You Smoked What? 5 Budget BBQs for Labor Day

Labor Day 2008 will mean fewer cars on the road. According to AAA travel traffic will be at an eight-year low, and for many, less money to lavish on BBQ spreads.

Not to worry, it is not at all difficult to celebrate the end of the summer for less money, while still satisfying everyone gathered around your grill.

Judith Fertig, co-author of the recently released cookbook, “BBQ Bash: The Be-All, End-All Party Guide, from Barefoot to Black Tie,” shares some tips on how you can reduce your barbecue budget this weekend.

The Cincinnati-born Fertig grew up around smoked foods (food that is slowly cooked on a grill using woodchips). Here are some of this BBQ Queen's favorite inexpensive recipes:

MIXED GREENS TOPPED WITH SIRLOIN STRIPS
“This is for the person who loves steak, but doesn’t have the budget for it,” Fertig says. Begin by preparing a salad with spinach leaves or other greens and vegetables before shifting your focus to the steak. For the steak, Fertig suggests a thick two inch sirloin. Brush the steak with olive oil, dust with salt and pepper, and graze with barbecue sauce (optional) before placing it on the grill. Cook the steak for about five minutes on each side at the highest possible temperature, leaving it rare inside. After, slice thinly to add strips to salad. “It’s not a full steak for everyone at the barbecue but it’s still satisfying.”

GRILLED CAESAR SALAD
Another way to give everyone a meaty meal for less. And Fertig is not talking about just putting grilled chicken on a salad, but actually grilling the whole thing. The process is simple. Cut a head of romaine lettuce in to four wedges, leaving them intact. Brush each wedge with olive oil, than add salt and pepper before placing on the grill for two or three minutes. “Be careful with timing,” Fertig says. “Don’t wait to see grill marks, you just want to get a little bit of char.” Remove and dress each wedge lightly with Caesar dressing and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

CHICKEN WINGS
Best served as an appetizer, these can be thrown on the BBQ and grilled for 15-20 minutes or slow-smoked for about an hour at 250 degrees, but don’t remove them from the grill until your cooking thermometer reads ready. Before placing them on the grill, dust each wing with your own barbecue rub of choice (a homemade rub can save you a bit more). Upon completion, serve them with a dipping sauce like blue cheese or honey mustard. “It’s very inexpensive, can be thrown together quickly, and is usually a hit at any barbecue,” Fertig says.

SHREDDED PORK SANDWICHES
This recipe is no quick fix, so allot yourself about four hours. Pick up a pork shoulder, or pork blade roast at your local butcher. “It only costs about five dollars,” Fertig says. Slather it with yellow mustard, than add a barbecue rub. Let it sit for 15 minutes. Once the pork shoulder is marinated, wrap it in foil and smoke it on the grill for three hours. Finish it off in the oven, set to 300 degrees. After it is cooked, shred the meat and serve with hamburger buns as a sandwich.

'FRESH' FISH
People often shell out extra cash for fresh fish, but how fresh is it? “It’s about as fresh as it can be sitting on a ship for seven days,” says Fertig. It is also usually more expensive than its prepackaged counterparts. The best price-for-quality deal comes from fish that is Frozen At Sea. Fertig recommends looking for the “FAS” label when purchasing a pike or salmon. For a simple meal, smoke a salmon steak at 200 degrees for 2 hours per pound.

ONE BONUS COST-CUTTING TIP!
Go Easy on Grill Gadgets: Whether you are looking for the best grills to put these plans in action, or thinking about what you need to accompany the one you already own, don’t max out your credit card on five pairs of BBQ tongs and seven basting brushes. The only essentials are long handled grill tongs, a cooking thermometer, one or two brushes, and a “good heavy duty spatula,” Fertig says.