So it actually did turn out to be a gorgeous day this past Saturday. We went to watch the Tiger's play their last home game of the season and we destroyed Tulsa as if we were a "golden hurricane." Haha! Great way to end a good season! Yeah, Go Tigers! Now on to the C-USA tournament! After the game we came home to start practicing our ribs for the Smoke on the Water BBQ contest we are competing in next weekend. Below is the menu & pictures of items we cooked/ prepared on a fun filled day of "Smokin in the Backyard." On the Menu:
2 Slabs of Ribs
Armadillo Eggs
Chicken Legs
2 Pork Tenderloins
BBQ Sauce and Rub
The Smoker
Chicken Legs, Ribs and Sausage
Ribs that have been rubbed (top ribs with "Dirty Boar Rub Down" & bottom ribs with "XXX Rub")
Placing the ribs on the smoker. The ribs will be smoked"slow & low" at approx. 250 degrees for about 6-7 hours.
This is what the ribs and pork tenderloins look like after a couple of hours of being smoked. The pork tenderloins do not take as long to smoke as the ribs so we took the tenderloins off the smoker about 30 minutes after this was taken.
After the ribs have been on the smoker for at least 3 hours, we take them out and wrap them in foil. We go by the 3-2-1 method. Meaning we smoke the ribs for 3 hours, wrap them in foil and place them back on the smoker for 2 hours then about 1 hour before the ribs are finished take them out of the foil and add the finishing glaze then place them back on the smoker until tender and ready to serve. Of course this method varies depending on the smoker you use and how steady the temperature remains throughout the cooking process. Also, wrapping them in foil keeps the ribs from drying out and allows us to add more flavor.
After several hours of smoking, the ribs were finally ready to eat. A common myth about ribs is if they fall off the bone they are tender and cooked just right; however, if the meat falls off the bone the ribs are actually overcooked. A rib that is cooked just right will easily tare from the bone with little effort (you don't want the meat to fall right off but you also don't want to be yanking at the meat either). The most important thing about ribs and really any pork that is smoked is "the smoke ring," which is a pink circle that outlines the meat. Just because you still see pink does not mean that the ribs and or pork is not cooked; it's just the "smoke ring" and that is a good thing! I personally liked the ribs with the "XXX Rub" because it was spicy and sweet but everyone else seemed to like the ribs with the "Dirty Boar Rub Down" which was mainly sweet. So we will see which one we end up using for competition. Maybe a mixture of both!
Adam making his BBQ sauce, which placed 3rd at the Tennessee Funfest this past June.
Adam's BBQ Sauce. Saucy!
Ethan making Armadilllo Eggs. Ingredients include hot sausage, fresh jalapeno's (hollowed out), cream cheese, velveeta & fajita spices. Basically you stuff the jalapeno's with a cheesey mixture of cream cheese, velveeta & fajita spices. Then wrap the jalapeno with the hot sausage and shape into an egg. Smoke for a couple of hours until sausage is cooked.
Yum.....Armadillo Eggs! These were actually pretty good. They were spicy, cheesy & sweet. We are not really sure where the sweetness came from but it was a nice surprise. Last night I actually chopped the leftover Armadillo Eggs up, placed them on some chips added some cheese and salsa to make nacho's! Ole!
Ethan injecting the chicken legs with creole cajun butter
Finished Chicken Legs. Scrumptious!These were so juicy and tasty!
EAT up! Bon Appetit!
