The Hampton Smoker

What's up wtih what's going down? Does a tree falling on the ocean with no one around make a sound? Barbecue, BBQ, Bar-b-que. It's all in how you sell it.

Friday, December 30, 2005

Time To Ring Some Changes

'Sup, peoples?

I promise more frequent updates in the next few weeks-- just been chasing our tails the last few. But I want to wish you all a joy-filled, happy, healthy new year. To my friends out there who have been hitting every bump in the road-- I'm right there with you, but I promise that things will smooth out. They always do. It just doesn't feel that way when you're getting your a** handed to you. Hang in there.

Just added another awesome site The Survival Gourmet to the links on the right side of the page. The site is run by BigMista who can not only make some kickin' barbeque, but dishes up a variety of cusines, while generously sharing recipes, tips, and advice. Highly recommended reading. Below is a preview of what you'll find on his page.


See ya in '06!! BYC, out.

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Monday, December 19, 2005

Working for the Weekend

Hiroshi and I went out to the East End on Saturday morning to cook up some 'que that people ordered from us for the Holidays. It's a long day to travel 3 hours, lugging up-to 50 or more pounds of iced meat, before you even get to cooking for 10 or more hours straight. Add to that splitting the oak and hickory used in the cooking, making the rubs, trimming the meat, etc...I love it more than most things, but sometimes I'm glad that I don't do this every single day. Aw, who am I kidding. I would do it every day.

Amy and I made a night of it on Friday and had some drinks and stayed up too late talking and laughing, so Saturday morning came around hard. We thought it was
going to be a small batch, but...We had a 9 pound ham, a 15 pound brisket, 3 4lb chickens, 2 racks of ribs and their trimmings, 2 4 pound chuck rolls, and two bricks of tofu for some veggie-lovin' hippies. I've actually wanted to do some more tofu for a while. People like that stuff. Oh, well.

The brisket was pretty hefty

We cooked that and the chuck for about 17 hours. 6 of those hours were in the smoke, then they went into aluminum trays. It was pretty cool after dark and we had a flask of single malt to help us along. Eventually, sadly, the brisket and chuck went into the oven at 200 degrees while we got about 3 or 4 hours of sleep. It was a long day and we had to sleep, couldn't trust the charcoal basket which was untested when unwatched, and didn't want to use the gas. When I got up I took the brisket out of the pan, separated the fat and liquid. The meat was sliced and chunked (burnt ends). It turned out moist, tender and tasty. I put together a little hungover presentation breakfast plate for Hiroshi.


I'd never smoked any chuck before, but these were 'very affordable' and looked promising. I've heard good things before. Well, they had a 'spongy' feel before cooking and took on a beautiful color--almost burgundy. I removed them and separated the juices and the fat. They were moist, but didn't get quite pullable or tender like brisket. We chopped it up, tossed it with some jar sauce, horseradish, heinz 57 and a mixture of the jus from the brisket and chucks. We had those with biscuits for breakfast with coffee.

The ribs have been turning out pretty consistent the last few cooks. They wanted them sauced this time, so we made a little honey-bbq sauce finish for these bad boys and based on the trimmings they were just fine. We snacked on brisket and chuck, foodsaved the vittles and were back on the road for the city by 4. Here's one last rib for ya.

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Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Happy Hour Again

Evening, podnahs. Just having a Stella and making a few changes to clean house around here. I think I've finally just about gotten the links on the right side of the page in some kind of order. I also felt the main page was getting slow to load, so I've shortened it up. I hope y'all dig. I just found out the Firefox is mac-friendly for blogger. Yay! Hey, anyone that knows anything about computers (mac, preffered), layout, html, etc...that wants to give me a shout, that would be so very nice. I feel mostly like the blind leading...me.

Anywho. You may notice down on the right side of the page, that I added a pig. Do not fear the pig. The pig is a friend that will introduce you to the Brothers in Smoke, the BBQ-Brethren. A pretty cool group of dudes that know what they're talking about--and what you're talking about, when they describe the bbq experience, the smoke, the taste, the time, and the laughs. It's the real deal, people. Also, the founder, Phil ("The Poobah", they call him), is right there, hands on with the group, giving out tons of must-have tips and advice, as well as a good dose of humility and humour, left and right.

Phil's actually running for the KCBS board in the upcoming elections, and from what I've seen he should be an outstanding addition to the organization. It would be pretty awesome and timely to have a rep from this area who can bridge a connection between what's happening here and what's going on in the heart of the country. Ya know, I have to confess that, although it is a great orgranization that does some important things, I've been on the fence about joining KCBS because I wasn't sure I'd ever compete, but this is the best reason I've heard yet to get off my butt and do it, because Phil has totally got my vote.

Unless someone better comes along. Just kidding, duuuuude.

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Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Manic Monday

I like the Bangles, ok? What're you gonna do about it?

Besides, it's true. We've been super duper busy. That's more busy than regular super busy. Monday I was in Jersey City by 9 for an all-day-kind-of meeting, but was able to get home a little early and surprise Amy, who surprised me instead by having some nice boneless pork chops waiting for me. We both reached for the hoisin sauce at the same time, and we knew the plan.

They got a little splash of rub, including ground ginger, garlic powder, powedered chicken stock, five-spice, tellicherry pepper, a little lemon pepper and maybe something else (sorry-- I have to take notes). I mixed the hoisin with a bit of honey and made a glaze out of that. There might have been other stuff in that, too.

Here are the chops being grilled on the cast iron:

And after the glaze:

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Friday, December 09, 2005

You Aint Fat, You Aint Nuthin'

You think you're bad? Ever stuff yourself silly, then moan and groan that you 'over did it'? Think a hero aint nuthin' but a sandwich? Well then check out this link to redefine your food universe.

The Association of Independent Competitive Eaters


My friend, Speed Eater is ranked #24. Not bad for a beanpole (aka skinny kid).

There's a potato latke eating competition coming up on Long Island. Who's down?

National Potato Latke Eating Competition
Sunday, December 18, 2005 @ 11:00am
Zan's Deli -135 Alexander Ave, Lake Grove, Long Island
First Place $250
Click here for the entry form

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Thursday, December 08, 2005

1st Annual Winter 'Que Fest


Howdy, my friends. Sorry to be away so long, but life has been getting in the way of living. My buddy, Robert, from the always awesome WhiteTrashBBQ gave me a kick in the butt, so here's a quick update.

Last Saturday, Amy and I hosted our first ever Annual Winter Q Fest at our place in Queens. This started with us having so many people to whom we owed bbq invites, that we decided to get it all in at once. We still missed a bunch of folks, but we had 12 people over to eat ribs, chicken, brisket, pulled pork and baked beans. We started at 7:30 in the evening and were locking the door and turning out the lights around 2 in the morning. Whew. We drank alot of beer, spiked apple cider and wine that night. Fortunately, there were only two spills.
It was great seeing everyone, and I think this will be a tradition we'll want to keep up. In fact, I wish it could be more than once a year, but somehow it keeps getting harder and harder to figure out everyone's schedules these days. What's happened to us? At least Lois was able to party like she was just a little kitten again, huh?

Not sure who invented this, but it has kicked around the bbq world for a little while:

Hot Apple Pie

1 Gallon Apple Cider
5-6 cinnamon sticks
1 cup honey or more to suit taste
1 bottle (fifth) Capt Morgan's Spiced Rum
Combine cider and cinnamon and let simmer until hot
Once cider is hot add the honey and stir to dissolve
Dump the Morgan's in and stir and serve.
Tastes just like the center of an Apple Pie. Great for cooler days & nites.

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