True BBQ
Nothing beats the smoky spicy sweet melt-in-your-mouth taste of true barbecue, especially when you have waited, in mouthwatering anticipation all day long. My husband and I are fencing pastures for our horses, which gives me a wonderful opportunity to be outside all day and to barbecue a succulent pork butt. I start my BBQ at about 10-11 in the morning and check the temperature every 15 minutes or so. Hour after hour, the tantalizing aroma of barbecuing pork keeps us going. When we quit at the end of the day, that delicious smelling barbecue is ready and waiting for us. It is the perfect reward for a hard day’s work. Whether you’re barbecuing outside all day, or checking your barbecue from the comfort of your deck, we know you’ll agree, once you’ve cooked True BBQ it’ll be the beginning of a long love affair.

True BBQ is the technique of cooking meat with indirect heat at low temperature (180 to 300 degrees) with smoke, for a long period of time. Many people use the term ‘barbecue’ when they actually mean ‘grill’. Grilling means to cook food over direct heat, quickly. True BBQ can easily be made gluten-free style because rubs are made of spices and sugar and the best sauces and mops are homemade and easy to make with gluten-free ingredients.

Many claim to have originated barbecue, the French, the Caribbean’s and of course, the people of the good old southern USA. In the south, barbecuing was popular among the poor because barbecuing works best with less expensive cuts of meat that have more fat and cartilage.. The long cooking time, up to 16 hours, melts fat and turns cartilage into gelatin, making the meat tender, juicy and fall apart, or off the bone.

So find some shade, pull up a comfortable chair and let’s barbecue!

Types of Barbecues

There are many contraptions that will give you great barbecue results. For our class we used a Weber Kettle Grill.

Pit barbecue For the serious barbecue buff. The cost range is $500-2500 US!

Characteristics and Tips: Large area, can hold many meats

The fire pit area is off-set

Great heat and airflow control

Made out of solid steel

Weber Kettle Grill For the non-professional barbecue buff, the Weber Kettle Grill is a good choice because it is inexpensive and available almost everywhere.

Characteristics and Tips: Great results once you’ve practiced with it.

They don’t hold heat, so open as infrequently as possible and close the lid a quickly as possible

Use a small number of coals 10-12, check temperature frequently

Soaked wood chips should be placed directly on coals

Place coals over kettle vent

Place water pan on opposite side of coals

Place meat directly over water pan

Place the lid vent over meat wide open for air flow

Water Smokers These are cylindrical and have a dome-shaped lid. The fire is at the bottom with a water pan that separates the fire from the meat. These are great for smoking.

Characteristics and Tips: Larger area, it has two racks

This smoker was designed to BBQ

You must add heated water

The top rack will be hotter

Doesn’t hold heat, so don’t open

45-55 Gallon Drum These are the forefathers of custom smokers. You can purchase books on how to make your own.

Pellet Smokers Pellet smokers are fueled with wood pellets that are automatically fed into a firebox. These are primarily used for slow-smoking.

Gas Grill Although gas grills are more commonly used for grilling, they can be used to barbecue by turning one set of burners off and placing the meat on the side without the flame. The temperature should be at the low setting. For a smoke flavor, add water-soaked wood chips.

Woods and Other Fuels

Just as there are many types of barbecues, there are many types of fuels for the barbecue. Different fuels differ in heat temperature and the flavor they impart to meat.

Woods

Hardwood is the only recommended wood for barbecuing. Softwoods have too much resin and tar. Hardwoods for barbecuing are Hickory, Pecan Oak, Alder, Cherry, Apple or Maple. Wood can be used in logs, sticks, chunks and chips. Before adding smaller chunks or chips of wood to your barbecue, the wood must be soaked in water to moisten and allow it to impart its smoke. If you intend to use wood, use a combination of half wood and half charcoal. Wood by itself is difficult to master as a single fuel source.

Keep a bucket of water by your barbecue with wood chips in it. When you replenish your coals, you can also throw in a handful of chips.

