The Heart of Summer
The 4th of July is nearly upon us. In my mind, Independence Day represents the heart of the summer, when the weather really starts to heat up, kids run through the sprinkler, we start to see sweet corn stands pop up, and my farmer tan really starts to take shape. Of course, the Fourth of July also reminds me of great grilling!
This Independence Day, my family and some of our close friends will be participating in the Waukee Fourth of July parade. In exchange for their help with distributing Old Station Craft Meats beef sticks during the parade, we will be rewarding our friends with some great food from our grill. I’m planning some BBQ pork patties as a quick lunch option followed by some baby back pork ribs later in the evening.
The week leading up to the 4th of July is usually a crazy one for us at the shop. We are busy stocking baby back ribs, pork butts, briskets, as well as making a lot of hamburger patties and brats. This week we will be bringing back our Rotel and Velveeta brat, which has proven to be very popular, based on the number of requests we have received from our customers. We will also be introducing a new brat this week that features Kinship’s Summer Lager in addition to some other garden-fresh ingredients.
In anticipation of the holiday weekend, I thought I’d share a few quick tips and reminders for successful grilling:
Make sure you have adequate fuel for your grill (i.e. propane, charcoal briquettes, lump charcoal, wood, etc.)
Make sure to clean your, grill inside and out. Your guests will be impressed with a clean exterior and you’ll appreciate a clean interior, which will help prevent fires and flare-ups.
Make sure you have all the necessary grilling tools available (i.e. spatula, tongs, basting brush, etc.)
If your meat is frozen, make sure that you allow enough time to safely thaw it. Larger beef briskets or pork butts can take several days in the refrigerator to thaw out. If you get in a bind, you can use a cold-water bath to speed up the thawing process. Be sure to keep the water circulating with a slow stream from the tap.
Make sure your meat thermometer works. It seems like I have a dozen digital thermometers at my house that never work when I need them.
Know the safe temperature to cook your meat. If you’re not sure, visit the following link for more information: Cook to a Safe Minimum Internal Temperature | FoodSafety.gov.
Purchase some disposal tablecloths and foil serving pans for easy clean up.
Do as much food prep work the day before (i.e. trimming, seasoning, cutting, brining, etc.)
We hope you have a fun and safe holiday weekend with your friends and/or family!
Nick
