It's that time of year

I know for most die hard grillers, grilling is a year round sport. All they need is a path wide enough to make it to the garage and roll out the grill. I myself am not adventerous enough to stand out in subzero weather or 6 inches of snow to get that great grill flavor. Which makes the first grilling of the spring that much sweeter!

Over the weekend I went to the Home and Garden show at State Fair. They had a Grilling 101 class with Mad Dog and Merrill (http://www.maddogandmerrill.com/). Aside from the fact that they had corny jokes and didn't really teach me anything, in the 30 mins they were up there, they got me in the mood to clean up the grill and get ready for grilling season!

The first thing I needed to do was hop online to the Chargriller website and get some replacement parts for my smoker. Last year when I bought it and assembled it, the instructions were how to put it together if you did not have the side firebox. After getting it together, I realized that I should have put the wheels on the other end but was too lazy to take it all apart. Having done that, I think I put too much weight on the one side of the grill causing the cheap plastic wheels to pretty much collapse. I picked up some nice lawn mower wheels and hope to put those on once I get my new hubcaps from Chargriller. I also bought a new set of the plastic wheels, just in case the lawn mower wheels do now work. I think if I put them on the right side of the grill, they will hold up a little better.

Of course while researching online, I found another great accessory that I needed for the grill. The Chargriller is great and I would definetly recommend it to anyone. But the sidefire box could use a few improvements. The worst thing about it is trying to dump your hot coals into the box without spilling them all over the ground. I bought some of th Chargriller charcoal baskets but they sit too high in the box. So this season, I found a grilling basket at Lowe's that according to others on the Barbecue Board, is supposed to work really well. I will of course test it out and show it off at the BBQ class.

After making the trip to Lowe's, I cleaned up the grill and got ready to cook up the New York strips I had been marinating all day. I used the standard equal parts W sauce and soy sauce with some fresh ground pepper. Just for fun, I used only wood to grill them, no charcoal. Got a nice hot fire going, cooked them about 3-5 mins each side and they were quickly done to a perfect medium! The wood flavor was great! Sorry, no pictures.

I am definetly in the grilling mood now! I have a pork shoulder and two racks of baby backs in the freezer that I will of course have to use as practice for the Moist Heat cookout. Hope you all are enjoying this great grilling weather like I am!

Like I saw on TV

A week or so ago, I happened upon a Travel Channel show that visited many famous BBQ Joints around the country. With their cameras allowed in the kitchens, I was able to see the pits and how each place prepared and served their specialties. One particular place in Memphis caught me eye. So, last Sunday, I decided to try and simulate what I saw.

This particular place in Memphis (can't remember the name) was popular for its pulled pork sandwiches. What struck me was the efficiency of the staff and the use of cleavers. A cook would place a pile of pulled pork on his chopping block and, with a cleaver in each hand, would whack at the pile at least 20 times to get the meat finely chopped. He would then slap some meat directly onto a bun, ladle 2-3 tablespoons of a thin tomato-based BBQ sauce over it, and slap on the bun top to serve.

I thought the finely chopped meat would likely hold a sauce well and also be an interesting texture to try. Furthermore, I decided it was time for me to make my own thin sauce. A hot sauce that looked like it would be on the thinner side caught my eye in Paul Kirk's Championship BBQ Sauce Book. However, I feared it would be a bit too spicy for Team T-Bone, so I altered it. Mrs. T and I thought it came out just right.

The end result were sandwiches that could be called Pork Sliders. They were so easy to chew and swallow, they slid right down the throat with ease. The danger is that I could have eaten four of them.

In Mid pull

Solid to Pulled to Chopped

Chef's Note: After seeing them used on several BBQ Championship shows, I am now a big fan of the aluminum roasting pans. Throwing your shoulders and ribs into these instead of individually wrapping each is the way to go toward the tail end of your smoke.