After all theyu're more valuable than the guests. ;)

I have an eye of round in fridge working for this wkend. Regardless of the flappin weather. Have another pvc dodad in progress in shop to stuff it with. Damn I wish I had a small lathe. Maybe photos later.

Chicken steaks and sausages 4tw. <3

I just canned about 20 pints of homemade BBQ sauce.... it's good. My husband caved in and is buying me a Big Green Egg, which is a BBQ/ smoker. I've been heavily suggesting that I need one for quite some time, so it's no small miracle that I am getting one. I'm ordering all the supplies I need to get my patio/ outdoor kitchen set up, and I've restocked all of my Dizzy Pig spices (look 'em up - they are freakin' fantastic)....

Soooo come on Spring!!! I'm ready for 24/7 BBQing!!

Don't forget to order the bacon brittle. :D

xoxoxoBruce wrote:

Don't forget to order the bacon brittle. :D

Well, I have put maple syrup on sausage links, and they now have maple flavored sausages, so I guess it was the logical extension.

The PA Dutch would love it.

And maple cured hams. :yum:

We're having these for dinner tomorrow (along with a fat prime rib roast, but who cares about that?)

And in the next photo you hear KEEEYAAAA !!!!!! and parts of kitty go flying accross the room !!!!!

Just kidding ;)

Whens dinner ?????

I was waiting for the cat to get his ass handed to him, but the crabs were pretty sedate. Dungeness crabs get a lot angrier, but Kings will just sit there and silently hate you.

BTW - dinner is at 6:30. Be there.

BTW - dinner is at 6:30. Be there.

I SOOOOO wish i could be there !!!!!

I have to ask. Since a lot of crabbing is done in Alaska, are they cheaper there? Can you set your own traps without licenses?

BTW, I thought they didn't get red until after boiling/steaming.

Sometimes we can get crab and fish REAL cheap right off the boats here. Man! What a free-for-all. Live crab is cheaper than already dead.

Richlevy - yes, you can set your own traps here. We regularly set ours in the summer about 4 hours North of town. The crabs we're having tonight were commercially caught out of our area - much further North than we would go. We bought them for $6.00 a pound, which came out to $85.00 for the two we got. They are golden king crab, but the ones we get locally are reds. King crab gets a bit redder as it cooks, but it doesn't change color as much as the dungees that go from purplish brown to bright screeching orange when cooked.
Here's a pic of my nephew with a red king - you can definitely tell the difference between them and the goldens.

What % of the weight is edible for the Reds and Goldens?:yum:

Bruce - I would have to say about 60 - 70% or so. They weighed about 7lbs each when they were live, and I would guess that once cleaned they weighed about 5 lbs.

Gawd they were good!!

Oh sure....go ahead....rub it in.:p

Hooooolleeee crap!! I thought it was BBQ season, but we got a freaky temperature dip yesterday. It's 3 degrees right now, and with the wind chill it's something like -10 !!
On the off chance that you are curious or are completely bored, you can call 907-747-8633 and it will give you the local time & temp for Sitka.

Brrrrrrr. it's like I live in Alaska or something.

Seakdivers: I hate to tell you, but those things you ate? They're SEA SPIDERS! And, those OTHER things you (probably) eat? They're SEA COCK ROACHES! YEEEEEEEEEEEE-UCK.


PS-I fear the sea

It's ok Bri - I know you have a water phobia. I was pretty scared to learn how to dive, but now that I have, I know that it's really not that bad down there.

I also like to eat abalone - they are basically sea snails. MmmmmMmmm!

Bring on the sea insects!!

Brianna wrote:

They're SEA COCK ROACHES! YEEEEEEEEEEEE-UCK.


PS-I fear the sea

TASTY Sea Cock Roaches.

And the more you eat, the fewer there are in the sea.

wolf wrote:

Plastic Forks 25.

For real.

Well, not quite.

It is with regret that I have to inform everyone that Plastic Forks will not be held this year (2006). This is a decision of the host ... even I don't have the full story, but it does have something to do with ForksBob overbooking himself this year. There will be a smaller party to maintain continuity ... if you are invited, you already know it.

The Official Web Site should have additional information and updates.

zippyt wrote:

There's and END to BBQ season ??????

Well, southern Californians mostly don't barbeque in the winter rains. Mostly. Their attention is often occupied by watching the hillsides to see if any are going to come loose. Lost some people at La Conchita that way.

Bottom-feeding crustacean critters: Ma Nature's tasty little joke. How something that eats what lobsters eat ends up tasting like lobster... well, it's a mystery.

