Rib Trials

Over the weekend, and attempt was made to test some different rib recipes to find the best one to enter in to a Ribfest. Below are the results:

• 10 different kinds of ribs cooked
• 5 different sauces created
• 3 different cooking techniques
• 1 amazing rub

A mixture of parboiling, slow cooking and BBQing were used and then combinations of sauces and rubs helped create some great ribs. Though there is a long road ahead in perfecting ribs, this comparison has helped move towards that goal.

Sunday nights meats

slow cooked a pork roast on the Egg for 8 hours.  Used a nice rub and had a nice colour, but it wasn't the pulled pork I was looking for.  Taste was good, but the texture was a bit tough.  a little disappointed.  Oh well, it cooked well on the Egg.  Sustained 220 degrees straight through.

Fashion or Function

Is this a waste of good meat, or simple keeping it handy to eat?

Friday is here

I think I'll go home and enjoy some meat.  But what type will it be?  Hmmmm......

Search for a Meat-B-Q

An integral part of meat nights has become the BBQ. Initially little though was put in to the cooking process, however over the seasons meat preparation and cooking has become an integral component. Though the addition of meat delivery instruments such as The Cobb and the Big Green Egg have dramatically added to the meat night experience, the staple cooking apparatus remains the BBQ.

The purchase of a BBQ should not be taken lightly. It may seem easy to grab the $99 special at Walmart, but investing in a great BBQ will pay off in the long run and help you through countless meat nights. It is easy to get sidetracked by trinkets such as side burners and crazy gimmicks like lights, but just remember the core of a BBQ is its burners and grill. Look at features such as temperature range and BTU of any perspective BBQ. A large temperature range will allow you to cook in a variety of fashions, from slow roasting to searing. Take in to consideration that you will be pilling a couple pounds of meat on these grills, an amount that may crush lesser BBQs. A solidly constructed BBQ will provide years of backyard joy.

It helps to take personal pride in you BBQ, such as the affectionately named “Meatzilla”, which has served mountains of meat in its day.

Here are some examples of BBQ which have served meat nights well in the past and will continue to in to the future:

Napoleon Grills

Broil King

Vermont Castings

Weber

Happy Meat-B-Qing!

From Breast to Beef

There comes a time in every baby's development when it's time to venture beyond the breast and into the greater world of culinary exploration. Baby "PorkChop" was in awe at the plump platter of Rib Eye steaks fresh cut from the butcher. The 1.5 inch thick steaks were seared and grilled on the Green Egg sponging up the savoury smoke from imported African charcoal.

While most yuppie parents are busy feeding their kids soy lattes and wheat grass in the back of their Chevy Subdivision SUVs while driving to pilates class, baby PorkChop is busy learning about barnyard animals instead. Maybe Uncle Gutt will buy her a junior grill for her first birthday! 

Pork Pork Pork

Pork tenderlion the other night.  Marinated in garlic lime juice with chipolte peppers for 24 hours.  Seared it on the grill for 12 minutes.  Rested it with more marinade wrapped in foil for 10 minutes.  Peeerrrrrfffeeeccctttt.

A new way of bacon!

Always exciting....bacon....done in a new way!  I took good bacon, cooked it up and minced it in the food pro with fresh basil, onions, garlic, pine nuts, and mozerella. basically, a bacon pesto! then stuffed it into a ravioli.  baked and served with tomato sauce....it was Iron Chef worthy!

A new quote....brings a tear to my eye

I’ve long said that if I were about to be executed and were given a choice of my last meal, it would be bacon and eggs. There are few sights that appeal to me more than the streaks of lean and fat in a good side of bacon, or the lovely round of pinkish meat framed in delicate white fat that is Canadian bacon. Nothing is quite as intoxicating as the smell of bacon frying in the morning, save perhaps the smell of coffee brewing.

— James Beard (1903-1985)

International Bacon Day!

September 5th, 2009 was International Bacon Day.  I hoped you enjoyed!

