Hi loyal readers! I have not been posting over the last weeks while I finalize my entries for the Great American Barbecue Festival in Kansas this year.

So far I’ve been whipping up batches of four of my favorite rubs, two sauces, and two bastes. I’ve totally gone bananas with a completely experimental rub this year, and so far the results are mixed. I’ve gone for the most exotic (in my opinion) ingredients I could find, which ended up requiring me to travel halfway accross the States just to buy them.

Probably I’ve wasted my time on this because results are not outstanding yet. It depends what the judges are after. My secret plan is that they will be fed up with the same and variations of the same tastes and when they try my completely different flavors they will start to smile.

For a bit of a hint before I get some photos uploaded, here’s a couple of the exotic ingredients I’m going for:

• ‘Twisted Tongues’ – a combination of ground habanero, del arbo, and white pepper.
• Crushed juniper berries
• Nigella seeds
• Sumac
• Smoked black pepper

I won’t reveal any more! The portions are important, too. So far the rub has been quite a shock to the tastebuds, but after a glass of beer it tastes really good. Before a glass of beer, it tastes … hmm.. like there’s a fight going on in the mouth, the taste buds don’t know how to interpret it.

Some modifications might be needed but alas, I press on!

In case you want to battle me, you can signup here http://www.thinkbbq.com/appforms/sauceapp.php

Will try to post pics soon!

        

Fired up the Q today, and did beer can chicken on the grill. Filled the smoke box as well, and added some garlic to the dripping tray. I seasoned the bird with mixed herbs and sea salt. It was VERY tasty. I used Creemore Springs lager for the beer.

Beer roasted chicken. The start.

Cooking along quite nicely now...

The result. A lovely glaze, and a delicious meal.

Served with green beans, carrots, mash, and a rich thick gravy

        

That’s right, damnit. I’m a whopping great fat guy and I like to stuff myself full of things like barbecued ribs. 

Don’t kid yourself, if you were able to digest them without any ill-effects, you too would devour spare ribs like a savage lion for every single meal. I would too. There’s just so much to be said about this wonderful manly food. And it is manly. It evokes the ancient joy of ripping meat from the bone, smearing blood all over one’s face, and crunching, yes crunching, the bones into tiny fragments. 

Since the dawn of time, mankind has been eating ribs. And there’s two perfectly good reasons here:

Slow-cooked ribs

And:

Pork spare ribs

I gotta tell you though – there would be nothing spare about them when I’m done. Every little scrap of meat will be in my belly. The sauce would be all over my face, my fingers, my chest if I’m lucky..

I would love to swim around in a barrel of bbq sauce, biting at grilled bits of pig rib randomly… That would be heaven.