First Official CenTex Que & Brew August 9th-11th

[Misplaced Nebraskan]

"Updated post 2, well I need to update again."

Hey amigo....couple of updates on your update. It is actually an XL big Green Egg, which is considerably larger than the L. Also, you missed the digital electric stainless steel smoker all together.

A lot going on with Zach's day :-)
Robert

Updated! More coffee needed haha

 

[bigdaddy4760]

"Also... Super fun fact I just learned! that old thread of bvbull200 's... he responded to your comment about Booker's Bourbon and not hearing of it. He is one of the biggest Booker's drinkers I know now! and He got me into it big time! did you see the Booker's 30th bottle in my Gator post? That was his!

Full circle. Too funny! Bryan HAS to come down now!"

Oh now that's funny!! Booker's is my absolute favorite, although I drink very little of it. I'm mostly a beer guy. I'll do Knob Creek if it's available though.

This was gifted to me about a year ago and I know nothing about it but will contribute it to the cause if it's worthy.
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Started a batch of spicy pickled garlic a few days ago that should be ready by then....and it should be really spicy!!
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And just for you Zach, to wash down that spicy garlic, a frosty mug of your favorite Irish Red Ale
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Stirring it up now,
Robert

Cant wait to try this beer!

 

[tx smoker]

"Cant wait to try this beer!"

I'll send you a PM with a couple of pints as a lead-in for next month
There will be plenty but I think I need to do more than just one flavor. I'm thinking the Irish Red (that's a given) and maybe a Nut Brown Ale. Give folks some variety in their diet.

Quite the dietitian,
Robert

 

[Misplaced Nebraskan]

Cant wait to try this beer!

Bring the bubba keg

It is some good stuff! I went back a couple times for more...

 

[bigdaddy4760]

Bring the bubba keg

It is some good stuff! I went back a couple times for more...

You know I will have my BK with me.

 

[tareed94]

Oh man. I think my friend is coming in from Florida that weekend whom I haven't seen in almost 2 years now. Let me see what is going down and I'll see if the logistics work out! Are dogs welcome? I've got two "little" mutts (40-50 pounds each) that love taking trips. They can definitely be left on a tie out or I can try to find someone to keep them if I can make it that weekend. The 11th is actually my birthday too. Haha

 

[bvbull200]

Well, damn. The date finally fully registered with me. I KNOW it says August, but I had September in my head. That is the week after we do a fundraising cook and a couple weeks before competition, not the week after. I'm quite scatterbrained at the moment.

Makes it fairly unlikely that I can swing it, but I'll try.

 

[woodwindricky]

looks like y'all have the beef and pork covered. Zack, put me down for a smoked turkey and if we have any room, Connie can bring her cheesecake squares for dessert

 

[tx smoker]

YO RICKY!! Glad you could join in the melee. If I might suggest, brine that bird for 2 to 3 days and I'll offer up the BGE to cook it on. Best turkey I'e ever had came of that Egg and I'd give mt first born child and a pint of blood for another one. I used to have a great brine recipe for turkey but seem to have lost it. If anybody has a good recipe to pass long to Ricky for brining a big bird, please do share. He is at a loss as this is his first attempt....help would be greatly appreciated.

hoping to help my brother from another mother,
Robert

 

[Misplaced Nebraskan]

Oh man. I think my friend is coming in from Florida that weekend whom I haven't seen in almost 2 years now. Let me see what is going down and I'll see if the logistics work out! Are dogs welcome? I've got two "little" mutts (40-50 pounds each) that love taking trips. They can definitely be left on a tie out or I can try to find someone to keep them if I can make it that weekend. The 11th is actually my birthday too. Haha

Robert will have to chime in on the dogs as it's his place. But let us know on the schedule with your buddy. At this point a +1 may be needed to help consume some food!

Well, damn. The date finally fully registered with me. I KNOW it says August, but I had September in my head. That is the week after we do a fundraising cook and a couple weeks before competition, not the week after. I'm quite scatterbrained at the moment.

Makes it fairly unlikely that I can swing it, but I'll try.