Famous Meat Quotes

“We’re not going to eat the last Black-footed Ferret. But we might eat the second last if it tasted really, really good.” PapaBone


“I’m going to smoke the fuck out of these ribs.” PapaBone

“I think I just farted out a crab leg.” Gutt

“I didn’t climb to the top of the food chain to eat vegetables” unknown

“Bacon, the candy meat.” Unknown

“Seal meat, packed with utmost care and cleanliness” Clifford Roberts

“Is one can of Vienna Sausage enough?” T-Bone

“I think I just shit my pants.” Gutt

“Get it from the dog... it’s still good!” LongDong

“Bald eagle tastes like Spotted Owl”. Unknown

“If we’re not supposed to eat animals, why do they taste like meat?” unknown

“You don’t win friends with salad.” Dan Castellaneta

“If there hadn’t been women we’d still be squatting in a cave eating raw meat, because we made civilization in order to impress our girlfriends.” Orson Wells

Top 10 Bacon Quotes from Homer Simpson


“(Lisa) “I’m going to become a vegetarian” (Homer) “Does that mean you’re not going to eat any pork?” “Yes” “Bacon?” “Yes Dad” Ham?” “Dad all those meats come from the same animal” “Right Lisa, some wonderful, magical animal!”"

“Porkchops and bacon, my two favorite animals.”

“When you’re in my house you shall do as I do and believe who I believe in. So Bart butter your bacon.”

“Is it Bacon Day?”

“Mmmm. Move over, eggs. Bacon just got a new best friend - fudge.”

“Not again! First you took away my Philly Fudgesteak. And then my Bacon Balls. Then my Whatchamachicken. You monster!”

Homer: I’ll have the smiley face breakfast special. Uhh, but could you add a bacon nose? Plus bacon hair, bacon mustache, five o’clock shadow made of bacon bits and a bacon body.
Waitress: How about I just shove a pig down your throat?
(Homer looks excited)
Waitress: I was kidding.
Homer: Fine, but the bacon man lives in a bacon house!
Waitress: No he doesn’t!
"[strained] You know that feeling you get when a thousand knives of fire are stabbing you in the heart? I’m having that right now…[normal] Ooh, bacon!”

“Mmm … bacon”
“Mmm … unexplained bacon”

Meat the Executive

Meat Night Co-founders:
EM: "Gutt", Minister of Propaganda
AP: "PapaBone", Minister of R&D

Meat Minions
CJ: "LongDong", Vice President of Digital Meatia
GT: "T-Bone", Director of Meatland Security
KK: "Seniorita Meata", Female Liaison
SRP: "Pork Chop"

Honorary Disciples of Meat Night:
Ron W: "Ronagator"
Josh K: "TenderLoin”
Jeff J: “ThreeWay”
Ivan S: "Leahy"
Don W: "Lights"
Scott C: "Project"
Sean L: "Muktuk"
Maya C: "Maja"

In Memorium:
Brock: "Blankey"

The History of Meat Night

“Meat Nights” started in the winter of 2002 in a small Ontario town on the Bruce Peninsula. Several primary factors are responsible for inspiring the fleshy feasts:
1) too many vegetarians had moved into town
2) it was winter on the Bruce Peninsula and there wasn’t much else to do
3) Colonel Clarke’s had closed down, and we no longer had ‘wing nights’ to go to [note: for many years, Colonel Clarke’s wings were the best we had ever had}
4) we were drunk

The tipping point – or catalyst moment – for inspiring Meat Nights occurred when a particularly unruly vegeterrorist placed a PETA brochure on the lunch table after night of a heavy chicken wing consumption. And so Meat Nights were born.

Early Meat Nights were ravenously boorish, with emphasis on quantity of meat. At one of the first meat nights, four of us consumed an astonishing 14 lbs of meat. At that time, basic – yet fundamental - rules were established: cutlery, plates and veggies were not allowed at Meat Nights.

Meat Nights quickly gained popularity through word-of-mouth, and as more people participated, we learned and grew as meat connoisseurs. In essence, Meat Nights went through a natural evolution. Although ‘quantity’ remained an important element, ‘diversity of meats’ became increasingly important. The meat quotient was developed: Quantity x Diversity, remains a fundamental tool to gauge the success of a Meat Night.

We now invest great effort in R&D to perfect the quality of our meat endeavours. To this end, the Cobb and Big Green Egg gilling/smoking systems have opened many doors for Meat Night. Follow this blog to share in our  meatilicious experiences.