tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18671333664426962212024-03-13T11:26:15.355-05:00Hogwild BBQHogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-3118391690501429582008-02-29T07:16:00.001-06:002008-02-29T11:33:45.365-06:00Monthly Roundup - February, 2008The best from cyberspace in the past month. It seemed to be a slow month in the food blogging world.<br /><br /><ul><li>Sandy at Junkfood Science <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;"></span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/01/fishy-sushi-scares.html">debunks the recent mercury in tuna scares</a></span> scares. It pays to do your research, folks.</li></ul><ul><li>The <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2008/02/nacho-cheese-fountain.html">nacho cheese fountain</a></span> via Serious Eats. This is brilliant!!</li></ul><ul><li>Another hilarious hot sauce from the Hot Sauce Blog: <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.hotsauceblog.com/hotsaucearchives/review-ass-murdering-hot-sauce/">Ass Murdering Hot Sauce!</a></span></li></ul><ul><li>The Paupered Chef goes on a <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.thepauperedchef.com/2008/02/bourbon-tour--1.html">bourbon tour</a></span>. I do love me some bourbon and Woodford is one of my favorites.</li></ul><ul><li>Not Martha makes a <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2008/02/27/bacon-cups/">bacon bowl</a></span>. This is one of the best things I've seen in ages. My regular readers know that I believe bacon is a gift straight from God. I'll definitely be trying this sometime. They could even make a salad fun!!!</li></ul><br />That's all I got, but I will leave you with this great photo from <a href="http://warehouse.carlh.com/">Carl Huber</a>. If you ran accross something cool in the cybersoup this month that I missed, let me know.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R8hBjuT35pI/AAAAAAAAAWk/bafXNKaQjcg/s1600-h/pigbutcheringguide.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R8hBjuT35pI/AAAAAAAAAWk/bafXNKaQjcg/s320/pigbutcheringguide.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172456254017627794" border="0" /></a>Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-69367359955463625972008-02-20T11:50:00.005-06:002008-02-20T11:58:55.681-06:00Steak Toaster<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R7xoeDfLkfI/AAAAAAAAAWc/kg5pzeQdHKA/s1600-h/steakhouse-grill-ariete.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R7xoeDfLkfI/AAAAAAAAAWc/kg5pzeQdHKA/s320/steakhouse-grill-ariete.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169121337855939058" border="0" /></a>I was going to save this for the monthly roundup next week, but I just couldn't wait. What the hell is this world coming to? Officially, it's the <a href="http://www.ariete.net/catalogo_06/catalogo3_en.asp?prod_id=339">Steakhouse Indoor Grill</a>. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <a href="http://gizmodo.com/358671/a-steak-toaster-did-you-hear-me-i-said-a-steak-toaster">Gizmodo </a>has it right, though, it's a $220 steak toaster if I ever saw one. Oh, wait, I guess I've never seen one until now.<br /><br />Jeez.Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-65755243998812788732008-02-17T10:04:00.000-06:002008-02-17T10:23:30.439-06:00Smoked CheeseHere is another post I've been meaning to get up for awhile. We had a lot of company over thanksgiving and I wanted to have some snacks around for all the football we were going to watch. It had been awhile since I smoked some cheese and I thought that would be good to munch on. I couple days later I smoked a chub of bologna (sadly, no pics) and made the best bologna and cheese sammies.<br /><br />You can smoke pretty much any cheese you want, as far as I know. I chose a block of extra sharp cheddar (my favorite), pepper jack (always a hit), and swiss. The cheddar and jack were from Sam's, so they were huge. I cut them in half to maximize the smoke flavor. I "borrowed" a cooling rack from Mrs. Hog (shhh, don't tell her) to get the cheese up off of the grate.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lR9O25sUI/AAAAAAAAAT0/ixirKnbgVEs/s1600-h/Smoked+Cheese.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lR9O25sUI/AAAAAAAAAT0/ixirKnbgVEs/s320/Smoked+Cheese.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5159244960531853634" border="0" /></a><br />The most important thing when smoking cheese is to build a very, very small fire. Basically you don't want any heat, just the smoke. It was pretty easy this time because it was in the 20s outside. I burned down some charcoal, added 3 or 4 briquettes and one small piece of hickory to the firebox. The aluminum foil is just there to keep the stuff from falling through the basket as it burns down.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lR9u25sWI/AAAAAAAAAUE/72MG87fuOMk/s1600-h/Smoked+Cheese+Fire.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lR9u25sWI/AAAAAAAAAUE/72MG87fuOMk/s320/Smoked+Cheese+Fire.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5159244969121788258" border="0" /></a><br />Simply add small pieces of wood when needed. I replaced the charcoal once as well. With a little practice you'll learn what works for you and how long you need to smoke the cheese to get the flavor you want. I like mine pretty smoky, so I went 2 hours or so on these. Mmmmmm, cheese.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lR9e25sVI/AAAAAAAAAT8/jHNbW4zAvK8/s1600-h/Smoked+Cheese+Done.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lR9e25sVI/AAAAAAAAAT8/jHNbW4zAvK8/s320/Smoked+Cheese+Done.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5159244964826820946" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lR9u25sWI/AAAAAAAAAUE/72MG87fuOMk/s1600-h/Smoked+Cheese+Fire.jpg"><br /></a>Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-65503883443007416292008-02-03T08:33:00.000-06:002008-02-03T08:49:01.910-06:00Smoked EggsI mentioned way back in my very first <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/08/monthly-roundup-august-2007.html">Monthly Roundup</a> how I wanted to try some smoked eggs. I was cooking some pork butts overnight sometime last fall (that's how far behind I am getting stuff on the blog) and decided to do a fatty and eggs for breakfast. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning I put a fatty and three eggs on the smoker.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lKs-25sQI/AAAAAAAAATU/Zj62PTNxUbw/s1600-h/smoked+eggs+-+cooking.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lKs-25sQI/AAAAAAAAATU/Zj62PTNxUbw/s320/smoked+eggs+-+cooking.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5159236984777584898" border="0" /></a><br />I didn't really know how long to cook them, so i just let them go until the fatty was done (160 degrees; a little over an hour). It was as simple as that.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lKtO25sRI/AAAAAAAAATc/XwiznlIFIfI/s1600-h/smoked+eggs+-+done.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lKtO25sRI/AAAAAAAAATc/XwiznlIFIfI/s320/smoked+eggs+-+done.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5159236989072552210" border="0" /></a><br />If anything, the eggs were just a touch overdone, but not too bad. I just peeled the shell off of them and had smoked sausage and eggs for breakfast. It was fantastic. You can see where the smoke penetrated the egg shells and colored the white of the egg. they had good smoke flavor, but it wasn't overbearing. If you like hard boiled eggs, you'll definitely like the smoked eggs. If not...well, you probably won't like them. I'll be doing these again when cooking overnight. I'll do them again sometime to make egg salad, too. Oh, and smoked deviled eggs would be awesome, too. Yep, I'll definitely be doing the eggs again.Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-12512617921211417482008-01-31T06:31:00.000-06:002008-02-01T13:55:26.619-06:00Monthly Roundup - January, 2008The Monthly Roundup is back after a brief hiatus. A few of these are from November and December.<br /><ul><li>Serious Eats tells us about <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2007/11/the-most-expensive-coffee-in-the-world.html">the most expensive coffee in the world</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span> </span>I had heard of this stuff before and was taken aback because the beans are collected after they are ingested and crapped out by an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Palm_Civet">Asian Palm Civet</a>. I don't think I'd drink this stuff for 5 bucks a pound, but at 200 dollars a pound, forget about it. I think I'll stick with Folger's, thanks.</li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://fourreasonswhy.com/2007/11/09/ribs-totally-rock/">Four (or five) reasons why ribs totally rock!!