Wrap-up
Well, it is the morning after and I can proudly say that everything went off without a hitch. I was afraid that the parade of grilled food we had planned would be a little ambitious to pull off, but thanks to realistically timing everything out it was "no worries". If you do not do it already, I highly recommend charting out your grill lighting's and cook times. It works miracles.
I used a new rub from Stephen Raichlen's Sauces and Rubs Book. It caught my eye because it added some traditional herbs, thyme and basil for instance, that I do not usually use. I rubbed the shoulders and the ribs on Thursday so they could sit overnight. Thanks to the rub, the first smell from the grill, as the meat warmed up, was incredible. That is what makes an afternoon of grilling so much fun...being able to enjoy that olfactory delight.
After smoking for seven hours, the shoulders pulled apart as though that black crust was hiding a tub of butter. My good friend Mike helped with the carving details and I have to believe he could have carved faster if he did not spend so much time eating his work!
I made four different sauces to go with the pork. A sweet & smoky, a vinegar hot (USA Keith and new Dad favorite), a lemon-BBQ and a mystery sauce that for the life of me I could not remember what was. All of the sauces were taken from various cookbooks.
For what is becoming "old hat", I put two chickens on the rotisserie. Each one was brined over night. Although it takes some planning, the results are always good. You have to be careful with the brine though because all of that sugar on the skin will quickly caramelize and burn if you do not turn the rotisserie burner off in time. I also grilled two racks of ribs. Although the ribs turned out, the pictures did not...or at least not to my satisfaction.
Thanks to all of our friends and family. One of the best thing about having everyone bring a side dish is that I get to enjoy them the next day! Everyone brought a lot of food and the meat was pretty much picked clean. The only little bit that was left was cleaned off by a raccoon that I caught doing chin-up's on the patio table at 630 this morning.
The last bit of companystaggered drifted away a little after midnight. Perfect weather, perfect company, a perfect time.
I used a new rub from Stephen Raichlen's Sauces and Rubs Book. It caught my eye because it added some traditional herbs, thyme and basil for instance, that I do not usually use. I rubbed the shoulders and the ribs on Thursday so they could sit overnight. Thanks to the rub, the first smell from the grill, as the meat warmed up, was incredible. That is what makes an afternoon of grilling so much fun...being able to enjoy that olfactory delight.
After smoking for seven hours, the shoulders pulled apart as though that black crust was hiding a tub of butter. My good friend Mike helped with the carving details and I have to believe he could have carved faster if he did not spend so much time eating his work!
I made four different sauces to go with the pork. A sweet & smoky, a vinegar hot (USA Keith and new Dad favorite), a lemon-BBQ and a mystery sauce that for the life of me I could not remember what was. All of the sauces were taken from various cookbooks.
For what is becoming "old hat", I put two chickens on the rotisserie. Each one was brined over night. Although it takes some planning, the results are always good. You have to be careful with the brine though because all of that sugar on the skin will quickly caramelize and burn if you do not turn the rotisserie burner off in time. I also grilled two racks of ribs. Although the ribs turned out, the pictures did not...or at least not to my satisfaction.
Thanks to all of our friends and family. One of the best thing about having everyone bring a side dish is that I get to enjoy them the next day! Everyone brought a lot of food and the meat was pretty much picked clean. The only little bit that was left was cleaned off by a raccoon that I caught doing chin-up's on the patio table at 630 this morning.
The last bit of company
Mike Lang
