The BBQ Guy Blog 

Detroit International Auto Show

My wife and I attended the Detroit International Auto Show today in downtown Detroit.

I enjoyed looking at all the new concept vehicles and seeing all the newest ideas from the automotive designers. We?re Ford fans, so we enjoyed the sections housing the Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Mazda, Land Rover and Jaguar mostly; and spent more than 3 hours perusing just those sections. We did take a quick walk through the Chrysler/Dodge area and even stopped by to see the newest Jeep vehicles.

On the Ford side of things the Fusion, Five Hundred, Sport Trac Concept, and of course the new economy sport SUV concept captured our attention.

We enjoyed the people watching almost equal to seeing all the vehicles. We were kind of comparing the spokesmodels from the different brands and noticed that the Jeep spokesmodels seemed to be garnering the most interest from the spectators at large, while the Chevrolet Corvette spokesperson had a large contingent of 50ish men standing by and asking questions.

The areas displaying the import brands from Japan seemed to be receiving the least attention. I guess that would be expected though, because the economy of Detroit and surrounding areas, Michigan as a whole, and the U.S. in general depends largely on manufacturing and upon the U.S. auto industry.

I for one wouldn?t drive an import vehicle if it was given to me and I will remain a loyal Ford customer far, far into the future.

BBQ Ribs Recipe

When I cook ribs I like to experiment wtih different flavors and cooking methods.

Here's a recipe for a rib rub you might want to try sometime if you're looking for an experiment for baby back ribs:

Rib Rub

1/8 cup black pepper
1/8 cup salt
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup paprika
1 tblsp chili powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp cumin

Sprinkle the rib rub on the ribs and refrigerate in Ziploc bag overnight
Cook ribs for 2 hours at 225 degrees in your favorite bbq smoker with hickory or apple wood chunks.
Wrap in foil meat side down and cook for additional 1 1/2 hours at 225 degrees
(add about 2 oz of fruit juice to the foil)
Remove from foil and check for doneness. If close to finished, meat should pull away from the bone with just a gentle tug with your fingers.

If almost done, sprinkle brown sugar coating liberally on the ribs (meat side up) and continue cooking for 15-20 minutes allow sugar to carmelize.

Add generous coating of some type of bbq sauce like Kraft or K.C. Masterpiece adding a little honey for sweetness. Cook for additional 10 minutes to set the sauce.

Enjoy!

BBQ Sauce

I'd like to share my theory about barbecue sauce.

If you're cooking for family and friends or even for bbq judges in competition, you need to strive to make a sauce that will appeal to the majority of your guests or judges.

I'd recommend using a basic sauce like Kraft or Masterpiece and then tweaking it with some honey or extra brown sugar.

The advantage to this sweet version versus a spicy sauce, is that most people can tolerate extra sweetness, even if they don't like sweet bbq sauce, but for those that are offended by spicy and hot sauces, they won't tolerate the heat. Very few people like truly HOT spicy bbq sauce.

So, the moral of this story....if you like hot sauce, save it for your personal meals and don't serve it to judges or your family or neighborhood gatherings.

(You can easily test this theory at your next event, by preparing two types of sauce for your guests to use and you'll soon see that the sweet sauce will see more use.)

Detroit Area BBQ Restaurants

I was reading some posts tonight on various internet web sites about bbq and noticed an "anonymous" poster who implied that Michigan had "more than a few" bbq restaurants.

I have to say that in my area of the Michigan, there really aren't that many bbq restaurants. The one restaurant that I have been to serves their spare ribs whole and smothered in sauce. That is to say that this restaurant doesn't serve a St. Louis style rib (my personal preference) and the ribs had a lot of grizzle that hadn't been trimmed off and they were smothered in a sauce that was not particularly good.

If you know of some good bbq restaurants in the Detroit area, drop me an e-mail. I'd be interested in checking them out. I'll post my impression of them here on the blog.

Burnt Ends Blog

I have added a link to Doug Wargul's Burnt Ends Blog to the External Links section of my blog page.

Check out his blog site when you have time.

Baked Potatoes

My niece recently made these potatoes for a family gathering.

Ashley's Awesome Potatoes
(recipe is for 3 large potatoes, increase accordingly for more potatoes.)

Bake potatoes until done.

Allow them to cool.

Cut the potatoes lengthwise.

Carefully scoop out the pulp. Leave the skin shells intact.

Put the pulp in a bowl and add 1/2 up butter, 1/4 cup milk, 2 tbsp of chopped onion 1 1/2 tbsp parsley flakes, 1/4 tsp of dry mustard, pinch of salt, pinch of pepper, 2 slices of processed American cheese (cut into small strips). Mix until fluffy and then add the pulp potato mixture back into the potato skins.

Bake at 400 degrees for an additional 15 minutes or until you think they are done.

The Legendary Sammi Smith

I was listening to Sirius Satellite radio this afternoon and heard a song by legendary Sammi Smith entitled ?Help Me Make it Through the Night?. I remember hearing that song on a.m. radio programs growing up and have heard on a Golden Oldies program when traveling late at night.

If you?re not familiar with Sammi Smith or other ?traditional? country artists like her, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Even it you?re not a country music fan, it?s a story worth reading.

Sammi Smith is a true country performer and her song ?Help Me Make it Through the Night? has been recognized as one of the Top 100 country songs of all time.

I vote for putting the ?country? back in Country music.



[link=http://www.takecountryback.com/legends/sammismith.htm ]Sammi Smith biography[/link]



Purchase Sammi Smith CD

Snowstorm

It's been snowing all week and I just had to cook some bbq.

Brisket Experiment

I spent some time at the in-laws conducting a little brisket experiment and have almost reached a conclusion that as far as seasoning a brisket: less is more.

Of course that goes for a lot of things besides brisket, but I think I like the basic taste provided by a simple rub and a simple sauce.

Time will tell I guess, but it was a hit with the in-laws over the holidays.

I'm still working on some other brisket "secrets", which I'm not a liberty to share with you right now. They might turn out to be "competition secrets" if you know what I mean.

I will say that I have been experimenting with various "rest" periods and timeframes before slicing the brisket. I may have hit onto something.

Blues Hog Rub and BBQ Sauce

I received the Blues Hog products in the mail today. They look good. I won't be able to try them out until it warms up a little, but when I do, I'll post a review.