</a></span> This is a nice little website I read daily through <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/07/commenting-and-rss-feeds.html">Google Reader</a>. From their website: <blockquote>This is a blog devoted to lists on a wide variety of topics - usually offering four or five items/reasons, although we do reserve the right to do more if the mood strikes us.</blockquote></li></ul><ul><li>Wired Magazine Online is one of my many geek websites that I like. They put <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/15-11/st_thanksgiving">Thanksgiving Dinner under the microscope</a></span> in a really cool piece last November.</li></ul><ul><li>Whitetrash posts a survey from the <a href="http://www.barbecuenews.com/">National BBQ News</a> about <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://whitetrashbbq.blogspot.com/2008/01/so-what-do-bbqers-do.html">what BBQers use for fuel, sauces, etc.</a></span> It's an interesting survey, and not surprisingly, BBQers cook a lot, make their own sauces, and use mostly charcoal/wood. The survey is skewed because the people frequenting the BBQ News are more serious about their cooking than your average weekend warrior, but it's interesting nonetheless.</li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.bbqreport.com/archives/barbecue/2008/01/12/everything-should-taste-like-bacon/">Everything should taste like bacon!!!</a></span> I couldn't agree more....so do <a href="http://baconshow.blogspot.com/">these guys</a>.</li></ul><ul><li>This is all over the web, but Serious Eats tells us that the <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2008/01/fda-declares-cloned-animals-safe-to-eat.html">FDA has approve meat from cloned animals for human consumption</a></span>. A lot of people are up in arms over this. I'm not one of them. First, you're not going to be eating the clones anyway. They are way to expensive to be cutting into steaks. You're going to be eating their offspring (who won't be clones). Secondly, there is no reason to believe that the cloning process fundamentally alters the animal anyway. Much ado about nothing, in my opinion. I'm thinking of writing a full post on this subject sometime soon.</li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.meninaprons.net/archives/2008/01/10_ways_to_make_your_burgers_b.html">Ten ways to make a better burger</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span>via Men in Aprons. I'm a minimalist when it comes to my burgers. A little salt and pepper and a dash (seriously, just a dash) of wooshy-wooshy when I'm making the patties. Cook em' over medium-high heat, flip em' once, and melt some cheese on em' at the very end. mmmmm, good stuff.</li></ul><ul><li>Big Iron BBQ tells us <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://bigironbarbecue.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/the-little-blue-flame-that-aint/">how to unstick a stuck gas regulator</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span></span> I didn't know this. If you'll recall I just got a gas grill in September after an 8 or 10 year stint without owning one. Learn something new every day, I guess.</li></ul><ul><li>The BBQ Guy shows us <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://bbqguyblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/barbecue-brisket-preparation.html">how to prepare and cook brisket</a></span>. His method is pretty much how I do mine, with the exception of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002CJN6I/ref=ase_bbqblog-20/104-2977792-3660739?s=kitchen&v=glance&n=284507&tagActionCode=bbqblog-20">Jaccard</a>. I've never thought of puncturing the hell out of my brisket. It's definitely something I'll be looking into. Another think the BBQ Guy mentioned is that he prefers CAB briskets (a lot of people seem to). To me the <a href="http://www.ams.usda.gov/howtobuy/meat.htm">meat grade</a> (scroll down) is much more important. Unlike the BBQ Guy, I've had a lot of luck with briskets from Sam's. Both here in Nebraska and in Houston the Sam's sells choice beef (not all do). The reason folks like CAB is that nearly all of it is graded prime. Remember, CAB is a brand name, not a grade. I've cooked a select brisket once and there is definitely a difference between select and choice or prime. I've never cooked a prime brisket, but it's on my "to do" list.<br /></li></ul>Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-35536912824729078702008-01-27T16:54:00.000-06:002008-01-27T17:11:45.226-06:00Whatchagot StewSo, a little before Christmas, Mrs. Hog and I were sitting around on a Saturday morning and wondered what we would have for supper. It had gotten bitterly cold here in Nebraska. In fact it got cold right after Thanksgiving and has been that way since. We've had snow on the ground since the week after Turkeyday. So we thought something inside would be good. Stews and soups always go over well when it's cold outside. We decided on a "whatchagot" stew. What is a whatchagot stew, you ask? Well it's called that, because whatever ya got...throw it in the pot. A few weeks earlier I smoked a couple pork butts. One of them I threw in the fridge after it cooled a little because I didn't feel like pulling it, already had some pulled pork in the freezer, and wanted some cubed stuff for an occasion such as this. Here's what I used in the stew:<br /><ul><li>A couple pounds of pork butt, cubed; I had kept the shoulder blade with a good bit of meat on it (frozen, of course) and threw it in, too.</li><li>Surprisingly, we didn't have any canned tomatoes (we almost always have some around), but we did have a big can of chunky spaghetti sauce....so we threw it in the pot. See what I mean by "whatchagot" stew?</li><li>Ketchup</li><li>Frozen green beans, corn, and carrots. Use any vegetable you like and have on hand, frozen or fresh. Kidney bean, pintos, black beans, etc. would go well it it, too.<br /></li><li>Fresh white onions, cut into good-sized chunks. That's a technical cooking term there, folks..."good-sized".</li><li>Potatoes, cubed</li><li>A big handful of my butt rub. Another technical term; "big-handful".<br /></li><li><a href="http://www.huyfong.com/no_frames/sriracha.htm">Sriracha</a> ("Rooster") Sauce, to add some heat to it.<br /></li></ul>I think that's everything. Like I said, though, put anything in it you like. Put everything in to a pot sufficient to hold it all (this freezes well, by the way). Bring it to a boil, then simmer for a long, long time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lPle25sSI/AAAAAAAAATk/puGzljgeIhE/s1600-h/Whatchagot+Stew+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lPle25sSI/AAAAAAAAATk/puGzljgeIhE/s320/Whatchagot+Stew+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5159242353486704930" border="0" /></a><br />We got this on the stove about lunch time and ate it for supper at sixish. If you simmer it very slowly it'll be hard to cook it too long. Just come back every hour or so and give it a good stir. Mrs. Hog made some drop biscuits in a mini-muffin pan to go with them.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lPl-25sTI/AAAAAAAAATs/6aWoxfKFfYY/s1600-h/Whatchagot+Stew+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5lPl-25sTI/AAAAAAAAATs/6aWoxfKFfYY/s320/Whatchagot+Stew+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5159242362076639538" border="0" /></a><br />My Mom gave me a 9-quart dutch oven for Christmas, so I'll probably do this in the oven using the dutch oven when I do it again. I did a pork roast a couple weeks ago that I'll get up on the blog sometime. Obviously, a pot on the stove top works just fine for this. I've got some of it still frozen, and after writing this up I think I'll have to thaw some of it out soon.Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-76446284929101257172008-01-24T22:06:00.000-06:002008-01-24T22:14:48.307-06:00Where did "Hogwild" Come from?I've been meaning to post this for awhile now. In fact, I started it in May of last year (had a draft saved and timestamped on the blog). So, ummm, here ya go...better late than never, I guess.