***Vegetarian Advisory*** We will be talking about meat here folks!
Nobody loves to barbecue like Enck’s Plus Catering. In fact, we have an entire division of our company devoted to BBQ catering in our service areas. It is not unusual for us to cook off a dozen pork butts, 20 or so beef briskets or a few hundred chicken quarters, seasoned, smoked and roasted “till the meat just fall’ off the bone.” Nothing gets your mouth watering like that thick savory smoke that fills the air when we get to barbecuing. I’m getting all worked up just thinking about it. Anyway… in this week’s post I wanted to share with you all a little bit about how we at Enck’s do barbecue catering and introduce you to what we call “Hogzilla.” Additionally, I’m going to discuss the various cuts of meat famous for making an appearance at any BBQ event and lastly share a few seasonings and methods of cooking for you to try at home.
"Hogzilla" is our outdoor catering behemoth smoker cooker. It is a giant, propane fired tow-behind BBQing machine with half a dozen rotating internal rotisserie spits. Hogzilla’s “Hog-Wild” BBQ sets the stage for any picnic or cookout. Its large internal smoking chamber allows us to get technical with the smoking seasoning of cured hardwoods:
According to Ultimate Guide to Smoking with Wood - King of the Coals:
The best woods for smoking are cured hardwoods that have been dried for 6 to 12 months. Some of the best woods for smoking and their flavors are:
Mesquite: strong, bold, smoky, earthy
Hickory: medium to strong, bacony, earthy
Oak: medium to strong, woodsy, earthy, savory, slightly sweet
Maple: mild to medium, sweet
Alder: mild, neutral, slightly sweet
Cherry: mild, sweet, slightly floral, fruity
Apple: mild, sweet, fruity, fresh
Apricot & peach: mild, very sweet, fruity
Hogzilla is ideal for the bigger events and festivals where we do BBQ Catering with its high-capacity cooking, we can feed hundreds in no time.
Perhaps you are having a smaller get-together or family reunion and you want onsite BBQ catering, but Hogzilla is a little more than necessary, we at Enck’s Plus Catering also have 6’ Flat bed coal BBQ grills we can set up in minutes. This situation doesn’t have the wow factor of Hogzilla but it will sure cook a bunch of chicken or half a pig for say a hundred people or less.
The top three meats for BBQing are chicken quarters, pork butts/Boston Butts and Beef Brisket. Below is some content for you to be able to identify and purchase these meats at just about any grocery store meat section followed by some great at home recipes I wanted to share.
What are Chicken Quarters?
Chicken quarters are a cut of meat that include the whole leg of the chicken, consisting of the thigh, the drumstick, and part of the back.
What is a Pork Butt?
Pork butt is a cut of meat that comes from the thicker section of a pig’s shoulder and includes parts of the neck, shoulder blade and upper leg.
What is Beef Brisket?
Brisket is a beef cut taken from the breast section of the cow beneath the first five ribs, behind the foreshank. It comprises the pectoral muscles of the cow, which supports much of the animal's weight.
BBQ Chicken Quarters from How To Grill Chicken Quarters Outdoor Recipes - Grillseeker
Step 1: Light your grill and set it up for two zone heating, leaving the lid open for now on a charcoal grill, close the lid on a gas grill.
Step 2: While the grill is preheating, pour BBQ rub into a shaker bottle and set aside.
Step 3: Lightly coat the chicken on both sides with avocado oil. Then, place the grilled chicken leg quarters skin side down over medium high direct heat. Turn the chicken every two minutes, for a total of 10 minutes.
Step 4: Move the chicken over to the indirect heat side of the grill, skin side down. Lightly brush the bottom side of the chicken with avocado oil, then season with the rub in a shaker bottle. Flip the chicken to skin side up, brush with more avocado oil and season the skin.
Step 5: Close the lid and establish the cooking temperature at 375°F as indicated with a reliable leave in thermometer.
Step 6: Allow chicken to cook until internal temperature reaches 160°F before brushing on the first coat of optional BBQ sauce. Close the lid and repeat the optional BBQ sauce process at 170 and 180°F.
Step 7: Remove chicken from the grill when the internal temperature reaches 185°F. Feel free to give one last coating of BBQ sauce or a light dusting of the rub, that’s optional
Recipes:
The following recipes and methods are so well done and comprehensive, I thought I’d just give you the links to the sources.
Pork Butt/ Boston Butt Pulled Pork on the Grill by
Beef Brisket on a charcoal grill by
Well, I sure hope you enjoyed this post and were able to glean new insight into BBQ and BBQ Catering. Additionally, I hope you find these recipes and methods useful for at home cooking with the family. As always, thank you for reading. Please like, comment and if you would be so kind as to share our blog posts, we would be ever so grateful.