First controlled flame day of the year

Well for me anyway, today was BBQ day, no special reason other than it got nice around 12 o'clock. Cleaned the grill last night, ate breakfast, gave it another once over and then SMOKED MEATS. Yes yes, there is nothing quite like the relationship between man and grill. I guess if I'm talking about it I better show it huh

my barbecue on 3/27/10

Why this blog has been languishing in draft for the last 16 months is beyond me. It's just a blog about a barbecue, with pictures to show you exactly how I roll when it comes to throwing meat on the grill and getting it that nice smokey flavor. I didn't even notice that I had turned my grill around(I do admit to sometimes missing out on subtle details). I haven't even really decided on pic placement yet because I started putting pictures in this blog and then just forgot about it. I'm human it happens, I may come back later and go ahead and place the rest of the pictures from that day in this blog, it will just have to be one of those I sneak in hurriedly dumb a blog and then sneak out.

Since I have barbecued a few times since then of course I have a lot of pictures to go through, I actually think I have gotten a lot better in that time. I'll post this as a current post instead of sneaking it into last years count because that just wrong and while SOMETIMES I have been known to do that in this case I will bite the bullet and say yup I goofed. So enjoy these few pictures and if you're ever in the neighborhood and smell some good food come on by and get a plate.

Primaldata Grill Enthusiast

This year I was honored to be asked if I would cook the meat for my family reunion, my eyes being bigger than my grill of course I said yes. After a few words in reminder from my mother and a one of my aunts it was decided I would just do the chicken. Now I must confess me and cooking chicken for my relatives and extended family always comes with a running inside the family joke, as my cousin Mack put it so perfectly "I don't know why you cook something and expect it to be here when you get back". Now I will confess my "famous" chicken is actually a family undertaking, yes I decide how hot the fire is, how many wood chips will be thrown in to each batch, and when I will pull it off but the spices as well as the spice combination is usually decided by my mother. The sauce that is usually added most times is added by Ero Kitsune, yes he has other skills besides just forcing me to sit through bad movies or coming up with catchy derogatory titles for movies, sometimes I will do it(but I will usually be dead tired by the time sauce making commences so usually his sauce is better than mine), this year it was handled by dad since Kitsune was the only brother who decided to work today(I have an excuse I was on the grill, Lank not so much unless you count Infamous 2 as some holy undertaking).

After buying my first batch of supplies my mother started marinating the chicken for me while I cleaned my grill, as not to fight over space I grabbed a large Tupperware bowl, put some soap in it, grabbed my grill brush, and decided to do the cleaning outside. a few passes of the brush to remove any leftover grease and or schmutz off each grate and a quick blast with the hose and 25 minutes later I was done. Now while I don't use all of my father's "Country Boy Grilling techniques"(my father was born and raised in AR), I do subscribe to the cover your grates in foil and pop holes through it technique. It still lets the smoke through, controls some of the flame ups,(some not all not claiming this is some holy grail of flame maintenance), and it cuts down on the amount of cleaning I have to do later. The only caveat is that I don't get the grill marks most people who just touch the food straight to the grate get, there is still minor stickage as well but no where near as bad as straight metal on flesh. This year was also a new medium for me: leg quarters. Usually I make chicken breasts and we pound them out flat so that they cook faster, but since I was cooking all of the chicken and not just trying to win the barbecue contest we decided the leg quarters would allow for more for everyone while maximizing cooking space.