<br /><br />No, I don't mean where did I come from. I mean where did the name "Hogwild" come from. Do a <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=HogwildBBQ&btnG=Search">google search</a> for "HogwildBBQ" and you'll see that it's a pretty popular name. I've used the name Hogwild for years, since college. My first login ID at NCState was <a href="http://www.hogsbreath.com/">Hawgsbreath</a>. I worked with pigs in college (still do) and my buddies and I partied rather heavily...hence the Hog and Wild part, I guess. I changed my login to Hogwild during my Freshman year not only because it was "cooler", but because Hawgsbreath was just too darn long. I used it as my CB radio handle for many years. I still have the CB in the pickup, but don't use it as much as I used to. Hogwild, or some variation of it, has been my online "handle" for as long as I've been online. <a href="http://live.xbox.com/en-US/profile/profile.aspx?pp=0&GamerTag=Hogw1ld">Hogw1ld</a> (a one in place of the i) is my Xbox Live gamertag. My name at various websites and forums is Hogwild, Hogwild1, Hogwild60 (60 was my high school football #). All the variations are due to somebody having "Hogwild" on that website already. <a href="http://live.xbox.com/en-US/profile/profile.aspx?pp=0&GamerTag=Hogwild">Hogwild</a> (i, not 1) on Xbox Live never frickin' plays...I wish he would give up the name, already. Very infrequently does somebody think about BBQ when they see my name. I usually get one of two questions: 1)<br />"Where are you from... Did you go to Arkansas.... Go Hawgs!!" or 2) "What do you ride?" (as in Harley-Davidson). I usually reply, "huh?? Oh, no, I cook and eat pigs". :-DHogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-26423495510164415622008-01-20T15:22:00.000-06:002008-01-20T16:14:11.828-06:00Smoking in Cold Weather<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5O-qHPv8JI/AAAAAAAAARg/DcSEC0Y89yE/s1600-h/cold+weather+smoking+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5O-qHPv8JI/AAAAAAAAARg/DcSEC0Y89yE/s320/cold+weather+smoking+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157675628978237586" border="0" /></a><br />I told you that I would be smoking a couple pork butts last Thursday, so I thought I'd tell you about them. I did three things last week that I have never done before:<br /><ol><li>Cooked in 10 degree weather</li><li>Foiled pork butts, and</li><li>Finished pork butts off on the gas grill</li></ol>I got home from work last Thursday and, as you can see in the pic above, had to shovel some snow to be able to cook. It was about 19 degrees when I started to cook and quickly fell to the low teens after dark. I burned through about 90 lbs of charcoal in about 4 and a half hours. I was pushing the ol' Chargriller pretty hard at 300-325 degrees (I didn't want to be up all night....some guys gotta work, you know). The key in this kind of weather is to keep a good bed of extremely hot coals.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5O-qXPv8LI/AAAAAAAAARw/dgjejwlzBiM/s1600-h/coals.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5O-qXPv8LI/AAAAAAAAARw/dgjejwlzBiM/s320/coals.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157675633273204914" border="0" /></a>Make sure you give you fire a lot of air and don't worry about how much charcoal/ wood you use. I used up about half a bag of hickory chunks (giving off the flames in the pic) in addition to the charcoal. That's what happens in cold weather, I guess. To give you an idea of how cold 10 degrees is, take a good look at my out of place grease trap (i.e. the coffee can).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5O-qHPv8KI/AAAAAAAAARo/xTPXKnNBV1s/s1600-h/cold+weather+smoking+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R5O-qHPv8KI/AAAAAAAAARo/xTPXKnNBV1s/s320/cold+weather+smoking+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157675628978237602" border="0" /></a><br />The coffee can got knocked over and you can see where the pork fat running out of the smoker is solidifying right as it hits the can.<br /><br />When the butts got to about 150 degrees I wrapped them and put them on the gas grill over indirect heat to finish them off to 195 degrees or so. I couldn't get the far end of the grill up to 300 deg, so I had to drape a quilted moving blanket over it to hold the heat in. I didn't think about it at the time, but I should have just wrapped the butts and put them in the oven. I just don't think "oven" when I'm cooking BBQ.....but, I don't really think "grill" either. It was 10:30 or so now and I went in for a catnap while Mrs. Hog kept an eye on the butts (she gets to sleep later than I do and these were for <span style="font-style: italic;">her</span> party). She woke me up about 12:30 and I took the butts off the grill. We let them rest for 20 minutes or so and Mrs. Hog and I pulled the butts at 1:00 AM Friday morning. Six o'clock came might early for me.<br /><br />So, I did the butts in a little over 6 hours, which is by far the fasted I've cooked one. I forgot to mention that these were good sized (9 and 10 pounds) butts, too. It was definitely a successful cook, despite the unorthodox (for me) cooking style. The butts didn't have quite the smoky flavor that I usually get. The smoke ring was normal, though, so I'm thinking that the juices that collected in the foil kinda "washed" the smoke off the butts...maybe. The bark was also compromised by the the foiling. It wasn't as flavorful and the consistency was way off compared to what I'm used to. Anyway, I'm calling it a win due to the time constraints and the extreme conditions....not to mention that they tasted great. Mrs. Hog and I got a lot of nice compliments at the party we took them to. I think I'll pick a day closer to freezing for my next cook, though.Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-40983410844033486182008-01-16T19:56:00.000-06:002008-01-16T20:09:45.143-06:00I'm Still Alive!!!!It's been way too long since I've posted....way too long. Things got crazy at work after Thanksgiving and then Christmas rolled around. I've about caught my breath, but work has gotten hairy again for the next two or three weeks. I'm going to try to post some in the next little bit and then get back to normal towards the middle of February. I have a lot of stuff I want to get up on the blog. I'm actually cooking tomorrow for a function on Friday night....and it's frickin' cold here. I'll post pics of me smokin' in the snow.<br /><br />Until then, I'll leave you with this picture of what a pork sandwich is supposed to look like (at least where I come from). Pulled with vinegar sauce on a cheap white bun with cheap white slaw on top. Tabasco or Texas Pete is purely optional.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R464F3Pv8II/AAAAAAAAARY/vFmMatTGqlI/s1600-h/pork+sammies.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/R464F3Pv8II/AAAAAAAAARY/vFmMatTGqlI/s320/pork+sammies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5156261034254659714" border="0" /></a>Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-38174736932234070392007-11-07T06:05:00.000-06:002007-11-07T08:27:58.732-06:00How NOT to Inject a Pork ButtNot only do I tell you of my successes in my outdoor cooking, but I'll tell you about my failures as well. Failure may be a strong word in this case because the pork butt ended up very good, but the injection was surely a failure.<br /><br />My buddy and I decided to "tailgate" at home before the NCSU/FSU football game last month. (Don't look now, but NCSU may get bowl eligible after a horrendous 1 and 5 start.) I had a couple pork butts in the freezer and moved them to the fridge on Wednesday night to be put on the smoker Friday night. The game was at 2:30 central time, so we want them done for lunch. If you remember from my last <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/07/injecting-pork-butt.html">pork butt injection</a>, I didn't really see a lot of difference with the injected butt. This time around I decided to use my <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/04/pork-butt.html">Eastern NC vinegar sauce</a> as a base, because I love the sauce. I strained the bits of pepper and stuff out of the sauce and mixed it 1:1 with apple juice. All is well at this point. I pull the butts out of the fridge and set one aside (uninjected, to compare). I start to inject the butt and realize to my dismay that the butt is still slightly frozen. It's not frozen hard. I can get the injection needle into it, but when I press on the syringe the liquid just runs out of the hole in the meat. I tried several different areas of the butt, but only got the injection to stay in the outer couple inches of meat. After messing with it a little while, I said "screw it" and just threw em' on the smoker. Slightly frozen meat does fine on the smoker, by the way. You'll actually get a bigger smoke ring.<br /><br />So, the long and short of it is to never try to inject a semi-frozen pork butt. I should have checked it earlier in the evening. 30 minutes on the counter would have worked wonders. I was in a hurry the next day and didn't get pictures, but you can follow the links to beautiful <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/07/injecting-pork-butt.html">pork</a> <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/04/dedication-to-bbq.html">butt</a> <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/04/pork-butt.html">pics</a>.Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-87141576558634273442007-11-01T21:21:00.000-05:002007-11-02T10:00:15.746-05:00Monthly Roundup, October, 2007Wow. I didn't post in the entire month of October. Life got in the way and I just didn't get it done. I did manage to get one smoke session in and I'll have a couple posts up in the next few days. I neglected my <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/07/commenting-and-rss-feeds.html">RSS </a>feeds over the month, too. I went through them the other day and had over 400 food related posts to pour over. I picked out a few gems for you to enjoy.