I have a confession to make. I’m not the world’s biggest football fan. In fact, I’m fairly indifferent about the sport (especially at the professional level). Ask my wife, though, and she’ll tell you I’m full of it, considering she knows I spend most of my weekends from September to February sprawled out on the couch drinking beer and watching NFL games. Hey, I’m still a guy.
For my money, there’s really no other sport like hockey, so I won’t get too fired up for another month or so, when my Buffalo Sabres take the ice again. However, if there’s one thing for which we can all thank football, it’s the tailgate -- the parking lot tradition that has so grown in popularity over the years that it’s hardly specific to football anymore. Indeed, tailgating nowadays is just as much a celebration of food, friends, and drink as it is of football itself. Now there are a few things I can really get excited about!
So as you gear up for yet another exciting football season, I thought I’d share just a few of my own favorite tailgating recipes that should find you the envy of the parking lot: beef brisket, pulled pork, and baby back ribs.
Smoked Beef Brisket
Beef brisket often gets a reputation for being a tough cut of meat, but people who believe that apparently have never eaten brisket prepared correctly. Cooked properly, you’ll have a hard time leaving the parking lot for the game.
In order to cook delicious meals, it’s best to begin by purchasing the best ingredients. If possible, buy a Prime grade brisket. They are often difficult to find, so use Choice grade at minimum. Prime will give you the best marbling pattern (combination of intramuscular fat and deep red color of the meat) and therefore the most tenderness and taste. Try to find a brisket that is at least 6-8 pounds.
It’s best to prepare your brisket the night before you want to smoke it. The smoking process itself is very time-consuming (in fact, you may want to tailgate with brisket during a night game so you can cook all day), and you’ll need to give the beef some time to marinate beforehand.
Some people prefer to season brisket using a rub, and some prefer to mop it in sauce as it cooks. For this recipe, we have the best of both worlds. This brisket will be rubbed before smoking and basted in a beer mop as it cooks. The recipes for the rub and a beer mop follow:
Dry Rub:
8 Tbs light brown sugar
2 Tbs ground black pepper
2 Tbs Hungarian paprika (use regular paprika otherwise)
2 Tbs ground cumin
2 Tbs garlic powder
2 Tbs Kosher salt
1 Tbs onion powder
2 tsp cayenne pepper, or to tasteBeer Mop:
1 bottle light beer (I prefer Amstel light)
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup water
2 Tbs olive oil
½ Vidalia or white onion, chopped
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp each ground black pepper, Kosher salt, garlic powder
It will be easiest to prepare the rub and beer mop simultaneously. For the rub, simply combine all the seasonings into a bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork. For the beer mop, bring olive oil to low heat in a saucepan and add onion. Sweat the onion for about five minutes, or until caramelized, then add garlic and stir. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil, but immediately reduce to low heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Cover saucepan but leave room for steam to escape. Once finished, transfer to transportable bowl or strain and refrigerate until ready to use. (I prefer straining the sauce into a spray bottle so I don’t need to actually smear it onto the meat and disturb the rub.)
Now that your rub and mop are ready to go, wash brisket thoroughly under cold water and trim excess fat. Pat dry with a paper towel and rub brisket with a thin coating of yellow mustard. This will provide a sticky base that will allow the rub to adhere to the meat. Work the rub into the meat thoroughly, and don’t worry if there is some left over. You can use it for subsequent recipes.
Once rub is applied, seal brisket tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or at least two hours).
Now you’re ready to cook. The brisket can be cooked in a smoker, but I prefer a Weber charcoal kettle. The meat will be cooked indirectly, meaning you will place hot coals and wood chips on one side of the kettle and place the brisket on the rack opposite the coals.
Before smoking, soak hickory or mesquite wood chips in water for at least 20 minutes. Bring a few gallon jugs of water and a five-gallon bucket to the tailgate for this. Prepare charcoal, preferably with a chimney starter, and add wood chips right on top once coals are hot and in place in the kettle. Place brisket on grill fat-side down and cover with lid, venting minimally. And no turning!
(Many people like to cook fat-side up so the fat naturally bastes the meat, but I prefer the opposite, as I find the fat layer shields the meat from heat coming up directly from the coals, preventing it from drying out. Remember, you’re going to be basting from the top anyway!)
Optimal cooking temperature is 225˚F. At this temperature the brisket will be done if smoked for about 1 hour and 15 minutes per pound, and you shouldn’t need to fool around with a grill thermometer as long as you don’t remove the lid too often. You will need to replace the charcoal and wood chips at least once an hour, so plan accordingly as you collect your supplies. You can begin to baste the meat with the beer mop after an hour, and do so once an hour. Basting each time you replace the coals will also minimize your lid removal.