Y'all got a lot going on coming up. understandable. I have a bunch of building shutdowns Aug 3/4 that I may be involved in. If not... Biker garage!

looks like y'all have the beef and pork covered. Zack, put me down for a smoked turkey and if we have any room, Connie can bring her cheesecake squares for dessert

Roger that! will get ya on the list for it! was hoping you'd say something about the cheesecake squares without me begging haha.

YO RICKY!! Glad you could join in the melee. If I might suggest, brine that bird for 2 to 3 days and I'll offer up the BGE to cook it on. Best turkey I'e ever had came of that Egg and I'd give mt first born child and a pint of blood for another one. I used to have a great brine recipe for turkey but seem to have lost it. If anybody has a good recipe to pass long to Ricky for brining a big bird, please do share. He is at a loss as this is his first attempt....help would be greatly appreciated.

hoping to help my brother from another mother,
Robert

I have a pretty basic Turkey Brine:

for a 1 gallon Batch:

1 gallon water
1 cup Kosher Salt
1 Can OJ concentrate (the frozen tubes)
1 Can Apple Juice Concentrate (the frozen tubes)
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 Cup White Vinegar
Handful of Garlic Cloves smashed
Aromatics (rosemary, thyme, sage)

Heat to combine then chill with ice and cover bird. I do at least 12 hours but usually prep the day before.


Has worked well for me anyway. not the most elaborate, but I won't do a turkey without a brine first anymore.

 

[Misplaced Nebraskan]

@dwdunlap , you were steered in our direction as a person of potential interest. If you can't make it, feel free to chime in with ideas or just hop on for the conversations

 

[Misplaced Nebraskan]

Post 2 updated. Getting good in here!

 

[tareed94]

Robert will have to chime in on the dogs as it's his place. But let us know on the schedule with your buddy. At this point a +1 may be needed to help consume some food!

Haha. That's for sure the weekend he's coming in. I know he's got plans with his dad on the 10th, I gotta see what he's got in mind for the weekend. If he's intending to stay at my house most of the weekend I won't be able to make it. If he isn't planning on hanging out the whole weekend I'll likely make the trip early Saturday morning and get my friend Austin to drive down from Dallas to help put a dent in the food. Lol. I should know today or tomorrow if that's a possibility.

 

[Misplaced Nebraskan]

Haha. That's for sure the weekend he's coming in. I know he's got plans with his dad on the 10th, I gotta see what he's got in mind for the weekend. If he's intending to stay at my house most of the weekend I won't be able to make it. If he isn't planning on hanging out the whole weekend I'll likely make the trip early Saturday morning and get my friend Austin to drive down from Dallas to help put a dent in the food. Lol. I should know today or tomorrow if that's a possibility.

Good deal. A dent will be needed apparently. No one better be leaving hungry that's for sure.

 

[tx smoker]

"Are dogs welcome? I've got two "little" mutts (40-50 pounds each) that love taking trips."

Right out of the gate I would say yes, the dogs are welcome. Tracy and I are puppy people but there are a couple of caveats attached. First off, they must be friendly and non aggressive. The world's most spoiled Beagle runs this household. She doesn't mind company as long as the other puppies understand that she is in charge

The other condition is that nobody else has an objection to them being here. I'd hate to see somebody drive half way across the state for this and have their enjoyment hampered because they happen not to be a puppy person. If your dogs meet Rule #1 and nobody chimes in with an objection, you're good to go as far as I'm concerned.

Do the dogs know how to cook ribs??
Robert

 

[bigdaddy4760]

"Are dogs welcome? I've got two "little" mutts (40-50 pounds each) that love taking trips."

Right out of the gate i wouls say yes, the dogs are welcome. Tracy and I are puppy people but there are a couple of caveats attached. first off, they must be friendly and non aggressive. The world's most spoiled eagle runs this household. she doesn't mind company as long as the other puppies understand that she is in charge

The other condition is that nobody else has an objection to them being here. I'd hate to see somebody drive half way across the state for this and have their enjoyment hampered because they happen not to be a puppy person. If your dogs meet Rule #1 and nobody chimes in with an objection, you're good to go as far as I'm concerned.

