BBQ

[RustyP]

Any die-hard home BBQers out there? Care to share your favorite recipes for dry or wet rubs, sauce, marinades, etc??

I just bought my first smoker this past weekend, and I've been itching to smoke all kinds of stuff since! I made a pretty basic, straight-foward dry rub with the following: salt/pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, celery seed, smoked sweet paprika, cayenne pepper, and turbinado sugar. I used it on some turkey breasts and smoked them with with mesquite chips for about an hour and a half before finishing them in the oven to keep them from drying out too much...pretty tasty! I've got a beef brisket in the fridge, marinading in the same rub, that I'm going to smoke in a few days.

My next smoking session (teehee) will probably be salmon...anybody have any experience with smoking fish? Any tips?

[Disc Golf Live]

I'd recommend the "Good Eats" tutorial on smoking for some good tips and scientific background info. I'm thinking that's somewhere on the Food Network's website, but I'm not sure.

I make my dry rubs myself but can't really recreate them since I just wing it. I do recommend a bit of Chinese "five spice" powder in the rub. Gives a nice character and invokes a bit of a peking duck flavor.

Enjoy the smoking. (And dinner, too.)

Joe

[Leopard]

i live 15 minutes from The Salt Lick.

that's it, that's my post.

[RustyP]

i live 15 minutes from The Salt Lick.

that's it, that's my post.

that place is the shit! one more reason I need to head south again soon...

...and chinese 5 spice sounds like a great idea! I'm thinking it'll go well on salmon. Where's the salivating smiley?

[Jerrod]

You need to buy this book.




http://www.robbwalsh.com/01cookbooks/1legends.shtml


I bought it in San Antonio on a work trip. So many killer recipes and a ton of history. You will not regret it. One of my personal favorites is the recipes for Rice Salad. Even though apparently this is a common side in Texas I had never seen it before in SoCal. The book not only captures some good BBQ recipes but the Texan BBQ culture as a whole.

[Bradley Walker]

Yes.

My favorite wood is Pecan.

From strength of smoke from most mild to strongest:

Mesquite (clean burn)
Pecan (best flavor)
Hickory (very rich)
Oak (very strong smoke)

Favorites are

Pork tenderloin
Kielbasa
Turkey
Pork ribs
Beef ribs

There are two methods of spicing BBQ; Rub and baste. I use rub for large pieces of meat and baste for small pieces. Rubs are simple as you described and you might look at granular meat tenderizer which is papaya based and basically acts as an acid (works awesome). Bastes are whatever you like in liquid form. You can mix beer, liquor (bourbon is good), spices, coffee, juices, BBQ sauce, etc etc (whatever you like) and just keep basting and turning. Use a paint brush or spoon.

One year, the oven broke at Thanksgiving and I literally cooked the whole meal in the smoker (including all the meat, beans, green beans, corn and dressing).

I oven cook briskets as they really need to go 16-20 hours because they are so tough. You could oven cook at 180 degrees for half of that and finish in the smoker. No one will know the difference. The meat will fall apart and will get smoky real fast.

Lastly. BBQ is better if rested. Cook it and let it set for several hours. Next day is even better.

[Bradley Walker]

I need that book.

[RustyP]

You need to buy this book.




http://www.robbwalsh.com/01cookbooks/1legends.shtml


I bought it in San Antonio on a work trip. So many killer recipes and a ton of history. You will not regret it.

I've got a few BBQ books already (The Barbecue Bible and Boy Meets Grill), but I'm sure more buyage will take place I cook a lot, watch way too much Food Network, and grew up on good ol' fashioned Texas BBQ...so I have a handle on the basics, just kinda curious about what the folks on here like. Maybe even compile a DGR BBQ recipe book one day

[Jerrod]

I've got a few BBQ books already (The Barbecue Bible and Boy Meets Grill), but I'm sure more buyage will take place I cook a lot, watch way too much Food Network, and grew up on good ol' fashioned Texas BBQ...so I have a handle on the basics, just kinda curious about what the folks on here like. Maybe even compile a DGR BBQ recipe book one day

One thing that really set this book apart for me was the history. He really gets into what sets apart the different styles. From the Mexicans to the freed slaves to the German immigrants, I think I may have enjoyed the history more than the recipes.

[RustyP]

Food history is awesome...ever since I started cooking I've been interested in regional specialties and weird little local food quirks.

A semi-BBQ-related story: My girlfriend works at a bank, and last week some guy came in with a giant case of frozen beef that a customer supposedly paid for but didn't have room to store (?)...my guess is that it was just stolen. Anyway, she bought 2 NY strips, 2 giant T-bones and several tenderloin filets for $20 I think. Last night we grilled the NY strips and basted them with saffron butter while we smoked some asparagus and potatoes....best meal I've had in a long time!

[spitfire]

I am a fan of using Hickory, gives the meat a great taste and a mild smoke flavor. 5 spice is nice. I also like to use cinnamon in my rubs a lot. I also like to use sea salt in a grinder as well. Rubs are great because you have so much freedom in what you use. Whenever you make a new rub try to write down what you put in it so you can make it again. I usually try to come up with 8-10 new rubs each year and then pick my 5 favorite and make a good size batch of each so I have it for the year. Once in a while I will try to make my own BBQ sauce but I have yet to make anything worth repeating. One last thing, I think fruit adds great taste to meats. I used ground up mango and added spices one time and it was awesome, nothing wrong with grilling over some pineapple either. I don't have a full smoker but a fire grill with a side smoker.

[RustyP]

nothing wrong with grilling over some pineapple either.

Do you mean throwing pineapple in the coals? I've grilled pineapple a few times (really good with some cinnamon-sugar or chile powder on it), but never grilled over pineapple...interesting!

[spitfire]

I grill the rings over indirect heat and I put chicken on top of the rings(think grilling salmon over a wood plank) Try using cinnamon and sugar on your chicken while grilling over pineapple talk about goooooooood!
Dang now I have to grill lol

[chunk]

Any die-hard home BBQers out there? Care to share your favorite recipes for dry or wet rubs, sauce, marinades, etc??

I just bought my first smoker this past weekend, and I've been itching to smoke all kinds of stuff since! I made a pretty basic, straight-foward dry rub with the following: salt/pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, celery seed, smoked sweet paprika, cayenne pepper, and turbinado sugar. I used it on some turkey breasts and smoked them with with mesquite chips for about an hour and a half before finishing them in the oven to keep them from drying out too much...pretty tasty! I've got a beef brisket in the fridge, marinading in the same rub, that I'm going to smoke in a few days.

My next smoking session (teehee) will probably be salmon...anybody have any experience with smoking fish? Any tips?

i've been cooking over charcoal for over 25 years and cook competition bbq with a team called dizzy pig bbq. we've been invited to the kc invitational bbq and jack daniel's for the last four years.

what kind of cooker did you get?

dizzy pig makes an awesome rub called raging river that is great on salmon. its also great on pork and chicken. i like cooking salmon over a med-low direct heat until the internal temp hits 120. start skin side up for filets and flip half way through.

[RustyP]

Since this was my first one, I bought a cheap one from Home Depot...the Brinkman Smoke-n-Grill

I wanted to get some practice on a cheap one before I drop a good chunk of change on a nice smoker...and I live in an apartment and have pretty limited balcony space too My only concern about it so far is that it only has 3 legs...not the most sturdy looking thing. I've only used it for 2 hours at a time so far, but on Sunday I'm smoking a small brisket so I'll get to see how well it performs over the course of 8-10 hours.