OT: What you cookin' for July 3rd/4th weekend?

Submitted by BigHouseBoyz on

I know...similar post as below, but this is more about food!  It also may be a little early for a post, 4am CST, but I just put on two 14# briskets on the smoker!  Tweeked my rub to add a smoked paprika in place of some of the cracked black pepper.  Rubbed that on one brisket last night and then mixed the remaining rub with one I had previously made that was a little warm for the masses.  Nice to have two briskets and try two rubs.  I have a smaller smoker and wanted to get an early start today in case the briskets take longer than I plan due to their size.

Getting ready for our party tonight at Kaboom Town in Addison, TX to start the July 4th weekend.  My friend owns a car repair shop just off of Addison airport (North Dallas County) and the last couple years we have about 80-100 people come by to celebrate the start of July 4th weekend.

Kaboom Town is one of the best celebrations in the country as it starts with an air show of mostly vintage WWII planes and a couple bi-wing planes.  A great fireworks show is shortly after and his location is almost right under the fireworks.  We get lightly peppered with the paper from the fireworks!!  Awesome stuff!!

Starting the July 4th weekend off right with some great friends, cerveza, and Texas BBQ!!  

Happy & safe 4th of July weekend to all and Go Blue!

MGoBoard

UnkleBuck

July 3rd, 2015 at 5:53 AM ^

Making a 5 bean casserole, and grilling burgers, marinated salmon.  Other family members will be bringing a few things as well--including the beverages.

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M Go Cue

July 3rd, 2015 at 6:08 AM ^

Sounds fantastic!  My favorite rub has a little too much bite for the masses as well.  

Low Country Boil for us tomorrow.  Cooking up some Brunswick Stew for the non seafood folks.

Joined: 07/13/2013

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BigHouseBoyz

July 3rd, 2015 at 7:38 AM ^

My old rub had a lot of crack black pepper and could get strong.  We entered into a BBQ contest at a local chamber event and it didn't go over well with the masses.  Those who liked it loved it, but those softies who don't like a good bark, not so much.  Good thing we had 5 differrent recipes to submit.  Judges can be finicky!!

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M Go Cue

July 3rd, 2015 at 10:07 AM ^

Nice.  Which ones got the best feedback?  I like to keep it simple on my brisket.  I'm a southeast bbq guy, which usually means pork, but I'm always interested in seeing how our Texas friends like to do their beef.

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BigHouseBoyz

July 3rd, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^

it was our choice as to which one and we decided to keep it bland for the judges.  It's tough when you have a team.  The guy that cut up the brisket scrapped the bark off before slicing.  I didn't like that because I felt that it takes off too much flavor.  We also didn't pour any juice on the meat to keep it moist.  Difference of opinion I guess.  We didn't finish in the top 10, but nearly everyone who came by the booth loved all 5 recipes!

Has anyone done a competition and let me know if you scrap off the bark on the flat before slicing?

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WolvinLA2

July 3rd, 2015 at 11:08 AM ^

Same here - the Santa Maria rub I make for my tri tip is typically to hot for half of my guests, so cool it off depending on who's coming over. Tomorrow I'm smoking a 5lb Boston Butt for pulled pork sandwiches. I got the recipe for them off mmmgoblubbq.com and it turns out awesome and juicy as hell. I throw out a bunch of different topping for the sandwiches (BBQ sauce, 1000 island, Franks red hot buffalo) and the buffalo sauce makes the best sammich, IMO.

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umbig11

July 3rd, 2015 at 6:03 AM ^

It doesn't get much better than TX style beef brisket and Carolina Pulled Pork while picking Crabs! Lots of potato salad, cole slaw, corn on the cob, and watermelon. Plenty of bourbon and Flying Dog Beer! Go Blue!!

 

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xtramelanin

July 3rd, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^

wild caught, but not by me, by 'Sam'.

steaks tomorrow, and we did raise and butcher those guys, so i know their pedigree.  

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BVB

July 3rd, 2015 at 6:29 AM ^

Rubbed down 4 racks of ribs last night and will fire up the smoker later today. Should be a perfect day for smoking, drinking and boating.

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Ricky from Sunnyvale

July 3rd, 2015 at 6:40 AM ^

Smoking ribs that I'll serve dry rubbed, no sauce needed. On the other grill I'll smoke a whole chicken I'll brine today and some nice italian sausages I picked up in Brooklyn. Have no intentions of eating any vegetables. 

