Perfect BBQ and other excellent cooking adventures

Have you ever wondered how chefs create a unique flavor profile, more depth of flavor or enhance the flavor of their dishes? It’s the perfect balance of heat, acid, salt and fat. Here’s a unique element you can add to your dishes to stand out from the crowd! Add just a pinch of this smoked chipotle powder to excite your taste buds and enhance the flavor of any dish or you can add more to ramp up the heat level in dishes that demand it. Mix of hot peppers from our garden on the smoker. Preserved pepper recipe mentioned in the episode: 4-5c Jalepeno peppers (sliced or split in half) Substitute a mix of hot peppers if desired3-5 Cloves Garlic (crushed)2 Onions sliced thin or diced1/4c Oregano (crushed)1/4c Salt3c Water1c Canola Oil4c White Wine Vinegar Directions: Add Vinegar, Canola oil and water to a sauce pan and heat to a boil. While coming to temperature, wash peppers and slice or split in half. Mix Onions, Garlic, Peppers, Oregano and Salt together in a large bowl.Pack this mixture into pint sized canning jars leaving an inch or so at the top. Pour the boiling mixture into the jars slowly leaving a 1/4″ air gap at the top. I use a chop stick or similar to poke into the mixture to remove air bubbles and top off again. Wipe the rim and top with canning lid & ring. Process in a water bath as normal canning procedure. The post More Flavor for You – How to Add Unique Flavor to your BBQ, Sides and more… appeared first on Perfect BBQ (barbecue).

This week we interview one of the owners of Taste of Texas Barbecue in Cologne, Germany, Jonas Freitag We fell in love with these guys watching their very popular YouTube videos documenting their journey as they not only start their own BBQ Food business but in true DIY fashion build their smoker and vending trailer completely from scratch. Enjoy hearing their journey from the initial concept, through a pilgrimage to Texas and talking to pit masters about their smokers and brisket techniques to finally bringing it all to fruition in a farm shed back in Germany. Jonas was also free to share details about the food business in general and some great concepts for other startups on breaking down the business model into a minimum viable product to collect data and build from there. You can find their videos on YouTube or visit their Facebook Page and finally a link to their web site TasteOfTexas.de Also mentioned in the interview are the BBQ pit calculator and Franklin BBQ The post Taste of Texas BBQ – Jonas Freitag appeared first on Perfect BBQ (barbecue).

This is a household favorite of ours and always a treat for holiday parties and get togethers, not to mention a great way to use up a few leftover Habanero or Jalapeno peppers at the end of the season. The combination of a bit of heat, fruity pepper flavor and sweetness is a wonderful flavor combination and can be enjoyed on some toast points or combined with any number of cheeses on an assortment of your favorite crackers. Peach Habanero pepper jelly fresh from the canner. Sorry about the water spots on top of the lids… Ingredients: 6 Peaches or about 3-4 cups, crushed3 Habanero peppers, remove seeds, finely minced (USE GLOVES!)2 Red Bell peppers, remove seeds, finely minced3.5 c regular sugar1 c unsweetened, white grape juice1 lemon, juiced1 tsp ground turmeric1/4 tsp butter or margarine1.75 oz packet of Ball low or no sugar fruit pectin (powdered)2 Tb vanilla extract Prepare your jars and lids according to their instructions. You’ll need 4-5 pint or 8 or 9 half-pint jars, lids and rims. Peel your peaches and chop finely or run through a food mill. Place in a 6 to 8 quart non-aluminum saucepan. Measure out your sugar and combine with fruit mix well, add your peppers and lemon juice and stir again. You can add 1/4 teaspoon of butter or margarine which will help cut the foam down.Bring this mixture to a rolling boil stirring constantly. When everything is mixed thoroughly, add the pectin and boil an additional minute.Remove from heat, skim off any foam and ladle into your prepared jars.Process as in your normal canning procedure (10-15 min), remove and allow to cool on a thick towel. I hope that you enjoy this flavor profile as much as we do. The post Pepper Jelly, A Perfect BBQ Extra appeared first on Perfect BBQ (barbecue).

