Loooong Pork Leg on BBQ

...Okay...note to self...."self"....check weight of propane tank BEFORE doing a loooong BBQ.

Carol, my wife, found a good buy in the grocery store of a nice cut of a pork leg....or below "butt" on rear leg. I did my normal rub on it at 2am last nite....(okay reasoning is I got called out to work at midnite...I am on call 24/7/365...woo hoo). Come on...I don't like "Q" THAT much...sheesh!

Anyways this thing was probably 6 lbs so I started at 1pm thinking it would be done by 5 or 6....WRONG!! At 5:30 about I checked and the temp was not getting above 145.....pfft...then noticed no more flame. (knocked self on forehead). I quickly fired up the oven to 400 and got it up to 160 by 7pm. All that wait was alright with me.....it was very very tender...and a great taste....nothing to outstanding....(just the ginger for the wife...okay honey....I will cut back on that next round). In addition to the rub I injected it with some white wine, apple juice, salt and sugar before I put it on. Dropped in a drip tray underneath on the BBQ with more wine and apple juice mixed off with water. Kids loved it and wife loved it...so I am happy. The wait was worth it.

Now to get that propane bottle refilled tomorrow....grrrr.

ps..sorry about the left over pic....this was taken after we had devoured the other 3/4 of it.

BRRRRR!!

What the??? -4deg tonight....then calling for plus 26 for Saturday....hmmm...I smell maybe a last back yard BBQ before freeze up....lol

Pizza on the Grill

What better snack to have today for the Rider vrs Bombers CFL Football game then Pizza on the BBQ. I have to admit I don't do this very often but when I do it is truely a nice treat.

I started out with some store bought pizza crust....little 6" size. Lightly dressed each side with some organic olive oil and crisped them up on both sides on the hot grill. Could not go any further until I rubbed some fresh garlic cloves on one side for added taste and aroma. Lathered on some basic pizza sauce (store bought)...then all fresh ingredients of onions, garlic, mushrooms and topped with assorted pepperoni, ham, summer sausage and a dash of oregano and basil. After a nice drop of chedder cheese and some extra sauce I let them sit on the grill under indirect heat for about 20 minutes. They smoked along nicely with a touch of Alder wood left from the beef on the bun I did 2 days ago.

Took them off and appropriately my daughter and I woofed down a couple. The smokyiness really adds to them. If you haven't try it.

BBQ Beef on the BBQ

Friday nite I smoked a Sirloin Tip I had in the freezer. Tried a basic rub of Garlic powder, celery salt, paprika, ground pepper, dry mustard and a touch of cayenne.

Added a stick of Alder to lower grill...waited for smoke then begun. Approx. 250deg for 3hrs. Started at 5pm when I arrived home from work so was smokin in the dark. Mopped a mix of hickory Honey and Garlic BBQ sauce on it last 45min. I then put it to rest for 15 before cutting into it.

Overall a nice mild taste. I will proly add some onion powder and crushed corriander next time. Although...the meat was a bit tough. I shaved some up and laid it on a nice crusty bun with some left over mop sauce. A nice late friday snack....only thing missing was the beer I ran out of earlier in the week.

Brined Chicken...Final Post

We just finished doing our Sunday supper with a Brined Roast Chicken, young potatoes, gravy, garden carrots and beans. The chicken was quite good...moist and easy to pick apart. I would say the salt and sugar did a good job. The wife said it was too strong a Thyme taste. I might maybe leave that out or substitute garlic or onions.

Overall a good tasting bird. Now the left overs are in the fridge for a nice homemade Chicken soup next week.

Henkel Knive Set

I had longed to get a good knive set rather than the Walmart $5 special that couldn't cut butter. Last year the wife bought me a set of these Henkel Twin Selects. I love this set. Not top of the line but great quality like all Henkel products. All Stainless including ergonamic handle. I just need to purchase an oval Diamond Coated Sharpening Steel.

Have You Ever Struggled Estimating Deer Meat

Now you don't have too....Have a quick look at this chart I found on another site. Gives some good basic numbers for estimating the amount of usable meat you would get from a deer you take.

I suppose regular hunters who have many a deer under their belt have a keen eye on what amount of "sausage" they can get out of one. That being said...its still a good chart to go with...maybe print it out and put up on the hunting cabin wall or out in the 4x hunting truck.

http://www.servicesourceone.com/sumsauco/estweight.html

Crock Pot Beef Final Chapter

The wife ended up tossing it in the slow cooker as I had to work. No BBQ sauce though...grrr. But hey...overall a good tasting tender meat.

I will try for the 2nd roast Monday....thats if it thaws out in time...I just took it out and its as solid as a cow pie on a early morning prairie -40 snow storm.

Brined Chicken....yep...long bath

Last time I tried this I think all I did was give the chicken a long bath. My salt and sugar was too little for the volume of water. Wife bought a good sized chicken yesterday and she left it in the sink in a ice water bath to thaw out. When she was on the phone with a friend and not looking I dumped about 2 cups of brown sugar, a cup of sea salt, 2 table spoons of thyme and for "what the heck" sake I crushed up some red and black peppercorns and tossed them in.

After I took the injector and did my best nurse duties on the thighs and breaths..lol I transferred it all into the roaster and into the fridge for overnite.

I guess we will see if this does really give a nice moist tasting chicken.