It's time for Smoked Ham...!

Here's a quick follow up from Thanksgiving... I ended up running short on time on the dressing so I used a mix... BAD MISTAKE.... I'll never do that again. There's nothing better than home made cornbread stuffing. I'll definitely plan ahead for Christmas...! But hey, the turkey was excellent... I definitely have my smoked turkey technique in good working order...!

OK... Today's kind of a slow day for me. I'm going to finally smoke that ham I bought for Thanksgiving. AND... I'm finally going to make that coleslaw recipe I blogged about awhile back...

I'll let you know how it came out tonight...!

Happy Thanksgiving...!

Hello Friends... Happy Thanksgiving...!

I decided not to make both a ham and a turkey today... I made sure I had Monica's blessing first, though...

I think I'll smoke the ham tomorrow or Saturday... When I cook the ham I want it to have the spotlight so I can really focus on detail and do a good job... I'm going to start brining it a little later this afternoon.

I had a little bit of a late start on the turkey. I didn;t have the temperature in the smoker right until about 10 AM so I'm a couple of hours behind schedule which will put our Thanksgiving dinner on the table at around 4:30 PM or so...

That's OK, we're 'grazing' so don't worry about us... -No one's going to go hungry around this house...

Elijah's been helping me with the Turkey this morning. That's been very fun. I want him to have fond memories of cooking with daddy...!

Everything's pretty much under control here...

I'm about to make some dressing and giblet gravy...

Now this is where my blogs pay off for me... -Last year's gravy and dressing were pretty good, and all I have to do is go back into my blog archives to find the recipe. I'll probably 'tweak' it a little and let you know it went later...

It's Turkey Time...

Actually, I'm making both a Turkey AND a Ham for tomorrow... Here's a blow by blow record of the 2008 Chadwell Family Thanksgiving...

Monica wanted a ham and Connor and I wanted turkey. I like ham too, and I've never smoked a ham before so this will be fun to prepare something different.

At 4 PM Wednesday I started brining the turkey... My brine consisted of filtered water, fajita seasoning, apple juice and ice. Apple juice and salt/pepper mixture make a great brine. The turkey is eleven and a half pounds... I'll start smoking it about 8 AM... We'd like to eat lunch around 2 or 2:30 PM and it takes about 30 minutes per pound if I can keep the smoker at 235 degrees.

The wood I'm using for my smoke is apple wood... -Perfect for poultry...

Since I'm a 'rookie' at smoking a ham, I'm going to start researching hams right now... (7:25 PM Wednesday)

...Wow...! There is an overwhelming amount of info on Smoking a ham...! One article I read said to 'cold' smoke it for several days... -That's not going to happen... I have no idea at all how I'm going to cook this ham...! (8:28 PM Wednesday)

Ribs and Chicken...

I haven't posted on this blog for awhile... -Just been too busy. The fact is, I haven't been BBQ-ing much lately, either. Well, tonight I'm going to end the 3 week BBQ draught....! It's 9 PM but I've fired up the smoker and I'm all set for at least a six hour vigil tonight.

I'm cooking two racks of ribs and two whole 5 lb chickens... That should take care of us for dinner tomorrow and/or Sunday afternoon...!

Actually, I did cook some chicken fajitas Wednesday for lunch... The meat was already seasoned and marinated from HEB.... And was surprisingly good...!

I still haven't made that coleslaw recipe yet...! Maybe I'll try that tomorrow.

As much as I enjoy briskett, I'm focusing on white meats, fish, and vegetables the rest of 2008 and into the new year...! I've actually got alot of briskett frozen in the freezer. That will tide me over for a while.

If anyone has any recipes or tips on grilling veggies I'm open to suggestions... I'll be researching this topic and posting my findings in the next few weeks so stay tuned...!

My ribs tonight are going to be seasoned with Fiesta fajita seasoning and I'm using the famous 3-2-1 method. That is my favorite cooking style and has produced consistently perfect ribs for me for about a year now...!

Ribs went in the smoker at 11 PM.... Connor and I are staying up late tonight watching Stargate Atlantis...

Big BBQ Weekend...

I spent a good deal of time cooking Saturday afternoon and early Sunday morning. For Saturday I prepared ribs, chicken and beef fajitas... The ribs came out very good... The chicken came out ok. But the beef fajitas were not so great... I definitely need to work on my marinating and tenderizing technique.

I really had a good time cooking. I hadn't cooked on the grill in weeks and weeks.

Although I really enjoy brisket and ribs very much I'm going to retire my recipes and focus on chicken, fish and veggies for a while. Monica is really pushing me to prepare healthier food and is afraid that we consume too much red meat for our own good....

I really do enjoy grilled veggies and am looking forward to improving my expertise in that area. I like grilled and smoked salmon, too and wouldn't mind eating that more.

I bombed on beef fajitas and am just going to admit it and move on...

OK, so next Sunday afternoon will be a grilled veggie extravaganza...!

BBQ Fever...

I haven't BBQ'd in over 4 weeks...! I'm going crazy...! Well... The hurricane and hurricane recovery chewed up two weekends, and then the past two weekends after that I've been busy with tennis tournaments.

I've been thinking about it a lot lately... What will I make...? Ribs...? Brisket...?

Hmm.... Actually, I'm kinda in the mood for fajitas.... I suppose I could make ribs and fajita's....

I've never made that cole slaw recipe below, either....

I'm really having trouble deciding what to do. I kinda want to experiment with something new, but I also want to make something traditional, tried, and true... But the two items need to fit together on a menu.... Ribs and fajita's are a good choice. I haven't made beef fajitas in a long, long, time...

Oh well... I'll have to give it a little more thought... That's a nice problem to have, isn't it...?

