Smoke Signals from AmazingRibs.com ~ May 27, 2010
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Here are some of my most popular articles with direct links.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

anatomy of a rib

TECHNIQUE
For both the beginner and expert, here are articles on how to get 'er done right.

2-ZONE COOKING

BEST GAS GRILL SETUP

BEST CHARCOAL GRILL SETUP

BEST OFFSET SMOKER SETUP

BEST WEBER SMOKEY MOUNTAIN SETUP

MEAT SCIENCE

THERMODYNAMICS OF COOKING

MEAT TEMP GUIDE

pulled pork
RECIPES
Scores of tested restaurant quality recipes carefully explained so even novices can be great cooks.
 

LAST MEAL RIBS

RECIPES FOR THE CLASSIC REGIONAL BBQ SAUCES

MEATHEAD'S MEMPHIS DUST

PERFECT PULLED PORK

STEAKHOUSE STEAKS

TEXAS BEEF BRISKET

ULTIMATE SMOKED TURKEY

BUXOM CHICKEN BREASTS

SEARED SALMON ON A SALAD

LAMB LOIN CHOPS

CHICAGO ITALIAN BEEF SANGWICHES 

HOT DOGS

HAMBURGERS

GRILLED PIZZA

BOURBON BAKED BEANS

THE ZEN OF SLAW

GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

ULTIMATE CORN ON THE COB

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BUYER'S GUIDES
Unbiased recommendations for the best products for the back yard cook.
 
 
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About Smoke Signals

meatheadSmoke Signals is the free email newsletter from AmazingRibs.com's Barbecue Whisperer & Hedonism Evangelist, Meathead. I use it to tell folks about new stuff on the site and whatever else I think might interest you. If you like my website, please click here to . And remember: No rules in the bedroom or dining room!
USDA Changes Cooking Temp Recommendations

steak

 

On Tuesday 5/24 the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), with much fanfare, finally changed its cooking temp recommendations which were waaaay out of date and universally ignored by Chefs and skilled cooks.

 

meat guideThere has been a lot of press over this, but they really only changed one thing of significance, the recommendations for pork chops and pork roasts. I'm guessing the pork lobby spent big bucks and a lot of time camped at Secretary Tom Vilsack's door. Makes me wonder where the beef lobby is sleeping.

One thing has not changed: If you follow USDA recommendations 100% you will be 100% safe and doomed to terrible steaks and lamb chops. And as usual, in its effort to make one set of easy to understand rules suitable for a refrigerator magnet, the government has oversimplified. Click here for the new recommendations and the whole story.  

 

On the same subject, if you have never stumbled into it, my meat temperature guide is by far the most complete table of this type that you'll ever find. Put this one on your fridge

For Memorial Day: Italian Sassidge Sangwitches
italian sausages
"You want a sassidge sangwitch? I'll give you a sassidge sangwitch."
Tony Soprano, grabbing his crotch, outside Satirale's Pork Store in New Jersey

 

satrialesMy wife's Italian American family cannot have a gathering without Italian Sassidge Sangwitches, and there is a gatehring almost every weekend. There certainly will be one this Memorial Day.

 

Once served only at the homes of Italian immigrants, Italian sausages have been discovered around the nation. Maybe it was the Sopranos. Just look at the window of the famous fictional New Jersey butcher shop while the boys were sitting out front, there's a huge neon pig pushing the Italian Sausage.

 

Italian Sausage is a versatile ingredient and it commonly shows up on pizza, in red sauce with mostaccioli, in bean soups, and in bread stuffings. But it is in its greatest glory in sangwitches with peppers and onions on a soft spongy roll dripping with olive oil. Here's how we do it Italian Sausage Sandwiches Chicago. 

The Different Cuts of Pork

pork_cutsIt would be nice if the nomenclature for meat cuts were the same from animal to animal, and from country to country. Alas, they are not. A standing rib roast (beef) is the same as a rack of lamb is the same as a bone-in pork roast or pork crown roast. Beef short ribs are pretty much the same as pork spare ribs, but don't ask for beef spare ribs because there is no such thing.

Then there are regional variations, and even some local variations. There is a standard guidebook for butchers, the North American Meat Processors Association Meat Buyers Guide, and it shows photos and assigns names and numbers to the different cuts from animals. If you are serious about meat, you should spring for one (just click the link to order it from Amazon).  

 

I have recently expanded the page with info about the different cuts of pork and, at the bottom of the page, I've added a series of excellent videos on how a side of hog is butchered into the major cuts.

Kermit's Second Favorite Pork Chop
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Pork chops and pork steaks are blank canvases. They love to be painted with herbs, spices, smoke, and sauces. But they can be dry, so there are a few tricks to getting great chops. There are also several different cuts you need to know, but my favorite cooking method works equally well on all cuts. When handled properly, all cuts make richly flavored and juicy fun. The major differences are tenderness and price. Click here to read my recipe for Kermit's Second Favorite Pork Chop. 

Smoked Chicken, Georgia Style

smoked chicken

I posted this recipe a few months ago but forgot to tell you about it in Smoke Signals.

 

Smoked chicken is like liver. You either love it or hate it. In the South, you can start a fight by voicing a preference for smoked chicken or fried chicken. This method will produce a delicate, moist bird if you don't overcook it, so there is no need to even consider brining it. 

