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Review: Michelbob’s

Over the past few years, my parents have officially become snowbirds. That means they spend 6 months per year in sunny Florida. Those would be the same six months that I’m battling cold temperatures and wind while trying to perfect my BBQ technique.

Recently, they began to sing the praises of a BBQ establishment in Naples, FL, called MichelBob’s. Now I’ve never been to the place and I can’t substantiate their claims about having the best ribs in America. However, my folks did send home a bottle of their rub/seasoning so I thought I’d give it whirl.

I tried the rub on a brisket that I cooked on the Big Green Egg on Sunday. I found it to be a little saltier and have a little more garlic than my standard brisket rub. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. As the brisket finished up, it formed a nice bark and the was very tasty. In fact, I think enjoyed it even more the next day.

I hope to get to Florida to try their BBQ Ribs first hand, but until then I will definitely continue to enjoy their rub. I wouldn’t mind giving their sauce the once over, but alas no one has come forward with a bottle of that! 8>)

Cheers,
Braddog

Rib Pickin’

It had been awhile since I’d done ribs on my Big Green Egg, but with the weather hovering around ~70 degrees I decided Saturday was a perfect day to fire up the cooker. So off to the store I went for some ribs. When I got there, all that was available were spare ribs. Now I usualy cook baby backs but didn’t feel like hunting all over town for them so I just went with St Louis style spare ribs.

What’s the difference? Well, baby backs come from “high on the hog” and are typically smaller and more tender. Spareribs on the other hand come from the belly of the hog, are larger, and typically have more fat. You also have to deal with a flap of meat on the bone side of spare ribs and a strip of meat and cartilage along the edge. You can find spareribs with the extra flap and cartilage removed by the butcher. These trimmed spareribs are often referred to as “St. Louis Style”.

While the spare ribs turned out okay, my family let me know in no uncertain terms that they prefer the “other kind”. So from now on, I’ll stick to baby back ribs even if I have to chase all over town to find them.

Cheers,
Braddog

Leaving the Nest – Update

I thought I’d post one final update to the construction of the table for my large Big Green Egg. We finally got the BGE placed in the table and cooked on it for the first time. And it’s awesome!

Here’s a shot of the BGE in it’s final resting place:

In an earlier post, I talked about some of the finishing touches. We did run into one snag. If you notice in the photo, the paver that the BGE is sitting on is not flush as was intended. We discovered that the spring hinges on the dome actually rotate downward slightly when opening the lid and we hadn’t allowed enough clearance for this. So we had to make accommodations for that by raising the egg slightly by inserting slats under the paver.

Favorite parts:

having an “electric” table
grilling light
huge work surface

Things to consider next time:

possibly use larger casters
consider where to store the platesetter (I’m thinking a wire shelf suspended under the bottom shelf would work great)

All in all, I think it turned out really well. I have to give special thanks to Zino & Davidhoff for all their help. Without them, I would have probably just bought the BGE table or thrown together something that wouldn’t have been nearly as nice as this table.

Are you building a table or cart for your Egg or other cooker? Drop us a comment and let us know how it turns out.

Cheers,
Braddog

Super Bowl Eats

Like most guys who wield a BBQ pit for fun, Super Sunday is a day that I cook. This year I was headed over to a neighbor’s for the game and there was to be plenty of food, so I focused on finger foods and appetizers.

With all the buzz about the Bacon Explosion this week, I decided I’d put one of those together. I also did one of my favorites and put together a batch of ABT’s. Then for something new, I did a batch of “Moinkballs”. That’ a cross between “moo” & “oink” (moo + oink = moink). They’re very easy to do . Just wrap a half a slice of bacon around a meatball, smoke, brush with BBQ sauce, and serve.

Here are some shots of my Superbowl Eats:

Bacon Explosion ready to cook:

Fresh off the cooker:

ABT’s and Moinkballs

And a few of each as they came off of the cooker:

So what did you cook on Sunday? Drop me a line and let me know.

