What to make

[Northern_Smoke]

Well, this Saturday is going to be a historic day in my garage...After 2 years, i have finally finished rebuilding the motor and trans for my 64 Lincoln Continental. I have a hand full of friends coming over to help install and see if we can flash it up. The plan is once its running and ready for the road, we are making the 2500 mile trip to vegas in it. So i need to figure out some food to feed the good friends helping out. I am trying to think of easy things to eat since we may have to be picking at it.

My thoughts were doing some abt's ahead of time. I find they always taste better the next day once the smoke mellows and mixes. Then was gonna do some brats wrapped in bacon for a hearty sort of hot dog experience...but thats where i am at. Not sure what else i can put together that is easy to pick at and not something we need to scrup up to eat ;) Its a guy thing i think....grease and oily fingers and food haha

[ArnieM]

I'd suggest a few laps around the block before going for the 2500 miles  ;D  Keep the ABT's warm on the intake manifold.

Any kinda sammies are good - roast beef, corned beef, pastrami - I guess my head is into beef today.

You could also smoke up some nuts - any that you like.  They're good pickin' food.

[FLBentRider]

My initial thought was a pork butt, but it's not exactly finger food.

Then it hit me - MOOINK balls!

You can pick them up by the toothpicks and eat with grubby hands if need be.

[squirtthecat]

Oh yeah, MOINKS.   

Or any kind of meaty-ball.   
Maybe make some different kinds in advance...  Pork, turkey/chicken, beef.  Some wrapped in bacon, some nekkid on a stick.

Smoke some big logs of pepperoni and cube them up to be skewered w/ toothpicks..

Too late for smoked cheese.

[squirtthecat]

Throw a pan of baked beans under all of the meat/etc.    You can serve them in 'jello shot' cups w/ plastic spoons.  Easy to dispose of, and you won't need to hit the GOJO before digging in..

[OU812]

Snack sticks, jerky and a plate of cheese, crackers and summer sausage all cut up and ready to snack on.

[classicrockgriller]

Congrats on getting to the finish line with you Lincoln. It's all a Labor of Love.

Might do some Chicken Drummies (Can put some smoke to them and finish in the

Broiler of the Oven). Plus that gives you a Handle for greasy finger. ;D

[Northern_Smoke]

WOW, it all sounds sooooo good. I might have a hard time picking just which ones to do now...Or i did get extra racks for my smoker. Maybe i will just load it up in the morning and keep it going, as we eat one rack clean, we will load it up and start over :) I am liking the bean idea under everything catching all the yummy goodness of what drops down.

And we do plan on making a few test runs before we commit to the 2500 mile run. Nothing worse than being on the side of the road with a 1/2 in wrench and a set of rusty pliers. Been there and done that haha.

Hopefully i will have clean enough hands to take some pics of what everyone is eating that day.

Thanks for the inspiration everyone

[Habanero Smoker]

My initial thought was a pork butt, but it's not exactly finger food.

Then it hit me - MOOINK balls!

You can pick them up by the toothpicks and eat with grubby hands if need be.

A few weeks ago I saw a tip in a magazine I was reading. Instead of using toothpicks for foods like mooink balls, they were using thin pretzel sticks. Using the pretzel sticks guest would consume them, and did not have to worry about want to do with the toothpick afterwards. I haven't had a chance to test this out yet. I'm concerned that the pretzels could become soggy, and break off as the person was ready to put the food in their mouth.

[Northern_Smoke]

Did they use the pretzels to to pick the food up? I can see using them to hold bacon. Cause once they got soggy the bacon would probably be cooked into the shape it needs to be and then a soggy pretzel would just become part of the inside of the food.

[Habanero Smoker]

The toothpicks are used for picking up the hors d'oeuvre, not to hold the bacon in place prior to cooking. The pretzels are placed in the food after it has been cooked, and ready to be eaten. For hard cheese or semi hard cheese, I feel the pretzels will hold up, but with meatballs or other foods with higher moisture content, they may become soggy.

[Northern_Smoke]

Ahhh, i see now. I figured it if was used to hold everything together it would just become part of the food. But sticking in it afterwards makes sence instead of a toothpick. I would think they would get too soggy to use after a while. Might be an interesting test for this weekends festivities :)

[Habanero Smoker]

Let me know how it works, and what foods you test them on. I'm doing some ribs either Saturday or Sunday, I may throw a few meatballs in. After the meatballs are fully cooked, I'll also test how long they can hold up.