New Smoker is Under Construction

Well, it only took a year, but I have began construction of my new pull behind smoker. I traded for an ugly old car trailer and bought a 325 gallon propane tank for $40.00. That's right, only $40.00 invested so far!

With the tank mounted on the trailer, there will still be plenty of room for sinks, burners and food prep tables. This should end up as a fairly complete kitchen on wheels.

I will post pictures as I go. Of course I did not have the camera with me when I picked up the trailer and began working on it, but only minor changes have been made at this point. Stay tuned...

BBQ in Style

As men, we must always have the right tools for the job. So you have the cooker and the meat handling utinsels. You have the rib racks, ABT racks and maybe you even have a Wireless BBQ Thermometer, but do you have the correct barbeque attire?

The new Adidas 25th Anniversary “Upper Playground” shoe will complete any man's collection of barebcue gear. Actually, it kinda makes you wonder how we ever did with out. Well, I guess I can't get ahead of myself.. I am not quite ready to pony up $200.00 for a pair of shoes, but when I am, this is what I will have. Everyman must BBQ in Style.

Getting Back Into the Blog of Things.

It has been a while since I have made an entry, but not from lack of interest. Busy days at work and even busier nights with the kids make it very difficult to blog. I have plenty of things to blog about, now it is just a matter of getting it all done.

How do you Smoke a Brisket

By far, the most commonly asked question from anybody that is interested in barbeque is "how do you smoke a brisket?" Well, I am a Texan, born and raised - so brisket is like lunch meat to me. No big deal. I never realized that cooking brisket was such a mystery to the rest of the world. When you grow up around, you just think that it is something that everybody does.

I have cooked my share of briskets and learned many lessons. The best thing that I have learned is that you never know enoough of cooking brisket. Every brisket cooks differently and every day the fire burns differently. All leasons learned and all things known, the biggest trick is knowing the cooker that you are using. Experinece is the key. The more you use your cooker, the more you will learn to control the heat. Once you are able to get the heat stablized for long periods of time, you are going to begin making some great barbeque.

With that said, I have found of couple of websites describe in great detail some methods for cooking brisket. I would never be able to explain it as good as TexasBBQRub.com

While I do not necessarily agree with everything, This is a great article on the art of brisket. BBQ MADE SIMPLE

Find answers to the following questions:

How do you choose a good brisket to cook?
Do I cook the brisket with the fat side up or down?
Should I wrap a brisket during the cooking process?
How long and at what temperature do I need to cook a brisket?
My brisket is burned or dried out, what happened?
Do you cook the flat the same as the entire brisket?
Do you mop your brisket when cooking?
How to slice the brisket?

Danny's Barbeque also has a great article, written using his years resturant exerinence.

Just remember while everybody has different techniques, seasonings and styles.. the only thing that is required for that perfect brisket is to cook it at low temperatures (around 225°) for at least 1 hour per pound.

Presidential Inaguration of the Second Term

Congratulations go out to George W Bush on a Second Term. America is the world leader, whether the arab world likes it or not. America is the only country that can be called on by friends and foe alike in a time of need. The world is in troubled times and needs a true leader, not a puppet or appeaser. Things will likely get worse before they get better. May GOD bless George W Bush and guide him as he leads the world through 4 more years. Inaguration 2005

A Nice Change

My Niece is in town for the holidays and asks her favorite uncle to cook some steaks. I go to the store and browse the meat market. I soon leave with a sack of large baking taters, a 4.5lb boneless rib roast, fresh mushrooms and a white onion. Now it is time to crack open a cold Coors Light and get to work.

As soon as I got home, I sliced the roast into steaks (about 1.25" thick) and stored the freshly cut meat in a mixture I called marinade. While the steaks sat in their liquid I sliced the fresh mushrooms and wrapped them in foil with butter, a dash of garlic salt and cooking wine. I did the same for the onion. I finished it all up with a big swig of icy cold golden brew.

After the steaks have soaked in their little flavor bath for a couple of hours it was time to light the grill and pop the top on another adult beverage. Now this is the type of event that would normally call for the kettle with some mesquite setting on top of a bed of coals. Unfortunately I did not have the coals, or the desire to make another trip to the store. The gas grill will have to suffice.

Once the grill was nice and hot, I put the mushrooms and onions on and let them begin to saute. I put some mesquite chunks on the grill after the mushrooms and onions had been on the grill about 10 minutes. Open more liquid refreshment. I placed the steaks on the smoky grill ever so gently, flipping them after cooking for 4 minutes. Once the flip side was nicely browned, the steaks were removed at a beautiful and tasty medium rare.

The dinner bell rang out and the family came a running. The steaks were served with a fresh salad, baked potatoes and the sauted mushrooms and onions offered on the side. Everyone enjoyed a nice change from all of the left over ham and fried turkey.

Photo album

Happy New Year!

Another year has gone by. It is once again time for a fresh start. Here is another chance to make your dreams happen, and realize the value of the now.

May your new year be filled with happiness and prosperity.

