Let's Talk Healthy BBQ

[mcokevin]

lol yea my biggest fight is trying to eliminate SODA, I usually have 2 or 3 cans a day. If I could drop that to 1 a day in the near future, that'd be a huge win..Then obviously knock it down further to like one or two a week! Next fight is less fast food visits and more bringing food with me to work

I'll definitely check out JCam and his content, thanks for that share

Worth giving seltzer a try over soda. You get the carbonation and bubbles, so it feels a bit like you're drinking soda. And most of them are sugar and calorie free.

 

[hooked on smoke]

I'm in the same boat. Could use to drop a few pounds. Not to mention watch my cholesterol intake. Thank you for starting this. I'll be following for sure. I'll try to contribute my, on the healthier side, cooks when I get some.

Thanks again, good thread for sure. Let's see where this goes.

 

[McLoven1t562]

Worth giving seltzer a try over soda. You get the carbonation and bubbles, so it feels a bit like you're drinking soda. And most of them are sugar and calorie free.

I have tried like Zivia? some kind of soda that's actually not bad for you....tried seltzers before and it's definitely going to take a lot of time and effort. It's got barely anything to do with the carbonation, I know it's 100% have to do with my bodies craving/need for the sugar and caffeine.....same way people who drink excessive amounts of coffee with cream and/or sugar have a very hard time reducing their intake or not using the cream and/or sugar lol

 

[SmokyMose]

Interesting thread. I missed it yesterday.
We don't have to worry about weight but the Mrs. had a COPD related heart issue about a year and a half ago and was put on a 2,000mg daily Sodium diet. I became an avid label reader and was soon flabbergasted at how much Sodium is in almost everything! 2,000mg is a hard target to hit. Well, I've been on a mission since then and have found that salt isn't needed in a lot of things. I make my own BBQ sauce and rubs with no salt. Bread recipes always call for salt but it's not needed for the rising process. I make our own sausage using the barest minimum of salt which is WAY less than store bought (Thank you SMF for teaching me how). I make our own bacon using Pop's lower salt brine (Again, thank you SMF.)
Probably the biggest issue is cheese. There's no such thing as low Sodium cheese as far as I can tell. There are tons of low fat/sugar free products out there but low or no sodium is hard to find.
All that ramble being rambled, the folks I've known who lost weight didn't follow any trendy diet. They ate the same things they always ate but just ate less. They said it's tough at first being hungry all the time but as the pounds dropped they found they weren't as hungry....

 

[McLoven1t562]

Interesting thread. I missed it yesterday.
We don't have to worry about weight but the Mrs. had a COPD related heart issue about a year and a half ago and was put on a 2,000mg daily Sodium diet. I became an avid label reader and was soon flabbergasted at how much Sodium is in almost everything! 2,000mg is a hard target to hit. Well, I've been on a mission since then and have found that salt isn't needed in a lot of things. I make my own BBQ sauce and rubs with no salt. Bread recipes always call for salt but it's not needed for the rising process. I make our own sausage using the barest minimum of salt which is WAY less than store bought (Thank you SMF for teaching me how). I make our own bacon using Pop's lower salt brine (Again, thank you SMF.)
Probably the biggest issue is cheese. There's no such thing as low Sodium cheese as far as I can tell. There are tons of low fat/sugar free products out there but low or no sodium is hard to find.
All that ramble being rambled, the folks I've known who lost weight didn't follow any trendy diet. They ate the same things they always ate but just ate less. They said it's tough at first being hungry all the time but as the pounds dropped they found they weren't as hungry....

Yea that's a whole nother level when you have to focus on a certain kind of diet for health issues. Honestly I'm not surprised that salt is in like EVERYTHING lol but yea I do prefer the "reduced fat" version of Ruffles because the fact that it does in fact have LESS SALT lol...still junk food I know, but still.

I'm moving into a great house with only 1 room mate and he has a great kitchen so I definitely plan to get into making my own sauces and rubs as well. They'll also be reduced salt, reduced sugar, plus I can adjust the recipe to really get the flavor(s) I want instead of trying 10 different store bought products :)

Same with cooking, I feel like this will be a great chapter where I can kind of start over and really get back into me doing more home cooked meals and this time I'm going to put in more effort at what I'm really putting into my body.....that and a beautiful summer in California, I'm definitely taking my kayak out more often to get some exercise going on....need to build my stamina because I barely have any at the moment lol

 

[mcokevin]

I became an avid label reader and was soon flabbergasted at how much Sodium is in almost everything! 2,000mg is a hard target to hit.

I am on a 2,000mg sodium diet as well. It is doable without too much struggle if you cook at home, it's easy to modify recipes. You are right, anything that is shelf stable or prepared at a restaurant is loaded with sodium, it is extremely insidious.