<br /><br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2007/10/fergus-henderson-beyond-nose-to-tail-review.html">Beyond Nose to Tail: More omnivorous Recipes for the Adventurous Cook</a>. Serious Eats reviews this interesting new cook book. I haven't bought a cookbook in awhile, but this may be my next purchase.</li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://www.hellchef.com/foodblog/2007/10/20/a-guide-to-pork.html">A guide to pork</a>. The Chef from Hell tells us all about pork cuts with short explanations on how to prepare them. If you're unsure where each cut of the pig comes from, this post is for you.</li></ul><ul><li>Get Your Grill On posted a couple recipes for reusing BBQ....<a href="http://getyourgrillon.net/2007/10/15/mondays-leftovers-pulled-pork-noodle-bowl/">pulled pork noodle bowl</a> and <a href="http://getyourgrillon.net/2007/10/12/brisket-chili/">brisket chili</a>. Two things to note here. If you haven't tried Rooster Sauce (formally <a href="http://www.huyfong.com/no_frames/sriracha.htm">sriracha sauce</a>, but I think "rooster" sauce sounds better) used for the noodle bowl, go get you some. It's a fantastic chili sauce. Secondly, try to think outside the box with your BBQ leftovers. They will be good in just about anything.</li></ul><ul><li>Men in Aprons ponders <a href="http://www.meninaprons.net/archives/2007/10/what_my_kitchen_cannot_live_wi.html">what they could not live without in the kitchen</a>...and comes up with onions. I thought about this for awhile and it's a pretty tough question. I would probably choose bacon because everything tastes better with bacon added to it.</li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://www.meninaprons.net/archives/2007/10/pros_and_cons_of_frying_your_t.html">Pros and Cons of Frying your Turkey</a>, also via Men in Aprons. I'll be frying a turkey this year. It's been awhile since I've done it, but they are oh so good. I'm considering smoking one as well for leftovers. I may do a pork shoulder or something, though. Be on the lookout for post Turkey day postings. They mention the fact the frying can be dangerous as a con of frying a turkey. It can, in fact, turn dangerous in a hurry, but if you're careful and don't do anything stupid you'll be OK.</li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://plowboysbbq.com/archives/370">World's Largest Fatty</a> via Plowboy's BBQ. I don't know if this is really the world's largest fatty, but it sure is impressive.</li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2007/10/family-meals-are-human-glue-even-with-the-tel.html">Family's Eating Together</a> via Serious Eats. I'm a firm believer that healthy families eat their meals together. My wife and I ate our meals in front of the TV 90% of the time until our daughter was old enough to eat in the high chair with us. Now, the four (daughter #2 is about to graduate to a booster seat from the high chair) of us are at the dinner table about 6 PM every day. It's an important part of the day to spend with your family, especially your kids.</li></ul><ul><li>Also from Serious Eats, <a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2007/10/southern-foodways-hogbutchering-time.html">It's Hog Killing Time</a>! Actually they call it hog "butchering" time, but growing up we called the late fall chill in the air, "Hog Killing Weather", so I went with what I'm used to. This post brought back fond memories of killing hogs, putting up hams and fatback, and making sausage as a youngster. I don't do that anymore, but I am buying a whole hog this year and having it butchered at a local slaughterhouse. Come the first of December I'll have more pork than you can shake a stick at...and I can't wait!!</li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://www.slashfood.com/2007/10/29/give-the-gift-of-a-homemade-cookbook/">Give the Gift of a Homemade Cookbook</a>, via Slashfood. A couple years ago, my wife compiled all my recipes (my own and some favorites of others) into a three ring binder. She personalized it with pictures and labels and stuff. It's great to have everything in one place and is one of my favorite gifts ever from the missus. Both my wife and my mom are fantastic cooks, and they love cooking for friends and families. Last Christmas my mom made a cookbook (another 3-ring binder) of all her favorite recipes and gave it my wife and my sister. I can tell you from the look on their faces that it was far and away the best present they received last year. </li></ul>Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-65732279578889132042007-09-30T22:24:00.000-05:002007-10-01T09:12:09.317-05:00Monthly Roundup, September, 2007Time for another link roundup. Blogging has been light for the last week or so. I haven't cooked much and been super busy. Mrs. Hog and I have gotten busy with Church and biking (finally found a cheap trailer to haul the kids around) in the last couple weeks. When I've had free time I've been playing a little <a href="http://www.halo3.com">Halo 3</a> on the Xbox 360. Anyway, to the links!!!<br /><br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2007/09/cupcake-crackdown-have-the-food-police-gone-t.html">Cupcake crackdown </a>via Serious Eats. It really is a shame when political correctness gets out of hand like this. I mean, denying kids a cupcake to celebrate birthdays....come on.</li></ul><ul><li> Alaina from Serious Eats visited <a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/eating_out/2007/09/wilbers-barbecue.html">Wilbur's Barbecue</a> in Goldsboro, NC this month. Wilbur's holds a special place in my heart. It's on the way to the beach from where I grew up (and we went to the beach a lot) and we stopped there to eat many, many times per year. It was especially fun when you were caravaning and had enough people for them to serve it family style....mmmmm, good!!</li></ul><ul><li>Whitetrash <a href="http://whitetrashbbq.blogspot.com/2007/09/rediscovering-my-library.html">rediscovered his library</a> this month. I often forget about the piles of cookbooks I have. I really need to start digging them out more.</li></ul><ul><li>Plowboys BBQ had the opportunity to participate in <a href="http://plowboysbbq.com/archives/345">Operation BBQ</a>. This was a great way to show appreciation for our men and women in service to our country. I would have loved to participate.</li></ul><ul><li>The HellChef tells us <a href="http://www.hellchef.com/foodblog/2007/9/14/a-guide-to-sausages.html">all about sausages</a>. This was a very informative post for me.</li></ul><ul><li>The HellChef also tells us how <a href="http://www.hellchef.com/foodblog/2007/9/13/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-love-grits.html">he learned to love grits</a>. I can't imagine why somebody wouldn't love grits in the first place!!!</li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://bbqguyblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/why-i-compete-in-barbecue-contests.html">Why the BBQGuy competes in contests</a>. I wish more competition bloggers would make posts like this.<br /></li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://www.meninaprons.net/archives/2007/09/the_language_of_food_blackened.html">Men in Aprons defines "blackened"</a> as it pertains to blackening foods. They then give us a <a href="http://www.meninaprons.net/archives/2007/09/blackened_coro_coro.html">recipe</a>. I love me some blackened fish. I've cooked and eaten tons of blackened dolphin (mahi mahi) and tuna....fresh, like caught that day by me (or my Dad). It is fantastic. There is not much my Dad liked more than fishing and cooking his catch.</li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://www.slashfood.com/2007/09/25/learn-how-to-do-cool-stuff-through-the-csrees/">Learn about the CSREES </a>via slashfood. Lots of good info from the CSREES.</li></ul><ul><li>My last link is not a blog. It's the Walmart product page for a <a href="http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5280810">Brinkmann stainless steel gas grill</a>. Mrs. Hog and I celebrate five years of marriage on Friday. ***insert the "I can't believe she stuck with you that long jokes here*** She surprised me with the grill when I got home from work (no ahe didn't pay 600 bucks for it...almost half of that). That muther is huge. I've only cooked hot dogs and pork chops on it so far. After I get a few cooks under my belt I'll write up a little review for you. I've got to remember how to cook with gas...it's been 10 years or so.<br /></li></ul>Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-55747727393228262612007-09-18T07:15:00.000-05:002007-09-21T20:43:09.698-05:00Char-Broil/TEC burners defective??<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Ru_M0X8TdZI/AAAAAAAAAQI/-13bQKSa7DU/s1600-h/post-tecgrill.