Charcoal

Charcoal is available in the following:

• Kingsford Briquettes
• Hardwood Briquettes
• Lump Charcoal
• Mesquite Charcoal

All charcoals are not equal. Do not compromise your results by using inexpensive charcoal. We recommend and use Kingsford. The technique of True BBQ requires allot of charcoal and a consistent heat. You do not want to risk a fabulous meal that you have nursed all day to cheap charcoal. Also, you want a charcoal that burns at a lower temperature and one that burns slowly. Charcoal briquettes heat to 600 degrees, lump charcoal to 700 degrees and mesquite lump to 1000 degrees. Only hot coals should be added to the barbecue.

Charcoal by itself has little smoke flavor. The perfect barbecue fuel is half charcoal and half wood.

We do not recommend starting your coals with lighter fluid. Lighter fluid will taint the taste of the meat regardless what the fluid manufacturer says. We recommend using a chimney. Chimney’s can be found in hardware stores or many stores that carry barbecue accessories. Chimney’s cost about $13 US.

To light a chimney:

Fill the bottom of the chimney with crumpled up newspapers. Place the chimney on a second grill, (one you will not be barbecuing on), or on something that will hold the ash that the chimney will give off. Place about 8-10 briquettes in the top of the chimney and light the paper under the chimney. The charcoal will light every time. When the charcoal is hot and ready, add a few to your barbecue and replace with fresh charcoal in the chimney. You will continue to heat the charcoal throughout the entire cooking time in the chimney.

Essential Equipment

Knives

• Chef’s knife
• Boning knife
• Butcher knife
• Carving knife
• Paring knife

Thermometers

• Oven thermometer
• Meat thermometer
• Instant Read Meat thermometer
• Digital Read Meat thermometer
• Candy Thermometer

Oven Mitt

Plastic Spray Bottle To spray apple cider to moisten meats

Poultry Injector For injecting liquids into poultry

Plastic Wrap

Rags For clean up

Paper Towels

Fire Extinguisher Just in case…

Meat Tongs

Basting Brush

Mop For basting large pieces of meat

Chimney For starting coals and keeping them hot

Apron

Spatula

Cutting Board

Wire Brush For cleaning grill

General Information

No matter what kind of meat you barbecue, the technique is the same. Follow the following tips:

• Always start the meat at room temperature
• Generously sprinkle meat with a rub
• Bring barbecue up to cooking temperature before adding meat
• Most barbecuing temperatures range from 220 degrees to 250 degrees
• You can add lemon, coke to flavor the water inside the barbecue
• Open lid only when adding fuel and close as quickly as possible
• Use a thermometer check temperature inside barbecue frequently
• Keep heat as consistent as possible
• Turn meat over once it has reached half of cooking time
• Glaze meat with sauce 30 minutes before done
• Spray meat with apple cider occasionally to keep moist
• When meat is done, let cool and cut across the grain

Meat Safety Temperatures

• Refrigerate meat 40 degrees F & lower
• Kills trichinosis in pork 137 degrees F
• Controls E.coli in steaks 145 degrees F
• Controls E.coli in ground beef 160 degrees F

Cooked Meat Temperatures

• Pork butt/ Shoulders 170-180 degrees F
• Spare ribs 180 degrees F
• Baby Back ribs 180 degrees F
• Beef Brisket 160 degrees F
• Chicken 170-180 degrees F
• Salmon 135 degrees F
  
  

True BBQ Technique

Preparing the BBQ grill

Begin preparing the BBQ grill after you have prepared your meat. Clean the grill with a brush. It is not true that left over food will burn off. The grill surface needs to be clean each time you use it.

Begin by starting the coals in a chimney. While chimney is heating, place a container of water (I make a square or rectangle container out of foil and fill it with water about half full). Decide where you are going to place the meat, water and coals. The water container should be opposite the coals and the coals should be directly below the grill handle so you can add them without lifting the grill. The meat should be placed over the water container. When you position the lid, make sure the vent is wide open and over the meat. If you are going to use wood chunks or chips, have a bucket of water and chips near the barbecue. Make sure your tools are ready and handy; gloves or mitts, thermometers, tongs and of course, plenty of briquettes.

