4th of July BBQ Rub

Some things are simply too good not to share. Forget about licensing or copyright infringement. I haven't gone socialist, (NEVER!!) but there was a time not that long ago when a neighbor came to the aid of his fellow neighbor. Whether it was to take up arms to protect their freedom, or simply to lend a hand in the field. If he figured out a way to make life better, or more comfortable, he didn't run off to the patent office. He kindly shared his creative invention with those that cared to listen, and that was reward enough. So I am lending a hand to my BBQ neighbors...

We oft times think creativity can only be fostered in some sort of mental sanctuary where we can let the brain steep and stew with no distractions. How far from the truth! More times than naught with me it comes from plans gone awry.. You start down a certain path and have to change course or simply fail. That's when creativity has to come into play. I was going to BBQ during our vacation last week, but the heat and schedule just didn't make it convenient. That was coupled with the fact I was out of some of my usual BBQ spices... doomed??

So Rach mentioned we could just throw this bird in the crock pot. A knot began forming in my stomach.. To go from a perfectly blackened BBQ bird to the crock pit, oh, the HORROR! But what other choice did we have? Well I caved, with the caveat that I would dress it up somehow. So I started measuring out ingredients by hand and throwing them in a bowl. But it needed something extra, something different.. This is what I came up with..


Camo Cook's 4th of July BBQ Rub



1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup coarse kosher salt
1 Luzianne Tea Bag (Family Size) Cut open the bag and pour the leaves in
2 Orange & Spice Tea Bags (Cup Size) (Name Brand is Celestial Seasonings Constant Comment)
1/2 teaspoon or so freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:
Mix together with your fingers and coat all sides of the meat with the rub. To add some zing throw in more black pepper. (This is enough to thoroughly coat a whole chicken or half pork tenderloin)

Since this rub contains sugar don't cook any meat it's applied too over direct flame. This is perfect though for using your Weber Kettle with charcoal piled on the sides, your smoker, rotisserie, or crock pot.

I would suggest if you are cooking with fire of any kind to either stand your bird up on a can of tea, or simply spritz the meat with an iced tea concoction of your choosing thrown in a spray bottle every 20 min or so.


So the question is.. How does it taste? Well it's got SUMMER written all over it. The brown sugar makes it sweet, but not overly so. It's not too spicy, so the kids will love it, and the tea really imparts a special tang to the flavor that just makes you want more!!!

Camo Cook


P.S. So surely I am not the first to do this right? Well, I did a quick Google search and am not finding anything quite like it. I even did a scan of my Raichlen cookbooks and he has one recipe that dabbles in this idea, but it's not even close really. So, I am going to consider this an original Camo Cook recipe! ENJOY and Happy 4th of July!!!

Internet Killed The BBQ King

As summer gears up, and the grills and smokers get dusted off by the fair weather grill jockeys, lets take a quick look back at what happened during the off-season. There were no major off season trades, or player union lockouts.

"It was a recipe that will live in infamy..."

The course of BBQ future as we know it was forever altered, sent into a tailspin from which it may never recover. It's another page out of Oceanic Flight 815's travel log. It's not where are we, but when are we...

No virtual pit master is safe, and the mysterious veil all but dissipated like a waft of hickory smoke. Okay, Let's not panic, or get foolish. The magic has been disappearing ever since the Elves began migrating West across the Sea. The river of mystery sauce has dried to a trickle that only flows during seasonal monsoons of BBQ bliss.



It wasn't that the Bacon Explosion: recipe dealt a death blow. It merely slammed a door that had been closing since the dawn of Sauron, err the web. It has just taken longer for some folks to broaden their google search horizons, into areas of primal fire, smoke, and sauce. The Wizardry of BBQ has been at the fingertips of the common web crawler for quite some time. But with all the other content, it gets overcooked most of the time. In mid February this recipe called "Bacon Explosion" received 50,000 hits in a single day, and that could have spelled some dire consequences for us BBQ Wizards. Would we be forever viewed as "Conjurers of Cheap Tricks"??

Being considered a BBQ connoisseur myself, amongst my own circle of family/friends it wasn't long before the requests came pouring in. "If you build it, they will come.." It was like Field of Dreams all over again. Some folks wondered if it was real, others asked when they could come over to try some. Still others were just looking for a weather report. (Same guy, wrong topic). That was when I began to breathe a little easier.

The recipe itself had garnered SERIOUS attention, even world wide web fame. But what I still haven't seen are hordes of lucrative forays into the Bacon Zone at least among those I know. There may be still enough mystery and doubt, and in this particular case fear to keep the novices at bay. Is it doubt as to if it will really taste good? (Of course it will it's BACON). Is it Mystery as to how hard it really is to prepare? Or possibly a Fear of a lifetime dependence on Lipitor, or Crestor after one takes a bite of this cholesterol laden delicacy...

And you see it's those two, no three, THREE chief weapons, mystery, doubt, fear, and a fanatical use of secret spice that may keep the few remaining secrets hidden safe for another millennium falcon, or at least until Firefox gives us 4.0 with a free digital meat thermometer app...


Until Next Time...
Camo Cook

Smoke That Turkey!

This Thanksgiving had a bit more flare to it than previous ones, in a very literal sense. I decided to undertake the "Cooking of the Turkey" myself using primal smoke and fire... As with all my adventures with the smoke pit the key is preparation. It always begins with some in-depth study of the process. I spent the first half of a fortnight scouring my BBQ books and the Internet until I decided on a classic Raichlen recipe. The latter half was spent reading and rereading the recipe every time doubt started to creep into my mind. Familiarizing oneself with the recipe is foundational to success. Why, may you ask?

Before your interest starts to wane, you must understand the complexity involved in barbecuing. Due to the number of variables that exist in barbecuing - you must consider the recipe as a page from your football playbook. The formation of each play is always the same, but based on the weather, the alignment of the opposing team (in this case: children at play, the dog driving me insane, the volatility of fire, and my mental disposition (see dog, wind, fire, etc)) the actual execution of the play is never the same twice. And for this particular case the stakes were extremely high, because burning the bird is the quickest way to end up on the chopping block. Hence the need for barbecuing warfare attire.


Everyone seems to have an alter ego, or "stage persona" these days, so it was due time to unveil my own - "Camo Cook". He is an altered being for sure, the hickory smoke has gone to his head, and it gets stuck in his beard, let alone the tales and barbecue lore that are expelled when anyone mentions barbecue, but I digress...

Back to the turkey, err the bird. All the prep work and recipe magic worked to perfection and I was able to present the family with the most succulent smoky maple brined sublime turkey they had ever tasted. That was coupled with an hors d'ouevre of smoked venison back strap that knocked their socks off, just ask my sister in law. As for what I actually did, as in the recipe, you'll have to ask Camo Cook. But I forewarn you, determining what ended up on the table based on the yarn he may weave with a gleam in his eye will be virtually impossible, nonetheless, entertaining.

Until Next Time....