Memorial Day Meat-Fest

 In preparation for Memorial Day, my wife and I decided to fire up the smoker again, and BBQ some meat. In an effort to possibly save a little money, we decided to smoke a couple chickens and a meatloaf.  First up, the chickens!

Saturday night, I made up another brine for the chickens to soak in overnight.  For me, I like to get enough warm water to completely cover the chickens, and then an even ratio of salt and sugar.  Usually somewhere between 1/2 cup to 1 cup of each, depending on how much water I'm using. I also put in a few spices as well as about 1/4 of an onion cut into large pieces.  I like to stuff the onions into the cavity of the chicken to try and get some extra flavor. Here's a shot of the birds getting ready to take an overnight bath.  

Fast forward to Sunday morning, after church, we stopped by Lowes and got some cart wheels, nuts, bolts, and washers, so I can finally make the smoker mobile.  Since it weighs so much, it will be nice to finally be able to move it by myself!  Big thanks over the last couple months to my dad, my neighbor, and my father-in-law for helping me move it in and out of my garage so many times.

Back to the meat!  Before I ate lunch, I prepared my meatloaf.  I base my recipe off of the one in the Better Homes and Gardens cook book.  I'm sure any recipe will do.

Once it is in it's loaf form, it's time to break out the bacon!  Since it cooks in that smoker for so long, it's good to have an extra source of fat to render down, and keep the meat moist.  What better way to do that, that with a little bacon. I just wrapped some bacon around the top, and secured each piece with a couple tooth picks.  Once again, big thanks to Cloud's Meats in Carthage, MO for the bacon.  Yum!  I would suggest putting it in a dish of some sort, or you will have a lake of grease in the bottom of your smoker.  Plus, it helps keep the meat loaf moist.

 Here's a shot of the birds and meatloaf cooking away. As you can see, I have plenty of room for a lot more meat!

 The meatloaf turned out to be one of the prettiest looking things I've ever smoked.  It smelled pretty fantastic too.

We cut it up and ate that for dinner.  I will say, I went a little conservative with the salt/seasonings with the meatloaf, because I thought the bacon would at more saltiness than it did.  But, it had great smoke flavor, and didn't dry out too bad. 

The chickens turned out great.  I didn't take any pictures of them all done, but I've already pulled all the meat off, and separated them for later consumption.  We will be looking forward to smoked chicken wraps, fajitas, enchiladas, etc. this week. 

Thanks for reading.  Get out there and enjoy the nice weather when possible.  Now that school is out for the summer, get those weekend grill-outs going, and get the neighborhood involved.  Nothing brings people together better than good food.  Well, beer is probably a close second... so why not offer both?  :)  Have a great week!

Monty

Spring Time Smoking!

Sorry for the long delay, but we're back with some more BBQ sessions with the new smoker.  So far, I'm still loving the Double Barrel smoker.  After the first couple smoking sessions, I have learned a few things about it.  First off, the slightest adjustments can have large effects on the temperature.  For the first hour or two, you really have to keep a close eye on it, especially if it's a windy day outside.  If a big wind gust kicks up, it can stir up some flames, causing the temperature to shoot up.  Second, I have hot spots.  I plan on addressing this in the very near future. Lastly, that boy is heavy!  Eventually, I plan on permanently planting the smoker in the back yard.  But for now, it is quite the chore moving it from the garage, to the driveway, and back. 

Onto the pictures.  Here are some shots from the Easter meat-fest.  Here's a shot of me prepping the ribs.  If you spread a thin layer of yellow mustard, it helps the rub stick to the ribs, without effecting the flavor at all.  I've heard the vinegar also helps tenderize the meat while it smokes, but I can't tell much difference personally.

Here's a shot of the ribs all rubbed up and ready to go.  You can also see my pork shoulder off to the left, that I've already rubbed prior to the ribs.

After it was all cooked, and it sat for a few minutes, I went ahead and pulled the pork. It's much easier when the bone pulls straight out with no meat attached. :)  If this doesn't make your mouth water, you might have malfunctioning saliva glands.

April was a brutally busy month, with bowling tournaments, taking care of our 3-month old (now 4-month old), etc.  Fast forward to this last weekend, my parents came to visit, so I wanted to smoke us some meat.  I did a couple of racks of ribs, as well as a whole chicken.  Unfortunately, I kept forgetting to take pictures of the process, but here's a shot of the smoker rolling along. 

Everything turned out great.  The ribs were tender and coming off the bone nicely, while still maintaining their structural integrity while cutting them up.  Even though the chicken had to finish off in the oven while we ate the ribs, I can honestly say, it was the star of the show.  I brined it overnight, then rubbed it down with a fantastic Lemon Pepper Poultry seasoning from a local spice shop.  It was moist and juicy, with tons of flavor.  I've been enjoying the left overs all week. 
My dad was looking for some local spice shops for us to try out sometime, and we found the Slice and Spice over in Spring Hill, KS. What a treat this was.  We decided to drive over to Spring Hill, and pulled up to this tiny little shop with hardly anything on the shelves.  But, the gal working there was super nice, and helpful.  I ended up getting some Hungarian paprika for a number of different rubs, the aforementioned Lemon Pepper Poultry seasoning, and some Lime Pepper seasoning for the grill or whatever.  Not only was it nice to get some great new seasonings to cook with, but we met a wonderful, helpful person, and helped out a local business. I'm sure the seasonings they offer are much fresher than the stuff you would otherwise buy at your local grocery store.  Check them out at http://www.sliceandspice.biz/


Along with the ribs and chicken, I tried a new recipe that I heard on a new podcast that I've found.  If you have the means, I suggest checking out the Smokehouse Podcast.  You can find it on iTunes, or head over to http://www.smokehousepodcast.com/ and listen to any of the episodes you want.  Back to the recipe...  It's called Bacon Candy.  Yes, it's just as delicious as it sounds. 

In no way, shape, or form is this a healthy dish, but man, it's tasty.  Here's what you need for Bacon Candy (Again, thanks to Curtis from www.smokehousepodcast.com for the recipe):

• Around a pound of thick cut, quality bacon. (thanks to Cloud's Meats, in Carthage, MO)
• 1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
• 1/2 Tsp Cayenne (I used slightly less than this, and it was still plenty hot for my taste.  Next time I'll use 1/4 Tsp)
• 1/8 Tsp Cinnamon
• 1/8 Tsp All Spice (I used Nutmeg, and it seemed to turn out okay)

Shake up all the dry ingredients in a gallon freezer bag, then drop in your bacon piece by piece, making sure to coat each of them.  Be sure to put them onto your smoker/grill immediately, or else the sugar will begin to liquify and your ingredients will begin to come off the bacon.  Smoke it at 250-275 degrees for 2-2.5 hours, or until the bacon is fully cooked and caramelized. You can also do it in the oven, at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.  Be sure to flip it half way through.

You can see mine got a little well-done, thanks to the hot-spots I have identified in the smoker. Like I said before, this will be addressed very soon...

Thanks for reading, and keep on smoking!