When the briquettes are ready inside the chimney, add 8-10 to the barbecue and immediately close the lid. Replenish the briquettes in the chimney and repeat this process until the meat is done. Place a thermometer (one that registers over 300 degrees), in one of the vent holes in the lid and keep checking the temperature, adding a few briquettes if necessary until the barbecue reaches the desired temperature. Add the meat and immediately close the lid. The next time you add briquettes, throw some wood chips on top of the coals. You may want to adjust the bottom vents to increase or decrease heat. The key to a good barbecue is slow consistent temperature. Check the temperature often and add briquettes as necessary to maintain the desired temperature. Spray the meat with apple juice periodically to keep it moist. Do this when you have the lid open, don’t open it just to spray it. When the meat is halfway through cooking, turn it. Turn it again two or three more times as it cooks. True barbecue can take up to 16 hours so prepare accordingly. About 30 minutes before the meat is done, brush or mop the meat with sauce.

Recipes

Pork Butt/Pork Shoulder

Ingredients:
One 5 pound pork butt
Rub: 3 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons paprika
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 Tablespoon pepper
1 Tablespoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons celery salt
2 teaspoons onion salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup apple juice
Barbecue sauce-optional

Trim the pork, leaving 1/4" of fat. Pat dry with a paper towel. Mix rub ingredients together until well blended and sprinkle all over pork generously. The pork butt should be at room temperature. Barbecue according to True BBQ Technique instructions keeping temperature consistent at 250 degrees F for hours. Pork should register 170-180 degrees when done. Meat should fall off the bone. Let cool 15 minutes before cutting.

Spare Ribs

Ingredients:
3-1/2 pounds ribs
Rub
Sauce
Apple juice

Directions:

Place the ribs meat side down on a cutting board. With a paring knife, cut away the membrane covering the ribs. This is somewhat difficult to do, but with a little patience the membrane will pull away from the bones. Removing the membrane will allow the rub to penetrate the meat. Sprinkle a rub generously all over ribs. Make sure the ribs are at room temperature. Barbecue at 225 degrees for 7 hours. Ribs are done when meat temperature is 180 degrees.

Tip: If you want to cook allot of ribs, roll the ribs and tie with string. Set the ribs standing up on the grill. They will cook perfectly and you can cook many slabs at once. Spray periodically with apple juice and baste with sauce 30 minutes before done.

Baby Back Ribs

Ingredients:
2-1/4 pounds baby back ribs
Rub
Sauce
Apple juice

Directions: Ribs should be at room temperature. Remove membrane. Sprinkle generously with a rub. Cook at 225 degrees for 5 hours. Spray periodically with apple juice and baste with sauce 30 minutes before done. Ribs are done when meat temperature is 180 degrees.

Chicken

Ingredients:

Whole chicken, with skin on Injection fluid: 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 ounce dry white wine
4 ounces grapefruit juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Rub
Sauce
Apple juice

Directions: Start with chicken at room temperature. Prepare injection fluid by mixing all ingredients until all dry ingredients are dissolved. Fill a poultry injector and inject liquid into breasts, legs, thighs and wings. Inject chicken and sprinkle with rub 8 hours before you barbecue. Chickens can be barbecued whole or butterflied. If you barbecue the chicken whole, set it on an empty soft drink can, so that the can is inserted into the body cavity. Cook the chicken for 6 hours at 225 degrees. Baste with apple juice every 1/2 hour. Baste with sauce 30 minutes before done. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Chicken is done when meat temperature is 170 - 180 degrees.

Salmon

Ingredients:
Salmon fillet
Marinade
Olive oil
Rub

Directions: Marinate salmon for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with rub. You can omit the marinade and just use a rub. Cook at 225 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes. Salmon is done when meat temperature is 135 degrees.

Rubs

Rubs are a combination of spices, sugars and salts. Rubs can be made with almost any combination, and are only limited by your imagination. We’ve prepared a formula that will let you experiment with flavors to develop your own special rub.