There's and END to BBQ season ??????

I am Perelexed (spellin' ) because I have a rain suit , and insulated cover-all's .
Hard core BBQr's are NOT stoped by the weather .

BUMMER about Forks !!! Oh well there goes our ALT Vacation plans ( if'n the weather get weird for here http://www.thecapeescape.com )

Found this recipe on the net, because I wanted to try some baby back ribs on the grill this weekend. I would think some kind of marinating would make them better... Comments/suggestions/alterations? I will let you know how they turn out.
Thanks! LR


• [COLOR="DarkRed"]2 sheets (18x24-inches each) heavy duty aluminum foil
• 3 pounds baby back pork ribs
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
Directions:
PREHEAT grill to medium or oven to 450°F.
CENTER half of ribs in single layer on each sheet of aluminum foil. Combine brown sugar and seasonings; rub over ribs, turning to coat evenly.
BRING up foil sides. Double fold top and one end to seal packet. Through open end, add 1/4 cup water. Double fold remaining end, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Repeat to make two packets.
GRILL 45 to 60 minutes in covered grill. Remove foil; place ribs on grill OR BAKE 45 to 60 minutes on a cookie sheet in oven. Remove foil; place ribs on broiler pan.
BRUSH ribs with barbecue sauce.
CONTINUE GRILLING OR BROILING 4 to 5 inches from broiler, 10 to 15 minutes, brushing with sauce and turning every 5 minutes. [/COLOR]This recipe for Baby Back Barbeque Ribs serves/makes 4

My bro-in law is remaking my grill/smoker for me. I miss making them myself, but just can't now. I can't wait to break it in this year.
Season in Fl has been on for some time.

Here's what I cook on. It's a Big Green Egg and I absolutely love it. It's made of ceramic that's about 2-3 inches thick and it burns hardwood lump charcoal.
It's both a smoker & a bbq.

That is an *awesome* cooker, Seak...where does one find these?

Els - I ordered mine online from Hearthside Distributors, but if you are interested in getting one you should see if you have a local rep.
I love this thing.
Check out the Big Green Egg forum (just type it into google or yahoo) you will see that it's kinda like a religion. (I go by alaskanc)
I've made everything from smoked salmon to prime rib roasts on this thing. It's amazing.

I really want a new grill, but I am putting it off this season and simply ordering replacement parts.

I'm working on a BBQ menu for a mid-July BBQ. So far it's hamburgers and hot dogs, smoked Beef ring sausage, chicken drums, and a 5 lb lamb shank (with bone).

Unfortunately, that's not really enough lamb for everyone.

I've never done a leg of lamb on a grill before, but I did find these instructions. Fortunately, I already have a wireless meat thermometer because I do not have a rotisserie.

BTW, my wife has had good success with mixing in slices from the sausage into Zatarains Caribbean Rice. The combination is moderately spicy, whether from the rice or the sausage I'm not sure.

Still, I have to choose whether to serve the rice without meat to accommodate vegetarians and non-red meat eaters or go with the original recipe. In any case the sausage rounds would be browned or blackened separately. I think mixing it into the rice while it is still hot adds a lot of flavor.

I do not for a fact know that anyone attending at this point is a vegetarian, but I am trying to decide how much accomodation to make. I could also leave off one package to make meatless.

Does anyone have any advice on this or how to cook the lamb? I cook with propane but I have hardwood chips (pellets). Should I add smoke into the mix?

Rich - if you are going to add smoke, do it at the beginning - that's when the meat will absorb the most smoke flavor. Don't overdo it though - tender meats like that can over absorb the smoke and that doesn't taste so good. Also, when you do smoking on the gasser, crack the lid a bit, otherwise the smoke will taste bitter. You want the smoke to pass by/ thru the meat, not settle on it.

So, hubby bought this:http://www.chargriller.com/shop/grills/smokin-pro.htmlon Saturday. Grill. $89, Side smoke box $39 from Menards. We seasoned it then cooked T-bones on it in preparation for our pork baby back ribs on Sunday. Was a bitch to put together, but totally worth it.

My husband took total control of the ribs, and for a first attempt, they were pretty good. We started with Famous Dave's rib rub, then he smoked them with hickory chunks for 2 hours at ~200*, spraying with them with apple juice occasionally. We then drenched them in Famous Dave's Rich and Sassy BBQ sauce, wrapped them in a couple layers of foil, and cooked them for another 2 hours over charcoal at about 300*. Turns out that he oversmoked them, but they were still tender and one rack was perfect moisture wise. The other was a bit drier, but still edible. There wasn't any leftovers!! Even my daughter ate a bunch of the meat without much sauce from in-between the ribs. If we cut the concentration and duration of smoking down to about 1/2, they would be perfect. We felt like we were breathing smoke the rest of the night :) Maybe this coming weekend we'll try again.

