Barbecuing this Labor Day weekend? Local restauranter shares his experiences ...

Have smoking small backyard barbecue and dreams?

Weekend Labour Day is the perfect opportunity to start. Who knows - it may even be the beginning of an effort barbecue championship competition.

This is how it was for Alex Ranucci's Big BBQ Ranucci ass in Belmont, whose love to the coast and a barbecue in the garden led to him becoming a regular winner on the competition barbecue circuit, including including back-to-back top-10 finishes at the prestigious Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in 2010 and 2011.

Ranucci, a native New Yorker, first learned "real barbecue", or the art of cooking the pork smoke and heat for hours, in 1991, when he moved south to play soccer University of Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs.

"I discovered quickly that barbecue was here, that meant pork," said Ranucci, who graduated from Gardner-Webb in 1995. "In New York, was barbecue hamburgers and hot dogs" .

After returning to New York for several years, Ranucci returned to the region in 1998.He started playing with the ribs and finally began to make his own sauces and rubs.

This led to the purchase of a small smoking and do more traditional barbecue. He traded his boat to a guy from Texas for a personalized smoking.

"I had to show me how to barbecue south," he said.

In his first competition in 2005, Ranucci, with his father, took first place in the category ribs in a contest in Charlotte. In their first match against the professionals, Ranucci was second in pork shoulder.

Finally, he was well enough to leave his day job in medical sales and move in the restaurant full time.He and his wife Zoe are opening Ranucci BBQ & Grill in the old Catawba Fountain & Grill located at Belmont in mid-September.

It will feature a barbecue competition style Ranucci has become known for, plus glazed ribs, pulled chicken specials and chest, in addition to hamburgers, hot dogs and salads. There will be specialties like South Philly, where pulled pork is used instead of a steak sandwich topped with cheddar cheese, peppers and onions, and potential heart-stopping Porkasaurus, which will feature pulled pork, smoked ham, crispy bacon and pepper Jack cheese.

Ranucci pork is injected with a marinade house, dry-rubbed and hand-pulled. Sauce is on the side. The chicken is shredded by hand, too, all the ribs cooked slowly to retain a good bite. Chest "is a barbecue in Texas and it's good," he said.

Looking for a spicy cajun deep-fried turkey recipe…..can anyone ...

Strain Italian dressing to catch items too big for the injector needle. Melt the stick of butter and add to dressing that has been strained. Take a handful of your favorite Cajun seasonings and add to marinade (I prefer Tony Chachere’s (TM) Creole seasoning, Chef Paul Prudhomme’s® blackened seasoning, Zatarins® Creole seasoning, Cajun Shake seasonings, and any Cajun spice I can get my hands on). Add onion powder and garlic powder to taste. You can also purchase Cajun Injector seasoning from the store.

Use injector to inject marinade into the breasts, thighs, and wings. Stick the needle all the way in. As you slowly pull out, slowly press and inject spices into the turkey. Inject from multiple angles for maximum coverage. The more you use the juicer the turkey will be when you cook it. Also, rub seasoning on the outside of the turkey, under the skin, and the inside cavity as well. Place turkey, legs up, on holder and place inside plastic oven roasting bag and set overnight in ice chest with a little ice. Fill fryer approximately 1/3 with oil, you don’t need peanut oil, but once you try it, you won’t use anything else). It also smokes less. Dip turkey while in the plastic bag in oil and fill or drain as needed. Oil should just cover the top of turkey. Ensure you have a hole at the top of the plastic bag, otherwise the bag will expand with air and you will not get an accurate reading. Take turkey out of oil and place back in cooler. You may cook a larger turkey, but most cookers can’t handle more than 20 pounds. The largest one I cooked was 21 pounds, but it barely fit in the pot and made cooking the very tip extremely tricky.

Remove and let the turkey rest before carving. According to Emeril, the best way to carve is to PULL the legs, wings and thighs off; then undercut the breast following the bone to the center and then slice. seasoning injector

Directions

1. Season and cure the turkey with salt, pepper and cayenne. Rub seasoning on skin and let sit overnight.

2. In a blender, add all the wet ingredients and then the dry ingredients to make the marinade. Puree on high for 4-6 minutes. Make sure all ingredients are completely pureed and add to an injector.

3. Heat oil to 350 degrees F. Depending on the amount of oil used, this usually takes between 45 minutes and one hour. (To determine the correct amount of oil, place the turkey in the basket and place in the pot. Add water until it reaches 1 to 2 inches above the turkey. Remove the turkey and note the water level, using a ruler to measure the distance from the top of the pot to the surface of the water. Pour out water and dry the pot thoroughly. Be sure to measure for oil before breading or marinating the turkey.

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