FoodSaver

I am a HUGE fan of FoodSaver systems.

It's a great way to deal with left-overs, but even better for the family chef.  Buy in bulk, season, rub, marinade, etc divide up your meats and cheeses and vacuum seal them in bags, jars, canisters, marinade, etc.

You can prep your foods, freeze, and use them later.  The marinades and rubs will set into the food during freezing and defrosting and are ready to go when you are.  You can even cook some foods in the vacuum bags in a crock pot or by boiling before opening them.

I go to Sam's Club and buy my meats in bulk, season or marinade or just portion them out, seal them and freeze and they last over a year, thaw in minutes or overnight, and taste as fresh as when they were bought at the store.

Smoke, grill, cook your foods, and THEN vacuum seal them for that fresh taste months later.  Just like Store-Bought, except you know what''s in it, and where its been.  Nothing better for someone on a strict diet.

Some models have a Marinade setting, when used with one of their marinade containers it will draw the air out, make the meat expand, taking on extra marinade, upon releasing it, it shrinks back down, trapping the liquid inside, then cycle again.  In 15 minutes you have something marinated better than overnight in a dish.  Run it twice, and you're sure to have a well marinaded meat.

Vegetables, cheeses, meats, herbs and spices, everything stores longer and fresher when using a vacuum system.

Contact Me

Just updated the site with a contact form so you can email me questions or order for BBQ sauce.

--Mike

ChefTap

To all of you Foodie’s out there, how do you keep track of your recipes?  Old food splattered books on a shelf, index cards and boxes, junk drawer full of papers and clippings, Instagram, Google, etc?

A couple of years ago I discovered a wonderful app that is available to you on Android, iOS, and from any web browser, so if you like cooking with your phone or tablet or laptop, they have you covered.  You can compose and enter your recipes from any device, upload multiple photos, create the most complex recipes like how to make the sauce, entrée and other components.

But WAIT!  There’s more!  ChefTap was actually designed to gather recipes.  As in, you give it the URL to the recipe you just found on cooking.com and it goes after it, strips away all the ads other nonsense, grabs a photo, ingredients, and instructions and loads it all into your library, along with a link back to where you found it.  I’ve found that it works great just about anywhere, but just in case you can review and correct any errors the program made, like omissions or additions of other commentary.  I’ve never had to do that though.

This amazing gem is created and supported by two people.  Kate and Shawn, both programmers, and foodies with a passion for both and supporting ChefTap.  I’ve contacted them a couple of times and always got almost immediate response back, we’ve even carried on a few lengthy email exchanges.  They listen to the users and go above and beyond to help them, like recently when I was having a minor problem and thought I could just delete all my recipes and force them to sync back in… and I lost everything.  Despite it being “after hours” on a Friday night, Shawn jumped in the server and recovered everything I’d just deleted.

By the way, did I mention this app would also make up and help you manage your shopping lists?  YUP!  Finally you can tag your recipes, compile a list of ingredients and take your phone to the store to get what you need.  I haven’t used it but once, but it looks to be very powerful and helpful.  It even helps you inventory and manage those “staple items” that you should have a running stock of, like flour, sugar, salt, etc.

I know you’re wondering by now how much this life-saving app will cost you.  Any tool worth having is worth paying a fair price for, and this one is no different, except you can get totally free version with some limitations.  All in all it’s still a fantastic app, even as a free version.  However, for the low, LOW price of $19.95 a year you will be supporting a great app and pair of people and have no limitations and that awesome priority support I mentioned.

Go on over to http://ChefTap.Com and look around their website at what all you can do, they even have videos to show you how the app works.

Keep on Grillin’ and Chillin!

--Mike

I'm Lovin It!

(I call it the MikeRib Sandwich)

So, I created this gem about 4 years ago after discovering I could make a rack of ribs that I could extract the bones from after cooking without the whole rack falling apart. This treat will feed several people, is great on "Game Day" or "Just Because."  It will take some time to prepare though so start early.  The center point in this is putting a whole rack of ribs in a sandwich using an entire French Loaf.  The toppings I show are just a few of many you can have fun with.  As long as the ribs and bread are right, the rest should just fall into place.

