Planning;

• Buy the prime rib up to a week in advance, allowing time to dry age.
• Figure about ¾ to 1 pound of meat per person, not including allowances for leftovers.
• Allow 4-6 hours to smoke prime rib, this also includes resting time before serving.

Meat selection;

• Beef selection is graded as Prime, Choice and Select. This is done based on the age of the animal, texture, tenderness and marbling of fat (more is better)
• Prime is best and can be hard to obtain considering this is a seriously expensive piece of meat usually reserved for restaurants.
• Choice is the next best and is generally available to meat markets like Sams club or Costco. Choice is our best selection and goal.
• Select is the more common grocery store meat selection,usually tougher and leaner (dry)

Key techniques;

• Cooking a prime rib is a four step process.
• First chose the right piece of meat.
• Second dry age the prime, allowing  the prime to sit, uncovered 2-7 days. During this time, excess moisture is evaporated and the flavors concentrate, and the muscle tissue breaks down making it more tender
• Third is to brown the prime in a hot pan, so the outside develops a deep brown crust.
• Four, cook the prime low and slow so that the meat from the outside edge to the center is uniformly done.

Procedure;

Prepare your smoker for a 3-4 hour smoke at 225 degree F. to 250 degree F. Take the roast and trim any lose fat, If there are pieces of dehydrated meat shave these off but leave all the attached fat.

Apply Worshcestshire Thick sauce on all meat areas of the prime rib. Once this is done apply the above beef rub to the prime rib. Place the roast in the smoker, fat side up and smoke until the thickest part reaches 130-135 degrees F. (Medium Rare)  This should take about 2 to 3 hours depending on the size of the roast you selected.

Remove from smoker and loosely cover with aluminum foil. Let rest in a warm place for about 20 to 30 minutes. Carve and serve. This is a great one to carve right at the table. Should anyone your serving the roast to want their slice to be more done, slice and place under the broiler in your oven to the desired doneness.

One of our favorite foods on the smoker is smoked turkey. What I would like to do is share the procedure I use when smoking a turkey. I hope you find this helpful and giveS you the best smoked turkey you and your family will ever have!

Planning and Notes;

·        Figure about 1 pond raw weight per person when buying, not including allowances for leftovers

·        Allow 4-10 hours to thaw a frozen turkey, more if it’s a Tom (18-24 pounds) a nearly thawed bird can finish thawing in the brine.

·        Allow 8-12 hours for brining of your turkey.

·        If a really crisp skin is desired, allow 4-12 hours to dry the turkey under refrigeration.

·        Allow 4 to 4 ½ hours to smoke the turkey which includes extra time to ensure it is ready to serve when your are ready to eat.

·        Allow 6-12 hours cook time to smoke your turkey, depending on your smoker.   

Key techniques;

Getting a great barbequed turkey is the result of three key techniques. First, the bird is brined, which is simply letting the bird soak in a salt-water solution. During the soak the muscle tissues absorbs the brine, which seasons and adds extra moisture to the turkey.

The second technique is to cook the bird in two stages so that the faster cooking (and faster drying out) breast meat is protected, and the slower cooking thighs and legs are hit with more heat to speed their cooking.

Finally, the use of a good probe thermometer is employed so that the cooking process is stopped at the right internal temperature to preserve maximum moisture and juiciness.

Ingredients;

Brine

2 Cups Kosher or 1 Cup Table salt

2 Cups Granulated sugar

2 Cups Brown Sugar

1 Bottle Maple Syrup

2 Gallons cold water

1 Turkey fresh or thawed, not self-basting, giblets and tail removed, and rinsed thoroughly.

Turkey Mop

1 Stick of butter

½ cup corn syrup

Black pepper and/or other desired seasonings

Wood

Hickory, Oak, Maple or Apple

Brine Procedure

Dissolve the salt and sugar into the cold water in a non-reactive (not aluminum) 12-16 quart stockpot or clean bucket. Add the turkey and refrigerate, or set in a very cool place like the garage for 12 hours. If a crisper skin is desired, allow the turkey to dry out after the brining, uncovered, on a wire rack under refrigeration for 4-12 hours.

 Smoking Procedure;

Pre-heat your smoker to a temperature of 350-400 degrees. While the smoker is heating, remove the turkey from the brine and pat dry inside and out. Tie the wings into the body using cotton string, or cut a small slit into the skin, allowing you to tuck the wing tips inside the turkey.  Leave the legs untied to allow the heat to circulate all around them.

Next brush the turkey with the prepared mop, if a dark bronze like skin is desired. If not skip the mop and season the turkey with the desired salt, pepper and other seasonings. Mop the turkey once each hour of smoking.