New Maverick Thermometer. Get it!
maverick thermometer

If you've been waiting to pull the trigger on a oven/grill/smoker thermometer and/or a meat thermometer, now's the time.

 

The Maverick ET-732 Wireless Barbecue Thermometer is a very cool tool. There are two probes and cables, one to insert into the meat, and another to leave in your oven/grill/smoker. Both probes plug into a transmitter module that sends temperatures to a receiver module that you can take into the living room with you and place on the coffee table next to the beer and chips. That's right, with the Maverick ET-732 you can monitor your grill and your meat while you watch the game. You can also set the timer to remind you when to start the side dishes or wake you up if the game is really boring, or set it for a target temp, and an alarm will let you know when the meat is ready.

 

The new model has a greater range than the old one, up to 300'. The probes also can withstand more heat, up to 572�F, far better than the 410�F of the previous model. You can set it to read either Fahrenheit or Celcius.

 

There is a backlight so it can be viewed in the dark, both the sender and receiver have stands for easy viewing, and it also comes with a nifty clip that holds the oven probe just above the grill grates so it isn't misled by the tip touching metal. You can easily pop open the battery compartment of the receiver, but the sender's battery cover screws down over an o-ring to make it more water resistent so you will need a tiny Phillips head jeweler's screwdriver to insert the batteries, they did not include one. Many eyeglasses screwdrivers will work.

 

They solved the startup sequence issue: You can now switch on either unit in whatever order you want. There is now an alarm that tells you if you've gotten out of range of the sender, and there is a synch button in case the two units lose their link. And finally, you no longer have to remove the stand and battery cover to switch on the transmitter! The interface is fairly easy, but it's no iPhone. Keep the (much improved) manual handy in case you can't remember which button to push.

 

Maverick has good tech support. When my old receiver began to malfunction, they told me the problem sounded like a bad backlight and told me to ship it back for a replacement. No question about when I bought it. I never identified myself as a writer, so I am confident I got the same treatment as you would. Cables sometimes fray or malfunction, and the manual cautions you not to submerse them and the probes, so you should consider buying a spare set.

 

It is important to know that the food probe is designed for roasts and thick pieces of meat. You may not get accurate readings on thin steaks, chops, and other thin cuts. For those, I prefer the faster, thinner thermocouples. Click the link above for discount pricing and direct ordering from Amazon.com.

Designing Your Outdoor Kitchen
storage cart

What's Irish and spends all winter in the garage? Paddy O'Furniture. Badum pum. Anonymous Author, and a good thing

As my little website business has grown and as I devoted more time to writing about outdoor cooking, my wife got really tired of tripping over me in the kitchen. I needed organization, storage, and work surfaces out back. So I started researching outdoor kitchens, and brother, I have learned that this is a concept that has really arrived.

Nowadays we are cooking and eating more and more meals outdoors, like Tuscans. For many Americans, the back yard has become a second kitchen, dining room, and living room. It's easy to understand why. Life is just more relaxed outdoors. Put a roast on the grill and play frisbee with your dog. Put on a slab of ribs in the smoker, take a short nap in the hammock. Put a bird on the rotisserie, mow the lawn. Dine with the birds or under candle light. How totally civilized.

Companies are now building a huge range of components for outdoor kitchens just like they build parts for indoor kitchens. There are special rainproof cabinets, countertops that will not crack when it freezes, drawer systems, grills big enough to land a jet on, pizza ovens fer cryin' out loud, dishwashers, refrigerators, and warming ovens, even outdoor TV and sound systems.

So I contacted one of the best outdoor kitchen builders in the country, Todd Maltbie of the Wholesale Patio Store in Antioch. I interviewed him on the subject and came away with a lot of really good tips for readers who are planning an outdoor kitchen. Then I traded some ad space for a custom storage cabinet. Lookit what his team built me!

 

Farmer's Lament

pumpkin headI read a lot about farming. I subscribe to Progressive Farmer magazine and several of my readers raise livestock and work the fields and send me articles to read. Here's a story one sent me:

 

The North Dakota Department government suspected a small farmer was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to investigate.

Agent: Tell me about your employees and how much you pay them.

Farmer: Well, there's my farm hand who's been with me for three years. I pay him $200 a week plus free room and board. Then there's the mentally challenged worker. He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night so he can cope with life. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally.

Agent: That's the guy I want to talk to! The mentally challenged one!

Farmer: You are talking to him.


Important: Help Keep AmazingRibs.com Free

NEW Amazon Link Helps Me a Lot, Please Use it!

 

amazonYou may have noticed in the Buyer's Guide section that I have links to Amazon.com. If you order from Amazon, they pay me a small finder's fee that in no way changes your price. This is a great way to help support my efforts and allow me to to cook, write, and photograph for you for free. In fact, Amazon will pay me the finder's fee for anything you buy there if you first click my link. So if you shop at Amazon, if you save this link and click on it first, you keep me supplied with charcoal and propane! By the way, my link changed in April, so if you have the old one bookmarked, could you please use the new one?  

 

http://tinyurl.com/3rlglce

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anatomy of a rib
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