This week we interview someone from our distant past, the creative genius behind the Jawbone Radio podcast. Jawbone was one of the seminal podcasts and Len & Nora as hosts were two of the best. It was with great surprise several months ago I noticed a post on Facebook where Len had caught the BBQ bug and contacted him to see if he would be interested in being our guest. We talk about podcasting for a while and then get into his first foray into Barbecue. As it turns out he had done his research, was already versed in the joys of great BBQ and so had a head start on his first cooks. We hope you enjoy this interview as much as I enjoyed the conversation. Intro00:43 – Discuss the origins of podcasting, Jawbone Radio, etc.14:16 – We begin the BBQ discussion For more info on Len visit https://www.lenperalta.comTo listen to old episodes of Jawbone radio visit https://jawboneradio.blogspot.com/ The post Len Peralta, Extraordinary Artist, Podcasting Pioneer and BBQ Enthusiast appeared first on Perfect BBQ (barbecue).

My journey through smoking sausage has been less than satisfactory over the years. I’ve tried it several times and the results have been somewhat less than stellar. After my most recent experience, I think either the amount of meat was too small or my temp was too high as the resulting product had good flavor but the texture was just not right. It had kind of a mealy mouth feel that from what I’ve read means that it dried out too much. I happened to be in the market on a Monday after the holidays and I guess they were trying to sell off some of the excess holiday meat inventory because they had a case of these big rope sausages on sale at half price. They had both country sausage and hot Italian in these long ropes wrapped in a pinwheel shape. As I didn’t want much ‘pre-smoke’ seasoning I purchased two of the country sausage for just over $4 each. After unpacking, I skewered them at a 90 degree angle so that I could handle them on the grill & flip as needed. The photo below is flipping after about an hour and a half smoking. I pulled off the smoker when the meat temp reached 165 and left rest for about 20 minutes before sampling. The texture this time was just perfect and it had tons of flavor just from simple pork sausage and lots of wood smoke. I will definitely try this method again. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column] [/et_pb_row] [/et_pb_section]The post Perfect Smoked Sausage… Finally appeared first on Perfect BBQ (barbecue).

BBQ guys seem to enjoy coming up with new and odd items to put on the smoker or eat with their smoked meat creations. Along with those new and odd items usually come a name that is equally as odd and this item is no exception. Who wants to smoke a fatty? Well, you will after you taste it. I stopped at my local market up the street for some lunch meat and noticed a 2lb package of freshly ground pork alongside a big slab of sliced bacon. It reminded me that I hadn’t smoked a fatty for quite a while. I started early Saturday morning as this takes about 2.5 to 3 hours on the smoker and I wanted to serve it for breakfast. I started by laying a piece of saran wrap on the counter to make the pork easy to roll and then smoothed out a 3/8″ thick layer of ground pork in about a 10″ x 10″ square. You want this to be just a bit smaller than the length of your bacon. This ended up being about a pound and a quarter of the pork. Once the pork is square and an even thickness, I lightly sprinkled my standard rub mixture which is salt, my favorite smoked chipotle powder, and a small amount of granulated onion and garlic. I then lay 3 rows of pepperoni down the center, mashed a cup of shredded chedder and half a block of cream cheese together, shaped into a roll and lay on top of the pepperoni. Using the top and bottom edges of the saran wrap I wrapped the pork around the center ingredients and sealed the edge and ends nicely and set aside. I then created a weave with the bacon. You’ve probably seen this done several places on the internet but basically it involves laying out half your bacon strips side by side vertically and then folding back every other strip, lay down a horizontal strip and then alternate the strips of bacon that are folded back. https://www.foodrepublic.com/recipes/from-the-pitmaster-heres-how-to-make-a-bacon-weave/ When finished lay your pork roll in the center and wrap the bacon around making sure to also seal in the ends. This becomes a crispy layer of bacon around your roll of smoked pork. Place seam down on your smoker and relax for about 2 to 3 hours depending on your temp. This can be smoked a little higher than 225. Anywhere from 250-275 degrees seems to get the bacon crisp at the same time as the pork is done. During the last 1/2 hour of smoking I brushed a layer of maple syrup on the bacon as I wanted to serve this for breakfast so wanted a hint of sweetness. When the pork reaches 165, remove from the smoker and let rest for at least a half hour before slicing. As it approached serving time I toasted a few english muffins and fried two eggs over easy to lay on top of one of the slices, one for myself and one for my favorite breakfast partner (my wife) I served each of us two slices about 3/4″ thick and layed the fried egg on top of one so that the yolk would run down over the cheesy pork roll. It was a deliciously different breakfast option The post Why Would I Want A Fatty? appeared first on Perfect BBQ (barbecue).

