Evett's BBQ Uvalde, TX

 

      We shop in Uvalde about twice a month.  It is 40 miles from our home, but they have all the big box grocery stores we need.  We usually make it a day trip, hitting what we need and having lunch before heading home.  This time we decided to visit Evett's BBQ. Evett's BBQ.  This is a small, family run operation famous for 60 years.  

      Located right across the street from HEB it is an easy commute as well as a listing as one of the Top 50 BBQ joints in Texas.  www.texasmonthly.com/restaurant/evetts-bar-b-que/  Still an honor, considering.   They not only offer on-site dining but carry out and catering as well.  On this day we decided to stop in for lunch. 

      The menu offers the usual suspects:  brisket, pork, ribs, sausage, etc.  They also have an enormous selection of sides.

The choices are varied and delicious

      Ordering is typical with a wall mounted order screen and you order right from the pit.  Barb selected the Sausage Sandwich, and I chose the Brisket Plate with Potato Salad and Green Beans.  

      We were satisfied with the meal.  Barb said the sausage was a bit bland, but I think she often expects spicy.  It was standard sausage after all.  I found the brisket moist and tender but could have had more spice.  The potato salad was excellent and the beans spicy, YUM!  They did ladle a bit of sauce over the meat, but there was no BBQ sauce available on the table.  The service was excellent and friendly.  All in all, it was pretty good.  The total for our meal was $28.19, about average at today's prices for beef.  On a scale from 1 star to 5.......

 

"Good barbecue comes from experience, and experience, well, that comes from poor barbecue." Aaron Franklin

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General Tso's Smoked Pork Loin

 

      On the smoke trail once again.  This is new for us.  I love General Tso's Chicken, but this intrigued me.  I was able to prepare the loin with new rubs, injection, etc. intact.  This is definitely an Asian Style Pork with a smoke twist, a KOSMOS recipe.  I suppose you could call this Asian BBQ Fusion.  For this I used Oak Lump Charcoal and spiked it with seasoned oak wood as well.  

1 center cut pork loin

KOSMOS SPG rub

2 cups rice of choice

1 bag steamed broccoli florets 

Sesame seeds

1/2 cup General Tso's Sauce

Extra virgin olive oil

      Rub loin with oil and cover with SPG rub.  Rest in fridge overnight.  Be sure to add more oil the next morning, it will dry out overnight.  When ready to cook, preheat pit to 250F.  Place loin on pit.  The recipe actually calls for 350F, but I prefer lower.  Even at that temp it only took 90 minutes to finish.  

Oiled and SPG

On the pit

      Heat the Gerneral Tso's Sauce in a saucepan.  When internal loin temp reaches 125F, glaze with warmed sauce, leaving in pit.  When internal temp reaches 135F, glaze again and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Temp 145 & glazed

      Cook rice and broccoli according to directions.  When internal loin temp reaches 140F remove from pit and tent it to rest for 30 minutes.   When rice/broccoli are done, slice loin thin and serve over rice/broccoli and drizzle with remaining sauce.  Serve.  Not really spicy, but the smoke really compliments it.  

Sliced, ready to plate

"In any man who dies, there dies with him his first snow and kiss and fight.  Not just people die, but worlds die in them, but not my sauce"

General Tso (paraphrased)

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Hibernating Bear w/Black Magic Sauce

 

      Now firmly in the depths of winter (lol) in South Texas it is time to try one of our black bear roasts.  I had planned to smoke one but decided to do this one in the crockpot.  This is a tried-and-true recipe from Montana Outdoors Magazine.  We made this in our small 2-quart RV crockpot.  

2 – 3 lb. bear roast 

1/2 cup chopped potatoes

1/2 cup chopped carrots 

BLACK MAGIC SAUCE

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 Tbsp butter

Add and simmer 4 minutes:

1/2 C cabernet

Add and simmer 5 minutes:

1 tsp salt

1 – 2 tsp pepper

1/1/2 tsp dry mustard

3 packed T brown sugar

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 ½ Tbsp lemon juice

1 cup prepared brown gravy

      Brown roast well on all sides.  Place in crock-pot with a cup or so of water and salt & pepper.  Cook on Hi for 3-4 hours.

Browning in a HOT skillet

Halfway done

      Turn down to Low.  Add potatoes and carrots in large cubes.  Add more water if necessary.  Cook another 3-4 hours.  Don’t lift the lid any more than necessary.  Check internal temperature to ensure @ least 165F.  While cooking, prepare the Black Magic Sauce.  

 

Black Magic Sauce

Done is @ least 165F. This is a little over

      When temp is reached and carrots/potatoes are tender, plate the roast, slice, and add the sauce on the side.  Meat reached temperature a bit early.  Next time I would adjust cooking times perhaps shorter.  The meat fell apart with no toughness at all, fork tender.  Very much like a rich pot roast.  A hearty dish; great for fall or winter.  Barb and I loved this.  Definitely our favorite bear recipe so far.  Even with the leftovers being used with eggs for breakfast the next day it was fall apart delicious.  

Fork tender

"To abhor hunting is to hate the place from which you came, which is akin to hating yourself in some distant, abstract way.”

Steven Rinella

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A Look at Portable Power Stations

 

      Although we don't dedicate ourselves to solely boondocking as much as we used to, we still can.  We did it whenever possible for nearly 20 years, saving thousands.  But age has a way of changing how you think outside the box.  The new RV has 400W of solar panels and a 400AH Lithium-Ion battery.  We can stay 'off the grid' w/o electric or generator 5 days easily: with good sun, maybe 8.  There are, however, other considerations.  

      In the past 5 months while boondocking I needed a solution to power my CPAP without readily available 120VAC.  Further research and a recommendation from my best friend led me to the portable power station arena.  My friend uses a Jackery unit for his wife's CPAP needs.   

      This is not a new science but much improved.  There are many products out there relating to these needs and the best thing is the battery technology now so much better that you can use these for your RV, camping off grid, backpacking, and even home backup.  Yes, I said backpacking.  Although these units aren't light (some are smaller), they do offer recharge via solar.  Of course, they offer solar panels of all sizes that will easily fit their own individual product. 

 

 These are the top options available:

Best Portable Power Stations (2024): Power Capacity, Portability, Camping, and More | WIRED

      Jackery, rated #1 and Bluetti, #2 are at the top of their game.  Most offer 12VDC output at 2048-watt hours at 2000 watts with recharging times at 2 hours with solar connections, 12VDC cigarette plug or 120VAC.  

      Additionally, there are options for a complete home back up system.  For example, Jackery offers a 5000W home backup system with solar panel recharge.  Others are similar.  I'm not going to deceive you.  The prices for these systems can run from a couple of hundred dollars up to $5000.  Your individual needs and requirements will dictate this.  

      I can however quote you the specs and price of the unit I purchased for my needs.  The Jackery 300 Plus provides 120VAC power, the duration depending on the wattage required.  For me, it will provide wattage sufficient to run my CPAP for up to 6 hours.  Recharge time runs anywhere from 2 to 5 hours depending on conventional or solar.  

      The only drawback I have found with all of these units is their individual cabling and connector requirements.  It's like Microsoft and all the programs that can only run on that platform.  It was not easy for me to adapt the unit to any conventional cabling needed to connect from solar panels, car chargers, or USB unless you bought their particular items.  I have been able to recharge mine with conventional 120VAC when available, but also with a USB C to SAE connector for a set of portable solar panels I have.  

      In the end the unit works very well for my needs and once I circumnavigated the product connectivity issues, I have been happy.  Price for my unit is $299.  

"I bought some batteries, but they weren't included"

Steven Wright

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