The brisket is done when it has reached an internal temperature of 185-190˚F, so while it’s a pain to continually gauge the temperature of the kettle itself, you’ll at least want to bring a small meat thermometer with you to the tailgate.
Remove the brisket from the grill and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Shred the brisket with a fork or cut it into slices across the grain. Serve with your favorite barbeque sauce.
Pulled Pork
Because of its culinary versatility and taste, the pig is by far my favorite animal. In fact, I love pigs so much because of the deliciousness they provide that it almost makes me sad that they have to die in order to make us so happy. Thankfully I eventually get over it.
“Pork butt” (or “Boston Butt”) is what to look for on the label when you want to prepare pulled pork. Try to find a pork butt that is at least 6 pounds (bone-in) and get two. Believe me, they’ll go fast once they’re served.
Similar to the brisket, you’re going to rub the pork butts with the dry rub after rinsing and drying. For best results, place in a covered roasting pan and refrigerate overnight if possible. You absolutely can smoke pork butt from beginning to end if you choose, but this recipe will save you a lot of time on the grill during the tailgate.
When you’re ready to cook, remove pork butts from fridge and preheat oven to 225˚F. You will be par-baking (partially baking) the pork, which will allow you to do the majority of the cooking before you even get to the game.
Keeping the pork in the roasting pan, add two cups of chicken broth to the pan and cover completely with aluminum foil or roasting pan lid. This will keep the pork moist while it cooks in the oven. A pork butt will be done when cooked for about 1 hour and 30 minutes per pound at this temperature, but bake it for 4-6 hours depending on weight, or until internal temperature is between 140-150˚F.
Prepare your charcoal and wood chips in the grill the same as in the previous recipe and place pork butts fat-side up on indirect heat. Smoke pork for 2 hours, or until the internal temperature is between 170-200˚F. Pork butt is fairly forgiving, so it’s pretty difficult to overcook it.
Once finished, pull the pork from the grill and let it rest for 20 minutes. Pull the meat apart by hand (wearing rubber gloves is advisable) or chop with a meat cleaver on a plastic cutting board. Transfer meat to an aluminum tray and add your favorite barbeque sauce or spices. I prefer to combine Cattlemen’s® barbeque sauce with apple cider vinegar (about ¼ cup vinegar per cup of barbeque sauce) and mix it into the pork. You can also add caramelized diced onions to the mixture for optimal taste.
Baby Back Pork Ribs
I can’t believe I’m actually giving out this recipe, but hey, I’m feeling charitable. These ribs are so tender and juicy they should be illegal (and the way we’re going with all this global warming bull, they might just be someday -- I swear I was trying my best to leave the politics out of this article!).
Most pork ribs will come two or three racks to a package, but this recipe is perfect for three. You will apply the rub to the ribs in the same manner as outlined previously, but before doing so you will need to remove the membrane from under the ribs. This isn’t the easiest task, but you will end up with ribs that are much tenderer than you would if you left it in place (I’ve cooked tough ribs already to save you the trouble).
Turn the ribs upside down and make a small incision between the membrane and the ribs with a sharp knife. Using a towel for grip, pull the membrane off each rack. After you’ve removed them, work the dry rub into the ribs and seal tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Prepare Cattlemen’s® barbeque sauce and apple cider vinegar mixture as discussed in previous recipe, and set aside for basting during grilling.
You will par-bake the ribs as you did the pork butts, allowing for very quick final preparation at the tailgate. Preheat oven to 250˚F and prepare two cups of chicken broth. Place two racks of pork ribs on one cookie sheet and the third rack on a different sheet if all three don’t fit on one (which they likely won’t so don’t force them). Pour one cup of broth into each cookie sheet and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 2 hours.
Once you’re at the game, prepare your charcoal and wood chips in the grill to smoke the ribs on indirect heat. Brush barbeque sauce quite liberally onto the ribs immediately and close the lid. After 15 minutes, brush ribs with more sauce and smoke for only 15 more minutes. Barbeque sauce should be caramelizing by this point and the ribs should be perfect.
Remove ribs from grill and let rest for 5 minutes. With a cleaver or sharp knife, cut ribs into desired portions along the bone and serve with barbeque sauce mixture.
If you went to the game without a date, you should definitely be able to leave with one.
Happy tailgating!
(Click here if you'd like to purchase a copy of my cookbook, 50 Ways to Impress Your Girlfriend's Parents.)
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