One of the joys of summer eating is fresh vegetables and there is nothing better than corn on the cob picked fresh that morning. We have a farmers market down the road that puts a big sign out when they have corn picked fresh that morning and people flock in to buy it such that by mid-day, it’s all gone. This morning I happened to be driving past and saw the sign so it determined our evening meal choice for the day. Farm fresh corn on the cob We’ve done corn many different ways over the years, but our current favorite is cooking it simply in salted water, rolling the ears over a stick of butter and then coating with a sprinkling mixture of our smoked chipotle rub mix and Parmesan cheese. To make the rub mixture, I use one part kosher salt to 1/4 part smoked chipotle powder, 1/4 part granulated garlic and 6 parts coarsely grated Parmesan cheese. This can be crushed together with a fork or for larger quantities carefully blended to a coarse mixture in a bullet blender. Coarsely grated Parmesan, salt, smoked chipotle powder, granulated garlic The results are a spectacular blend of buttery, delicious corn, a hint of heat from the smoked chipotle powder and salt which both accentuate and intensify the flavor of the corn. We love to pair this with a Bacon, Lettuce and Fresh Tomato sandwich. Enjoy your summer eating! The post Perfect Fresh Corn on the Cob appeared first on Perfect BBQ (barbecue).

It’s July 4 and everyone is having a cookout. You could do the usual hamburgers and hot dogs but why not treat your guests to something a little more special. I’ve smoked ribs a number of different ways but one of my favorites is just perfectly cooked and memphis dry rub finish. This allows me and my guests to enjoy the taste of the meat as well as try one of several dipping sauces available at the table. I had two very average racks of baby back ribs. I personally think that spare ribs trimmed to St Louis cut is preferable but these were what my wife had purchased on sale so it’s what I used. I started the smoker and while the fire came up to temp, peeled the silver-skin off the back and lightly sprinkled a simple rub of kosher salt, black pepper and my homemade smoked chipotle powder on both sides. A few minutes later the smoker is at 275 and I put the ribs on. After 2.5 hours the ribs had nice color and time to wrap in foil. The photo on the web site is just before wrapping. I put a couple pats of butter on a piece of foil and lay the ribs in upside down then put back on the smoker for another 1.5 hours. At this point the meat temperature is about 185 and the probe pushes through the meat with little resistance so I know the tenderness is getting close. The meat is also pulling back nicely from the bone ends. I take them out of the foil and back on the smoker, drizzle the rub flavored buttery juices laying in the bottom of the foil back and forth over the top of the ribs. The final dry rub is simply some brown sugar added to the initial rub of salt, pepper and smoked chipotle powder. I had two sauces available for dipping – one that had some nice heat and a little sweetness and another that was closer to my brisket sauce with more heat and only hints of sweetness. We served with three of our favorite bbq side dishes, baked beans, mac & cheese and cole slaw. The post Smoking The Perfect Rack of Ribs appeared first on Perfect BBQ (barbecue).

