Corinne Trang

Block party over, we all gathered at Hill Country on Sunday night for some down time and a beer!

The Big Apple BBQ Block Party 2010 has come and gone. For pitmasters the event started on Friday night, setting up their massive BBQ rigs, firing them up, and loading tons of meat from ribs, to brisket, sausage, pork shoulders, whole hogs, and more. It’s a huge event that takes place during the second weekend in June on both Saturday and Sunday, with over 100,000 visitors eating their way through just shy of twenty BBQ stations. The wait can be long, but rain or shine, they stand in line hoping pitmasters don’t run out of the food. The best is when they make it to the front of the line and get served. The worst is when they see a man standing in line with them but holding that blue flag, signaling that the pitmaster is about to run out of “Q”, as was the case with Big Bob Gibson’s award-winning pulled pork sandwich.

Big Bob Gibson’s Chris Lilly at the 2010 Big Apple BBQ Block Party from Anthony Quintano on Vimeo.

full of historical and personal anecdotes...Chris Lilly makes you want to "Q!"

Sunday looked like last year’s Sunday. Gray! And when it finally rained, umbrellas went up, and business went on as usual. I’d been working long hours with Chris Lilly and his crew since Friday night and right through Sunday evening. My body is glad it’s over because barbecuing in a serious way for thousands of people can be taxing. The hard part is knowing that it’ll be a year before I see my Alabama friends. Like Chris always says, barbecue is about so much more than the food. It’s about being in the company of  friends and having a great time, and so I may have worked about 15 hours a day, but I never felt them.

Chris Lilly’s Injection and Dry Rub recipe  for his award-winning Pork Shoulder, adapted from his best-selling book Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ Book (Clarkson Potter, 2009):

For the INJECTION:

3/4 cup apple juice

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 salt

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

For the DRY RUB:

1/2 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2-1/4 teaspoons garlic salt

2-1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/8 teaspoon dried oregano

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

***Both rub and injection liquid are enough for a 16-18 pound whole pork shoulder. Set your grill/cooker at 225°F. (The charcoal should be set to one side of the pit, leaving the other side void. While bringing cooker to temperature, inject the shoulder with the liquid using a syringe, then rub the shoulder with the spice mix all over. Place the shoulder, fat side down over the void side of the grill. Place lid, and cook shoulder for 14 to 16 hours, or until the internal temperature of the meat has reached 195°F. Transfer meat to cutting board, let rest for 30 minutes, and using insulated rubber gloves, pull the bone from the meat and discard. Then press down the meat and watch it fall apart. Remove any visible fat, and start chopping.

I highly recommend getting a few bottles of Big Bob Gibson’s Championship BBQ Sauce. It’s to die for!

Next weekend…pork shoulder infused with my Asian-inspired injection and rub as well as a new kind of BBQ Sauce. Ingredients such as lychee juice, coconut water, hoisin, soy sauce, five-spice, and more will be used. I’ll be loading up “Smokey” for the first time and testing these new recipes in time for July 4th weekend. It’s going to be an all-nighter!