Now, if you've prepared correctly, you have already dry rubbed your animal of choice and left it in the fridge overnight wrapped in plastic. After the fire is good and hot (typically, I'll go around 12 hours of fire) and you've built a good bed of coals, you wrap the animal (plastic removed, obviously) in tin foil, then wet burlap and tie it all up with chicken wire. You then throw the beast on the coals, cover the whole package up with dirt, and let it sit for about 12-14 hours, depending on how much meat you have. The dirt keeps all of the moisture in and the oxygen out, making it so nothing evaporates or burns. When you finally remove the meat from the ground its as tender as raw meat, but fully cooked and falling off the bone. In short, its just an awesome activity if you want to invest an entire Saturday and Sunday to barbecuing (great exercise, too!).
Anyway, long story short, my go to meats are lamb leg and pork shoulder. They're both awesome, but I'm growing bored with the same old. I know there are a bunch of you on here who know a lot more about food than I do, so I'm curious what meats you think might end themselves to this style of cooking--and, of course, what interesting seasonings might be good to try. My cousin was trying to sell me on brisket, but I'm afraid that beef won't pull apart the same way, and might turn into a mess. I've considered throwing a couple ducks in there, but I don't know if that would be good, since it won't get crispy (nothing does in a no oxygen environment), and it might turn into a greasy pile of crap. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I want to do something, but really don't know what.
I've never had a pit bbq, but it's something I'm really interested in doing. My next endeavor will be to build an outdoor brick oven/fireplace. Most of my bbq'ing experience is with indirect fire and lots of hickory, apple, or cherry wood smoke. My go to meats are also leg of lamb, ribs, tri-tip, salmon, any & all types of pork, and turkey breast (which makes great sandwiches). I'm a huge fan of rubs and homemade sauces. I cannot recommend the book Herbs and Spices: The Cook's Reference enough. It is less an recipe book and more an instructional on spices and what to do with them. I use it to make curries and spices mixtures a few times a month.
While we're on the subject, good quality spices are paramount for any of my rubs. Penzeys has been a family tradition for prime, bulk and hard to find spices for a few decades now.
The pit bbq is amazing amounts of fun; I can't say enough about it. Its super easy, too, so its good for people like me who end up more intoxicated than is generally a good idea when cooking. As for TNG, his choice, not ours!
and you're also right, that it was all my choice. -Seriously second guessing that choice of late. Maybe I'll eat meat at the bbq? Could be the day. Happy 4th guys, have fun.