Wyse Guys BBQ

After having the kettle for about a month I finally got around to smoking a rack of spare ribs. The ribs were prepared with a liberal coating of Rub #1 (see previous post) and let to sit for about an hour and a half on the counter while I gathered my gear, set up the grill, and lit the briquettes. I used cherry wood chips to provide the smoke.

In preparation for smoking a rack of spare ribs, I had to whip up a batch of dry rub. This recipe is in the style of a Memphis Dry Rub, although it has no specific origin. It was created by examining many dry rub recipes to create approximate proportions for each ingredient. Some of the ingredients were weighed and others measured by volume, but I've tried to provide both measures for all ingredients. Overall, the rub is on the sweeter side, although it has a nice kick of heat from the pepper. The plan is to iterate on the recipe until I settle on the perfect blend. Rub #1 200g (~1 cup) Demerara Raw Sugar 100g (~1/3 cup) Fine Sea Salt 15g (1/4 cup) Smoked Paprika 15g (1/4 cup) Medium-Fine Fresh Ground Black Pepper 1 Tbsp (10g) Granulated Garlic 1 Tbsp (10g) Granulated Onion 1 Tbsp (9-10g) Chili Powder 1 Tbsp (< 1g) Marjoram 2 tsp (2g) Dry Mustard 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper Rub #1

A couple weekends ago I fired up the grill for another steak and corn meal. The menu was prime New York Strip steak, sweet summer corn, and asparagus - everything on the grill, of course! The weather report early in the day claimed cloudy skies but no rain; however, as the day progressed that turned to scattered thunderstorms. We had already made our plan and luckily enough we finished grilling shortly before the rain moved in. There isn't much to add about the recipes. Steak was seasoned with the Saskatchewan Steak Seasoning, the asparagus was olive oil, salt, and pepper, and corn was all natural. The prep plus some appetizers from Zingerman's Ominous storm clouds Steak and Corn on the grill Finished product!

A few days back I set up the Weber to smoke some salmon. Costco had fresh wild Sockeye fillets in a two pack. We ate the first one with friends, and I saved one to smoke. There isn't much to the recipe and prep; make a brine, let the salmon sit in it for an hour and half or two hours, then smoke it. You can find it here . Here are my notes on this recipe: I always use Sockeye salmon, which is smaller than King/Chinook, and thus requires less time in the brine. I typically brine for 1.5 to 2 hours max. Speaking of brine, I've never needed the full recipe, even for two sides of Sockeye. Scale accordingly, and don't make it overly salty! After I pat the salmon dry, I season with freshly ground black pepper instead of paprika. A coarse grind is what I like. I find the spice of the pepper complements the sugar and salt of the brine nicely. (Paprika only is also tasty, but I prefer pepper). Apple, Alder, or Cherry woods all work well with Salmon. Try them out to find a fa

Having recently left the confines of small apartment town (a.k.a. Seattle) and moved into backyard town (a.k.a. Ann Arbor) I have acquired a Weber Kettle 22" grill. I picked up the basic tools, some briquettes, and steak, sausage and corn to test it out. Steak was seasoned with some Saskatchewan Steak Seasoning and olive oil. Corn grilled in the husk (after peeling back most of the layers) and the sausage got a little oil to prevent sticking. Everything worked well and tasted great!