Ingredients
Instructions:
Time to make the special sauce!
Back to the recipe!!
When you think about lasagna, you most likely aren't going to think smoker! However, lasagna like BBQ is family-friendly and even great for my single people! You can take the easy way out as lasagna dishes can be found in the frozen entree aisle or in most restaurants. Where is the fun in that?!?!?! This is a fun recipe that will have you wanting to make lasagna a regular part of your rotation.
If you don't have a smoker you can still make this dish in your oven, so don't feel pressure to use the smoker. If you have one though, it will be worth it. I Promise!
Here is a quick video on how I did the lasagna, below it will be a breakdown of the ingredients and the steps to make it happen! Give it a try and let me know what you think.
You may notice I don't give a lot of exact measurements for seasoning. I tend to let the spirits guide me, but it also is because I want people feel comfortable making the recipe their own, everyone likes things a bit different and I want people to season based on what fits them.A good rule-of-thumb for knowing when there’s enough seasoning is to put a layer on top of whatever you’re cooking. Just coat it. Throw some D’s on it! It might look like too much to some, but it’s not something you’ll regret. The pot is going to smell amazing. Your kitchen is going to smell amazing. Most importantly, your food is going to taste amazing and that’s what it’s all about.
Ingredients:
While this is smoking away time to make the Ricotta Cheese
Now to finish the lasagna:
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When it comes to barbecue, there are two types of seasoning that you should consider. If you are going to barbecue a tougher cut of meat, like a brisket, then marinating it first can make it more flavorful and tender. While you will find many commercial marinades and many recipes to make your own, three marinade components are necessary for any marinade. Unless the meat has a lot of fat already, you need fat in the marinade to provide extra flavor. You also need an acid to break down the meat's toughness and create pockets where the flavor can settle in. Finally, you need your favorite seasonings, which may include salt to help soften the meat even further and sugar to help provide a beautiful brown color to your barbecue meat.
You will also need a barbecue sauce. Your favorite sauce probably depends on where you live in the United States because different regions have different favorites. Whichever you choose to use, just make sure that you do not use the same utensils on the raw ingredients as you do on the cooked barbecue meat.
Before you even start cooking the meat, you need to make sure that you clean your grill thoroughly and properly. A dirty grill may not seem like a huge deal, but the fact is that it can harbor a lot of bacteria if you’re not careful. Meat chunks and grease that have dropped into the grill can accumulate and breed bacteria. This is especially true for the areas underneath the burners. Yes, heat can kill a lot of bacteria, but these areas don’t get as hot, and may not get to the temperature that is needed to kill off the bacteria.
It’s also important to clean your grill because of the carcinogens that incinerated meat can produce. When grease drops into your grill and is heated up again, the resulting smoke can result in carcinogens being transmitted into your food. This is especially true for grease that comes from meat with a higher fat content. To avoid this and other problems, make sure that you are thorough in cleaning up all grease that may have dripped into your grill before and after you cook something on it.
It is essential that you use a meat thermometer for cooking barbecue meat to the right temperature. If you are barbecuing chicken, the internal temperature should be 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Alternatively, if you are barbecuing beef or pork, then the internal temperature should be 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure that when you take the temperature, the prong reaches the middle of the meat and is not touching bone.
In some cases, the symptoms of food poisoning can be severe if you don't take steps to prevent it. After you make sure that you have cooked the meat to the right temperature, use clean utensils to remove and cut it because you can cross-contaminate the meat if you use the same utensils you did when the food was raw.
Backyard barbecues can be a fun activity for anyone, but nothing ruins a good party like bland food or getting sick from food poisoning. Thinking about food safety and seasoning can help keep everyone raving about your barbecue party for a long time.
If you’re looking for some great seasoning for your next barbecue, check out what we’ve got in our store!
]]>The biggest way we are looking to expand is to open a BBQ Supply and General Store in Durham, NC. We love this city and want to put even deeper roots down here. We want to create a place that is the go to for all things BBQ. Currently, with a few exceptions, most people go to a big box store for their grilling and smoking needs, and then a grocery store for their other supplies. Often the people working there are not experts in BBQ let alone have dedicated chunks of their lives to it. So why not have a place where people can come and buy grills, smokers, grill tools and accessories, wood, charcoal, pellets, plus sauces and rubs all in one place? That is run by people who are passionate about BBQ.
In addition to being a place for all things BBQ, we want to also have a General Store component, that will allow us to sell other items from minority and women owned businesses in the Triangle area. As a minority owned business, I've seen first hand some of the challenges of getting products on a store shelf and I want to be a solution and starting location for business.
To help us get there we are running a crowdfunding campaign that has 30 days left to raise the additional funds needed to get this vision off the ground.
(Click to contribute)
Any contribution made will put us one step closer to making this a reality and any support is appreciated. We are actively looking at locations around Durham in order to find the best possible location. Stay tuned for more details as they happen over the next few months!
