Smoked ribs

If you don't have a smoker, I feel bad for you son, I got 99 problems but my ribs ain't one! A little Jay-Z always starts a Friday off right, huh!?  Anyway...I'm betting Jay-Z doesn't know how to make ribs like this (and even if he does, how cool would it be to have a rib-off with the Hova...let me know when if you happen upon this post, Jay)!

These were one of the big family (10+ friends) dinners we had at the lake over the 4th of July, and I'll be completely honest with you, it's the one I was looking the most forward to that week. Oh, and although he didn't know what was coming, it was Sam's favorite meal too...holy dog bones, Batman!!

I got 3 big racks or pork ribs at HyVee, and we had enough left over afterwards for about 3 people's meals the next day. We rubbed them with olive oil, Lawry's, and garlic salt before placing them on the smoker at 240 degrees for about 6 hours.  We went for an internal temperature of 165 degrees with a meat thermometer but knowing when your ribs are done is a lot harder than one might think. Check out this website for tips and tricks on testing your done-ness. 

After they smoked their little hearts out all afternoon, we sent them to the grill and slathered their skins with some Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce to char some of the outer bark and seal the smoky flava flav inside.  Let them rest for 5 minutes when you take them off the grill, just like any other meat. I never seem to get any pictures of ribs on the plate after they're done...it's like I just can't wait to get them in my mouth, my mind loses all focus and just starts chewing. They do look pretty snazzy on the grill though!

I'm not really going to just sit here and brag about these smoked ribs without helping you out a little if you don't have a smoker...don't worry. If you don't own a smoker, go ahead and give Aunt Lisa's ribs a try...they're my go-to family recipe so you know they're on the favorites list! Now, I release you on this Friday to go forth and get yoself some ribbage!  Enjoy your weekend, all!

Justin's baked beer can chicken

We usually do our smoked chicken the exact same way each time....but Justin couldn't seem to find the recipe when he was injecting, rubbing, and preparing our last bird for the smoker.  So he went a little off on his own tangent...and it turned out fabulous!

1 whole chicken

1 beer

Tony C's creole seasoning

1 cup butter

1 T lemon juice

2 cloves fresh garlic

1 T garlic powder

salt

pepper

1/2 onion, chopped

Rub the chicken with olive oil and then a liberal amount of Tony C's creole seasoning. Dump 1/4 of the beer into a bowl and put a half an onion and 2 cloves of fresh garlic in it before propping your chicken up on the beer can (this is way easier with the beer can chicken apparatus we have on hand for our smoking adventures).  You can find one of these HERE!

Mix the rest of the ingredients, no amounts listed of course, and use a meat injector to send the liquid into the chicken...filling it as full as the bird will hold. One cup of butter is usually the base and then we use the lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste, and I hear now we use the 1/4 of the beer we're not using inside the chicken as well.  So the chicken was, in fact, injected with beer as well...which scared me.

Weird, but it came out delicious! There really is no right or wrong way to do these chickens so using your imagination is totally welcome. The main ingredient I would say is the Tony C's for the rub...that stuff is a Godsend, let me tell you! Thanks to my NOLA friend, Amanda for introducing me to it :)

When your chicken has an internal temperature of 165 degrees, you can mow down on it. Sometimes we finish the chickens in the oven and roast them, so the smoker doesn't dry them out too bad. Usually that isn't an issue with the beer can of liquid and the injections for it to soak in during cooking.

Do you have any interesting ways you prepare chicken on a smoker? This is one of our favorite easy meals...it's totally hands off once you get the chicken prepared to cook...and it always turns out better than those store bought rotisserie birds...and for a fraction of the cost. Since when does life ever work out like that??

These roasted brussel sprouts are one of our favorite side dishes now....I'm so glad we both bit the bullet and gave a new veggie a try because these are a staple in our house now! I realize they sound scary, but give this recipe a try and I will be very suprised if you don't end up having a craving for these afterwards...

Cajun smoked beer butt chicken

I'm going to tell you exactly what to do to make the best chicken you've ever had.  I'm not kidding here, we've tried every mop, marinade, rub, baste, and injection you could think of and have perfected the art of a whole chicken on the smoker....the best ones we've found are on http://www.smokerking.com/ and these are the best of those.  You want to make sure you do all 3 things: inject, rub, and baste.  Okkkkkk, GO!

Here's what you put in the beer cans:

3 cloves of garlic
a few pieces of chopped onion
half the beer that was in the can to begin with (open the top of the beer can as far as you can without cutting yourself on the edges)

Here's what you put in your chicken (inject it with a meat syringe in all the meatiest places, 2 birds should take on all the following liquid and hold it):

1/2 cup melted butter
3 T of Tony Chachere's creole seasoning
1 T garlic powder
1/2 cup vinegar

Here's what you rub the chickens with:

olive oil
Tony chachere's creole seasoning (very liberally)

Here's what you baste the chickens with every hour for the 4 hours they cook:

1.5 cups butter (melted)
1/4 cup vinegar
4 minced garlic cloves
1 T fresh cracked black pepper
2 t lime juice
1 T red pepper flakes
1 t oregano
1 t cumin

DISCLAIMER:  No promises on how healthy this is...there's a lotta butta and olive oil in these rubs and bastes.  I will promise you that it will be the best chicken you've ever had though...totally worth the time to throw it on the smoker for an afternoon.  We did 2 chickens for fathers day dinner (between 3-4 lbs a piece) and it took about 4 hours on 180 degrees in the electric smoker.  I can't put into words how much I liked this chicken so you'll just have to try it yourself if you want to know.  I thought about making chicken salad with the leftover for J's lunches but there's no way I'm going to ruin that flavor with mayo and all that jazz...leftovers tonight!

I really think injecting is the way to go with the smoker, I always feel like the smoker dries things out but this chicken was (gulp) so MOIST!! I absolutely despise that word, some of you know that....but there's no other way to describe this meat....fan-flipping-tastical!