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Ru_M0X8TdZI/AAAAAAAAAQI/-13bQKSa7DU/s200/post-tecgrill.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111529302241015186" border="0" /></a><br />I just saw <a href="http://bbq.about.com/b/a/257235.htm">this post</a> at about.com about possible problems with Char-Broils relatively new line of TEC infrared burners. I haven't had the opportunity to play with one of these, but I've read some about them and they've gotten good reviews from many industry folks, as well as bloggers. These defective burners could be a real problem for Char-Broil and TEC owners. Take a look at that post and make sure you check your grill for the broken screws.<br /><br />UPDATE 9/21<br /><br /><a href="http://whitetrashbbq.blogspot.com/">Whitetrash</a> was kind enough to post Charbroil's official response in the comments. I'll post it here. Thanks, Whitetrash.<br /><blockquote><br />Char-Broil has seen the messages posted on this and other forums regarding failing fasteners used in manufacturing of a limited number our TEC burners. We regret that a few TEC by Char-Broil Series owners have experienced burner performance issues.<br /><br />Char-Broil wants to assure all TEC Series customers that we will take care of their individual issues and assist them in replacing the complete infra red burner assembly in their grill.<br />Char-Broil encourages TEC Series owners who have encountered a problem with the fasteners to call 1-888-430-7870 to receive a new TEC stainless steel burner assembly from Char-Broil.<br /><br />Our TEC Consumer Services line will be open 7 days a week from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM EST. One of our customer service agents will be happy to assist you and a warranty service kit will be shipped out at no charge via priority 2nd day air shipping.<br /><br />We stand behind the safety and performance of our products and make it a priority to respond to our consumer’s needs and concerns.</blockquote><br /><br />Good for Charbroil for making good on their product.Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-72667075920983609992007-09-15T14:44:00.000-05:002007-09-15T15:48:10.707-05:00Atomic Buffalo Turds (ABTs)Here is another post I've been meaning to get up for a couple weeks. I posted about <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/04/brisket-sausage-and-abts.html">atomic buffalo turds</a> one other time, but I didn't really give them their due. We had a pot-luck party a couple weeks ago and I offered to make the appetizer. ABTs were the obvious choice.<br /><br />Start out by cutting the stem off and halving the peppers. Then I like to use a grapefruit spoon to scoop out the membranes and seeds. Just use the teeth of the spoon to cut through the pulp up near the stem. Then simply rake it down the length of the pepper to scoop everything out. If you want them to be hotter, take out the white pulp and seeds, but leave the thin membrane on the inside wall of the pepper. Give em a good rinse now to get extra seeds, pulp, etc. off of them.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuxAvX8TdWI/AAAAAAAAAPY/V6c6d8PC5V8/s1600-h/abt-cored.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuxAvX8TdWI/AAAAAAAAAPY/V6c6d8PC5V8/s320/abt-cored.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5110530859783648610" border="0" /></a><br />Coring out the peppers is probably the biggest pain of doing ABTs. Once that is done I lay out the peppers and Mrs. Hog helps out with the rest of the process. An extra set of hands make it go a lot quicker.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Ruw34X8TdQI/AAAAAAAAAOo/vOOfeqKXpGA/s1600-h/abt-cored2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Ruw34X8TdQI/AAAAAAAAAOo/vOOfeqKXpGA/s320/abt-cored2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5110521118797821186" border="0" /></a>Make sure your cream cheese is soft before you try to pipe it into the pepper. I let mine sit out for a while, but you can microwave it if you have to. Be careful, though....you want it soft, not melted. I like to add some cayenne pepper to the cream cheese. Just add the pepper to taste in a bowl and use the back of spoon or a spatula to mix it in. Mrs. Hog bakes cakes, so I use one of those fancy piping bags for the cream cheese. If you don't have any of those, just cut the corner out of a zip-lock bag.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuxAtX8TdUI/AAAAAAAAAPI/ko6ySIb4cF4/s1600-h/abt-cheese.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuxAtX8TdUI/AAAAAAAAAPI/ko6ySIb4cF4/s320/abt-cheese.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5110530825423910210" border="0" /></a><br />Then simply add the lil' smokies on top of the cream cheese. Give them a little push and they'll kind of stick into the cream cheese.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuxAvX8TdVI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/QeTOwyOGukg/s1600-h/abt-cheeseandsmokies.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuxAvX8TdVI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/QeTOwyOGukg/s320/abt-cheeseandsmokies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5110530859783648594" border="0" /></a><br />Use a half of a strip of bacon to wrap around the pepper. When I just do a few of these I use toothpicks to secure the bacon, but when i do this many I use bamboo skewers. I put the skewers through the lil' smoky and not the pepper. It's enough to hold the whole thing together, but it's easier getting the ABT's on and off. It also makes it easier handling that many ABTs at once.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuxAvn8TdXI/AAAAAAAAAPg/8ENMdz1-Fw0/s1600-h/abt-ready+to+smoke.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuxAvn8TdXI/AAAAAAAAAPg/8ENMdz1-Fw0/s320/abt-ready+to+smoke.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5110530864078615922" border="0" /></a><br />Unfortunately, we were running late for the party and I didn't get pics of the cooking or the finished product. Luckily I had old pictures from a Christmas party last year in TX. One hundred turds pretty much fills up the Chargriller. As you can see, this was before I figured out the skewer thing. You can cook these at whatever temp you want. If I do them by themselves I cook them at 275ish for about an hour and a half. They're done when the bacon is done to your liking, which is crispy for me.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuxAtH8TdTI/AAAAAAAAAPA/7e7dzXD8rNw/s1600-h/100+turds.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuxAtH8TdTI/AAAAAAAAAPA/7e7dzXD8rNw/s320/100+turds.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5110530821128942898" border="0" /></a><br />These things are as beautiful as they are delicious!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuxA3H8TdYI/AAAAAAAAAPo/sX3r9tHqmJU/s1600-h/ABTs.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuxA3H8TdYI/AAAAAAAAAPo/sX3r9tHqmJU/s320/ABTs.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5110530992927634818" border="0" /></a><br />It's important to note that this recipe is really just a sample. Use your imagination and come up with other stuff to do with these. You can change the cheese, the spices, the kinds of peppers, etc. One of the best ones that I've done was to mince up some pork butt really fine and mix it in with the cream cheese. I believe I left out the smoky on that one. Anyway, you can do anything with these and they'll turn out great.Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-84501376223179936462007-09-09T14:48:00.000-05:002007-09-09T15:29:23.434-05:00Grilled Pork Loin<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>Better later than never, I guess. I actually cooked this on labor day. It was a pretty busy week and I didn't get a chance to put it up. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!!<br /><br />We cook pork loin fairly often. Everytime I take a <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/03/meat-run.html">meat run</a> I pick up a whole loin. I'll cut most of it into chops but I always leave a third to a half of it whole for a nice roast. I used to smoke these all the time (still do, occasionally), but I've found that I like to do them indirect on the kettle a little better. They're lean, so they cook better at a little bit higher heat, and they'll cook quicker on the kettle, too. I start by scoring the top of the loin and sprinkling with kosher salt and cracked pepper.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuROqqQjLwI/AAAAAAAAANQ/9T9q7peqCzo/s1600-h/loin+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuROqqQjLwI/AAAAAAAAANQ/9T9q7peqCzo/s320/loin+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108294372150161154" border="0" /></a>Like I said, loins are pretty lean, so I top them with bacon when I cook them. The bacon fat will render and kinda baste the loin as it cooks. Besides, smoked/grilled bacon is fantastic!