Now, keep in mind that a "normal" diet calls for a maximum of 2,300mg of sodium a day. So a "low sodium" diet with 2,000mg is not all that much lower than what a normal adult should be eating. Most Americans just blow right through that. I would estimate most people, even those that eat "healthy", are at 3,000+ mg/day, just because of how easy it is to consume loads of sodium without realizing it.

 

[civilsmoker]

I am on a 2,000mg sodium diet as well. It is doable without too much struggle if you cook at home, it's easy to modify recipes. You are right, anything that is shelf stable or prepared at a restaurant is loaded with sodium, it is extremely insidious.

Now, keep in mind that a "normal" diet calls for a maximum of 2,300mg of sodium a day. So a "low sodium" diet with 2,000mg is not all that much lower than what a normal adult should be eating. Most Americans just blow right through that. I would estimate most people, even those that eat "healthy", are at 3,000+ mg/day, just because of how easy it is to consume loads of sodium without realizing it.

One of the best ways to reduce sodium in smoking/bbq is to make your own rub with minimal sodium (I do add just a pinch to my rubs to help will clumping and freshness). Next don't dry brine or brine at all, smoke or gill with the low sodium rub then when done cut or pull or what ever then finish with just a slight dusting of salt (coarse grind is better as its easy to over do it with fine). You will use WAY LESS sodium and have WAY MORE sodium flavor as it hits your taste buds right on point.....Holy smokes it takes pulled pork to a whole new level! I can't take the credit for this method, I learned it from GR.

 

[checkdude]

That looks good Chris .


Never was a soda drinker . I bet I haven't had a soda in 25 years .
Haven't had a beer in 5 weeks and dropped 15 pounds .

Same here. Never drink beer,can't remember when I had a soda,lately eat more vegetables then ever before (all my wife's doing) but you better not stand between me and my homemade wine lol!

 

[SmokyMose]

One of the best ways to reduce sodium in smoking/bbq is to make your own rub with minimal sodium (I do add just a pinch to my rubs to help will clumping and freshness). Next don't dry brine or brine at all, smoke or gill with the low sodium rub then when done cut or pull or what ever then finish with just a slight dusting of salt (coarse grind is better as its easy to over do it with fine). You will use WAY LESS sodium and have WAY MORE sodium flavor as it hits your taste buds right on point.....Holy smokes it takes pulled pork to a whole new level! I can't take the credit for this method, I learned it from GR.

Yeah, the last couple of briskets I've done I only rubbed with pepper instead of a 50/50 mix of salt and pepper and they were great. Same with butts for P.P. No salt at all in my rub and the smoke pulled it off.

 

[jcam222]

I'm personally not a fan of these "diet trends." We had fasting, keto, carnivore, probiotic-rich, flexitarian, volumetrics, and the list goes on and on.

NOW, I'm not ever going to knock someone for going on any of these diets as I do know that for certain individuals, it does seem to make very apparent improvements to their life and can sometimes even help with current medical conditions they've been suffering from.

It's just that there seems to be a lack of universal medical data that everyone can agree on in regards to the pro's/con's and health benefits. Especially Fasting as it can be a very dangerous routine if you aren't taking the right approach and/or consulting a professional.

Different strokes I’ll agree with. Keto / low carb lifestyle works great for some and especially diabetics. Like many things one size doesn’t fit all. Relative to fasting while I don’t fast many of my “keto” friends including one MD does intermittent fasting. They swear by it. I also think there is a tremendous amount of data available on it.

 

[civilsmoker]

Different strokes I’ll agree with. Keto / low carb lifestyle works great for some and especially diabetics. Like many things one size doesn’t fit all. Relative to fasting while I don’t fast many of my “keto” friends including one MD does intermittent fasting. They swear by it. I also think there is a tremendous amount of data available on it.

..... Lets see I have been eating a very high protein, heavy veg & greens, low sugar (limited sugar fruit), whole grain (in smaller ratio portions to protein) menu with one or more fasting days a month most of my life.....oh with 10 -15 miles of walking/hiking/running a week/no coffee/alcohol (other than cooking), lots of water.....but an IV of coke zero into the viens......... after all these years, I didn't even know it was considered diet.......I just call it living good......

 

[Brokenhandle]

Way better to be seen, not viewed! I think to each their own given their own circumstances. Some need low sodium intake, others need to lower values due to diabetes. I could use to lose a few pounds, usually weigh around 205 to 210, depending on the season. Have high blood pressure and cholesterol...runs in the family. But anyone can do anything if they want to...not because they are told, or just kinda think they should. My wife and I quit smoking cigs for over 30 years, cold turkey. We decided we wanted to be done and we did...April 7th of last year.
But as a farmer working late during spring planting and fall harvest doesn't help eating late at night just before bed.
But sure do love my taters and gravy, bread, pizza...I know right! Can say my vegetable intake keeps increasing...never used to like hardly any of them. So enough rambling...good thread, and might even find some new ideas!