For the ribs, carefully prepare a rack of St Louis style ribs.  If at all possible get ribs marked as "Extra Meaty."  Peel off the membrane in the bony inside, very important!  Season them how you like.  I like to use either mustard or a Carolina style (mustard) BBQ sauce to lightly coat the ribs to create a "glue" for the rub, then add in your usualy seasonings such as salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, etc.  Wrap and chill them for a few hours to let the seasonings get it.

Grill or smoke the rack over low temps, like 250-275 over INDIRECT heat, such as from an offset smoker.  Watch the meat begin to recede from the ends of the bones and get tender, but NOT so tender the rack falls apart when you lift or move it.  This is the tricky part.  The shorter rib bones on the ends might start coming out on their own when moved, but the meat should still be firm for the most part.

Carefully take them off the grill and lay them out on a cutting board, meaty side down.  Using a small but sharp knife (like a paring knife) slice down the middle of the bones and gently pull them out of the meat, trying not to tear or break apart the rack.  This is where having extra meaty ribs pays off.

Once all the bones and cartilage are are removed, trim up the sides and ends so they won't extend too far over the width of the French bread, and removing any remaining bits of bone or cartilage.

Toast the French bread in your oven (Or on your grill!) with a light coating of butter.  Then add whatever dressings you want to use on the bread, such as Mayonaise, Miracle Whip, Mustard, BBQ Sauce, etc.  Also brush on a light coat of BBQ sauce directly on the ribs as well.

Begin building your sandwich to taste, a little lettuce...

Tomato...

Onion...

However you like it, there is no right or wrong!  Put it all together, cut into manageable pieces and enjoy immediately!

This just in...

In the coming weeks and months I promise I'll be posting more recipes, ideas and information about my BBQ sauces now that I'm finally getting this site on track.

However I have to make this special announcement right now because I'm so excited!

A couple weeks ago I saw an ad on my Facebook page to join the "Smithfield Hog Wild Throwdown", so I went to check it out.  For the contest you submit an original recipe for grilling pork like a steak.  I figured I could do that, challenge accepted!

Prizes include a shot at a Ford F-150, a trip to Kansas City for the American Royal BBQ Competition, and maybe even meet some BBQ superstars like Tuffy Stone and "Big Mo" Cason, so that would be pretty cool.  At the very least I could try an original recipe and see if anyone liked it.

Well today I got the email that I was a semi-finalist!  One of ten!  Needless to say I am very stoked!  The second part of the challenge, that will move someone to the finalist stage are votes for the recipes so now I gotta find everyone I can to go to the website and vote for MY recipe so I can go to Kansas City in October.

To vote, you must be 21 or older, and go to http://www.smithfieldthrowdown.com/contest/vote and register and vote for "Mike C" in the "Backyard BBQ-er Division".  You can vote every day (PLEASE DO!) until 8/25.  Every vote you cast gives YOU a chance to win a Ford F-150, and there is also a daily "Spin and Win" contest on the site that can give you a prize as well as an additional entry to win that truck.

My recipe was truly an "original," made up on the spot just for this contest and uses my Bourbon Sauce/Glaze recipe as well.  Had I thought I had any kind of a chance to get this far I'd have written it up a little better, and good grief, made a better picture of the steaks!  It looks like the other 8 or 9 competitors are women and their plates look amazing!  I'm sure I lost a bunch of points on appearance and write-up of the recipe so the only way I'll advance is if I get a ton more votes. (Hint-Hint)

So help me out and vote for my recipe.  In fact, try it out too, I know I and my family really enjoyed it.  I'll post it here soon, but for now you can see it when you vote for it. ;)

Keep on Grillin and Chillin!

Feelin Saucy!