LabRat wrote:

Maybe this coming weekend we'll try again.

Barbeque is more art than science, but one well worth learning.

I suspect the drier of the rib racks was closer to the fire. This is an inherent issue with horizontal smoker designs. There are some things you can do to alleviate the problem though. Take a look the this pdf file. It's for a different brand than you have, but it should give you an idea of what can be done.

I Q'd in the rain yesterday. 9.5 lb pork butt (on at 3am off at 3pm), pork tenderloin and a half dozen italian sausages. Everything turned out great. The butt was the best I've done so far.

dar512 wrote:

The butt was the best I've done so far.

just wanted to take this out of context. I feel as though it is expected of me.

It is. Thanks for sharing.

my pleasure. :)

lumberjim wrote:

just wanted to take this out of context. I feel as though it is expected of me.

What a card.

Not to take anything away from Jim's wonderful sense of whimsy - however pork butt is not the part of the pig you might think.

wolf wrote:

Well, not quite.

It is with regret that I have to inform everyone that Plastic Forks will not be held this year (2006). This is a decision of the host ... even I don't have the full story, but it does have something to do with ForksBob overbooking himself this year. There will be a smaller party to maintain continuity ... if you are invited, you already know it.

The Official Web Site should have additional information and updates.

Much smaller. Officially, it might be regarded as a "small, intimate gathering" (not THAT way). There were four of us, six if you count the cats.

I always count the cats.

When I used to eat meat, the only barbecue I would eat was southern-style pulled pork (heh) with Vinegar sauce and mustard.

If anyone is in the Huntsville area at any point, stopping by Gibson's BBQ is mandatory.

I wanted to share pics of Hubby's BBQs.
This one was donated to local HS Booster club. The Club has made enough money to purchase supplies, uniforms and equipment for all the school's extra curricular activities.
Westlake Lions.

This BBQ is being made (and purchased) because someone who belongs to the Booster club liked the first one and wanted one to augment his business so he could take it mobile for party catering.

HH - awesome!!!! I love the custom bbq in the top pic, and I've always wanted to try an offset like the bottom pic.
Very nice work!!

This past weekend's smoked chicken. Supurb. Perfect amount of smoke. I would have taken a pic of the beautiful pink meat, but it disappeared too fast :D

Best part though, was the smores over the leftover charcoal... heh heh heh
I wasn't as dainty as my daughter whilst chowing down. :yum:

I am often disturbed by the constant inability for so many's inability to discern between grilling and BBQ. :right:
Then I feel bad for being a snob.:(

Am I right in thinking that you must be a real old-fashioned buccaneer then , rkzenrage ?

Smoked, Bar-be-qued, Grilled,
Who gives a shit?
As long as the beer's chilled,
Dinner's a hit.

seakdivers wrote:

Here's what I cook on. It's a Big Green Egg and I absolutely love it. It's made of ceramic that's about 2-3 inches thick and it burns hardwood lump charcoal.
It's both a smoker & a bbq.

Seak, my uncle had one of these. It was like religion to him. I seem to remember that he'd pre heat it for a couple of hours and then after the coals were gone he'd put the meat in and let it sit.

That was about 35 years ago so I'm not too sure of what he was actually doing.

It was the same color, he called it a HIGH BOTCHI. His pronounciation of Hibachi.

Smoked, Bar-be-qued, Grilled,
Who gives a shit?
As long as the beer's chilled,
Dinner's a hit.

While there IS a distinction between Q and grilling ,
LabR has the right attatude !!!!

I have a problem. The refrigerator is stocked with chicken and veggies for the BBQ and my wife has informed me that there is not enough room to defrost the lamb shank. It's a 5lb lamb shank with bone.

Would it be possible to BBQ it straight from the freezer? I would wash it and put on a dry rub.

Until next week, I have two grills, so I have the space and the propane. The BBQ does not start until 5pm. Is it doable?

Defrost it in a cool water bath in the sink , slow running water will do the trick .
DON'T go from the feeezer to the grill , that will mess up a good piece of meat .

zippyt wrote:

Defrost it in a cool water bath in the sink , slow running water will do the trick .
DON'T go from the feeezer to the grill , that will mess up a good piece of meat .

How long would it take to defrost?

