A Great BBQ Party

I had 17 people over yesterday, all friends from jitsu and some with their families.

The Brisket, after 14 hours in the smoker came out great.  The Weber Smokey Mountain 18 really makes temperature control easy and the large water bowl keeps the heat moderated perfectly.  It works so much better and more consistent than the Ol' Brinkmann that it's not even funny.

Better than last year, and the guests devoured it.  Tender as all get out and people were happy.

The ribs took six hours in the smoker and were ready by 3:30 with the guests coming at 4.  I had started them in the driving rain Sunday morning and they turned out to be worth the effort.

They similarly were devoured happily, some had them straight, and some added sauce first.

The rain continued on and off all day, which made holding the party inside necessary, but it all worked out.

I also made a double batch of macaroni and cheese which was a hit for the kids some of the friends brought along.  

The kids also played with Jett and he enjoyed that profusely everything from retrieving a ball to chasing each other around.  Jett was tolerant the whole time and had a ball. Jett slept real well last night.

Guests brought dishes to pass including some really good Texas Caviar. This was the first time I've heard of that or tried it. It was a perfect accompaniment to the BBQ.  I need to add that to future BBQs as it works.

Lots of good discussions had an people had a good time.

Great food and a great bunch of people over.

Socially Distant Jiu Jitsu Party - With Brisket

I had invited friends from Jiu Jitsu over for a fun socially distant get together at the house today.

I enticed them with a promise of my homemade smoked brisket. So smoked brisket there had to be. I purchased a whole packer brisket earlier this week and got the preparations underway.

So I made the rub and applied it to the brisket, than into the smoker it went.

Then began 18 hours of smoking low and slow over locally-sourced hickory wood (I'm running out of hickory and apple wood now).

It came out rather awesome, if I do say so myself.

The meat from the flat was nice and lean but still moist and fork-tender. The meat from the point of the brisket was fatty as expected and described by some of my meat-loving jiu jitsu friends as "candy".

The brisket was a big hit and we pretty much devoured the whole thing.

Everyone brought a dish to pass (and some brought more than one - a generous group they are), and they brought beer to help wash the brisket and other delectables down.

A great time was had by all 10 guests as we sat around in a socially distant manner and had some good food among a good bunch of people.

Pulled Pork, It's What's For Dinner

Our guests arrived and I had some smokey goodness waiting for them.

Friday after work I headed to Costco and purchased a whole Pork Shoulder, commonly known as a butt. This calling ti a butt is, by the way, quite funny for the kids.

When you're eating pulled pork you're not eating a pig's behind, but the shoulder area. Now you know.

I got home, washed the butt and then slathered it in yellow mustard and applied the rub.

I then smoked it for 4 hours with a nice amount of cherry wood for smokey goodness.

Then I took it off the smoker, put it in a foil pan with a cover and put it in the oven at 220 degrees until morning. Four hours in the smoker gave it just about all the smoke it would get and then any heat will do. This topped me from being a zombie on Saturday from tending a smoker all night.

In the morning I pulled it out of the foil pan where it had cooked in its own juices nice and slow for hours and placed it in pans to pull.

It was fork tender and easily pulled apart with two forks.

I filled up two pans, each to the brim with the pulled pork then covered them in foil and left them in the oven at a keep warm setting.

On getting home after the Fair, I slathered the contents of one pan in a sweet barbeque sauce and prepared it for service.

We also had some pretzel buns from Costco that were an excellent delivery vehicle.

The guests absolutely loved it.

One said it was better than the puled pork he had recently had at Slows BBQ, which is very high praise indeed considering Slow's is about the best BBQ in all of the Detroit area.

We gave care packages of it to each guest and we still have a ton of it, which is a nice problem to have.

And Now A BBQ Sauce Endorsement...

Last night I ran out of Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce, which up until last night was my go-to sauce for BBQ, broiling and fry/baking of meats.

I then opened up a bottle of Rufus Teague Touch o' Heat BBQ Sauce, that I had sitting around unopened. I cracked it open, gave it a taste then brushed it on the meat, cooked it to perfection and wowza!

Not as sweet as the Sweet Baby Rays, the Touch o' Heat has just the right balance of BBQ sweetness and a little spice to really make your taste buds sing its praises. The kids and Tash also liked it and considering they don't like spicy foods it hits just the right notes. I'm now tempted to try the Spicy version


Just an Awesome Sauce, well worth giving it a try.

Highland Park Michigan BBQ ban has residents fuming

Passed in time for the Fourth of July weekend.

From The Detroit News: The ban prohibits BBQing and the

placement of any barbecue cooking or equipment ... in the front of a dwelling, on a front porch, or on the side of a dwelling shall not be permitted in the city," the ordinance reads. "For a corner dwelling or building, any barbecue equipment must be 12 feet away from a public right of way."

While backyards are not specifically named in the ban, the ordinance prohibits placing barbecue equipment in any fenced yard which is closer than 20 feet from a public right of way.

This of course could prevent most people from legally BBQing on their property in Highland Park this weekend. Violation is a misdemeanor with up to $90 days in jail or a $500 fine.

The City claims it is due to the bbq fires being a hazzard in the city but even a city fireman cited in the article can only remember on fire caused by an outdoor bbq in three years.

Hopefully this wasn't done out of some misguided attempt to cut down on carbon emissions in the city or worse because some councilperson is annoyed with a neighbor grilling.

Next maybe the City Council will propose ticketing people for parking on their driveways....