"Lexington Dip"

Ingredients
1 cup distilled vinegar (do not use cider vinegar)
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup apple juice
1 teaspoon hot sauce
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

Whisk together all the ingredients and let them sit for at least three hours to allow the flavors to meld. Overnight is better. A week is best.

Work...

Yes I know it's been awhile since I posted here. Between work and rain and a mean old heat wave, I haven't cooked much.

It's hard to do anything right now. Our work hours have been changed again for the 5th time since last year. Now I'm working 12 hour shifts with little or no time to do anything else.

I've used the WSM maybe three times since I bought it. Any cooking right now is done on the gas Weber E310. I've fired the pit up only twice since last year and I just can't get the time to do any comps right now.

Maybe some day I can re-enter the world of BBQ contest.

But it won't be anytime soon...

Big Daddy

Charcoal...

I like this charcoal.



I use it in my Weber grills, sometimes in the pit and I will use it in the new WSM's I bought.



Be my luck Lowe's will stop carrying it. But anyway...

The WSM is about ready for a break in cook. I had more access doors made because I don't like the loose fitting flimsy doors that came with them. A little fine tuning and they will be ready to go.

It'll make a Rabbit want ta smack a Dog!!!

Big Daddy

A day in the life of...

Thought I'd post a few pictures of past cooks.









Kind of makes you hungry...

It'll make a Rabbit want ta smack a Dog!!!

Big Daddy

For the love of "Q"...

I haven't gotten to fire up the pit so far this year. Between rain, work, and other things, I just don't have time right now. But the BBQ sauce and BBQ rub sales have picked up again.

I have to make a half gallon of BBQ sauce (that is sold for Monday) for a man that runs a catering business this weekend. Word of mouth has helped a lot.

The BBQ rub has had great field test results and the sauce is gaining word of mouth as well. Everything is homemade right now. Whenever I can find time and a co-packer, I may be able to bring them to market for the public.

I'm also working on a vinegar sauce because you can't find any around here and I'm sure it would sell in this market.

We'll see...

The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been.

Big Daddy

Spring...

Thank the Lord I made it through another winter.



Two things I'm itching to do this spring, fire the pit up for some 'Q' and attempt once again to do a smoked meatloaf and try to make some smoked grilled oysters.

The smoked meatloaf...I talked to WhiteTrashBBQ last year and tried it out and it was good, but I need to work on it some more, I didn't really have the right pan to grill this in.

Next the grilled oysters...

I love grilled shrimp and fish but I have only eaten oysters on the half shell.

When I saw a recipe for smoked grilled oysters that looked and read good, I said to myself I'm going to have to try that.

So my (To Cook) list is coming out of the closet for a new year of trial and error.

Lucky me...

The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been.

Big Daddy

It's been awhile...

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted to this blog.

I've done some experimenting with the pit this summer. Heating the pit with charcoal then switching to wood for cooking. Heating the pit with lump charcoal then switching to wood for cooking or heating the pit then cook with charcoal and wood.

Which of these methods works better? Well they all do...up to a point.

Lump charcoal and wood creates less ash to deal with in the fire box, but...you can have temperature spikes when more fuel is added. The trick is to get your pit temperature were you want it, then go with a smaller fire during cooking.

A pure wood fire in the pit box will work but you have to have plenty of air flow to burn clean, unless you burn the wood first into coals, then add it to the firebox, this is something I have not done yet.

I do not have any fancy gadget's or gizmo's or guru's on my pit. I'm totally old school pit master, fire tender style of barbecue cooking. It's done when it's done.

I've tried different charcoals (from what can be found here in Nashville) and found a few that work well. I'll name and talk about these later in a different post.

It's 'bout time to ice down some brews and watch some football.

The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been.

Big Daddy