BBQ help

Cook them at a low temperature in the oven first. Take them out to the grill and baste with BBQ sauce. Leave on just long enough for the BBQ sauce to heat up. Much more likely to melt in your mouth!

You tell a great story, Vicki!! lol

Oh Vicki, what a visual. Thought I smelled smoke here in PA, but couldn’t find the fire!!! KW has a good idea for cooking ribs. I cook mine in foil with ice cubes over indirect heat, basting with bbq sauce at the end. I am sure your next time will be fine. Just don’t let the men help!!! Thanks for the laugh.

ROFLMAO at the visual, Vicki! No wonder I smelled a bit of butane lighter fluid last night.

My father always used newspaper and kindling (thin pieces of wood) to start his charcoal fire. It would take a good while for the charcoal to get to the stage where he would cook the food. He used some sort of round shaped metal thing with a bottom to put a few of the charcoal in with the wood and paper and then I think once they got going, he added it to the rest of the charcoal. I don’t remember how long but I am guessing around an hour and half from start to finish. We have never used the lighter fluid as it messes with the taste of the food. My Dad would cook steaks or marinated salmon along with corn on the cob and other vegies…yummy! I am starting to salivate just thinking of it. He hasn’t done the BBQ in about eight or so years now. Too much trouble and at age 75, I guess he doesn’t want to be bothered about it anymore.

Linda, on Eddie Murphy’s first comedy album, he told a story about his uncle Gus, the family pyromaniac who had to turn every family barbeque into an Aggie Bonfire. You sure pseudohubby isn’t related to him?

Take it from the Barbeque Queen: what you need is indirect heat. We have a smoker that looks like a 55 gallon oil drum lying on its side, with an attached chamber for holding the coals that looks like one of those institutional-sized cans you see at Wal-mart or Sam’s. It looks very much like this: http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=100327576&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&PID=500871&cm_mmc=CJ-_-nextag-_-D28X-_-100327576&cpncode=12-65384531-2&URL=http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/BuildLinkToHomeDepot?linktype=product&id=100327576&cm_mmc=CJ-_-nextag-_-D28X-_-100327576&AID=10368321&cj=true&srccode=cii_9324560

This above all: NEVER USE LIGHTER FLUID!! Not even MatchLight charcoal!! It will give your food an ungodly taste of petroleum. We have a fire starter that will have ready-to-cook coals in half an hour. Mine isn’t nearly as fancy as the one depicted here ( http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/chimney.html ), but this site does come with detailed instructions.

Your food prep sounds spot-on. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Once the coals are ready, pour them out onto the grate in the coal chamber. Put some smoking wood chips (I prefer mesquite, but you can also get oak, apple, cherry, or sometimes peach wood) on top of the hot coals, then close the coals door. I usually keep the door vent open halfway, as well as the chimney vent. Put your meat on the grill. I try to always have a full grill–you can cook for a week in a single afternoon–chicken (beer can chicken works especially well), ribs, sausages, and some boneless roast or brisket.

Your smoker should have a thermometer on the outside–try to keep it at about 200-250 degrees. This means the large smoking chamber stays closed, except to turn the meat (no more often than every half-hour). As you get to know your smoker, you will find that it has hot and cold spots, so you’ll want to rotate your meat on the surface as well as turn it.

After turning/rotating your meat, check your fire. At least 2-3 times while cooking your meat, you’ll want to add more charcoal and smoking wood–always charcoal first, then wood on top. Close your doors, and walk away–but not so far that the menfolk come up to it and spoil the magic! Keep firearms handy if you need to. ;D Shoo off the guys and make them watch football or cook beans–something they can’t ruin.

Sausage is usually done in about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Ribs in about 2 1/2 hours. Chicken varies widely depending on whether it is whole or cut-up and the size. Ditto for roasts. Brisket can take 4-6 hours if it’s Texas sized. A simple test for doneness is this: poke the meat at its fleshiest place about halfway through with a fork. Observe the juices that escape: red means uncooked, clear means cooked.

Take the meat off the grill, get your sides, and chow down!!!!

Ginny, I am coming to your house! You BBQ like we do. We fill the grill and eat off of it for a week. Now, this will probably sound like heresy to you. If I am doing country style ribs, I do parboil them a bit in beer and spices before grilling. I also make my own sauce from my mother’s recipe.

KyKat: you’re not heretical at all. That’s what my grandmother (the one from south Ga., not the one from north Ga.) used to do to her ribs, only as a strict Southern Baptist, she wouldn’t use beer. She was, without a doubt, the best cook in Colquitt County–and everyone knew it!

Go Blue!!!!!. Ginny, I have tickets on the 35 yardline lower stadium for the GA vs UK game. Wanna come on up/over?

BBQ TDK party at Gatakitty’s on Nov 8th! What airport to fly into? Just checking of course. Hee hee.

If it’s my place, that’d be Austin/Bergstrom Int’l.

If it’s KyKat’s, the airport in Lexington.

Y’know, I do have some Southwest vouchers from that trip to Chicago I never took–wonder if they fly to Lexington????