Little dude helped prep the starter chimney for the grill, and mix the burgers, make some patties & check the temperature.
Tried to keep it at 250° for about an hour,
went up a few times so we played with the vents to get it right.
Slathered on some BBQ sauce at the end for a little less than 10 minutes.
The buns, which I should do on the propane side of the grill next time…
Melted some butter & garlic in rhe microwave, brushed it on the buns, put them in the oven at 375° on a pan with a roasting rack for a few minutes to toast them… pulled them put and added BBQ sauce to the bottom and a slice of Gouda and some more French’s onions to the top… toasted until the cheese was starting to melt & the onions got a little more toasty.
Not a bad dinner! It tasted like a Rack of ribs on a bun and the burgers were really juicy. It almost tasted like a rack of ribs or some brisket on a bun.
🍔
So, how do you do your burgers on the smoker? I did get advise to sear, but skipped that as they seemed done & pretty together when I checked them. Any special recipes outside of the normal? We do a mushroom and swiss melt with these onions too… sometimes I make a molten cheese ball on the inside… from regular grilling to the counter-top grill. We try to make them different that what you typically get out. I have been known to do pizza or chili cheese burgers too… but we are definitely coming back to these and trying more styles in the smoker. Maybe a bacon/cheddar/jalapeño one next?
So, I’ve been hungry for meatball subs. They’re so simple to make, but we just never seem to do it at home. I shared the photo on social media, because I’m weird like that and it annoys people, and some people seemed to dig it. wanted to share how easy it was with a minimal amount of effort.
So, the wife got a pound of ground meat from Aldi the other day, and I picked up the rest of the stuff that we didn’t already have at Giant Eagle on my way home from work. I probably could have gotten all of this from Aldi.
So this is what I used…
1 lb. of ground beef
a handful or two of finely shredded fancy 6 cheese “Italian” stuff – I started with a 2 cup bag. We always have this or something similar around.
Whatever “shake cheese” you put on spaghetti. I have Parmigiano-Reggiano because they think it needs to sound fancy.
A handful of crackers. We had “club” crackers from Aldi
Turn the oven on first so you don’t have to worry about it later. Put it on 375° because that’s always what they seem to say to put it on. I don’t know why. I don’t even know who they are.
I made some meatballs with the meat, some hand-crushed crackers, a dash of the pizza sauce, a dash of Italian dressing, a dash of whatever spices I grabbed off the rack (probably pepper, season all, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika), a bit of the Parmesan shake cheese and the mysterious “six cheese Italian” stuff.
I put some spices on the outside because why not, and tossed them into a frying pan with EVOO and a small pat of butter on the bottom. I pre-heated it to high, then turned it to 6 before I tossed in the balls. 6 is at about 6:00 on my stupid electric stove top.
I melted a bit of butter in the microwave. I quickly cut open the buns, put them on a baking sheet, spread on some melted butter with a brush and added… garlic powder, onion powder, a dash of shake cheese, and “Italian seasoning” to the buns. No Italian seasoning for my wife, and no garlic powder for my 2½ year old. I popped them in the 375° oven on the middle rack for a bit.
I used tongs to turn the meatballs over & popped a lid on the pan.
I dumped the remaining pizza sauce into a soup cup (it was a little jar), and added a sprinkle of brown sugar. I nuked it for 45 seconds or so. Why? I like sweet sauce, and grandma always said “it cuts the acid.”
I turned the meatballs on to an undone side, and got the sub rolls out of the oven. I knew they were done because… I didn’t even look at them. I just took them out. They looked fine. Plus, we’re not totally finished. I added some pizza sauce and some of the finely shredded awkwardly named cheese to the buns.
I made sure the meatballs weren’t going to kill us with the food thermometer. They weren’t. I put those on the buns and added more sauce, shredded cheese, and shake cheese.
I set some meatballs aside for my 10 month old. The sandwich was a little much for him, but he will eat just about anything you put in front of him. Seriously. even if it’s not edible.
I put the now built subs into the oven and cranked the knob to 400° because I am impatient and my 2½ year old kept asking if lunch was ready. I turned the light on in the oven and watched the cheese melt. Not only was that fun, I could also make sure I wasn’t going to burn the bejesus out of things. I didn’t. I took it out in time.
Well, some of the cheese that fell on to the baking sheet burned, because I made a mess. Oh well.
These were pretty good, although next time I will use different/better sauce. That squeeze stuff isn’t bad. Maybe I can make a simple marinara. Also, homemade-ish deli rolls or Cellone’s are worth it… and I would cut a little triangle out of the top like Subway used to, before we were over-saturated with them and they started to serve terrible cream-of-deathfish.
