XANTHAN GUM... DO NOT CHEW!

For those of you who saw the home page recently you will notice that I have started to make an 'Extra Thick' version of my sauces.  When it comes to thickening liquids there are two common ways used.  First you can cook off any extra water by boiling for an extended period of time, however a side effect of this is that the flavors become concentrated and sometimes overbearing.  While I love the taste of my sauces I don't think I would want a bottle full condensed down into a teaspoon.  That would be like drinking liquid smoke out of the bottle...  The second method of thickening would be to use a food starch of some sort, the most common common being corn starch.  Corn starch is great for thickening dairy based soups but the acid from the vinegar in a barbecue sauce breaks down the starch and wont thicken anymore.  This is where Xanthan Gum comes in.

Xanthan Gum is made from the outer layer of a tiny inactive bacterium called Xanthomanas campestris.  I don't know if that is freaking any of you out right now, but let me assure you, it is completely natural and totally safe.  They sell it at Whole Foods, even though I picked mine up at Walmart.  There are other things out there besides Xanthan Gum such as modified food starches, but most of those are regular food starches that have been changed through chemical processes.  I'm not sure exactly what they do to them, but as I have promised in the past all the ingredients that go into my sauce are natural!

By the way, if you ever want to use Xanthan Gum in your cooking, don't mix it with water before adding it to the pot, trust me, it just makes a mess.  It comes in a really light powder form that you can just sprinkle in while stirring.  Ive heard of people putting it into a shaker for that very purpose.  Also, if you are looking in the store it will most likely be in the 'Gluten free' section of the baking isle.

If you want to read more about Xanthan Gum you can check out the wikipedia page here.

My first bbq 'catering‘ gig

Well, I don’t know if you can really call it catering, but I did have someone pay me to make pulled pork and pulled chicken for a party they were throwing.  I thought it was pretty cool.  I have always made barbecue for family and friends and have done quite a few parties at work, so spending a day cooking meat and sending it away with someone was a new experience for me.  What I ended up smoking was 2 whole chickens and about 11 pounds of pork shoulder.  It filled two good sized aluminum foil pans, and I sent along about half a gallon of my Happy Pig sauce.  I'm pretty sure that was a little overkill but it’s hard to make in small batches.  While I don’t think I'm quite ready to start doing this on a large scale, (I would need a much bigger smoker for starters), I wouldn’t be opposed to do it again.

Side Note: One thing stood out to me this time that I didn’t really notice before.   I always say plan on about 1 pound of raw pork shoulder for every person you plan on serving pulled pork.  I calculated over a 40 percent ‘waste’ with the pork shoulder.  Starting weight was close to 11 pounds, after smoking and pulling I sent about 6 pounds of finished pork.  Of course I was pretty picky about the meat I was sending, making sure to remove all the fat bits.  The chicken was a larger percentage, but whole chickens have a lot more bones, skin, and it just a lighter meat.

New Holiday BBQ Sauces

 

Welcome to the new line of Patrick's BBQ Sauces.  Meet Happy Pig, Angry Pig, and Devil Pig.  I’m guessing you have seen the home page so you know what these are all about, if not, feel free to jump back there for a quick read.  If you are too lazy to go back there and look I guess I will just tell you about them here.  These are the new sauces for the 2010 holiday season.  I created these sauces to be handed out to my friends and coworkers... not to mention to sell a few on the side as well ($5 a bottle, ahem...).  Happy Pig is the original sauce more or less as it was created three years ago, it has been tweaked along the way but always for the better.  Angry Pig is just like Happy Pig; but with a little more kick (more vinegar and some crushed red pepper and other secret stuff).  Devil Pig is just plain mean, go ahead and try at your own risk.  Honestly he's not too spicy, unless you are my mom or my sister.  They both start crying if you just open the bottle in the same room.  So if you like spicy, give it a try, otherwise just stick with Happy and Angry. 

Well there you have it, the new pig sauces.  If you have been one of the few fortunate souls to try a bottle please feel free to leave a comment below and share your experiences!  Thank you all and Happy Holidays!

Pig Butchering Guide

Just two funny images I saw online, thought I would share.

Mini Altoids Tin Grill

Ok, you guys have to check this out.  A friend of my sent me a link to this thinking I might 'get a kick out of it'.  She was right!  I love little projects like this and cant wait to build my own.  It may be a bit difficult to actually 'grill' something with this set up, but it still pretty sweet and would be a unique way to roast a marshmallow for smores!  The set up is pretty straight forward, using a Altoids sours candy tin, two computer fan grills, and a couple of sheet metal screws for legs.  Nothing more heavy duty than a dremel tool for cutting holes and notches in the lid.  The original article for the Altiods Mini BBQ can be found on Wired.com