The Car has to Go

My 1965 Chevelle has to go. I am working on building a new pull behind smoker and I need the money and the shop space. I have had the car for 12 to 13 years. I bought this car because I thought I would be able to put an engine in it and go racing. Of course things do not work out that way. At the age of 18 making about $5.00/hr, I had to buy tools and equipment to work on the car which took away from money spent on the car. I spent thousands of dollars on tools, welder and everything else I needed to work on the car instead of parts for the car. In the mean time I had moved it out of the garage and into a shop. As time goes on, I get married, have kids, buy a house, buy cars and the chevelle gets left behind. I still wanted to go racing as I have always loved racing, I even work in the racing industry, but the expense is just more than I can handle.

So I decided that it was time to sell the car and make room for another smoker. I will be building a pull behind smoker that will handle big volumes of meat and capable of catering, vending or whatever. Anyway, below is a fairly compelete list of things I have done to the car

Frame

• Fabricated front engine plates for small block Chevy
• Mid engine plate
• Engine relocated about 10 inches back
• Fabricated dropout transmission cross member
• Floor pan support and seat mount framing
• Two drive shaft loops installed
• Frame rails trimmed for tire clearance
• 30 X 10.5 tires fit nicely and look great
• 8 X 10 Custom made rally wheels

Body

• Rear wheel wells opened up for larger tire
• Body smoothed and ready for final prep
• Rain drip rails removed from over windows
• All steel body
• All material removed from hood and reinforced
• One piece front end (all steel, welded together)

Chassis
Front End

• New Bushings, teeth removed for easy maximum front end lifting action
• New ball joints
• New tie rods
• New drag link
• Moroso trick springs
• Disk brake spindles and hardware (not installed)
• 7/16” X 3” wheel studs

Rear End

• Chevy 12-bolt (factory 65 Chevelle rear end)
• 4.88 Gears w/ spool and ARP bolts
• C-clip eliminators
• Stock axles
• ½” X 3” screw-in wheel studs
• New GM yoke and nut
• GM chrome rear end cover
• All mounting brackets are solid welded for strength
• Factory trailing arms are boxed in for strength
• Aluminum bushings in trailing arms
• Upper trailing arms are shortened for desirable rear end pitch
• New trailing arm bolts
• Moroso rear tick springs (very stiff for planting the rear tires)

Here are a few pics. The body is very straight. It has been smeared with bondo and sanded several times for the smoothing of the body. The blotches of bondo that you see are from the smoothing, and not dent fillers. The car was straight and needed very little work. There was some rust i the rear quarter, but we cut it out and welded some new sheet metal in.

Front angle view


Engine Mounting



Floor Framing


Rear Quarter with 30" Tall Tires Tucked

Atomic Buffalo Turds

I did not invent the atomic buffalo turds, I just cook them.
There are many different way that buffalo turds can be made. You can google it and get a pretty good idea of how many different creative varities of bufflo turds there are. Here is the basic receipe and instructions for how I make mine.

Atomic Buffalo Turds:

20-30 Large Jalapeno peppers
1 block cream cheese, room temperature
1 package thick sliced bacon
40-60 toothpicks
Small package of Little Smokies

Take the peppers, cut the off the stems and split them into halves. Now rinse out any remaining seeds from the inside of the pepper with cold water and place them on a paper towel to dry. Remeber, when coring the peppers - the amount of membrane you leave inside the pepper will determine how hot the turds are. The more membrane you leave, the hotter the turd will be.

Tip: use a small fan to blow across in front of you (not in your face) when cutting peppers. This moves the burning air and keeps you from getting all choked up.

Take your bacon and slighty brown it. You do not want to cook the bacon, but just slightly brown. This process greatly reduces the cook time of the turds and reduces the risk of overcooking to peppers. Place the bacon on a paper towel and let them cool.

Time for the cream cheese. If your cream cheese is not room temperature, it will need to be softened (15-20 seconds in the microwave) to make it a little easier to spread. Some people like to season the cream cheese with Mrs. Dash, liquid smoke or other spices/seasonings - just don't over do it. If you want to turn your buffalo turds into "atomic" buffalo turds just add some cayenne pepper in the mix. Using a buter knife, spread the cream cheese evenly onto the pepper halfs.

Place a little smokie or other choice of meat on top of the cream cheese mixture. Wrap the pepper with a piece of your sligtly browned bacon and place a toothpick all the way through to hold it all together.

Now your buffalo turds are ready for smoking. I place them in the cold smoke chamber on my soker and keep them about 150-180 for an hour or so. You can place them into your main cooking chamber at around 225-250 but only let them cook for 30-35 minutes.

Here are a few pictures of my buffalo turds "on the half shell".







Have fun and eat with caution! ;)

Picture of the smoker doin its thang

Well, here is ol' smokey. I built back it 2000 so it has a few years in its belly. In this pitcure there are 2 Briskets, 3 horseshoes of sausage, 4 links of brautwurst, about 10 pieces of chicken and a couple dozens buffalo turds cooking.

Barbecue and Beer, Now Open For Business

Welcome to my new blog, Barbecue and Beer. I have created this blog as a place for barbecue fans to hang out and drink beer when the pit is not lit. When the friends are not over, the wife is content and the smoker is not smoking, you can always come to Barbecue and Beer and meet up with great people that share your interest.

Thanks for coming over and joining the party! Now it is time to relax and hang out, so go get a cold one - pop the top - and enjoy yourself.

Cheers,
the Meat Head