Place the turkey, breast side DOWN on the center of the grill. Use a v-rack or several carrot sticks to balance the turkey on the grill. Adjust the heat of the smoker if needed, but maintain the 350-400 degree temperature for the first hour of smoking.

After an hour, turn the turkey over, breast side UP, mop the turkey, and damp down the vents or lower the temperature to 200-250 degrees, then continue to smoke. The goal of this cook is to maintain the temperature of 200-250 degrees throughout the rest of the smoking session.

 Check for doneness by inserting a probe thermometer horizontally from the end of the breast into the center of the thickest part of the breast. If a remote thermometer is being used, it can be placed in the turkey breast prior to being placed on the grill. Using a manual thermometer, start checking the temperature of the turkey after 4 hours.

The turkey is done when it registers 160 degrees 165 degrees. If while smoking, the breast stars to split or gets very dark, cover the area with foil.  When the turkey is done, remove from smoker to a platter and cover loosely with foil. Let rest 20 minutes before carving.

This is the best turkey you will every have!  From my family to yours, We hope you have a great Holiday season!

So what is needed to make this delicious pile of pork and cheese appear on your table! You will need the following:

Disposable aluminum pan (why make a lot of dishes for yourself…)

Tortilla chips/strips (I use Mission Tortilla Strips)

1lb pulled pork (more if you want)

Refried Beans (32 ounce can)

BBQ Sauce

Salsa

1 large Tomato

1-2lbs of Cheese

Sour Cream

Spay the bottom of the pan with a light coating of “Pam” to help keep food for sticking. Next place the Tortilla strips on the bottom of the pan, covering the entire bottom. Spread the refried beans on top of the tortillas evenly. Then place a layer of cheese on top of the beans. I then spread a thick layer of pulled pork on top of the cheese and complete this masterpiece with a light layer of bbq sauce topped with more Cheese!

Place the pan in a pre-heated oven at 325 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese begins to bubble and brown. Remove the nachos from the oven and add diced tomatoes and onions on top. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top and more BBQ sauce or salsa if desired.

This is such a simple dish, but one that EVERYONE remembers and requests especially with Football and Hockey season being here! Hope you enjoy this family favorite. Let me know of any spins or a twist you add to this that just makes the dish even more irresistible! Smoke On!

One of the challenging things of barbeque is trying new things. The challenge for me is to try new things and in the process make them not only edible but something both family and friends would want to eat again.

I recently had the opportunity to try my hand at smoking buffalo(Thanks Ben for the Buffalo Meat!). For me this was very challenging in that Buffalo in and of itself is a very lean meat and if not smoked correctly is prone to drying out. I decided to try making a Buffalo meat loaf and see what would happen.

With the chance of the meat drying out, I decided to add some ground pork sausage to the meatloaf mixture to help baste the meat and keep it moist. The recipe we used was the same we use for beef meatloaf.

Bossman Meatloaf-  2 lbs of ground Buffalo meat, 1lb Jimmy Deans Breakfast Sausage,, 5 strips of bacon crumbled, ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce,1 small onion/ diced, 1 small green bell pepper /diced, 1 ½ cup bread crumbs, 4 large eggs lightly beaten, 2 tsp Kosher Salt, 2 tsp granulated garlic

Mix the above ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Place contents into disposable aluminum bread pans or a regular disposable aluminum pan; pierce the bottom of the pan in several places such as the corners to allow the grease to escape during cooking.

Pack the meatloaf into the disposable pan, packing the meatloaf into the pan tightly paying attention to the corners of the pan. Prepare the smoker for indirect smoking with a 50/50 mix of Oak and Sugar Maple or your favorite wood, reaching a temperature of 250-275. Place the meatloaf directly on the smoker grate and allow smoking for 1 hour. Check for firmness, if needed allow cooking longer until firming begins.

Once the loaf begins to firm and pull away from the corners and edge of the pan, place a sheet of aluminum foil over the top of the disposable pan, covering the top of the pan. This next step can be tricky, turn the pan over with the aluminum foil allowing the foil to be on the bottom grate and remove the pan exposing the meatloaf on the aluminum sheet. Smoke for another hour checking for an internal temperature of 155.

Once the internal of 155 is reached, remove the loaf from the smoker placing it back into the disposable pan using the same method as before. Glaze the loaf with barbeque sauce if desired and tent with aluminum foil allowing the loaf to rest for 10 minutes. Slice and serve on sandwiches or a main dish.

