Back from the Promised Land

I'm back, but no one tell the GI Department. I'm feeding the NEW Kids Team this weekend, and need a day or 2 to smoke. Great to see the team was active. I posted a bunch of comments on the postings.

Included is the picture of the lake where my family has a cabin- absolutely gorgeous! In TN right on the NC border.

I will highlight what I prepared and what I learned on the trip.

4 racks of spare ribs: absolutely the perfect texture- my best smoking yet. The only thing I screwed up was the rub. I've been sold on Magic Dust for a while, but it was too spicy for little kids, and didn't mesh with the sweet sauce. Lessons learned: Smithfield farms sells great spare ribs at Wal-mart- Not sure if available here; Great baste if looking for sweet ribs- mix a lot of brown sugar with cider vinegar- it didn't burn, kept the ribs moist, and gave a great flavor- I will definitely do again; 3 hours on smoke, then 2 hours wrapped worked great for 4 large racks of spare ribs (I did the tips on the gas with a hickory chunk on the lit burner); brushing sauce right before resting the ribs works great- good base layer of sauce without burning or gooping it up; the cooler trick to keep meat warm is awesome- kept these ribs hot for hours. Overall, I think I'm sold on about 3 hours of smoke then 2 wrapped, vinegar/brown sugar baste once a hour, sauce before resting. Oh, one more thing- I think the combo of oak/applewood is my favorite. I mainly used hickory, and it wasn't quite as good as using applewood for the ribs.

Smoked chicken w/ white BBQ sauce: I can't get enough of this. Family loved it. Juicy as hell.

Filets rubbed with equal part ground coffee and black pepper, marinated for about 2 hours in equal parts soy and W sauce. Cooked to medium for most of the family. Used natural lump charcoal.

Pulled pork- 16 lbs total: no new lessons, but given time crunches, the Cooks Illustrated Method worked great as usual, which I recommend if time is limited. Try their website for the full story (link to the right side), but in short, here it is: Traditional law is 1 to 1.5 hours per pound of pork. The cooks method for a 6-8 lb butt/shoulder: 3 hours on the grill w/ smoke at 250, then wrap and place in the oven at 325 for 2 hours, rest for 1 hour, then pull. The only tricky thing is when bringing out of the oven, lots of fat has rendered, and can be messy. POUR THE JUICE OFF! That is pure rendered fat and will make it too greasy. Too keep moist, add vinegar.

2 quick tips on reheating pulled pork (quite laughing Flamb-Ed): if doing a small amount (1 lb or less), try heating in a non-stick skillet of the stove top and add some cider vinegar or apple juice to moisten- quick and easy and tasty. For larger amounts, use a tin like you do for a drip pan- pour vinegar or juice in there and heat for about an hour at 350- if getting dry, add more juice/vinegar. Can also add extra rub in desired, especially if you want it spicy. If you like Eastern NC BBQ sauce,pour it on too. If you are a sauce fiend, then go ahead and add it too.

Butterfly chicken- also called chicken under a brick. This is where you cut the spine of the whole chicken out, grill under bricks or heavy cans to grill the meat evenly and get crispy skin. Again, Cooks Illustrated has a great description, as does Raichlen.

Sweet Mustard BBQ sauce: this recipe can be found in Southern Living. Great. I don't have it on me right now, and I need to get to bed. If you really want it, let me know and I'll post it. It was the hands down favorite of the Skelton clan.

That's enough for me for now. I'll post later in the weekend on my comparison of BBQ and fishing. Overall a great trip- I got to grill on the same grill as Flamb-Ed (Char-Broil Sante Fe Charcoal Grill- you can get it for about $100- absolute steal). I thought it was fantastic- lots of great features including a coal pan that can be raised, which is great for steaks. Ed- get a pair of suede work gloves to move things around. I got a pair for $2 in Hampton, TN and can in real hand for moving coals and lifting the pan.

Adios, and keep grilling.