Ryan

 

[Brokenhandle]

I work on a friend's farm in the Spring and Fall, plant soybeans and do A/A in the Spring, and run the grain cart and semi/straight truck in the fall. I usually slim down during those times and had to do something different because I got so stiff from sitting in the tractor for hours on end. I snack every 4-5 hours to stave off the drowsys and tea in the Spring and coffee in the Fall works wonders for me. Mixed nuts and cherry tomatoes are my usual snacks.

Might not be healthy but peanut butter stuffed pretzels make a good snack for me while in the field.

Ryan

 

[mcokevin]

One of the best ways to reduce sodium in smoking/bbq is to make your own rub with minimal sodium (I do add just a pinch to my rubs to help will clumping and freshness). Next don't dry brine or brine at all, smoke or gill with the low sodium rub then when done cut or pull or what ever then finish with just a slight dusting of salt (coarse grind is better as its easy to over do it with fine). You will use WAY LESS sodium and have WAY MORE sodium flavor as it hits your taste buds right on point.....Holy smokes it takes pulled pork to a whole new level! I can't take the credit for this method, I learned it from GR.

I did some sodium calcs on homemade sausage, and I think the stuff sold by Wild Fork comes in about that level. It is the lowest I've found in store bought sausage, so I buy that exclusively now as the Mrs. and I don't have a ton of spare time to make our own.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

I became an avid label reader and was soon flabbergasted at how much Sodium is in almost everything!

You are right, anything that is shelf stable or prepared at a restaurant is loaded with sodium, it is extremely insidious.

My wife has a sodium deficiency so I am in the same boat. If she eats any salt she swells like a balloon so I learned how to make things taste good without it. There are a few things I personally still like salt on but most of the time I don't miss it at all. Now if we go out to eat or have take out on a rare occasion I swear that's all I taste. its crazy how much sodium is in stuff nowadays. Use a lot of the Mrs. Dash rubs as they are great on fish and veggies.

 

[SmokyMose]

most of the time I don't miss it at al

I know what you mean. Although I always liked a little salt on some things I was never a big salt shaker (although the Mrs. is.)
After we'd been on this regimen a few months (I eat what she eats. It's only fair.), I tried some of my bacon left over from when I was using 1 cup of salt in the brine instead of 1/3 cup. Seemed the salt overpowered the Maple.
My oldest granddaughter graduated from high school this spring and my daughter had an open house to celebrate.
She had it catered from a BBQ place and I couldn't stick around to try everything but I just had to try the pulled pork to compare it with mine. It was too salty for me. No one else noticed the salt and as far as I'm concerned mine is way better....
McCormick "Perfect Pinch" has some salt free seasonings along the same lines as Mrs Dash. That's what they gave her in the hospital to use instead of salt. She's still addicted to the salt shaker but it's filled with Morton's Salt Substitute instead of regular salt....

 

[bbqjefff]

It's mainly moderation. You should still enjoy what tastes good. Life is too short not to have a good time so enjoy it while you can. Just eat less processed stuff and you should be fine. Also go for walks and stuff. Keep active. I'm not going to stop eating delicious food. Screw that.

 

[checkdude]

It's mainly moderation. You should still enjoy what tastes good. Life is too short not to have a good time so enjoy it while you can. Just eat less processed stuff and you should be fine. Also go for walks and stuff. Keep active. I'm not going to stop eating delicious food. Screw that.

What you said. Try to eat healthy and get some exercise. I have 3 dogs ( have for years) go to the offleash park .winter is easy. Nice and cool ,no bugs, clean! Easily 2-3hrs. 4-5 miles. 2x a day.. Summer not so much. 30*Celsius or more I can't handle and it's too hard on the pups too. Can't wait for winter! Lol.
,,,

 

[TH-n-PA]

From reading this thread “healthy” is obviously subjective.

I am not on a diet, I just don’t eat the Standard American Diet (SAD).

I eat this way to feel better and it has become a bit of a hobby.
Smoking meats fits into this way of eating very nicely.

Not always a rule but I like to eat things that contain a total of no more than three ingredients.

Meat is one ingredient

A fresh vegetable with Kerrygold butter is three ingredients

Uncured bacon has few ingredients

No grains
Beer doesn’t count…..


If I eat three pounds of PP in two days and add a few avocados I feel that is a very healthy way to eat.

 

[TH-n-PA]

Just finished today eats.

Healthy Lamb!

Half a bulb of garlic
Rosemary
EVOO
S&P
Onion powder
Pecorino Romano
Lemon juice

Smoked at 220* till IT of 145*