Category: BBQ

Events seem to be somewhat hampered so far, I have not been able to find any one who can cut up the gas bottle and circumstance has postponed the spit roast. On the plus side the weather is now good enough to clean down my grill and the weather forecast for the weekend is very good. I hope to be cooking something outdoors on Saturday, it wont be a "proper" barbecue but it is the start of the seaon.

It had to happen… Some one has asked me what marinades rubs and sauces I used on the ribs the other week and I have forgotten. The words "Oh Bugger" spring to mind. Each time I cook something I am going to write down on this blog, the names of the various treatments each cut of meat gets in future just to remind myself what I have used.

The March winds have arrived with a vengeance and the oil drums have been rolling around in the garden. There was snow and blizzards forecast for the coming week but we seemed to have missed out on the snow. Yesterday I decided to see how I could cook a leg of lamb with different marinades and rubs and after 4 hours it came out of the oven smelling wonderful. Four of use ate the whole damn thing in under an hour, it was that good. The house still smells like a Bombay spice market but I am getting used to that now and I am even beginning to like it.

With the weather the way it is it will be some time before I manage to do anything in the garden or construct any smokers with the oil drums. Even the logs I had stored and drying have been drenched because the fly sheeting I had covered them with has blown off and probably sailed across several gardens. It may be some time before I make another post due to the bad weather. Not that it stops me from typing you understand its just because there is nothing to write about unless some one turns up on my doorstep offering to cut some propane bottles open for me!!

Another oil drum was kindly delivered to me last week and I was told that I could have as many as I wanted and a supply of empty butane bottles was mine for the asking. My garden is now starting to resemble a scrapyard but if I can get the cutting gear I can start to assemble a prototype smoker. If its successful I might even try and sell one or two. This would be a great way to make a living if it all comes off. I figured that all the pieces I need I can acquire or "purloin" for less than 30 pounds and should take no more than 10 hours to assemble and paint. Oh well……..

After a really bright start to the week weather wise its gone cold and grey and some of the shoots on the trees and plants are starting to wither. Worse still is the news that we have imminent snow on its way in less than 24 hours. My plans to get the grill out next weekend are not looking good but I still have high hopes for Easter and I have a huge piece of Lamb to practise my marinades on rubs on for tomorrow which is Mothers day. Mum will be pleased I am sure. (probably not, she mentioned last week that the house was starting to smell like an Indian curry house and this was not meant as a compliment!)

One of the 50 gallon oil drums arrived over the weekend and I am going to modify this and use it for the smoker. Its thin gauge metal and wont stand up the stresses of being used for a fire box for very long. Thats when I had the idea that the fire box must be 1/8 or 1/4 inch steel or iron plate. Looking around I found a couple of empty Butane bottles and thought they would be just the job. I am more than capable of cutting the oil drum to spec and making the frame with wheels for everything to stand upon and I have even thought about using high grade exhuast paint for the fire box and hammerite for the smoker and frame. The vents and chimneys will be made of flexible stainless steel tubing and all in all it should look quite pretty in black, red and shiny stainless steel.

Cutting the propane/butane bottles presents a challenge of its own and one site I looked at had a disclamier for its plans. "You try this at your own risk". I have thought of taking the bottle to those awfully nice chaps at the fire station to ask them if they could cut it for me. They must have the cutting gear as they free people from car crashes and wrecks everyday? However being the public spirited chap that I am I reckoned this would be a total waste and misuse of public resources.  Another friend who has his own garage told me he did not have cutting gear only welding gear. It would appear that I am in need of some one with excellent engineering skills and equipment, either that or some brawny individual who is very brave or stupid.

I picked up some ribs on Friday gone from my favourite butcher. I didnt order them as a friend does that for me. She has been blessed with a spectacular decolleteage. (Thats massive tits if you didnt know) She normally goes to the shop in a low cut top and short skirt and bats her eyelashes at the butcher and he always throws a few extra ribs in. I could not get away with this ploy but she can and I take full advantage of the fact that she is a good friend. The ribs were supposed to be in sheets but the butcher had chopped and cleaved them for me. I guess he thought he was being helpfull but this wasnt what I had planned for and I could not complain as I got a really good measure for my money.

The problem was I had around 30 ribs and the amount of marinade, dry rub, basting sauce and finishing sauce I would need to coat every single surface was now huge. I spent five hours mixing herbs and spices in industrial quantities. By the time I had finished my eyes were watering because of the amount of chilli and cayenne I had used. But they went in the fridge to marinade over night and then I tossed them around in a large bowl to cover them in the dry rub I had made and then they went into the oven for 2 hours. After a lot of basting and slathering they were eventually ready some 3 hours later.

