Patrick's BBQ Blog

XANTHAN GUM... DO NOT CHEW!

2011-09-21T03:40:57Z

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

2011-02-20T19:16:22Z

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

2010-12-24T04:03:00Z

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

2010-12-20T00:38:13Z

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

Mini Altoids Tin Grill

2010-10-03T21:05:44Z

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

Garlic Grilled Corn on the Cob

2010-09-08T04:05:16Z

I've always been one to try new things, and for the most part I come away from new experiences with the satisfaction of finding something new that I like, or at least with an idea of how I could make it better. Recently I was online looking for some new recipes. Grilling vegetables is nothing new to me, I love the smokey taste they pick up from being on the grill, especially corn! So while I was browsing I found several recipes for garlic grilled corn. Now, I love garlic, and I love corn, and its safe to say that I love grilling, this is a BBQ blog is it not? So I assumed that I would love garlic grilled corn. That is usually my first mistake: assumption.

So after reading over a few different recipes I decided that I would keep it basic. Freshly minced garlic mixed with butter and salt and pepper to taste. I then husked the ears of corn, washed them, and proceeded to spread the garlic butter mixture on them before they hit the grill. I grilled them over medium high heat for 4-5 minutes on each side (not that corn ears really have sides, but for the sake of grilling I say they have 4). The aroma was wonderful, to say the least. I have always loved the smell of freshly roasted corn, and add to the the smell of roasting garlic... well you get the idea.

So after grilling up some pork chops to go along with my corn I sat down at the table ready to dig into my creation. I bit into the crisp corn cob, ready for a burst of flavor that I had yet to experience. And, that is exactly what I had received. The flavor was horrible! Never would I have imagined three things that I had loved so much create such a foul taste in my mouth. I choked it down, after all my family was eating it as well and I couldn’t let on that I had thought my own cooking tasted so bad. And I’m sure my family was choking it down as well, not wanting to hurt my feelings. A little more salt and pepper seemed to help the situation, but in honestly I believe my garlic grilled corn was a failure.

Now I don't mean to insult all the people out there who love the combination of garlic and corn, for me the idea still sounds great, but in practice my taste buds just weren’t able to handle it. I even went back to check to make sure the garlic hadn’t gone bad or the butter gone rancid, they both checked out. I really don’t know what went wrong that night. But that is not to say I’m giving up just yet. I still have a few ideas that I am toying around with, such as roasting the garlic before hand to get more of a sweet taste from it than the strong 'garlic' taste you would get from the fresh garlic I had used before. I’m not sure how I am going to make this one better, but you can be sure once I have found a recipe that I like I will be back here sharing it with everyone!

How much meat can my Brinkmann Smoker hold?

2010-07-04T02:32:19Z

If you are like me then you believe that no good smoke should go to waste. Whenever I use my smoker I try to get the most out of it. It’s always fun to see how much my Brinkmann smoker can hold. It claims to be able to hold 50 lbs of meat, I personally have not been able to put that much meat in there at one time, but then again I don’t think I have really tried to push my limits that far... yet. The closest I have come to that 50 lb mark was about half that. I had two 6 lb pork shoulders on the bottom rack, two 4 lb chicken up top and another 4 lbs of meatloaf to top it off, (by the way, smoked meat loaf is amazing if you have never tried it!) And prior to that I have smoked a 19 lb turkey before, that was a pretty big bird and barley fit on the bottom rack, so I guess two of those would be pushing the 40 lb mark but still 10 lbs shy of the claimed 50 lbs by Brinkmann. I have no doubt that the Brinkmann smoker could hold the 50 lbs it claims, I just don’t think I would have enough room for that much meat. But I do have to admit, the thought of barbecuing that much meat at one time does make my mouth water!

Smoking Ribs

2010-05-26T00:06:15Z

I don’t know if I have said this before but I love pork! It is by far my favorite meat, to quote the comedian Jim Gaffigan “The pig is an amazing animal, you feed a pig an apple it makes bacon. I find that impressive... The pig is turning an apple, essentially garbage, into bacon. That’s magic, or the most successful recycle program ever!' I have to agree with Jim, but we get far more than just bacon, we have ham, sausage, pork chops, tenderloin, pork shoulder for pulled pork and of course ribs! Take your pick, baby back or spare ribs, either way you are in for some good eating... as long as they are cooked correctly. Speaking of which, never order ribs at the Sizzler, they may have some decent steaks but they boil their ribs which is just wrong and should never ever be done!

I remember my first attempt at cooking ribs, I was watching food network and saw something about ribs, I didn’t really pay attention (that was the first mistake) but I was feeling kind of hungry so I thought I would give it a try. I went to the grocery store and bought a package of ribs which had been vacuumed sealed with BBQ sauce. I remembered something about 'low and slow', and as I mentioned before about not really paying attention I thought that meant grilling close to the flame. Yeah, I know, but I have learned since then I promise. The end result was embarrassing to say the least, the sauce was burnt as well as the outside of the meat, and the inside next to the bone was raw. A total waste...