I mean, -I just can't decide on what feast to prepare for my family. Meanwhile, there are daddy's in Africa and other places around the world wondering not what their next meal will be, but IF their families will get a next meal. There are places in the world where the people don't even have a clean fresh water to drink, and I'm concerned if I run out of cold IBC Rootbeers...

Although this blog is dedicated mainly to BBQ, I'm afraid I won't be able to restrain myself from cultural issues every now and then.

If you are a man or woman of faith, if you are a praying person, please take a moment to lift up those in America and around the world who are less fortunate than you and I. If you have internet access and the time to surf the net and read this blog then chances are you won't be missing a meal today or tomorrow.

Won't you consider supporting a worthy charity like Compassion International, or Living Water...? Your contribution will make a difference!

Cole Slaw

This weekend I'm not making any Bar B Que... I cooked so much last weekend that we've still got plenty of left overs for Bar B Que sandwiches.

What I'd like to blog about today is a traditional BBQ side dish: cole slaw.

Now, I'm not to keen on the kind you can get already pre-packaged at the grocery store. And, I've yet to find a good bottled cole slaw dressing that I really liked.

You know, the best cole slaw I ever tasted came from A & A Bar B Que in Bay City, where I grew up. It was vinegar based.

I'm going to try this recipe tomorrow...

I'll let you know how it comes out...! If anyone would like to share their favorite coleslaw recipe please email it to me at: Coachsam@chadwelltennis.com.

I promise to try it unless it has something 'un-coleslaw-like' in it such as raisins, or some other wierd ingredient. If I like your recipe, I'll post it here on my blog, ensuring you BBQ blogger immortality...!

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Smoking a Chicken

Smoked Chicken is one of my favorite dishes. I've got two five pounders in the fridge right now. I'm going to set my alarm for about 4 AM and put them in a brine for about 4 more hours, then smoke 'em for about 4 hours at 220 degrees. Mmmm... It's going to be delicious...!

To be continued...

Here's a photo of the finished result... It was pretty good even though I only had mesquite wood to use for my smoke... I prefer apple wood for my chickens...

These birds did take right at about 4 hours to cook. I added fuel to keep the temp steady, then turned and basted them about every 45 minutes....

A Brisket Weekend...

(Don't ask me how to spell 'famous'. I didn't put up this sign, but apparently 'fameous' is an accepted alternate spelling for 'famous'...)

Ahh.... Friday afternoons were made for firing up the smoker and creating brisket masterpieces, don't you agree...?

My 'brisket vigil' started about 1 PM this afternoon. I'll try to blog some brisket tips for my friends throughout the day and evening as I'm cooking. I'd love to compare notes on tips and tricks for making good brisket. I don;t really have any BIG secrets, but I love to talk bar b que with friends of 'the craft'. Please feel free to post comments below...

OK, on with my essay entitled: 'A Brisket Weekend...'

This weekend I have a small tennis social of about 12-16 people. I've just put a 12.5 pound brisket on the smoker and I'll add some sausage to smoke later this evening. We're planning to have brisket and sausage sandwiches with all the sides and trimmings after a fun morning of tennis Saturday morning.

I always plan 90 minutes of cook time per pound. Of course, that's provided my pit temperature stays a constant 220 degrees. I cook the old fashioned way with wood and charcoal for my fuel so the temp will probably vary a bit during the 18 hours it will take to get this brisket 'just right'...! Yes, if all goes well, I should have a delicious, tender, juicy, smokey brisket ready about 7 or 8 AM Saturday morning.

I remember growing up that My dad always used to cook his briskets much quicker and with higher heat and I thought they were great. But looking back I know they never came out as tender, juicy and flavorful as mine do today. One thing my dad did have going for him though, was a great secret sauce recipe. I could on and on about sauces, but I think I'll save that for another post. Let me just close this little section by saying if you want really good, tender, tasty smoked brisket, you better plan on cooking a long time on a low temperature.

For planning purposes I usually figure a half of pound of meat per person which is very generous especially if we're making sandwiches like we are for the event this weekend. -And that 12.5 pounds will cook down to about 9-10 pounds of finished product after trimming.

9:40 PM Friday Night Update... The brisket has been in the pit for almost 10 hours now. The temperature and smoke have been pretty steady so far... I'm using combination of mesquite wood and charcoal for my fuel.

Now begins what I call the 'Brisket Vigil'... That's staying up pretty much all night to maintain the smoke and temperature. At least tonight the sci fi channel is having a Star Trek marathon. That will make staying up a little easier. When it does get to the point that I absolutely can't keep my eyes open any longer then I'll just set my alarm to go off every 45 minutes to check the fire. For now, so far, so good...!

Post Script (Sunday Aug 31, 10:30 PM) I pulled the brisket out about 6:30 AM. It came out pretty good. There were no complaints and only a little bit was left over.. I was pleased with the result...!

Great Rib Tip... The 3-2-1 Recipe...

Mmmm.... I'm always on the lookout for a good rib recipe.... One of my favorites is the 3-2-1 recipe I found on About.com.

Basically you use your favorite rub and slow smoke the ribs for 3 hours on a pit with the temperature maintained around 220-250 degrees. Next, wrap the ribs tightly in foil and 'bake' them for about two more hours. This sort of 'steams' them in their own juices. Then take them out of the foil and smoke them for another hour turning them after 30 minutes to sort of dry them up a bit..

I've never ever been disappointed using the 3-2-1 method. I generally smoke baby back pork ribs using mesquite wood and mesquite charcoal.

Tonight I had my pit pretty full with a 15 pound brisket and some cajun boudin, too. Mmmm...