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BigHouseBoyz

July 3rd, 2015 at 7:33 AM ^

Maybe you have already, but you should try the beer in the butt chicken!  Chicken stands up really well, and the beer keeps the breasts moist (but we already knew that!).  You can also get a little rack at HD or Lowe's to stand it up better.  Half a beer for the chicken, half a beer for the cook!  Little olive oil for sticking agent and a little rub on the outside, your set.  

We will probably have a smaller BBQ on Saturday with family in the area and do a chicken or two and some dry rub ribs.  As Ricky from Sunnyvale said "No sauce needed!"

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thumpinman

July 3rd, 2015 at 7:38 AM ^

The cool thing about chicken is that it's so diverse. You can make it taste any way you want. I've done Cajun smoked, lemon pepper, dry rubbed, Jamaican jerk, and BBQ.

I usually will brine the night before. You can brine as short as 4 hours before smoking. If you don't have time to brine, an injector will work too.

The breast is the tricky part. It can really come out dry and tasteless without a good brine or injection.

I start with painting the bird with yellow mustard. That seals the juices and gives the rub something to stick to. I then add a generous covering of my rub. The rub is mostly paprika, brown and white sugar, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, cayenne( just a pinch) and onion powder. I let the rub set for about 30 mins before I put it in the smoker. I set the smoker to about 250 and it takes about 3 hours.

(My brine is: water, salt, sugar (equal parts) and maples syrup)

There are several videos on YouTube. My favorite is barbquesoneright.

Happy 4th.

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Ricky from Sunnyvale

July 3rd, 2015 at 7:19 PM ^

I don't do beer can. 

Just give it a heavy salt and brown sugar brine overnight. Then stuff the bird with lime, oranges garlic, jalapeno or whatever and sew her shut. Coat with olive oil and rub her down with coarse sea salt and pepper. Most the flavor will come the wood/smoke and the brine. Very easy. As always if you lookin it ain't cookin.

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Artie

July 3rd, 2015 at 10:00 AM ^

As I have gotten older, I've learned to see the value in taking time to prepare food and doing things right. I don't know why I haven't been smoking/brining longer than I have but my God that stuff is delicious. I did a dry run on a pork shoulder overnight a couple nights ago, then applewood smoked it for seven hours. It was by far the best pulled pork I've ever had.



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TyTrain32

July 3rd, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^

Now start playing around with injections. I like to simmer some apple cider vinnegar, brown sugar, sea salt, garlic, and throw in a few other spices. Inject it and let that sit over night. Dont do thr rub until the morning because the injection might rinse some off as it saturates. Its like meat candy!

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LSAClassOf2000

July 3rd, 2015 at 6:57 AM ^

I've got some steaks marinating right now which, while they shall begin their journey here, will be grilled and eaten at a cabin in the woods later, and we're bringing the stuff to make jalepeno burgers, some hot dogs (Vienna too - ordered them from a place in Chicago) and a few homemade potato and macaroni salad selections. Call it my way of helping to share the cost of the cabin with the other family, providing the food as well as the booze.

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TheFugitive

July 3rd, 2015 at 7:53 AM ^

I am not preparing anything, although my SO and I will be going to her mother's house for lunch, her friend's house for a party in the afternoon and my friend's new place in the evening who has a Big Green Egg.  Fortunately all we have to do is bring our own drinks to each place.  

Any suggestions as to what we should be drinking today? We live in Grand Rapids so we will have a nice selection to choose from

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BigHouseBoyz

July 3rd, 2015 at 8:04 AM ^

If you don't get a long with your mother in-law I would start with something hard that you can kinda disguise like Jack and coke.  If you and her are cool then maybe something softer like a margarita.  For the afternoon party I would try Vanilla Vodka and lemonade.  I had it on the golf course the other day, great when it's hot!  Your buddy with the Big Green Egg is probably doing meat, so a good IPA.  Lastly you can finish with what ever you need to complete your day from a good single malt scotch to Hennessy!  Just my sleep deprived thoughts this morning!

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drjaws

July 3rd, 2015 at 11:19 AM ^

I second Wolverdog with the Soft Parade and suggest a DarkHorse Raspberry ale as well. Both are good summer beers. I don't really drink dark beers in the summer unless I can get my hands on some Rogue Shakespeare Stout or Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout.