Do the dogs know how to cook ribs??
Robert

I hope yall get to meet Buzz, not sure if wife will be able to join us yet.

 

[tx smoker]

Some considerations and food for thought (no pun intended):

This is turning into a full-blown weekend event that is starting in earnest on Friday. We need to give some thought to dinner Friday and breakfast Saturday morning. I could toss a big pork loin in to marinate on Thursday then skewer it Friday and slow cook it on the Santa Maria but I don't know if that'd be enough. I do have a bunch of Piedmontese steaks but it'd cost a fortune to feed everybody that's gonna be here :-) I don't mind a bit tossing a few of them, or a roast into the till but it's going to be a pretty good sized crowd Friday. For Saturday breakfast we could probably just make up a ton of breakfast tacos from Friday evening left-overs. Any thoughts?

I've not heard anybody mention bringing tater salad, macaroni salad, or slaw. I make a pretty mean tater salad. Zach...would you please put me down for a big batch of that? I'll make it Friday while awaiting the arrival of our guests.

This is not hugely critical, just a question of merit. If anybody has any idea what time they may be arriving, please let me know. I'd just hate for you to show up and I'm off running an errand....or picking up more margaritas.

Getting down to the nitty gritty,
Robert

 

[tx smoker]

"I hope yall get to meet Buzz, not sure if wife will be able to join us yet. "

Even if the wife can't make it, you gotta bring Buzz!!

Loading up on poop bags,
Robert

 

[bigdaddy4760]

Some considerations and food for thought (no pun intended):

This is turning into a full-blown weekend event that is starting in earnest on Friday. We need to give some thought to dinner Friday and breakfast Saturday morning. I could toss a big pork loin in to marinate on Thursday then skewer it Friday and slow cook it on the Santa Maria but I don't know if that'd be enough. I do have a bunch of Piedmontese steaks but it'd cost a fortune to feed everybody that's gonna be here :-) I don't mind a bit tossing a few of them, or a roast into the till but it's going to be a pretty good sized crowd Friday. For Saturday breakfast we could probably just make up a ton of breakfast tacos from Friday evening left-overs. Any thoughts?

I've not heard anybody mention bringing tater salad, macaroni salad, or slaw. I make a pretty mean tater salad. Zach...would you please put me down for a big batch of that? I'll make it Friday while awaiting the arrival of our guests.

This is not hugely critical, just a question of merit. If anybody has any idea what time they may be arriving, please let me know. I'd just hate for you to show up and I'm off running an errand....or picking up more margaritas.

Getting down to the nitty gritty,
Robert

I can grab some fresh bacon from the freezer if needed. Can cook some biscuits if needed also.

 

[snakehead]

I've not been on this site for awhile, so was pretty excited when my very good friend Robert (you know him as tx smoker) send me a message about this event.

I've known Robert for about 11 years now, ever since he built my house. During that time, he got me back into riding motorcycles (That's also how I met Ricky) and taught me how to brew beer. Funny thing is, I bought myself a Big Green Egg and started smoking, and pretty soon Robert starting smoking meats too. I think he was just trying to out-do me (which or course he has). Then I got into making sausages. Guess what? He did too! And once again, took it even further than me and has now taught me how to make dry aged sausages which I'd been talking about doing for awhile as well as homemade bacon. By the way, homemade bacon is the bomb! Once you start making that, you'll NEVER want to buy store bought bacon again! But I digress...

Needless to say, I'll definitely be there, spending the night, drinking whisky, and enjoying everyones company. Now for what to bring... I'm thinking about doing something different from everyone else, since it looks like BBQ is mostly covered. As I don't really see seafood being given much attention so far, I'm thinking I'll make some Blackened Fish (Swai) - which by the way I started making Blackened Tilapia at one of Robert's awesome party's a few years back. In addition, I'll even bring some of my (literally) world famous salsa.

I can also help out with making my awesome Biscuits and Gravy if needed/wanted.

See you all soon!

Gerald
(aka: Chef Don Geraldo)
https://www.geraldskitchen.com