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We’ve rubbed our ribs and brisket. I’m a bit disconcerted to see the team next door forensically trimming the fat from his brisket, whereas I just lopped off the bit which was about 3 inches thick. And he’s even made it so it will fit the competition box and everything! Anyway will be interesting to see what the final result looks like….
We’ve lit the first chimney of the weekend, tunes are playing, it’s not raining .. and we’re about to cook some sausages!! Bring it on grillstock!
We seem to have brought about 15 million times more stuff than the average team. Also we are surrounded by meat but seem to be starving hungry!
We’re in DrBBQ’s cook’s meeting. Shock news is that the competition boxes are a bit smaller than the KCBS regulation 9″x9″ size. We’ve had a good 10 minute discussion on that so far. Will Lap be able to fit his 7 ribs in the box?! Find out tomorrow at 3pm. Now we’re talking garnish! Can you put a pickle in the box? Can you put a sprig of rosemary? (yes)
Our meat has just been inspected by the legendary Ray ‘DrBBQ’ Lampe and has been declared fit for competition use!
We’re here! After a slow crawl in traffic we’ve unloaded our gear and will now set up our pitch. Excited to be neighbouring Bunch of Swines, Newman’s own and Bodeans!
A few questions I want to answer with today’s practice:
Beans:
280g pinto beans, soaked overnight
1 large onion
1/2 green pepper
andouille links
tomato paste
molasses sugar
worcestershire sauce
chipotle ketchup
beef stock
cumin (whole)
cinnamon (ground)
So my killer, secret ingredient here is Lap’s smoked andouille links … and it’s only a secret because he won’t tell me the recipe! I got some chipotle ketchup from Man-food.co.uk and bunged in a load for heat.
Brisket:
3.1kg- very fatty
Rub:
paprika
brown sugar
salt
bay
fresh garlic
coffee
cayenne pepper
injection:
apple & pear
worcestershire sauce
salt
white sugar
| 9am | – | fridge | 100% |
| 11am | 200 | 145 | 100% |
| 11.30am | 240 | – | 100% |
| 12.15am | 250 | – | 50% |
| 13.30 | 235 | 160 | 90% |
| 14.00 | 225 | 169 | 100% |
| 15.00 | 240 | 170 | 100% |
| 17.50 | 260 | 180 (thickest) 200 (thin) | 80% – opened |
| 18.20 | 260 | 195 (foiled) |
This weekend, as part of our intense Grillstock practice regime we set ourselves a slightly different task – mass-catering.
We decided to serve a diverse menu which would all be (relatively) straight-forward to serve to such a large number of people. Although this did require a fair amount of prior preparation – the spare ribs were smoked the day before, and the pork shoulder was smoked overnight.
The menu was:
In a parallel universe, or maybe just in another part of Birmingham, two full racks of pork spare ribs have been rubbed down with the special Hall Green blend of spices and herbs. One rack is from a Gloucester Old Spot and the other from a Berkshire. Hopefully I’ll be able to tell which one is which when they’ve been smoked tomorrow.
One whole chicken has been cut into two and is in the brine to ensure moistness. I’m not doing chicken portions or the ubiquitous chicken pillows. The chicken category has caused me many sleepless nights. Grillstock being our first competition I’ve read up on what is expected in this category and the general consensus is that chicken thighs is the way to go. It seems that everyone has jumped on the boneless chicken pillow bandwagon, a kind of bland uniformity which I feel goes against the spirit of good que but more importantly there’s just no skill in reproducing what everybody else is doing. I’m going whole chicken, the breast will be moist and the legs juicy. It’ll all be served together and you see that chicken will look and taste like chicken!
Luckily for me I don’t need any overnight smoking, so see you in the morning.
10am
The fire has been built, the smoker is up to temperature., the ribs go on for 5 hrs with oak and hickory doing it’s magic. The ribs will get the occasional spritz of apple juice to give it a nice glaze but that’s it. I’ll make the sauce later, I’m having a nice relaxing Sunday morning.
12:30pm
2:30pm
Finished Product