Cheers,
Braddog

Ready to Leave the Nest

If you cook on a Big Green Egg or a similar ceramic cooker, you probably started with the egg nestled snuggly in a “nest”. That’s simply the stand with casters that holds the egg at a usable height. Many of us also opted for the flip-up tables to provide a work surface near the egg.

However, you quickly come to realize that even this is not enough work surface. Personally, I added a side table and still find myself juggling cooking utensils, pans, aluminum foil, BBQ sauce etc.

So I began to consider purchasing one of the tables from the Big Green Egg folks. However, after consulting with a buddy of mine we determined that we probably had enough stuff lying around to build one on our own. We set about finding plans for a table, collecting the items that we already had, and determining what additional parts we’d need.

We located plans at a couple of places. Big Green Egg has plans available here. We also consulted The Naked Whiz for plans as well as a nice gallery of tables other folks have built. We landed on a modified plan based on everything we read and learned because we needed to take into account that we were starting with lumber, casters and paving stones that we already had lying around.

Over the next few days, I’ll post our progress and photos. I’m pretty excited about leaving the nest and moving the egg into a more permanent home. Stay tuned!

Cheers,
Braddog

How I Spent My Snow Day or Pork Loin on the Big Green Egg

Here in the midwest, we got quit a blast of winter last night. I woke up this morning (actually the school woke me up to tell me there was no school) to ~3 inches of sleet & snow on the ground. So I elected to exercise a little flexibility afforded to me by my employer and work from home. Around lunch time, my neighbor called to say he had a pork loin in the freezer and since we were both home it seemed like a good excuse to cook.

So around 3:30pm I fired up the Big Green Egg. I shoveled just enough space outside of the garage to be able to roll the egg outside. In nothing flat, I had a 275 degree fire with an indirect setup. We put the pork loin on and retired to the warmth of our respective homes.

By 6:00pm, the pork loin was at 160 degrees internal and I declared it ready to eat. I cut a hunk off for my trouble and left the rest for my buddy. I mean heck, he provided the meat. I had also done some sliced potatoes tossed in olive oil and a little grill seasoning (I call ’em Cheater Fried Potatoes).

It’s kinda cool to be able to work from home while tending the fire and having a fresh meal off of the cooker in mid-week. Other than grilled chicken or burgers, I don’t get to enjoy mid-week cooking very often.

How’d you spend your most recent snow day? Drop me a comment and let me know.

Cheers,
Braddog

Tip: Dealing with Flashback on the Big Green Egg

Ever seen the movie “Backdraft” ? It’s a movie about firefighters and an arsonist who builds fires that are starved for oxygen and eventually create a flashback when a rush of air is introduced to the smoldering embers. This can (and does) happen when cooking low and slow. I can’t speak for all the different types of cookers on the market, but for sure the Big Green Egg can create this event.

A friend of mine, a fellow Egger and a pretty darned good photographer, caught the phenomenon with his camera.

Thanks to Phydeaux Deauxmayne for the photo

This usually occurs when you’re attempting to reduce the cooking temperature by tightening the vents on your cooker and reducing air flow. You can minimize the liklihood of this happening by “burping” your egg before opening it wide. To do this, raise the lid just slightly in order to control the rush of air into the cooker. Hold the lid there for about a three count before completely opening it.

If you’re not in the habit of burping your egg when opening it, you’ll get in the habit quickly once you’ve had your first flashback. I only had to loose the hair on my arms once before I learned my lesson! 8>)

Cheers,
Braddog

Recipe: Cedar Plank Salmon

Barbecue to me is as much a process as it is a particular dish. It’s the process of cooking something slowly at a fairly low temperature. I’m picky about my barbecue, whether it’s pulled pork, ribs, brisket or something a little less traditional. As much as I enjoy pork & beef on the smoker, I like to break it up with chicken & fish from time to time.

I recently did cedar planked salmon with stuffed poppers and it turned out great. In keeping with the requirements for all card carrying members of this cult of Big Green Egg owners, I took before and after pictures and felt compelled to share them and the recipe.