            So how did the Buffalo meatloaf turn out? AWESOME!  As you can see from the photos that were taken during this cook the meatloaf stayed moist, but you can also see that adding the sausage to the meatloaf caused it to have some discoloration in the meat itself. My family enjoyed this lot and actually told me that they prefer the Buffalo meatloaf over the regular meatloaf we make on the smoker.

Moral of this story; don’t be afraid to try new things or to think outside the box when cooking on the smoker this goes for side dishes, main dishes and of course desserts. I think you will find that almost everything on the smoker tastes a little better when mixed with wood smoke!

With a little practice and the right technique you can produce some amazing chicken that could rival the best fried chicken in town. There are a few techniques you can use to be successful. Today I will share with you a couple of mine that I have found to work pretty well and have helped out Bossman Bar-B-Que competition team with some award winning chicken

First, it’s important to understand how we prepare the skin for the smoker. We need to help insure the chicken itself will be moist during this smoking and remain that way to the first bite.

Brining your chicken is critical. I would recommend brining your whole chicken or pieces for a minimum of four hours and a maximum of twelve hours. I usually brine my chicken overnight the day before smoking. A basic brine for chicken would consist of :

Basic Brine

1 gallon Water

½ cup Kosher Salt

½ cup Sugar

Once the chicken has had time to set and get happy in the brine, remove the chicken from the brine, rinse the chicken and pat it dry with some paper towels. Allow the chicken to sit, uncovered in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. The air drying of the skin also aides in the process of crisping the skin up and we have found it to be a successful step in this process.

The second step in crisping the chicken skin is applying a dry rub that has salt as the major ingredient in the rub. The reason we want salt in the rub is that the salt itself will draw out moisture from the skin helping to crisp the skin. The rub you use should reflect your taste and what you’re trying to accomplish in flavoring your chicken. Most of the time I use a real basic rub for chicken such as this one:

Basic Chicken Rub

½ cup Kosher salt

¼ cup Turbinado sugar( Sugar in The Raw)

2 TBS ground black pepper

2 TBS Celery Salt

1 TBS Granulated Garlic

1 TBS Lemon Pepper

2 TSP Dried Basil Leaves

I prepare and use a mop or basting liquid on the chicken half way through the cook. Use this mixture as you feel it is needed during your smoking session. The vinegar in this mix will help tenderize the chicken and at the same time help remove fat from the skin. The butter helps your rub stick to the skin.

Chicken Mop

2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar

1 cup water

4TBS Butter (yes butter, margarine just doesn’t work)

2TBS Basic Chicken Rub.

I like to smoke chicken at 225-255 and take it to an internal temperature of 165 or when the juices run clear when the thermometer is inserted and removed. A lot of people apply barbeque sauce to the chicken after they have smoked it. The problem then is the sauce causing the chicken skin you just put all your effort into to go soggy. My suggestion is to lightly coat the chicken skin with your choice of sauce 10 minutes prior to it being removed from the smoker.

If after following these steps your chicken skin is still not as crisp as you desire there is still one more step you can take to get the skin crisp. Pam Cooking Spray has come out with a spray especially made for grilling at high temperatures. The step I take when needed is prior to applying the barbeque sauce, I apply a small amount of “Pam for Grilling” to the skin of the chicken and then turn the chicken skin side down on the grill and allow it to stay there for at least 5 minutes.

Prior to applying the barbeque sauce, I remove a piece of chicken and test the crispness of the skin to determine if more spray needs to be applied or if the chicken is ready for a light coat of barbeque sauce.

Some may say this is a lot of work to just crisp the skin of chicken, but then again, unlike grilling this is smoking which is low, slow and full of love. I predict that if you follow the steps I have outlined and apply them to your chicken smoking you will see the results I have described. One bite and you will be hooked, smoking chicken this way for many days to come! Let me know how this works for you and if you have changed anything up in the process

We try to cover all the basis of smoking here on the Bossman Bar-B-Que website, it’s our passion and love. If you have a question or would like to see a specific topic covered please feel free to email me at bossmanbbq@gmail.com. I’ll do my best to answer the question or post articles on subjects you would like covered.

In this posting I will share with you my techniques and recipe that my family and I use as our standard in making killer meatloaf sandwiches like the one you see below!

What I have found that works real well is mixing a combination of lean ground beef and a good steak that is ground and mixed with the lean ground beef. Below is my favorite recipe for making smoked meat loaf

Bossman Meatloaf-  2 lbs of lean ground beef, 1-2lb Rib Eye Steak ground ( or steak of your choice), 5 strips of bacon crumbled, ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce,1 small onion/ diced, 1 small bell pepper /diced, 1 ½ cup bread crumbs, 4 large eggs lightly beaten, 2 tsp Kosher Salt, 2 tsp granulated garlic.