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For the past two seasons we have worked with Ryan Sieg Racing and the #39 car driven by Ryan in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. We've expanded the number of races we are working with them and are looking forward to a great season!
We have also expanded our presence in the NASCAR realm this year. Be on the lookout for more updates as the season continues. However, one bit of news that has already dropped is our relationship with the Richmond Raceway in my hometown! We are the proud sponsors of the Group Tailgate at the Richmond Raceway! This means we will have a big presence at the Richmond Raceway for both the April and September Race weekends. You can read the announcement HERE! This is something we are very proud of and can't wait until our role in race season is in full gear!
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As Mike D's BBQ continues to grow, it requires us to grow the team. The newest and first addition is Portia Taylor! She has come on board as a brand ambassador and is helping at the retail location in the Morgan Street Food Hall, as well as working with our social media. She has been a great help so far, and looking forward to all the way she can help grow the brand. Below is a quick fun survey to help you get to know her as well!
Name: Portia J. Taylor
Favorite Nickname: Bebop
One TV Show you never miss: Insecure (I'm really trying to be consistent this season, so I set an alarm on my phone).
Favorite Cartoon Character: Ariel from the Little Mermaid. (Then Pocahontas and Mulan).
First Job: Front Desk Assistant for UNC Charlotte Athletic Academic Center
Go To Midnight Snack: I always prefer fried chicken, but I don’t always have it, so I settle for potato chips.
What would your superpower be? I would like to read minds. Being able to control the weather also sounds amazing.
What made you want to work at Mike D's BBQ: I wanted to work with Mike D's BBQ because I believe in the vision and because I believe the position will make me more marketable in any endeavor.
Favorite Thing about working at Mike D's BBQ: My favorite thing about working at Mike D's BBQ is the face people make when they fall in love with the sauce and can't resist throwing some D's on it.
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You can now find us at the Morgan Street Food Hall in Raleigh, NC. We have anticipated having a presence here for almost a year and now we survived opening week at the long awaited venue and have the low down not only our products, but also greats eats and merchandise to look for after you stock up to Throw Some D’s On It.
There are 19 food and beverage options in addition to the 5 retail kiosks. With that much food, it is hard to choose what to eat, but here are a few suggestions from us. If burgers are your thing, then you will not want to miss the Cow Bar. This was the best burger I may have ever eaten so they come highly recommended. If you are a fan of curry, then Curry in a Hurry is the place for you. Their butter chicken is simply amazing and just one of several curry dishes they have available. For the seafood lovers there are two options. Everyone knows and love Cousins Main Lobster and have probably waited in long lines at their food truck, but now you can wait inside!! Oak City Fish and Chips is also inside and their hush puppies with brown sugar is simply amazing, and their shrimp is pretty amazing as well! We all love dessert and Cocoa Forte is there with their famous chocolate dipped cheesecakes and other delicious dessert items. Needless to say there is no shortage of things to eat!!!
In addition to the restaurants, there are 5 retail kiosks that can fill your shopping needs. Of course the first kiosk is Mike D’s BBQ, but you can also get stuffed strawberries from Fancy Berries (our neighbors). You can also grab some tea from Western Dragon Teas & Tisanes, or some chocolate from That’s Good Chocolate! Finally, there are some great scented candles from Quintesscential Candles. While not a kiosk, you can also buy flowers from Fleurs de Mouffette!!
As you can see, there are some great attractions at the Morgan Street Food Hall, so you should come on down. The food hall itself is open Sun - Wed from 7 am to 10 pm and Thurs - Sat from 7 am to 2 am. Individual businesses inside will have their own hours. Our hours are as follows: M - F from Noon - 10 pm, Sat from Noon to 7 pm, and Sunday from Noon to 5 pm. So now you know 7 days a week you can come and stock up!!
]]>It is too late to order and get products delivered. The good news for residents of North Carolina, is there are several retailers where you can stock up. Here is the list:
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However, with that good came some bad. Their requested wholesale price was half of my typical wholesale price. This was a steep cut that made it hard to make money on their orders. Our thought process was that overtime the increased exposure would increase their number of orders and lessen the impact of the purchase price. While they have placed a good number of orders in the last few months, it still was not a profitable venture for us.
We also had to battle them a few times on our invoices. They would try and shortchange us by saying we did not send the full order, even though their stock level would change to reflect a full order was received. We won some and lost some of those disputes. They were a major hassle and created even more of a loss.
Our final issue came recently where they returned product to us as damaged, yet the bottle of rub was in perfect condition. Then it was because it was expired, thought that was not the case either. It ended up being another loss for us as it was deducted from our latest invoice.