I prepped the egg and got her up to ~300 degrees with an indirect setup. I didn’t use any wood chips or chunks with the Salmon. It’s a pretty delicate meat and you can over smoke it. The smokey flavor from the burning lump is enough for me.
I hit the salmon fillets with some Shakin’ the Trees from Dizzy Pig BBQ. This is a pretty versatile rub that I like on chicken, fish, & veggies.
I placed the salmon on cedar planks that I’d soaked for about a half an hour
The salmon cooked on the Big Green Egg for ~ 1 hr. Don’t turn it. It’s so flaky it would come apart if you tried.

Cheers,

Braddog

Pulled Pork on the Big Green Egg

Pulled pork is one of the cornerstones of BBQ. Luckily, it’s also one of the easiest things to do. There are some variations on the ingredients in pulled pork but the most important one is patience. Remember BBQ is cooked low and slow and it’s done when it’s done.

Here’s how I prepare pulled pork:

Here’s how I prepare pulled pork:

Start with a whole pork butt. Sometimes you’ll find these called Boston Butt, bone in butt, etc. and they typically run 6-8lbs.
Slather the entire butt with cheap yellow mustard. Not dijon, not Grey Poupon, not spicey; just simple yellow mustard. You won’t taste this and it really just serves to bind the rub to the meat.
Liberally apply the rub of your choice. There are a couple of commercially available rubs that I like. If you don’t already have a favorite, I’d recommend Dizzy Pig’s Dizzy Dust or Bad Byron’s Butt Rub. Personally, I can’t tell much difference in doing this much in advance of starting your pit, but I’ll leave that up to you.
Fire up your pit for indirect cooking with a drip pan and get your temperature settled in to about 250 degrees. I leave the drip pan empty. To me, it’s just for catching the drippings. Note: if you’re using a cooker with a water pan, then I’d add water to the pan.
Put your butt on and settle in for a long cook. I use 1.5 hrs per lb. as an estimate for planning purposes only. At the end of the day, every cooker is going to cook a little different and so will each piece of meat. Remember, the meat is done when it’s done. Cook by internal temp of the meat, not the clock.

After 4-5 hrs, your butt should be close to 160 degrees internal temperature. It’s in this range, +/- 10 degrees that the internal temperature of the meat will plateau. Once it plateaus, it can stay there for several more hours. It’s in this plateau that the magic is happening. The connective tissues are breaking down and the fat is rendering from the meat. Keep feeding the fire (if needed) and be patient. While pork is edible at 160 degrees, it ain’t done.
Once the meat breaks the plateau, the temperature will begin to rise again. Once it hits 195 degrees internal temperature, it’s done. Wrap it in foil and let it rest for at least an hour.
When you’re ready to eat (and who wouldn’t be by now?), unwrap the butt and it should easily pull apart. I like to use a couple of forks for pulling the meat apart. I also discard the bone and any excess fat during this process.
Serve it up on cheap white hamburger buns and provide some BBQ sauce as a condiment.
Enjoy!

So get out there and get cooking, but remember patience is required to get through that plateau. Hang in there, the results are worth it.

Cheers,
Braddog

Tip: Big Green Egg Frozen Shut

Last week, I wrote a post about gasket replacement on the Big Green Egg. Based on feedback, it’s seems like a post on how to get your frozen BGE open is in order. This is really a pretty simple and there are a couple of ways to go about it.

The first method is to remove the ceramic top (You do use your ceramic top to snuff the fire don’t you?). Light a couple of starter cubes and drop them inside. They’ll land on the cooking grate, but should burn long enough and create enough heat to thaw the frozen gasket.
The second method works on similar principals but starts at the other end of the egg. Light a couple of cubes and shove them through the bottom vent under the fire grate. Likewise, they should burn long enough to get the job done but with the added benefit of possibly lighting the remaining lump in the BGE (You do use lump charcoal don’t you?). Alternatively, if you light your BGE with a MAPP Torch or something similar you can direct the torch at the fire grate and re-light the remaining lump.

I hope these tips help you out if you find yourself frozen out!

Cheers,
Braddog