BBQ

I have wasted way too much space worrying about serious stuff today.  So here goes with something better. 

I love BBQ.  Anyone who knows me knows that I love to eat, drink, and be merry.  BBQ is the perfect food for doing all of these things.  In the last three years I have been working real hard on my BBQ, because if I am going to eat it, it better be good.  You can't be merry with poorly constructed or cooked food and drink.

I have actually developed my own dry rub, unfortunately I really can't tell you how to make it but I will list the ingredients:  smoked paprika, raw sugar, brown sugar, Mexican oregano, sweet basil, rosemary, dried celery, salt, ground chili pepper, crushed red pepper, ground chipoltle pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, minced dry garlic, dried minced orange peel.  I add a little dry mustard after the fact and remix when I am using this on pork butts.

I can give you a better recipe for injection marinade for pork butt:
1 cup apple juice or apple cider
1 cup Coca-Cola
1 cup beer (a lager or a pilsner should be used--nothing bitter or dark)
1 cup pork broth (substitute chicken broth if pork broth not available)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Cajun seasoning salt
2 Tablespoons of whatever dry rub you are using

finely grind up the dry ingredients and make sure butter is melted into the mix to avoid gumming up your injector needle.   Use about 2-3 Tablespoons per pound of meat.  Inject before dry rubbing the meat and let sit for 1 hour before cooking.  Use some of the marinade to mop or spritz the meat prior to saucing at end of cooking.  Some people like to inject again when removing from grill, try it and see for yourself how you like it best. This recipe makes a bunch of marinade, so be prepared to store in refrigerator.

A word on BBQ sauce.  You can make your own, but there is a lot of good stuff out there.  When I make my own (I actually like to use Sweet Baby Ray and occasionally try out some other sauces) here is my general recipe:

1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup ketchup or catsup (not really sure what the difference is between these items)
1/2 cup dark molasses
1/4 cup orange juice
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
The following items are dry items added to taste:
salt
ground chili pepper
ground chipoltle pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
mustard powder
brown sugar (I add this last after tasting and use to balance against heat and bitter of spices)

So, now you should go out and enjoy.  All of the above recipes are meant to be trial and error efforts, play around with them, determine what you want to taste.  Make sure to do a little studying about cooking with your particular type of grill.

A word on grills and BBQ.  If you must use gas, find someway to create smoke, gas is fine for grilling but adds no flavor to meat, and BBQ is all about flavor.  Wood and charcoal rock the BBQ scene and so I avoid gas grills.  If you have a fancy grill/smoker use wood or a wood/charcoal mix.  Regardless of type of wood/charcoal grill, use lump hardwood charcoal if available.  As to adding water pans, here is why you do it--water absorbs heat and can be used to maintain proper cooking temperature, it is not meant to "steam" the meat.  Do not put your wood chips used to create smoke and flavor in the water pan, put the soaked or dry chips on the charcoal.  What type of wood or charcoal should you use:  try a few different ones and figure out what flavor profile is created to your own taste.  I personally like to use a mixture of mesquite and hickory and occasionally soak the mesquite in apple juice to tame some of the harder flavor profile of mesquite.  Many people prefer apple, pecan, peach, cherry wood.  Again, I say go out and experiment with the wood and charcoal combination to get the flavor you want.

Happy BBQ!