I know many businesses have had great experiences with Amazon Fulfillment Centers, it just has not been the case for us. The pros did not outweigh the cons for us, since we are still a small and growing company cash flow is important to us as is the ability to make some money on our wholesale deals so we can keep growing. When we have grown much larger and can absorb the lower price they are willing to pay, we will revisit it. We will not be filling new product requests from them and will remove products as their inventory sells out.
It is not the end of our relationship with them, when you checkout on our site Amazon Payments is still an option and we hope to have products listed with them again in the future.
]]>It's Super Bowl Sunday and people everywhere are throwing watch parties and gathering with friends and family to watch the game and the halftime show. It really has become the biggest night in television, which is another excuses to cook mass quantities of food and party. Usually, I host a big party but not this year. One of the big hits at my party and any gathering I have is ribs. So if you plan on making ribs for tonight, if you want to do it low and slow here are a few pointers.
1. Remove the membrane. No matter if you are doing baby backs, spare, or St. Louis Style removing the thin membrane from the bone side is important to getting prime tenderness and to allow the smoke flavor to penetrate all sides of the rib. There are many videos on youtube to help you do this. Check this one out.
2. Season with your favorite dry rub. A little sweet and a little heat always work well with ribs. Of course I am partial to my rub, which I believe are the best on the market and you will too once you try them. Make sure to season both sides. I focus most of the rub on the meat side with a lighter coating on the bone side. Give them a good rub down as well to make sure the flavor can work its way into the meat.
3. Get your smoker fired up. Use what you have available, but I prefer no propane. If you want to do that might as well use your gas oven! I prefer a combination of charcoal and apple wood. Once you get it fired up. You should let it run until it gets to the ideal internal temperature. I like to cook my ribs at 250 degrees. Throughout the course of smoking if it stays between 225 and 275 I am happy. Anything below that and you aren't really cooking and anything above that you are going to cook too fast!
4. Get your meat on the smoker! Once your smoker has been consistently sitting at your ideal temperature you want to add your meat. I always put mine on meat side up. This allows the smoke that works its way across the top to flavor the top of the meat, and allows the smoke beneath which sometimes can be more intense to work it's way up through the bones and where the membrane used to be. Before adding the meat, make sure you have a water pan to keep the air in the smoker moist otherwise you are cooking with dry heat and can either dry your meat out or give them a really charred look. The placement of your water pan will differ based on the type of smoker. It can be under the meat to also serve as a drip pan so the natural flavor circulates. The only real rule is to make sure the water pan does not block the flow of heat and smoke from your meat. Once you get the meat on, CLOSE THAT LID and get some wood on the fire to get some smoke going.
5. Let the meat cook and monitor your temps. At this point in the process grab yourself a beer or whatever your beverage of choice is. Now you just let the meat smoke. DO NOT OPEN THE LID, as that will let the heat and smoke out and add to your cook time (can be as much as 30 minutes every time you open up), because then it has to get back to temperature which does not happen instantly. You will want to check your fire box every 1 to 1.5 hours to make sure you have fire and smoke and that your temperature is not dipping below 225. Remember 250 is ideal, but anything between 225 and 275 works just fine.
6. Wrap time! You don't want to overload your ribs with smoke so you dont have to have smoke on them the whole 5-6 hours you are smoking. After letting them smoke for a 3 solid hours you want to take them off the smoker and wrap them in foil. Before you wrap them add some moisture. Some people add butter, some add apple juice, I add some sauce and brown sugar. Then wrap them and place them back on the smoker for another 2 hours. This allows them to keep cooking, stay moist, and not get overloaded with smoke flavor. This is real important if you only use wood, since you can't stop the wood from smoking. If you are only using coals with some wood chunks you can get away with not wrapping by not adding anymore wood chunks and just let the coals continue to add heat.
7. Finish 'em up! Here is where it gets interesting because, it matter if you are going for a 5 or 6 hour smoke. If you are going for the 5 hour smoke then after 2 hours of being wrapped you want to take them off the smoker so they can rest before you cut them. If you are going for a 6 hour smoke you want to unwrap them and let them cook the final hour unwrapped. This allows the heat to let that layer of sauce cook into the meat versus when it is wrapped and like a sauna inside the foil. The determination for the time is really your temp. If you have been cooking closer to 275 degrees 5 hours is about the right time. If you have been between 225 and 250 6 hours is about right. For health reasons, the ideal internal meat temp is 160 degrees, but peak tenderness comes around 180 and 190 degrees. If your meat is consistently between 180 and 190 you need to pull them whether it is 5 or 6 hours or you will over cook them. There is also a bend test you can use to determine if they are done. Pick the ribs up with some tongs and bounce them. Done ribs will bounce some and crack (but not break) along the bone lines. Whatever method you use, whether temp or bounce. Let the ribs rest before you cut them.
8. Cut and serve. After you let them rest turn them bone side up and cut them along the bone line to serve to your guest. You should have a pink smoke ring on the outer edges of the meat but the center should be white.