Ok,

So the website has long been neglected as I kept trying to revise the layout and programming and kept getting frustrated with the latest innovations of web design.  SO, I finally remembered "Blogger" and revisited it.  To my pleasure I've that they at least have been able to keep up with technology and by using Blogger I can use a template that looks nearly as good on a mobile device as it does on a computer... and updating the site is easy-peazy... so, enough tech talk.  I'll clean and spruce the site up a little bit more but for the most part this is what I'm going with.

I've started re-writing my recipes for sauces using metric figures.  Namely grams and milliliters. I know for most I might as well be speaking Chinese but the fact of the mater is that the metric system is not only easier, but its far more precise than the imperial system we as a Americans have grown up with.  Making the switch has helped me make up batches using less dishes, less time, and far more consistency from batch to batch.

Furthermore I can now calculate my costs down to the gram and project expenses better so I know I won't be "giving it away" at a cost to myself. Plus I can start figuring nutrition information, calories, etc and all of this brings me closer to being able to produce a quality, consistent product that I can start looking towards commercial mass production and distribution.  Until now most batches have had variations that have affected their consistency in taste and yield. As far as food safety goes I have always been diligent on using quality ingredients, safe handling, and clean environments and processing despite being a "home-grown" product. Going forward, it only gets better!

Over the years, I've tried different methods, tweaks and processes.  I believe now I have just about perfected my recipes and processes, with very minor adjustments going forward.

Making my own BBQ sauces were a result of two different realizations.  1) I love to grill and BBQ, and I was paying a fortune in sauces and marinades each week.  One day I started looking at the ingredients in my sauces and found I was paying a kings ransom for mixtures of sauces and spices that I ALREADY HAD in my pantry! You can't beat the convenience of pulling a bottle off the shelf and adding to your recipe and having a great meal, but to me that doesn't make a great cook.  Just a good chemist. 2) I like spicy foods, and in your typical grocery store or even restaurant it's hard to find really good and spicy sauces if you like it truly hot.  Sure there are lots of novelty hot sauces out there and if you know where to get them, then great.  But they're not usually found in your local grocery store, especially if you live in a rural area. Furthermore you had a choice of a "hot sauce" OR "BBQ Sauce" and the two didn't really coalesce into a single product. There CERTAINLY is a difference between "Hot Sauce" and "Hot BBQ Sauce"

My first sauces were buying basic BBQ sauces and adding a few extra spices and seasonings. It didn't take me long to realize that those would never "be my own", plus I felt I could do better.  Going forward I looked at the common ingredients of popular sauces and started working with those to come up with my own recipe. I was right.  I could, and DID do much better.

I use my own sauces as ingredients for many things I cook, from baked/ranch beans, to marinades, to glazes, or just simple sauces on meats.  I enjoy them on all meats, cooked on any medium, and even on vegetables.  I will share my favorite recipes here to show you how a good sauce can replace many ingredients and processes that you may or may not be doing to improve the taste of your food.  Even if  you aren't using my sauces, they should inspire you to explore and experiment on your own. You may even find the calories and other health factors to be better than your common health choices out there.  For example my sauces are gluten free and corn syrup free!

One thing that makes my "Smokey Sweet" and "Hellfire" sauces unique is how I get that smoky flavor. I don't use "liquid smoke". I don't care how natural they say it is, if I don't understand the process, it's not natural to me.  I smoke onions, paprika, jalapeno's and habenero peppers individually, then dry and grind them to a fine powder. The process can take up to a week, but the taste is phenomenal. It is truly what makes all the difference in my sauces.

This site is called, "Real Men Cook With Wood" and while I am a firm believer in cooking over wood, I realize its not possible to do every day, I sure can't as much as I'd like to.  However because I DO use real wood to smoke ingredients used in my sauces, you can cook your meats in a skillet, oven, or gas grill, apply a small amount of my sauces to your meats and have it smelling and tasting like you spent all day smoking it in a wood smoker. Plus you don't get all the additives, preservatives and other unpronounceable stuff on your food.

"If you like my meat, you'll love my sauce!"