There were supposed to be 9 people for dinner but only 5 made it and it was impossible to eat all I had cooked but we all gave it a really good try. Even after a bottle of Bourbon, several gallons of beer and some vodka to give us the inspiration to finish them off we could not manage it. However as evryone agreed they were the best ribs that any of us had eaten. technically the barbie season starts in a few short weeks but because of the lousy weather we suffer in this country its hard to know when I be able to clean my grill out and start cooking for real. I guess thats why we dont have any barbecue championships in the UK, you cant rely on the weather. I have actually cooked in all weathers and a couple of years ago I barbied on new years eve at minus 2 centigrade just to prove I could.

Sadly for now its just practise in the kitchen even if we do end up three sheets to the wind.

Wahey, the liquid smoke arrived yesterday along with other various finishing sauces. I now have two types of liquid smoke, one Mesquite and the other is Hickory. The Hickory smells the nicest. I have ordered some slabs of Pork ribs and the plan is to cook some ribs in the oven using a marinade the night before, a dry rub and a basting sauce whilst cooking and a finishing sauce to serve them with.

As I already have a decent grill and plans for a spit and a pit are under way I have decided to make a smoker. I started out by looking at commercial types on the net and they went from the sublime to the utter ridiculous and the price range was the same. I really dont have any need for a 10 hog smoker than weighs 3 tons and is fixed on the back of a trailer with  Scammel traction unit to drag it around. I doubt that a military field kitchen would ever use something that big. Nor do i want something so small that a budgie would fill the cooking unit. I decided upon a budget of 400 pounds and set about looking. The things that seem to be available for that price really dont seem either adequate or sturdy enough for prolonged use. There is only one thing for it and that is to build my own.

The oil drums I was promised a week ago have not turned up and so I have sent out an SOS to the people that are supposed to be supplying me with them and new instructions to NOT cut them up. I figure two oil drums of varying size, 1 at 55 gallon size for the cooking compartment and another at 20 gallon size for the fire box. Some metal tubing or hose to link them up and some metal venting to use for a chimney. What would be even better would be an old copper hot water cylinder to use for the cooking compartment if I can find one.

Its down to the scrap yard to see what bits I can salvage…………

Ok, I got a little carried away with the recipe books but after numerous attempts I found a couple that would do the job. After a few beers, I marinaded a pork shoulder in a vinegar rub and then created a dry rub and placed it in the oven. Several hours later and after a good basting by my side kick, it came out well seasoned and very tender. The home made smoky finishing sauce made such a difference. A few days prior to this I had done the same thing with a brisket joint and the finished product was magical. I suppose the main thing about all the recipe books I bought is that I had an impressive shopping list of spices and herbs and different types of vinegar, many of which I had never heard about before. However I now boast a spice rack and herb cabinet to rival Tescos!

Its only a few days before the clocks go forward and the barbecue season will start proper. To this end I have a couple of oil drums being delivered and I am going to make proper smokers. Its all very well cooking in an oven but you have to do it outdoors with wood and charcoal. I had planned on producing my first smoked beast some time over this coming Easter, however my mum has to go into hospital over that period and I will be too busy visting her to get a real barbecue going. Its looking very likely that I will have to wait for the summer solstice to cook the beast.

On the plus side a bottle of liquid smoke is being delivered to me this coming week. Smokey Chicago style sauces will be concocted this coming weekend

A few months ago I received an email from a friend informing me of a forthcoming barbecue some time in summer 2007. There would be a twist to this years annual event, we would be roasting a whole pig. Quickly a small group of us got together and decided upon the best way to do this and not unaturally perhaps, the cheapest way. First you need a big fire, check. Gallons of beer, check. A pig, to be decided upon when we have a spit. A spit and some means of holding the damn thing in the air above the flames and a way of turning it around every so often. 2 out of 4 isnt so bad.

Various designs for a spit abounded after lots of alcoholic inspiration, some more practical than others but all within the bounds of possibility if not desireability. In the end we decided upon cheap speaker stands that most bands discard when they become a bit bent and shabby for the supports. The spit itself would consist of an 8 foot metal bar with a steering wheel welded onto the end to turn it around. A locking device consisting of a huge hexagonal nut welded onto the bar around 10 inches from the steering wheel and a large spanner type holder to sit on top of the speaker stands to hold it in place. When turning it around we lift the end with the nut on, a few inches into the air turn, it a few degrees and sit it back in its spanner. Voila. Total cost 30 quid (pounds to my many foreign friends who have not gotten around the vagaries of the UK’s monetary system)

Most of us have had lots of experience of standing around a gleaming barbie drinking gallons of beer and watching things go up in smoke and flames and at the end of the night thinking what a wonderful time we had. This time it is going to be different and I sought practical help for cooking whole pigs and promptly ordered 6 books from Amazon on the subject of barbecuing and making world championship sauces. They arrived a couple of weeks ago and I must say I did wonder what the hell I was getting myself into. Soak in a tub of water for 24 hours first? I dont know any one with a tub that big and as for leaving it in the bath overnight I can imagine the look of shock and horror on some ones unsuspecting face when they go for ablutions first thing in the morning! Then there is the marinade, the dry rub, the basting sauce and then the finishing sauce and it would only need 18 hours in a smoker to cook. Well it starts here.

to be continued……….