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuROq6QjLxI/AAAAAAAAANY/Tj6JADRFQUA/s1600-h/loin+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuROq6QjLxI/AAAAAAAAANY/Tj6JADRFQUA/s320/loin+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108294376445128466" border="0" /></a>We decided to cook some veggies in foil on the grill since it would take 45 minutes or so to cook the loin. In a bowl I added just enough Italian dressing, salt, and pepper to coat the veggies. Use whatever kind of veggies you like, but this time we used onions (red and white), mushrooms, squash, and zucchini. Make a boat out of foil and just wrap the veggies in there to cook.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuROq6QjLyI/AAAAAAAAANg/zcNgG1vN8P8/s1600-h/loin+3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuROq6QjLyI/AAAAAAAAANg/zcNgG1vN8P8/s320/loin+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108294376445128482" border="0" /></a><br />You can see that I put the charcoal all on one side of the kettle this time (instead of on <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/03/im-beginning-to-like-this-brining-thing.html">both sides</a>; scroll down for example) I did this simply because I needed a little bit more room for the big pile of veggies. It will cook the same either way.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuROrKQjL0I/AAAAAAAAANw/rvOU5MPErF8/s1600-h/loin+5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuROrKQjL0I/AAAAAAAAANw/rvOU5MPErF8/s320/loin+5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108294380740095810" border="0" /></a><br />I cook my loins to 150 degrees, then pull them off the grill to rest. The temp will continue to rise a bit and will end up between 155 and 160 degrees. I let them rest at least 15 minutes before slicing. The bacon usually ends up a little better looking than this. It was pretty thin, so it curled up as it cooked. It was still mighty good, though.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuRO3aQjL1I/AAAAAAAAAN4/Abu_s3HiXPc/s1600-h/loin+6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuRO3aQjL1I/AAAAAAAAAN4/Abu_s3HiXPc/s320/loin+6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108294591193493330" border="0" /></a><br />In addition to veggies, we baked a couple potatoes. Instead of the usual butter, sour cream, etc. we went with cheese and salsa. It was some might fine eats, if I do say so myself.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuRO3qQjL2I/AAAAAAAAAOA/yqbZXPgsqVg/s1600-h/loin+7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RuRO3qQjL2I/AAAAAAAAAOA/yqbZXPgsqVg/s320/loin+7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108294595488460642" border="0" /></a>Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-31865707400828313652007-09-03T10:23:00.000-05:002007-09-03T10:37:22.590-05:00A&P LawsuitThis is pretty ridiculous. I saw on <a href="http://techdirt.com/articles/20070829/195149.shtml">Techdirt</a> last week about the lawsuit. Then, today I saw more about it at <a href="http://whitetrashbbq.blogspot.com/2007/09/vs-little-guy.html">WhitetrashBBQ</a>. Whitetrash sent a letter to A&P, which I'll be doing right after I finish this post. I encourage you to send an email to apcustomerrel@aptea.com as well. Evidently they are suing these kids for a million bucks. Like Whitetrash said, you would not have even known this was an A&P if not for the lawsuit. What a bunch of idiots at A&P. The really funny thing is that the video isn't that funny. Nice editing though. Anyway, here's the video:<br /><br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/y5iDpxucNFE"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/y5iDpxucNFE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object>Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-49526508453841472142007-08-31T09:59:00.000-05:002007-08-31T11:56:40.204-05:00Monthly Roundup - August, 2007I'm starting a new thing here on the blog. At the end of each month I'm gong to to a little link roundup to interesting blog posts/articles I've read in the last month. They won't all be about BBQ (most will, though) and they will come from both commercial and private blogs/websites. They are linked here in chronological order (I think).<br /><br />So, without further ado, here is the very first Hogwild BBQ Monthly Roundup.<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2007/08/how-to-delay-herbal-death.html">How to delay herbal death</a> via Serious Eats. I really hate losing fresh herbs after only using a small portion of them.<br /></li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://www.hotsauceblog.com/hotsaucearchives/review-better-than-bad-sex-bbq-sauce/">Better than Bad Sex BBQ Sauce</a> via Hot Sauce Blog. While I'm not sure than any BBQ sauce is better than sex (even bad sex), this has got to be the best BBQ sauce name ever!! BTW, if you're a hot sauce junkie, the Hot Sauce Blog is must visit.</li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://www.cyberbilly.com/meathenge/archives/001231.html">Turducken Review</a> via MeatHenge. I've always wanted to try a turducken. This one looks fantastic.<br /></li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://howlinghogbbq.blogspot.com/2007/08/by-popular-demand-how-to-smoke-eggs.html">How to Smoke Eggs</a> via Howling Hog BBQ. I saw a post somewhere several months ago about smoking eggs (don't remember where) and forgot all about it. The next time I smoke overnight I'm gonna have <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/08/smoked-spam.html">smoked spam</a> and eggs for breakfast.<br /></li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://bbqguyblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/electronic-temperature-controllers.html">Electronic Temperature Controllers</a> via BBQguyblog. I've read a lot about using thermostats to control your pit temp lately and I agree with the BBQGuy...that would take a lot of the fun out of it for me.<br /></li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://www.cyberbilly.com/meathenge/archives/001233.html">The Bull Shot: A Meat Cocktail</a> via MeatHenge. This thing sounds disgusting, but I like vodka and I'm intrigued. I will defiantly be trying this after my next suitable cook (probably not with the spam and eggs breakfast, though). I'll let you know how it goes.<br /></li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://blog.buckymcoinkumsbbq.com/2007/08/cooking-at-home.html">Cooking at home vs. at a competition</a> via Bucky's Barbecue. I don't compete, but I've talked with and read a lot from folks that do. Some say they cook the same way at a comp vs. at home, but I would think it would be different. This is an excellent post on the differences between cooking at home for the family and cooking at a competition.<br /></li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2007/08/photo-of-the-day-we-waited.html">Waiting for Service</a> via Serious Eats. There is not much worse than getting sorry (or no) service when you're out to eat. This picture captures that frustration pretty well, I think.</li></ul>There you go. If I missed an informative or funny article over the course of the month (I'm sure I did) feel free to leave a link to them in the comments.Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-23138475686568878982007-08-26T17:43:00.000-05:002007-08-26T19:29:10.051-05:00Pork Steaks<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RtIGRKQjLuI/AAAAAAAAAMo/2YBakbLfCxk/s1600-h/steaks.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RtIGRKQjLuI/AAAAAAAAAMo/2YBakbLfCxk/s320/steaks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103148219645505250" border="0" /></a>I realized today that I've only posted about pork steaks once, when I posted about my <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-first-attempt-at-brining-maple.html">maple bourbon pork chops</a>. I never saw pork steaks for sale until I move from Nebraska. You just don't seen them in North Carolina or South Texas. I guess all the shoulders there are cooked for <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/07/injecting-pork-butt.html">pulled pork</a> or cut as <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/08/country-style-ribs-with-webers-sweet.html">country style ribs</a>. I usually cook these over direct heat for a couple minutes per side and then finish them indirectly, especially if they're cut thick. I used my <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/08/chuck-roast-pulled-beef-barbecue.html">all purpose BBQ sauce</a> (bottom of the post) on one of these so I added two coats of the sauce at the end of the cook and cooked it over direct heat just long enough not to burn the sauce.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RtIGRaQjLvI/AAAAAAAAAMw/hjW6pLBg1O8/s1600-h/plate.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RtIGRaQjLvI/AAAAAAAAAMw/hjW6pLBg1O8/s320/plate.