For hard liquor, Buttercrowns --- 2 shots Crown Royal, 2 shots DeKuyper's Butterscotch over lots of ice. Or Crown Royal Apple straight from the bottle. 3 Olives Grape vodka is awesome straight too and can also be mixed with. All kinds of shit.



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Mr. Yost

July 3rd, 2015 at 8:00 AM ^

What am I NOT cooking? Errr grilling...

I'll be grilling everything the next two days and Sunday will be a leftover day that rivals the Friday after Thanksgiving.

The stove may only be used for sides, the oven is off limits all weekend. Basically, if it can't go on the grill, it can't go on your plate.

My favorite right now is bison burgers...

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evenyoubrutus

July 3rd, 2015 at 8:08 AM ^

I did that once as well- got up at about 4:30 and put two briskets on the smoker for my 3 o'clock party.  Honestly it was one of those things I don't think I will ever do again, but I'm glad I did it so I could check it off my bucket list.  As much as I love brisket I think that ribs, pork tenderloin and chicken can be almost as good without having to get up in the middle of the night to make them.

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gopoohgo

July 3rd, 2015 at 8:14 AM ^

Two types of tacos:

Grilled shrimp (local North Carolina)

Pork belly (boiled for 15 minutes, baked until rendered).

Lots of 90 Minute IPA left for our last day in the Outer Banks.

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TyTrain32

July 3rd, 2015 at 8:50 AM ^

Smoked chicken, smoked pork butt, and a couple fatties on the smoker. For those of you who dont know, a fatty is rolled up ground sausage with all the fixins inside (bbq, onion, cheddar). You roll out the sausage into a square, load up the fillings, roll it back up, the you wrap the sausage in a bacon weave. Tighten it up in some plastic wrap, let it chill, then 2 hours on the smoker. Doesnt get more American than a fatty. Enjoy and be safe everyone.



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Njia

July 3rd, 2015 at 9:11 AM ^

I will smoke a brisket tomorrow. I don't know if I will do a whole one because we won't have any guests and my daughter is going to a friend's party. I might just cook only a half; not sure yet whether it will be a point (to make into burnt ends) or the flat.

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michgoblue

July 3rd, 2015 at 9:36 AM ^

My wife and kids just bought me the Weber smokey Mountain smoker (22 inch size) for dad's day. Going to do a mix of smoking and grilling for a fairly large (19 people) BBQ tomorrow. On the smoker, I am making 6 large racks of baby back ribs. I use recipe that includes smoking the ribs for a few hours with an amazing rub and then grilling them over high heat with a homemade barbecue sauce for 5-10 minutes to caramelize the sauce.

On the grill, I have chicken cutlets (same BBQ sauce) and about 7 pounds of skirt steak.

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Njia

July 3rd, 2015 at 10:24 AM ^

Do yourself a favor and replace the door with the mod available at Cajun Bandit. It's a heavier gauge of metal so it will hold the heat better. I would also consider replacing the handle which is cheap. Both mods are available here: http://cajunbandit.com/wsm-parts-mods/ A good friend who is a frequent lurker here has added another mod that uses a digital temp control. I find that I don't need it, but I don't cook on my smoker as often as he does. Finally, don't follow the Weber instructions that suggest only using a few brickets at a time. Load it up to the top and control the temp with the vents. You don't want to keep adding more charcoal during a long cook.

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Ray

July 3rd, 2015 at 12:04 PM ^

I've used a WSM for 12 years and still love it. When we moved to Switzerland it was a non-negotiable item for the move. One piece of advice: buy a vacuum sealer if you haven't already. The WSM really lends itself to big items (pork shoulder, brisket etc) and it's great to be able to vacuum seal and freeze part of what you smoke for enjoyment later. I'm just finishing up the last couple sides of salmon for this year--today's lot will make 50 lbs--which will last us until we can get fresh Alaska salmon next year.

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wolverinestuckinEL

July 3rd, 2015 at 10:35 AM ^

Not the authentic Italian version with a suckling pig but I'll wrap a center cut pork loing in a huge piece of pork belly and roast on the smoker for 3 hours or so.  I am a huge fan of the RecTec it allows me to not be attached to monitoring my fire for 6-12 hours when bbq'ing.

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