At any rate. This is easy to do. You could buy your own meatballs or bake your own bread or use cheese slices to make this as easy or as difficult as you like. I cut my 2½ year old’s into 3 sections so she had sliders. I cut my wife’s in 2. I ate the whole thing in one big sandwich like a hungry hungry pig. I refuse to apologize.
Share photos of yours or links to your own blogged recipe in the comments!
I love barbecue, or BBQ or Bar-B-Q or whatever you want to call it. This isn’t going to be a blog about what you think the “real” definition of barbecue is (wet/dry, smoke/no smoke, slow & low/fast & hot, sauce/no sauce, charcoal/gas, grill/pit)… the purists all claim to be right, and the term can be applied to the meat (or veggies I guess), the cooking, the spices, the sauce, or the gathering. If you want to argue/learn about the differences, check out Wikipedia.
Since I’m just a fan of barbecue, not a professional BBQ cook, and live in Pittsburgh not the south*… I won’t take a stand on the issue. I like all varieties. (Although, would chipped ham barbecue be “Pittsburgh Style” BBQ? I’d support that.)
I was inspired to write about BBQ today because I recently had an excellent dinner form the Pittsburgh Barbecue Company. It reminded me of my three favorite barbecue joints. I was just wondering what other people thought of them, and what other awesome local BBQ joints might not be on my radar.
Rowdy BBQ
Rowdy BBQ Tagline: “We think of you when we pull our pork!” – I swear this place used to be called Brentwood Express or have it in the name somewhere… but now the site’s commercial strictly says “Rowdy BBQ”, so we’ll go with that.
At any rate, this is my favorite barbecue sauce. I love this stuff! It’s a sweet yet spicy sauce. They have a killer menu with all kinds of fun things like “The Big Pig”, “The Whole Hog”, and the “Knuckle Sandwich”. I usually get the ribs/chicken combo with some fries and eat just enough to make myself almost sick. The ribs are always cooked perfectly, sometimes the chicken is dry, but not “ooh I can’t eat this” dry. The fries are awesome, and this is the only place out of my 3 favorites that even has fries. (They used to have excellent pierogies, but I don’t think they’re on the menu anymore.) I’ve had the Big Pig & the brisket sandwiches, they are awesome. I want to try the cheese steaks, but at pulled to the BBQ offerings every time I’m there. I want to buy the sauce to bring home, but then I won’t have an excuse to go there. The parking lot is chaos, and you’re eating about 5 feet away from the traffic on Rte. 51 when you’re on the one site… but I can never wait to get home to eat, gotta eat it there! (And, I’d miss the rowdy rooster!)
Pittsburgh Barbecue Company Tagline: “That place on Banksville…” – This place is the closest to home for me, and is pretty damn tasty BBQ. The sauce is a little more tangy than sweet. I go for the brisket or pulled pork here more often than the ribs… but the ribs & chicken are damn good. I like their mac n’ cheese. It’s got a tasty homemade feel. They have a pretty minimalist menu, but I really like that. They know what they do, and they do it well. My wife Bethany loves their baked apples side. The cornbread is excellent too. They seem to be a little expensive here, but again, it’s worth it. You definitely get what you pay for… the meat portions on the sandwiches are huge.
The sauce is nice & peppery. I get a spicy tingle every time we dine here. There’s also a nice outside dining area, and although sparse like Rowdy BBQ, you’re not eating amid exhaust like you are on Rte. 51. It’s got a nice little log cabin/shack feel inside. They also tout a bunch of “#1’s” on their site, most recent being Pittsburgh Magazine’s “Best in the ‘Burgh 2010”. This place is no secret, even if it is hiding back off of the main road.
Clem’s Cafe Tagline: “Home of the nice racks, big breasts, juicy thighs, and warm buns! ” – This one is way out there, but really worth the drive. They have an excellent tangy sauce… I can taste the vinegar in it, but it blends well with the overall flavor. The best part about Clem’s is that hands down the meat is always falling off the bone on the ribs… and always always juicy with the chicken. I like the mac & cheese here, and the ability to get the Boylan’s root beer or birch beer.
The dining facilities are great, it’s always a nice place to sit & eat. They have a concise menu, again not too much, you know exactly why you’re there… for the BBQ!
So, where else should I try? My #1 criteria in finding a cool new BBQ place is that they don’t have shrimp(or any other shellfish) on the menu… like Rib Cage BBQ. I like the BBQ places because of the limited menu & no chance of cross-contamination. It’s nice to be able to completely relax at an eating establishment.
I would love to be able to get some turkey at a BBQ place though… either deep-fried & topped with some sauce… or in a pulled-pork style or brisket-style sandwich… or turkey legs. Man, I love turkey legs.
So, flood me with commentary!
*There are a number of people around here that do indeed think we are a southern state… “Pennsyltucky” and all…
World (and Lunar) Domination 