I don't know , I heard that on Good eats , it is suposed to defrost faster in a water bath

The time to defrost a whole 20 lb turkey goes down to like a half-hour in an ice-water bath. The water conducts the heat better (or the cold, if you prefer).

This is usually how I defrost things (waterbath) because I never remember to put stuff in the fridge when I decide what I want to make. Plus, when I do, the meat always seems to leak all over even if I use a plate underneath. Yuck. In fact, the 1/4 chix legs in the post above were thawed in my spaghetti pot in the sink because I was too lazy to go down and get them out of the freezer the night before :). If you use warm (not hot!) water, and change it a couple times, your lambie should be done in no time. Good luck!

Betcha didn't get those at Cabelas :lol:

Good one rkzenrage,

I may have to make a few of those for Xmas gifts !!! ;)

My wifes cousin has dropped out due to illness, moving the count down to 15-20. My wife has convinced me not to make the lamb tomorrow:sniff:. Since we have 10 lbs of chicken drumsticks, 5lbs of beef smoked sausage, 12lbs of hamburgers, and 7 lbs of kosher hot dogs, I have to agree with her. The chicken has been defrosted, but everything else is frozen so we only need to make what we are using.

On the plus side, this means I will get to make the lamb for myself and the kids (my wife does not like lamb) sometime in the future.

zippyt wrote:

Smoked, Bar-be-qued, Grilled,
Who gives a shit?
As long as the beer's chilled,
Dinner's a hit.

While there IS a distinction between Q and grilling ,
LabR has the right attatude !!!!

Not when you tell someone from the South, especially old FL, Texas or any other Deep South that you are having BBQ and you serve grilled food. They won't say it, but they are disappointed.

Basically, one is one thing the other is the other... it is simple, like salad and soup.

I did brisket flats last weekend. I used Willy's #1 rub from the Smoke and Spice book, apple juice for mop, and a combination of hickory and oak. 10 hrs in the smoker. Yum.

I'm really enjoying the Weber Smokey Mountain that I bought last year. It does a great job and is very low maintenance. I had a big iron job before that. Rust was a constant issue.

I've gotta go along with rage on the name thing. Q'd and grilled are both good eating, but they're not the same thing. I don't correct people on the subject, but I do differentiate when I'm talking about it.

I agree, BBQ and grilling ARE different, and I would also be very disappointed if invited for BBQ and it wasn't. My palate may differentiate, but my stomach gets full either way...

Drunk chickens from 7/9/06. I cooked for my b-day a few days late because some were working. I made tater salad, green beans w/new taters. Anvil Mike showed up, sober around 3:30. The drunk assed welders came about 6, after drinking all day. And had to be home by 7 or turn into jail birds. They each have their little ankle things. By that time I was poed and about in the bag.
Never again for that crew!
They were fixed in a smoker I built, gas, w/waterpan.
So are they smoked, grilled. BBqed or just drunk? Anyway were good.
Photos of grills http://www.flickr.com/photos/busterb/

What temp did you use? Low and slow is BBQ. Fast and hot is grilling.

This photo shows the temp.257 wasn't preheated so might be thought of as slow.http://cellar.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=9166&stc=1&d=1152477906

What are they stuffed with? Looks like eggs...

bluecuracao wrote:

What are they stuffed with? Looks like eggs...

Nope. A small new tater to keep steam in.

busterb wrote:

This photo shows the temp.257

I'd call it bbq.

busterb wrote:

Drunk chickens from 7/9/06. I cooked for my b-day a few days late because some were working. I made tater salad, green beans w/new taters. Anvil Mike showed up, sober around 3:30. The drunk assed welders came about 6, after drinking all day. And had to be home by 7 or turn into jail birds. They each have their little ankle things. By that time I was poed and about in the bag.
Never again for that crew!
They were fixed in a smoker I built, gas, w/waterpan.
So are they smoked, grilled. BBqed or just drunk? Anyway were good.

Let's see, drunken rednecks with ankle monitors and slow cooked BBQ. That sounds like a lot of fun. Screw Plastic Forks, I want to have a Cellar GTG at Buster's house.;)

busterb wrote:

Nope. A small new tater to keep steam in.

I've seen a lot of uses for New Potato(e)s, but a chicken buttplug is a new one on me. :D

I want to have a Cellar GTG at Buster's house.

I'm IN , Just me know where and when !!!!!

After looking at Buster's flicker page I realize I need a Millermatic wire feed welder. I'm no good with the stick.

The welding urge is upon me...

The marination program has begun and tomorrow I'll be __BQ ing pork ribs and short ribs slowly with maybe some maple chips.