Everybody loves bacon. Not the water soggy, preservative injected stuff you buy at the mega mart, but real bacon made my yourself at home. This time we decided to try dry curing. I asked a local place that butchers hogs once a week to save me a pork belly as otherwise they just make it all into bacon. I stopped back the next week and they had saved me a 10.5 lb belly and only $2.19/lb. We have a local butcher that sells black pepper bacon that everyone loves so I decided to take a twist on that and use my smoked chipotle powder, kosher salt and brown sugar for a rub. I started by sprinkling a light coating of the chipotle powder, then about twice as heavy sprinkling of salt and finally brown sugar. Flip and do the same on the other side. I put a layer of parchment paper on a sheet tray and lay another on top just to protect it from anything spilling on it and put it in our extra fridge for 8 days flipping every other day. I know some people do 10 days but I was afraid of it getting too dry. I fired up the smoker with a fairly small amount of coals and wood chunks and after rinsing the rub mix off the pork, smoked at the lowest temp I could hold – about 200 degrees for a little over 2 hours. Let cool and put back in the fridge to make slicing easier. I like to slice it fairly thick and an electric knife makes the cuts nice and consistent. I fried a couple slices just to try and then froze the rest in 1 lb batches. The flavor is much deeper than you get with store bought bacon and I think it’s because it doesn’t have water injected to bulk up the weight and also the dry curing. As good as the slices are, one of my favorite ways to use this is to cut a couple of slices into 1 inch long pieces and fry up as lardons and use to make bacon / cheddar bagel halves for a late nite snack or for breakfast create a ring of cheddar and bacon ladons and then drop an egg in the center to fry, then cover. The steam from the cheese melting and bacon heating causes the egg to cook perfect easy over without having to flip. The post It’s Time To Cure and Smoke Your Own Bacon! appeared first on Perfect BBQ (barbecue).

Not that I like a lot of Barbeque sauce, but I do like variety. One thing I noticed early on when watching Bobby Flay is that he is a master at creating a sauce with flavor profiles that complement his food. I also noticed this the first time I ate at Bobby’s Burger Palace – the variety of spices that give you flavor options with different bites. Today I’m going to talk about several sauce base flavors that you can use to start and then build from there to adjust the flavors for your particular cook Simple BBQ Sauce Baseline The first is a simple BBQ sauce that you can remember in your head to build from – you can literally whip this up from ingredients that you always have on hand and then I mention a few ways to modify. A couple tablespoons of Vegetable oil1/2 cup grated onion1 cup white vinegar1 cup ketchup2 teaspoons each salt, black pepper, hot Hungarian paprika, dark brown sugar1 teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne or homemade chipotle powder Saute the grated onion in veg. oil until soft, stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, adjust salt & heat as necessary. From this base sauce you can add coffee, Worcestershire, chili powder, mustard powder, etc. to create the flavor profile you want for ribs, chicken, pulled pork, etc. Texas Style Brisket Sauce This is the sauce I love for brisket it’s not as sweet and seems to not cover the beef flavor of brisket. I tend to use sparingly as I like brisket just on it’s own but may dip every other bite or so in this sauce. 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter2-4 cloves garlic, minced1 medium onion, minced1 carrot, minced Melt 1/2 stick of butter in a saucepan and add 2-4 cloves of minced garlic, 1 grated or minced onion, 1 carrot, I will often just put these 3 ingredients in a mini food processor (the one for my stick blender) and mince them all at once. cook over low heat until everything is tender. Then add remaining ingredients:1/4 cup vinegar – I use white or apple cider doesn’t matter1 lemon, juiced1/4 cup Worcestershire1/3 cup brown sugar1/4 cup coffee2 1/2 cups ketchup1 T cayenne1 T chili powder1 t each salt & freshly ground black pepper Cook down until thickened – probably 2 hours or so adjusting flavors as necessary. Horseradish or White sauce 1/2 cup sour cream2 T prepared horseradish1 T Creole or other hot mustard1 T white vinegar1/4 t white pepper1/4 t cayenne or chipotle powder Mix together and put in the fridge for several hours for flavors to meld. This makes a great sauce for any kind of beef, pastrami, pork or even baked ham for your Christmas lunch. The post Sauce, Sauce and more Sauce appeared first on Perfect BBQ (barbecue).