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103148223940472562" border="0" /></a><br />As you can see, I ate some of the sauced and nonsauced steaks and they were equally good. The missus made the <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/08/pork-chops-with-webers-sweet-and-tangy.html">corn and broccoli salad</a> again (we do it a lot in the summer), but she also made a new squash casserole that was very good.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Squash Casserole<br /></span><ul><li>2 pounds yellow squash, sliced<br /></li><li>1 onion shopped</li><li>1 cup water</li><li>1 can cream of mushroom soup</li><li>8 ounces sour cream</li><li>1/4 melted butter</li><li>1 box of chicken flavored stuffing mix</li></ul>Boil the squash and onion until tender. Stir the squash and onion (including liquid) in with the remaining ingredients. If the mixture isn't very liquid you may not need a whole box of stuffing mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes ore so until the casserole is browned over.Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-84208933571719645132007-08-21T21:12:00.000-05:002007-08-21T22:11:54.051-05:00Chuck Roast -- Pulled Beef BarbecueLike I said in an earlier post, I did more than <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/08/smoked-spam.html">smoke Spam</a> last weekend. I picked up a couple of nice chuck roasts for pulled beef barbecue. Sometimes I'll use the point of a brisket for pulled beef, but I like the taste and texture of chuck roasts a little better.<br /><br />I picked up two nice chuck roasts at Sam's over the weekend....one obviously a little nicer than the other. Go ahead and trim the fat off the outside edges. There is more than enough internal fat to keep the roasts moist.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rsuc_qQjLrI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/GSSBB3dqMWk/s1600-h/pre-seasoned.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rsuc_qQjLrI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/GSSBB3dqMWk/s320/pre-seasoned.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101343620416614066" border="0" /></a><br />I like to use my brisket rub for pulled beef barbecue. I rub the roast very generously making sure to get the sides as well. I use yellow mustard before I rub them to help make the rub stick.<br /><br />Pulled Beef Barbecue Rub:<br /><ul><li>1/2 cup brown sugar</li><li>3 Tbsp paprika</li><li>1 Tbsp garlic salt</li><li>1/4 cup onion powder</li><li>1 Tbsp ground cumin</li><li>1 Tbsp oregano</li><li>1 Tbsp cayenne pepper</li><li>1 Tbsp cracked black pepper<br /></li><li>1 tsp kosher salt</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RsugWqQjLtI/AAAAAAAAAMg/vJc3E2bcUQs/s1600-h/rubbed+chuck+roast.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RsugWqQjLtI/AAAAAAAAAMg/vJc3E2bcUQs/s320/rubbed+chuck+roast.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101347314088488658" border="0" /></a>I cooked the chuck roasts at about 225 (up to 250 at times) to an internal temperature of about 140 degrees. They'll look something like this at 140 degrees and it should take 3 to 5 hours depending on your cooking temp.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rsuc_qQjLqI/AAAAAAAAAMI/iqWqLwukg1Y/s1600-h/chuck+roast+smoking.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rsuc_qQjLqI/AAAAAAAAAMI/iqWqLwukg1Y/s320/chuck+roast+smoking.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101343620416614050" border="0" /></a>At 140 degrees I double wrap the chuck roasts and continue on the smoker at 225-250 to an internal temperature of 200 degrees. On a side note, I don't cook in foil very much. I don't necessarily have an aversion to it, I just seem to like my results without it. I do like to use it on the chuck roasts to collect the juices, though.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rsuc-6QjLoI/AAAAAAAAAL4/k8xS9RMeexk/s1600-h/chuck+roast+done.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rsuc-6QjLoI/AAAAAAAAAL4/k8xS9RMeexk/s320/chuck+roast+done.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101343607531712130" border="0" /></a>The chuck roasts are good and tender at this point. I immediately pour the juice off into a bowl and put it in the fridge. Make sure you let the meat rest like normal. I like to allow at least 20 minutes before I start pulling. If it's tender enough after resting you can just use two forks to shred it. It is kind of a pain and you can tell by the picture that I got tired of pulling and ended up cutting some of it with a knife. It was tender enough that I could cut it with the grain. It'll kinda fall apart when you reheat it. Once you have it pulled, take the juiced out of the fridge and scoop the congealed fat off the top. Add back enough of the juice to moisten up the meat good. You won't need all of it...you don't want it swimming in it. Here is the barbecue sauce that I like on pulled beef. This sauce is similar to a store bought sauce, but it's a lot less sweet with just enough kick to let you know you're eating it. I keep it around all the time for various things. I put just a light coating on the beef and have the sauce on the table to add more if needed.<br /><br />Pulled Beef Barbecue Sauce:<br /><ul><li>2 cups ketchup</li><li>1/2 cup water</li><li>1/4 cup apple cider vinegar</li><li>1/4 cup yellow mustard</li><li>1/4 cup molasses</li><li>1/4 cup light brown sugar<br /></li><li>1 Tbsp onion powder</li><li>1 Tbsp garlic powder</li><li>1 Tbsp cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rsuc_aQjLpI/AAAAAAAAAMA/iXSDJQtwh30/s1600-h/chuck+roast+pulled.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rsuc_aQjLpI/AAAAAAAAAMA/iXSDJQtwh30/s320/chuck+roast+pulled.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101343616121646738" border="0" /></a><br />This stuff is fantastic on cheap white buns for sammies. I had one for lunch today. It freezes well, too. Just vacuum seal in single or double serving and it'll keep for several months.Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-89389543138758215762007-08-19T20:52:00.000-05:002007-08-23T15:12:20.065-05:00Smoked SpamYes, I said Spam.....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rsj23qQjLmI/AAAAAAAAALQ/6TjnzwevLKA/s1600-h/spam+8-07.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rsj23qQjLmI/AAAAAAAAALQ/6TjnzwevLKA/s320/spam+8-07.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100598014094028386" border="0" /></a>I'll put just about anything on the smoker to see how it turns out, and when a coworker brought up the <a href="http://www.spam.com/">Spam website</a> (Warning: lost of flash and audio) last week at work....well, I decided I had to give it a try. They're really playing up the, "Hey look at us, we're Spam, haha" kinda thing. We got a good chuckle looking at the website. I haven't had Spam since I was a kid, so I thought I would just throw it on the smoker to see what happens. One of them I smoked naked and the other I rubbed generously with <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/04/pork-butt.html">butt rub</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rsj23qQjLnI/AAAAAAAAALY/xlzkCKOZHVk/s1600-h/spam+cooked+8-07.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rsj23qQjLnI/AAAAAAAAALY/xlzkCKOZHVk/s320/spam+cooked+8-07.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100598014094028402" border="0" /></a>They were both pretty good. Only a slight smokey flavor because the smoke didn't really penetrate the meat. There is a crapload of salt in these things, so the one with the rub was a way too salty. If I ever do these again I'll rub it with either a very sweet or very spicy rub to counteract the salt a little bit. I fried a couple leftover pieces this morning for a spam and cheese sammie for breakfast. I could really taste the smoke after it sat overnight.<br /><br />No, I didn't fire up the smoker just for some Spam yesterday. I cooked some <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/08/chuck-roast-pulled-beef-barbecue.html">pulled beef barbecue</a>, too.Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-77034618623569437812007-08-13T19:06:00.000-05:002007-08-13T19:20:38.173-05:00Country Style Ribs with Weber's Sweet and Tangy RubNot to get on a Weber's rub kick or anything, but I followed up <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/08/pork-chops-with-webers-sweet-and-tangy.html">last weeks pork chops</a> with some country style ribs using the same Weber's sweet and tangy rub. I wouldn't normally post this up, but the sweet and tangy rub went with the country style ribs much better than the pork chops. It took to the indirect grilling much better than the direct heat. In fact it was very, very good on the country style ribs. I'd try <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/04/saturday-night-grilling-4-28-07.html">Lawry's</a> or <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-first-attempt-at-brining-maple.html">brining</a> before I'd use the sweet and tangy rub again.