Mix the above ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Place contents into disposable aluminum bread pans or a regular disposable aluminum pan; pierce the bottom of the pan in several places such as the corners to allow the grease to escape during cooking.

Pack the meatloaf into the disposable pan, packing the meatloaf into the pan tightly paying attention to the corners of the pan. Prepare the smoker for indirect smoking with a 50/50 mix of Oak and Sugar Maple or your favorite wood, reaching a temperature of 250-275. Place the meatloaf directly on the smoker grate and allow smoking for 1 hour. Check for firmness, if needed allow cooking longer until firming begins. Once the loaf begins to firm and pull away from the corners and edge of the pan, place a sheet of aluminum foil over the top of the disposable pan, covering the top of the pan. This next step can be tricky, turn the pan over with the aluminum foil allowing the foil to be on the bottom grate and remove the pan exposing the meatloaf on the aluminum sheet. Smoke for another hour checking for an internal temperature of 155. Once the internal of 155 is reached, remove the loaf from the smoker placing it back into the disposable pan using the same method as before. Glaze the loaf with barbeque sauce if desired and tent with aluminum foil allowing the loaf to rest for 10 minutes. Slice and serve on sandwiches or a main dish.

I know your going to find the taste and smell of this meatloaf to be INCREDIABLE!! Don’t be afraid to add to or try new things in making your meatloaf your personal recipe. With the warm weather coming and most of us smoking more then we usually do, don’t forget the meatloaf and the incredible meal it can be!!

This week a friend of our family passed away. So my family and I are cooking some barbeque for our friends which of course includes our favorite side that was shared with us. I want to give Kerri C full credit for this recipe and the awesome results everyone will get from trying this recipe. Keri C’s Hog Apple Beans have become my family’s favorite staple and side dish!.

Keri’s Hog-Apple Baked Beans3 or 4 slices bacon, diced
2 (16 oz) cans pork and beans, mostly drained (modified to 2 28-oz cans Bush’s Baked Beans – see note below)
1/2 c. Blues Hog BBQ Sauce (or other sweet-spicy favorite)
1 lb. smoked leftover smoked pork or beef, more or less, or 1 lb crumbled cooked pork sausage
1 can apple pie filling (chop up the big chunks)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. Mustard (prepared)
1 tsp chipotle or cayenne powder (optional, to taste*)
1 tsp barbecue rub

Brown bacon, and sauté onion and green pepper in bacon grease. Mix in remaining ingredients. Bake at 325º for 1 hour, or simmer on stovetop in large pot for 30 minutes if you don’t have time to do them in the oven. Serves 12.

 A word of advice on this recipe, DOUBLE IT!! After preparing Hog Apple Beans on the smoker I’m lucky if I get any at all! With the above recipe, I smoke my beans with apple wood at 225-250 for 2 ½ -3 hours, I let the color of the beans tell be when there done! We also add about 1lb of smoked brisket or pulled pork, this just makes the beans even better!

What first catches your eye with this particular book is the cover. It has the look and feel of a book that I would expect to have found in my grandfather’s collection, tucked away with the pages dog-eared so you could easily find that one recipe or technique that you prize the most.  When you examine this book, you are drawn to the pictures of some of the first Pitt Masters, events and culture of the true pioneers of barbecue. In my opinion, any barbecue enthusiasts would treasure this book simply because of the pictures alone.

What I love most about this book is that it reads like a book. In my opinion, anyone can collect recipes and organize them to form a cookbook. But the individual that can put the recipe together with some background information, techniques and history or a tale that makes it appeal to the reader, to me, that’s what makes the book unique.

One of the recipes I’ve enjoyed is found on page 64, Marvin Lange’s Barbecued Chicken. What I like most about this recipe is the use of Wishbone Italian Dressing as a marinade. It’s hard to argue that this isn’t a barbecue tip to try when it’s reported that Marvin Lang has won ten trophies for his barbecued chicken!

Marvin Lang’s Barbecued Chicken
1 whole fryer, about 3 ½ pounds
¼ cup dry rub of your choice
6 cups Wishbone Italian dressing

Prepare your chicken by removing the giblets and cleaning the cavity of the chicken. Next, butterfly the chicken using a pair of poultry shears, cutting the chicken along the backbone. Rinse the insides of the chicken and season with dry rub. Next, place the chicken in a freezer bag with 3 cups of Italian Dressing and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and discard the marinade. If desired, re-season with dry rub and prepare for the smoker. Place chicken bone side down on the grill and smoke at a temperature of 225-275 for about 3 hours or when the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

The picture above is an example of this receipe and my last contest entry of 2006. My BBQ team won an 8th place ribbon out of 78 entries using Marvin Lang’s technique!  I hope this review has inspired you to read this wonderful book, giving a glimpse of the history, tastes and people that have contributed to the delicacies of barbeque.

