The Champagne of Blogs

My lovely wife picked up Barbecue Secrets Deluxe by Ron Shewchuk for me at the library a while back, and I haven’t been able to put it down since. This has caused a number of problems, including the fact that I can’t read about making BBQ without this weird Pavlovian trickle of drool running down my chin. The solution is to chew on jerky while reading, I’ve found.

Shewchuk is apparently a hot dog of the competitive BBQ world (what kind of awesome job is THAT?), but more importantly, he writes with the kind of infectious glee that makes you want to stay up all night nursing a brisket to perfection. And so I’ve been dreaming about what the 2009 BBQ season will bring.

In the world of BBQ, I am puny, puny amateur. But this year might be a turning point. For one, I finally found a good BBQ store in Hometown Hearth and Grills. Having secured wood for smoking (cherry, alder, maple, oak) to go along with the Smokenator (my Smokenator review), I have also tricked most of the family into thinking there is magic in my grill. I am proud to say that people have requested my BBQ — yes, they have of their own free will actually asked me to bring BBQ to the family gatherings.

That said, BBQ season in Oregon doesn’t really kick off until June or so due to what I will charitably describe as variable weather conditions. But I want to go into the 2009 BBQ season at full speed, so I figured I’d better start early.

Three weeks ago, I set up the pop-up tent (a must-have for the year-round cook in Oregon) and invited the boys over for beer and BBQ. (Have you seen Dave’s insane recipe for Broken Shard ChardonnIPA yet?)

We had three kettles going for beer-brewing, while I had two racks of ribs going over maple in the Weber with the Smokenator.

I rubbed the ribs with a cup of brown sugar, two tablespoons of kosher salt, and two tablespoons of chili powder. They smoked for three hours at about 240 degrees. Mistake No. 1: too hot!

Then I let them rest in a foil packet in the oven for 215 degrees. Mistake No. 2: I forgot to put honey and whiskey into the foil packets.

Then I forgot about the ribs completely, since we were drinking Belgian Kriek beers like they were going out of style. I served the ribs almost straight out of the oven. Mistake No. 3: I prefer to let them rest for 30 minutes in the foil (but out of the oven) and then throw them on a very hot grill before serving.

All in all, the ribs were pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. It goes to show that pre-season is where you work out the kinks.

Today, I’m test-driving some sausages from Woodstock’s Otto’s Sausage Kitchen with cherry wood. I’ve never smoked anything with cherry wood before, so it’s good to try it when only my wife and I will suffer if it was a bad call.

But back to the pre-season weather: Making BBQ in springtime Oregon requires a certain dedication, I feel. It’s pouring down rain today. The Smokenator is sitting mostly under the eaves of the house because it’s too windy for the Pop Up Tent. I’m rockin’ a wide-brimmed wool hat to keep the rain off my glasses. My trusty cycling jacket from Shower’s Pass keeps me dry, and I wear a pair of white rubber boots from my Dr. Horrible Costume because my back yard looks like Dagobah (“Barbecue you make, hmm?”).

But no worries. A little rain now will make the summertime all the sweeter. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check those sausages.