The 2010 BBQ Season begins.
Season Opening
Snow is gone. Finally. So now I have finally had the chance to bring out the smokers and get this season underway. And what better way to get things going then just going hog wild with my favorite BBQ sauce Stubbs.
Stubbs Stubbs Stubbs StubbyStubbStubb… I love Stubbs. And Stubbs is going to be featured heavily tonight. From the Chicken Marinade I’ve got my bird in right now… to the Briquettes I’m using for the first time. But I still feel the love… like the great Ron Burgandy quote… “Stubbs Stubbs Stubbs StubbyStubbyStubb I love Stubbs.”
The bird will go in the WSM upright on an beer-can stand with a catch can underneath to see if I can get some gravy into the mix. But I’ve got to get the Potatoes on first. Give them an hours head start.
Practice.
Chicken is one of Nicole’s favorite and its relatively easy. Stepping into what is only my second season, I wanted to try to concentrate on one of this year’s primary focuses – temperature control. To make it wasy, I’m going on a variation of the Crillo Chicken. This is just a whole bird marinated in Stubbs Chicken Marinade.
Stubbs briquettes are something I may be using later this year at my Pig Roast. A little Apple wood to smoke will do the bird nicely.
Coming this year
Recipes like this year’s first, Smoked BBQ Potatoes is the first of this year’s BBQ recipes. I’ll be experimenting with some rubs and trying to get a firm handle on being able to maintain temperature reliably. I ended up experimenting with some foil techniques on the potatoes. 8 taters total, 4 wrapped with foil – 4 not. Oh the foiled taters, two were double wrapped and two single layer wrapped.
One session down… And it was good.
Hi Greg,
I work with Nicole and she’s been telling me all about the great meats you have smoked.
I have a Smokey Mountain Smoker on the way in the mail and am excited to use it for the first time.
Few random questions when you have a chance:
-any tips for a first time user? I’m pretty experienced with grilling and slow cooking, but have never smoked before. I’ve been reading online to tips. Any sites you reccomend for tips?
-I’ve read about the “Minion” Method of smoking, with adding hot charcoals on top of cool charcoals, to avoid from constantly checking. Do you use this method?
-Beer Suggestion for you, let me know if you’ve had it: Bell’s Oberon, it’s their Summer Seasonal. One of my favorties.
Thanks!
Geoff
virtualweberbullet.com is a great resource. I don’t visit a lot of BBQ sites regularly enough to recommend any others. I get most of my information from all the BBQ people I follow and interact with on twitter. Most of them can be found on this list: http://twitter.com/givan2code/bbq
I do bookmark a lot of those things I run across here: http://delicious.com/greggivan/bbq
One tip that you will see frequently that I recommend is getting a second grate for the bottom (the charcoal area) and set the grate perpendicular forming a criss-cross which can help keep smaller coals, both lit and unlit, from falling to the bottom.
Air flow control is your number 1 tool for temperature control which, next to using quality meat, is the key to good BBQ. Poultry can withstand higher temperatures than say… pork shoulder.
I have always used the “minion” method when I smoke. every time. depending on the type and make of charcoal… this method can yield cook times of over 6+ hours without having to refuel.
Leave your response!
floating tag cloud of doom!
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.
recent stuff
most wanted…
some twitpics