Since then I have watched numerous food network BBQ specials, read several books on grilling and BBQ, and have eaten more racks of ribs then I care to count. I now know how good ribs should look and taste. These days I prefer to smoke my ribs, of course, (my poor gass grill has been neglected since I bought the ol Brinkmann). And I have to admit that with each new smoking the ribs keep getting better. I love my baby back ribs, Ill usually coat them with fresh cracked pepper, then follow with a simple rub made of equal parts brown sugar, kosher salt, and chili powder with a little paprika and some cayenne for heat. Some people like to coat the ribs with mustard first but thats really not my style. I'll smoke them in the ol Brinkmann with some apple wood, usually about 4 hours or so with the temperature between 250 and 275, I then wrap with tinfoil and finish off with another hour and a half at 250 degrees. Depending on my mood Ill ether apply a mop to the ribs every hour while smoking or just give a generous coat of BBQ sauce a couple hours in. I like both methods, but most of all I just want the flavor to come from the rub and the smoke!

If you haven’t tried cooking some ribs, I suggest that you do sometime. Even if you don’t have a smoker you can use a regular grill, just make sure you cook with indirect heat, low temperatures (225 - 275), and long enough so the meat has time to break down, if you don’t you will end up with chewy meat that you will have to try to rip off the bones instead of the tender meat that should pull away easily. Ribs are great eating for your summer barbecues and something that your friends will be easily impressed with if done correctly.

Soda Can Chicken (or beer can chicken)

2010-05-09T16:17:33Z

'Soda can' chicken is my variation of beer can chicken as I don’t drink alcohol. Using a soda can is probably the easiest way to cook a whole chicken on the grill. You don’t have to mess around with trussing the chicken or loading it up on a rotisserie, and there is just something fun about seeing a chicken standing upright when you open your grill lid. You can use any type of soda that you prefer, I generally like to use a cola like Pepsi but I have also used citrus soda such as 7Up or Squirt, just be sure to drink the top half before you place it inside the chicken. The liquid inside the can will actually steam the chicken and infuse it with the flavor from the soda. Just season the chicken with salt and pepper and cover with your favorite BBQ sauce about half way through. (You should try the White BBQ Sauce found on the recipe page, it’s amazing)

Don’t be fooled by the cheap devices they sell at the grocery store, I have seen some 'beer can chicken holders' that sell for $30 or more. I personally think this is a waste; I have never had a problem just throwing the chicken on the can and setting it on the grill. And as always make sure you cook your chicken to at least 170 degrees.

Portable Grilling

2010-04-15T00:57:38Z

Summer is coming up fast and I’ve been getting the bug to get out and grill more and more every day. And as much as I love hanging around the back yard grilling there is one thing I crave even more, being able to grill away from the house. I love going out to the park for a picnic, or better yet up in the canyons. The latter is by far my favorite; I have my choice of 6 beautiful canyons within a 30 mile radius from my home. The only problem is I can’t really pack up my patio grill and take it with me. Well, I guess I could but that would require a truck and a couple of guys to help, but that is just too much trouble if you ask me. Especially now that I have added two new 'portable' grills to my grill family. I recently have purchased a Char Broil Portable Gas Grill and a Weber Smokey Joe which uses charcoal.

The Char Broil was purchased primarily for convenience, its small, travels well, and uses the standard portable propane tanks that you can pick up at just about any grocery store. And while this grill is towards the cheap end of the portable grill scale, (I picked it up for under $25 at Lowes), it still is a good little grill. It only has one burner, but it does have a metal plate that sits over the top of the burner to distribute the heat evenly. You won’t be able to grill a whole chicken or smoke a rack of ribs on this grill, but you can still turn out some pretty good burgers, brawts, and chicken breasts. This grill will even get hot enough to put a decent sear on a steak. Overall I was very impressed with this little gas grill and well worth the $25 I spent.

The Weber Smokey Joe is everything you would ever expect from a Weber. This little guy is just a miniature version of the larger kettle grills Weber makes and is every bit as capable as its bigger brothers. I fell in love with this grill the first time I used it, although I would recommend using regular briquettes instead of lump charcoal, as the cooking grate is fairly close to the charcoal grate and the higher temperatures of lump charcoal could cause burning if you aren’t careful. I purchased the 'silver' series from Home Depot for just under $30. They do offer a 'gold' version which comes with a latch to hold the lid to the base while transporting, however I could only find them online and didn’t find it worth the extra expense with shipping. However, even with the 'silver' Smokey Joe I find nothing lacking in this grill.

With these two new additions I can't wait to get out there and start grilling this summer!