These are the most requested appetizer that my wife and I prepare for parties, friends and family functions. I know that once you prepare them and have a taste you will know immediately why ABT’s are the perfect snack or appetizer!

What I’ll do today is give you a couple of different way’s to prepare ABT’s and then leave it up to you to try the one that appeals to you the most. For either recipe you will need at least 12-18 whole jalapeños. Some people like to cut them in half and core them to remove the seeds and membrane inside. I prefer to cut the top off and then take a steak knife and carefully core out the jalapeño removing the seeds and membrane by scraping the inside.

The second step after coring out the jalapeños is to rinse them under cold water and set them to the side. While they dry, I prepare the filling. For our filling we use Bossman’s Frisk-n-Rub (1-2 tablespoons) and a 12 oz container of Philadelphia soft cream cheese. Mix in a bowl until smooth.

Next, get a Zip-lock freezer storage bag and spoon the filling into one of the lower corners of the bag. Let the air out of the Zip-lock bag by rolling the bag down to the mixture. Then cut a small corner of the Zip-lock bag, giving you an instant filling bag!

Begin to fill each of the jalapeños with the cream cheese mixture. Afterwards, take 1lb of apple wood smoked bacon and cut each slice of the bacon in half. Next wrap a slice of bacon around the outside of the jalapeño, using a tooth pick to hold the bacon in place by piercing the center of the bacon, going through the jalapeño and out the other side.

In preparing the ABT’s for the smoker or grill (smoker is preferred..) I take a disposable 12 inch aluminum pan, using a paring knife I make 12 holes approximately 1-2 inches around to place the jalapeños in standing up. With the toothpicks, they are able to stand up straight.

I then smoke the ABT’s for two hours at 200-220 degrees or until the bacon on the outside of the ABT’s is crisp and done. Now even though the ABT’s will be EXTREMELY hard to resist, allow the ABT’s to cool down for about 10-15 minutes before devouring!

The second way to prepare the ABT’S is to prepare the filling the same way, but this time we cut the jalapeños in half length wise and fill the jalapeño with the mixture as above then add pulled pork, brisket or sausage! Cooking procedure remains the same, allowing the bacon to crisp and get done before taking off the grill or smoker.

The only problem with making these is that as fast as you make the ABT’s and take them off the smoker, there gone in the blink of an eye!

Chuck Marting (The Bossman)

So what is the solution? Well in our case we make our own! With the help of Hi Mountain Seasonings located in Riverton Wyoming, not only can you make your own homemade Buckboard bacon, but you can also find seasoning kits to make your own homemade sausages, marinades, dips and other specialty items!

So what is the solution? Well in our case we make our own! With the help of Hi Mountain Seasonings located in Riverton Wyoming, not only can you make your own homemade Buckboard bacon, but you can also find seasoning kits to make your own homemade sausages, marinades, dips and other specialty items!

I started with two boneless Boston Pork Butts, which I trimmed and shaped for the Buckboard Bacon curing process. Once the pork butts are trimmed and ready all you do is sprinkle on the cure, wrap the butts in Saran Wrap and place them in the refrigerator, allowing them to cure for 10 days, turning the butts on the 5th day of curing.

On the 10th day you remove the Buckboard Bacon from the saran wrap and place in water to allow the brine to be removed prior to smoking. At this point your smoker can be fired up to a temperature of 250-300. Remove the Buckboard Bacon from the bath and pat dry. Place on the smoker and leave until an internal temperature of 135-140 is reached, then remove and allow to rest.

What makes this process beautiful is you can then slice the bacon as thin or as thick as you would like! Remember that Buckboard Bacon cooks a lot faster then store bought bacon does. I love to cut this as thick as brisket slices and then pan fry with some eggs and home fries!

To order Buckboard Bacon cure, you can order directly from Hi Mountain at: http://www.himtnjerky.com/ Their Buckboard Bacon Cure costs $4.99 a box, each box will cure 20lbs of bacon! I would also look at the different items offered by Hi Mountain, in my opinion they are second to none for all your curing, marinade and sausage making needs.

They also have step by step instructions for all their products conveniently located on there website. I hope you all enjoyed this article, know I’m off to eat one heck of a BLT sandwich!

Chuck Marting (The Bossman)