<br /><br />Of course I had to cook up some hot Italian sausages while I was at it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RsD0qG5Hq9I/AAAAAAAAALI/s_yY623Arfc/s1600-h/CSribs+and+sausage+8-03-07.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/RsD0qG5Hq9I/AAAAAAAAALI/s_yY623Arfc/s320/CSribs+and+sausage+8-03-07.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098343782425275346" border="0" /></a>Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-19193631601893146912007-08-07T20:33:00.000-05:002007-08-07T21:30:47.785-05:00Pork Chops with Weber's Sweet and Tangy Rub<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rrkqu25Hq8I/AAAAAAAAAKk/mZfRv5cxTvs/s1600-h/pork+chops+weber+sweet+and+tangy+rub.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rrkqu25Hq8I/AAAAAAAAAKk/mZfRv5cxTvs/s320/pork+chops+weber+sweet+and+tangy+rub.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5096151437843868610" border="0" /></a>I hardly ever buy commercial rubs or spice blends anymore, but as you've read, I do keep <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/04/saturday-night-grilling-4-28-07.html">Lawry's</a> around and use it mainly on pork. Mrs. Hog and I were walking through our local Wally World (Wal-Mart) last week and I noticed the Weber spices in the spice isle. I've been wanting to try some new stuff and decided on the Sweet and Tangy seasoning. I just did some pork chops directly on the grill. Be careful grilling over direct heat when you use a rub with a lot of sugar in it (like this one). What I do is sear both sides of the chop and then finish them up with indirect heat. The rub was pretty good, but seemed to be lacking something. I like the sweet/tangy mix alot, though. I have a very spicy rib rub that I use with a super sweet glaze that I really like. Anyway, I may try to make a rub similar to this one....I just have to figure out how I want to tweak it.<br /><br />Mrs. Hog made a corn and broccoli salad that was delicious. I think she got this base recipe from one cookbook or another, but she doesn't remember which one. She makes this fairly regularly and no two are quite the same. Just use whatever you have in the fridge/pantry and it'll turn out great.<br /><br />Corn and Broccoli Salad recipe:<br /><ul><li>a head of broccoli</li><li>small red onion</li><li>a cup of corn (fresh or frozen)</li><li>1/3 cup of cheese</li><li>1/4 cup bacon bits</li><li>dressing:</li><ul><li>1/2 cup mayo</li><li>1/4 cup sugar</li><li>1/4 cup red wine vinegar<br /></li></ul></ul><br />Remember that all those amounts are approximate...use whatever you have. We've done a balsamic vinegar based (no mayo) dressing with this, also.Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-13702092247408837772007-07-31T21:03:00.000-05:002007-08-01T11:45:13.499-05:00Portabella Mushroom "Burgers"Ok, this is as far from BBQ as you can get, but I thought I'd share anyway since it was pretty good. Mrs. Hog has had a portabella mushroom burger a couple times at a restaurant and when she saw the mushrooms on sale she just had to have one.<br /><br />Alright, tangent time. How in the hell is one supposed to spell "portabella" anyway. I'm seeing portabella and portobello....anybody?<br /><br />Anyway, we decided to grill them up with some zucchini and they were great. You might have noticed that <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/07/pork-chops-lemon-soy-marinade.html">I've cooked a lot of zucchini lately</a>. They are coming into season in the the gardens of south central Nebraska right now and both my secretary and my boss are trying to unload them at work. I'll take all the free produce I can get.<br /><br />We did a balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper marinade on the mushrooms. I'm using the term marinade loosely here. We only "marinated" them for about 10 minutes because you don't want them to get soggy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rq_vSm5Hq4I/AAAAAAAAAKE/NLGYn-xQWlk/s1600-h/portabella+mushroom+burgers+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rq_vSm5Hq4I/AAAAAAAAAKE/NLGYn-xQWlk/s320/portabella+mushroom+burgers+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5093552806536129410" border="0" /></a><br />We did the zucchini in Italian dressing like I've done before, except we cut them into wedges. That turned into a bad idea. They were hard to turn on the grill and the point of the wedge would get stuck down into the grill great. I'll be cutting them flat from now own. They <span style="font-style: italic;">were</span> good, though.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rq_vSW5Hq3I/AAAAAAAAAJ8/KlPaks6UMWk/s1600-h/portabella+mushroom+burgers+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rq_vSW5Hq3I/AAAAAAAAAJ8/KlPaks6UMWk/s320/portabella+mushroom+burgers+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5093552802241162098" border="0" /></a>Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-91201293656516719752007-07-27T00:15:00.000-05:002007-07-27T12:37:30.228-05:00Commenting and RSS FeedsI wanted to post a little something about commenting on my (and other's) blogs. The reason I decided to post about this was that I commented on another author's blog the other day and they still haven't gotten around to "approving" my comment. See, bloggers have the option to screen the comments on their blog. If you have commented here you know I don't do that....yet. One really good reason to moderate comments is comment spam. We all hate spam, and if it ever gets to be a problem here I will have to change the way I handle comments. Anyway, I highly encourage commenting on any of my posts with suggestions, criticisms, just to say Hi, or whatever.<br /><br />And about RSS feeds. RSS stands for <a href="http://www.pierretristam.com/Bobst/idxs/rssexplained.htm">Really Simple Syndication</a>, and it is technology that allows you to keep up with all the stuff you want to on the internet more easily. If you don't currently use an RSS reader, I highly recommend <a href="http://www.google.com/help/reader/tour.html">Google Reader</a>. I use it to keep up with 163 feeds ranging from cooking to general news, to sports, to video games. Google reader is where my shared items come from in the side bar on the right. Here is a good <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/how-to-get-started-with-google-reader.html">Google Reader primer</a> if you're interested. If you would like to subscribe to my feed, simply click on the link in the sidebar.Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867133366442696221.post-53293023810667750632007-07-24T21:13:00.000-05:002007-07-24T22:03:47.260-05:00Pork Chops: Lemon Soy MarinadeI tried out a new marinade on Saturday night. We pulled some chops out of the freezer on Saturday morning and I decided I needed to try something different. I had kinda gotten in a rut with my chops. The last several times I've cooked them I used some variation of <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/04/saturday-night-grilling-4-28-07.html">these chops</a> using Lowry's Seasoned Salt.<br /><br />I scoured my cookbooks for something new and decided on a soy sauce/lemon juice marinade from Tarantino's book (link in sidebar).<br /><br />Marinade:<br /><ul><li>1/3 cup soy sauce</li><li>zest and juice from one lemon</li><ul><li>I added a little extra lemon juice (maybe a tbsp) because it didn't look like enough<br /></li></ul><li>2 teaspoons dijon mustard</li><ul><li>I probably added a bit more than 2 teaspoons. I was at the end of a bottle and just added it without measuring.<br /></li></ul><li>1 clove of garlic<br /></li><li>1/4 cup canola oil<br /></li></ul>Run everything through a blender or food processor.<br /><br />I marinated these for about 5 hours turning them once during that time. The chops came out fantastic.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rqa5N25Hq1I/AAAAAAAAAJs/JLSXMSVceK8/s1600-h/pork+chops.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rqa5N25Hq1I/AAAAAAAAAJs/JLSXMSVceK8/s320/pork+chops.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090960076513454930" border="0" /></a><br />I cooked <a href="http://hogwildbbq.blogspot.com/2007/04/saturday-night-grilling-4-28-07.html">corn</a> and zucchini on the kettle as well. The zucchini will not take long to cook, so put it on right as the chops are finishing. Slice the zucchini lengthwise, coat with olive oil, and add salt and pepper to taste. It will only take a couple minutes per side on a hot fire.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rqa5Pm5Hq2I/AAAAAAAAAJ0/96g0g-tBNwQ/s1600-h/zucchini+and+corn.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECvYryGo2pg/Rqa5Pm5Hq2I/AAAAAAAAAJ0/96g0g-tBNwQ/s320/zucchini+and+corn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090960106578226018" border="0" /></a>Hogwildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17414667638368955461noreply@blogger.com2