Bob Hicks, from Mormon Mecca
I'm 82 years young and going as hard as I can for as long as I can.
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.
Retired
Yeah, I'm with the majority and vote for pulled pork. Pulled pork goes a long way to feeding hungry teens. Plus, they do not get pulled pork in Germany. I think you should do some chile poppers too. Finger food with some heat.
I appreciate the advice folks offered about feeding the German kids who are visiting this week. After careful consideration, I've decided on a menu.
Appetizer: Chicken wings, Buffalo sauce and garlic parmesan sauce
Main: Pulled pork (hickory smoked), East Carolina vinegar sauce and KC style sauce
Sides: Baked beans, coleslaw, and baked mac and cheese
Dessert: S'mores
Beverage: Good old fashioned sweet tea
I went with pulled pork because I'll be cooking for at least 12 people, possibly more because I invited some friends over, and it's just easier to feed that many people with pork butts instead of ribs. Plus the leftovers, if any, are easier to freeze and reheat later.
The pork will need to rest for about an hour after it's done on the grill. During that time I will fire up my Vortex and grill the wings until crispy (I will dry brine them the night before with kosher salt and baking powder).
There should be plenty of residual heat in the Vortex to toast some marshmallows.
I don't think it gets much more American that this, culinarily speaking.
I am pulling recipes from Serious Eats, Alton Brown, Hey Grill Hey, Amazing Ribs, and my ass. I'll post plenty of pics with the post game report.
Thanks again, everybody!
Last edited by PGH_RAM; October 9, 2024, 08:05 PM.
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
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The party with the students from Germany went great. I invited some neighbors to join us so I ended up with 16 people,11 of whom were voracious teenagers. We ate like Konige (kings), we played some board games, I got to listen to a couple of my favorite teenage boys try to spin game with the pretty German choir girls (reminded me of me when I was that young but I kept myself from laughing out loud), and neighbors happily took home leftovers. Between starting prep on Thursday evening, cooking all day Friday, and a belly full of good food I slept like a log last night.
Here's the rundown on the meal:
I started with a 2x1 snake of Kirkland briquettes and hickory pieces. I've never built a snake with Kirkland before, so I wasn't sure how long it would last. It held temp well between 250F and 275F for eight hours.
I needed to add some coals to wrap up the cook because the two butts each took about bang-on 10 hours.
I seasoned the butts with SPG (4-2-1) and mopped them with Meathead's Carolina vinegar sauce every 90 minutes while they cooked.
Five hours in:
Ten hours, 200F internal, ready to come off and rest:
I had to scrap the wings even though I had already dry brined them overnight because I accidentally stabbed my hand while coring a cabbage for coleslaw and had to perform first aid. I just ran out of time.
The sides were delicious and were a big hit with the teens. I made a pan of mac and cheese (Serious Eats recipe) that weighed about 12 pounds. Ten of it is gone. The coleslaw was a Hey Grill Hey recipe that has become my go-to for that particular side. Only one of the Germans had ever had it before, and that was because she had been an exchange student in the US a couple of years ago.
The biggest hit of the sides, though? The beans. I tweaked Alton Brown's "Once and Future Beans" recipe. I used Ayocote Blanco beans from Rancho Gordo instead of great northern beans and I replaced the vegetable broth with lager. The Germans went nuts for them because they thought baked beans were what Brits get out of the can of Heinz. Girls went back for seconds and thirds. I also taught the German kids about and showed them molasses. They had no idea what it was.
I served the pork with Hawaiian rolls so folks could make sliders if they wanted to, and I provided two sauces. First, the vinegar sauce already mentioned and second a slightly sweet tomato-based sauce from Hey Grill Hey. They were both equally popular, but the Germans expressed some surprise and delight at the spiciness of the vinegar sauce.
For dessert, I fired up a chimney of coals and we roasted marshmallows to make s'mores. That brought out a lot of smiles and laughter, and there was only one marshmallow casualty to the flames.
One of my neighbors made some real southern sweet tea to round out the meal and I also had plenty of cans of Coca-Cola available. I bought Great Lakes Brewing Octoberfest for the grown ups.
All in all, I like to think I gave thee kids something to talk about with their friends. I was flattered by them taking pics of their plates and going back for multiple servings. The talking and the laughter around the table reminded me of why I love cooking: it brings people together and allows them to experience real joy.
(Pic of Leo lodging a complaint about the lack of equity in my disbursal of bacon while prepping the beans.)
Thanks for letting us know how things went. It sounded like a success! I think the snake method is one of the best methods for doing low and slow on a kettle. I am sure the students will be stalking about this and may request a repeat.
I'm pretty sure my hand will be fine. It's about .5" cut in the pad under my ring finger. It's an inconvenient place more than anything. I think my pride is more wounded than my hand is.
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