To make a rub, use 1 cup sugars, 1 cup salts, 1/3 to 1/2 cup paprika, 2-4 Tablespoons chili powder, 1-2 Tablespoons pepper, 3-4 spices and up to 1 teaspoon each.

Sugars:

• White sugar
• Gf brown sugar
• Corn sugar
• Maple sugar

Salts:

• Garlic salt
• Onion salt
• Celery salt
• Seasoned salt

Spices:

Allspice, basil, cayenne, celery, cilantro, chervil, chives, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, dill, dry mustard, fennel, garlic, ginger, horseradish powder, lemon pepper, lemon zest, marjoram, mint, nutmeg, onion powder, orange zest, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, tarragon, thyme, turmeric

Use the above combination and mix all ingredients together.

Rub Recipes

BBQ Poultry Rub Makes 3 cups

Ingredients:
1/2 cup garlic salt
1/2 cup onion salt
1/2 cup maple sugar
1/2 cup can sugar
1/2 cup paprika
2 Tablespoons lemon pepper
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons lime zest
1 Tablespoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground anise
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Combine all ingredients together and mix well. Rub generously over poultry. Store left-over rub in an air tight container.

BBQ Pork Rub Makes 2-1/2 cups

Ingredients:
1 cup gf brown sugar
1/2 cup celery salt
1/2 cup paprika
3 Tablespoons chili powder
2 Tablespoons black pepper
1 Tablespoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Rub generously over pork. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes, or in marinate in refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Store in an air tight container.

Kansas City Rub Makes 2-1/2 cups

Ingredients:
1 cup cane sugar
1/3 cup paprika
1/4 cup seasoned salt
1/4 cup garlic salt
1/4 cup celery salt
2 Tablespoons onion salt
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 Tablespoons black pepper
1 Tablespoon lemon pepper
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Rub generously over meat. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes or marinate in refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Store in an air tight container.

BBQ Sauces

Sauce is made from a combination of Tomato ingredients, Sweet ingredients, Sour ingredients, Liquid flavors, and Spices. Use this formula to create your own special sauce: Tomato ingredients 4 cups, Sweet 1 cup, Sour start with a little and add up to 1 cup, Liquid flavors up to 1/4 cup, Spices up to 4 teaspoons of any combination plus 2 Tablespoons chili powder and 1 Tablespoon black pepper.

Tomato Ingredients

• Gf ketchup
• Gf tomato paste
• Gf tomato sauce

Sweet Ingredients

• White sugar
• Gf brown sugar
• Honey
• Molasses
• Corn syrup
• Corn sugar
• Maple syrup

Sour Ingredients

• Vinegar
• Lemon
• Lime
• Grapefruit
• Wine

Liquid Flavors

Coffee, tea, fruit juices, hot sauce, soft drinks, gf soy sauce, gf broth, Worcestershire sauce

Spices

Same as for rubs

Directions:

Mix the sugar and other dry ingredients together and add half the liquids. Over medium-heat, dissolve the dry ingredients into the liquid. Add the ketchup and any thick syrups or honey and stir. Heat to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining sour liquid and seasonings to taste.

BBQ Sauce Recipes

All-Around BBQ Sauce Makes 2-1/2 cups

Ingredients:
3/4 cup crushed pineapple
1/2 cup gf catsup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons gf brown sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons wine vinegar
2 tablespoons gf soy sauce
1 Tablespoon gf mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon gf hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Sauce can be stored in refrigerator for up to one week and frozen up to 3 months.

Kansas City BBQ Sauce Makes 4-1/2 cups

Ingredients:
3/4 cup gf brown sugar, packed
1-2 Tablespoons ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon mace
1 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup water
32 ounces gf catsup

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sauce will store in refrigerator for several weeks.

Mop Sauce Makes 4 cups

Ingredients:
2 cups gf beef stock
1 cup root beer
2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1-1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon gf hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Mop on desired meats.