Grilled Pumpkins, BBQ Ribs and Singed Eyebrows

I like to try different things on the grill, and this summer I've been trying all different kinds of vegetables and some fruit.  While looking for ideas, I came across a guy that had grilled whole pie pumpkins.  I've done halved squashes that turned out well (acorn squash are the best on the grill), but knew I wanted to try the whole pumpkins as soon as I saw it.  Now, usually when I try something new, I find a few sources on the Internet and see what worked and didn't work for other people.  I found many people that have done sliced or cubed pumpkin, but only the one that had done whole.  He used charcoal, so I knew I was going to have to wing it on my gas grill. 

This is my Kenmore 5 burner that I'll be using.  I debated using my Weber charcoal, but the gas offers more hood space, and better control of the temperature.  Which is important since I'll need to keep it a low even temp for a long time.

I had a slab of spare ribs in the freezer I've been waiting until I've had the time to BBQ them, and thought they'd go well with the pumpkins.  They will both need to be cooked for long times.  Usually I do 'quick ribs', which are done in 2 hours.  This time I'm doing 4 hour slow ribs.

Friday night, I pulled out the ribs, put them on a cookie sheet and in the fridge to thaw.  Then we headed to The Andersons to get my pie pumpkins, pork rub, bacon and of course fall related beverages to drink while I grill.  Along with some other meats and fruit for the wife.  I already had some Garlic-Q sauce and hickory wood chips at home for the ribs.

Fast forward to Sunday morning, I check the ribs and they are thawed.  So I leave them in the fridge and head out to the Pumpkin Patch at the Toledo Zoo with the wife and the youngest (aka Dutch Man or Bad Guy).  We made it home about 3:00 and I was ready to start prepping at 3:30.

I started by pulling off the membrane off the ribs, and then realised I had forgotten to start the wood chips soaking.  So I put the chips in some water to soak, then came back and put the Blues Hog rub on the ribs.  The rub smelled amazing and the wife even commented on the smell as soon as I put the ribs on the grill.  Here are the ribs ready for the grill.

I then cut lids off the pumpkins and cleaned them out.  This was the most labor intensive part of the whole project.

Since this was my first time grilling pumpkins, I tried different seasonings in each pumpkin.  I got this idea from the guy I found online that grilled the pumpkins.  Although I used slightly different seasonings.

Pumpkin 1:  Smeared butter around the inside of the pumpkin then stuck some brown sugar to it.

Pumpkin 2:  About 1/4 cup of maple syrup, two slices of bacon and a cinnamon stick.

Pumpkin 3:  Salt, pepper, two pieces of bacon and a very light dusting of cinnamon.

I tried to get the seasonings on the walls and lids of the pumpkins, but the bacon and syrup ended up pooling at the bottom.

I forgot to take a picture of the pumpkins filled with the lids off, but here is a shot of the pumpkins ready for the grill.

Here is everything ready for grilling. 

*Special shout out to Smitty for recognizing Buffalo Bills pumpkin ale. I try every pumpkin beer I can find, and Buffalo Bill's remains one of the best I've ever had.

It's hard to see, but that clock on the stove says 3:31.  With a 4 hour grill time, I need to get a move on to get everything done at  reasonable hour.  So, I drain my wood chips and start setting up the grill.

Above is my grill setup.  I had two foil pans with a few holes poked in the bottom about half full with wood chips.  I put these under the grate and right on top of the two outside burners, since I'll only be using those during cook time.  The pan on the grate in the middle is filled with water to keep the ribs moist.  The meat will tend to dry out after 4 hours on a gas grill, if you don't add some moisture.

I then turned all burners to high and closed to lid to try to get the chips smoking and the water steaming.  After about 15 minutes, the grill had reached about 550 degrees, the water was steaming and the chips had just started to smolder.  I then turned off the three middle burners and turned the two outside burners to low.

Time to load up the grill.  You'll notice the ribs barely fit on the top rack, and the pumpkins had to sit back to fit under the hood.  I could have trimmed off the stems, but I didn't want to ruin the look of them.

After loading everything on, I left the hood open for a minute or two to let it cool down from the 550 degrees.  My plan was to grill at about 220.  I closed the lid and the temperature went down to about 230 degrees and stayed there.  Instead of messing around trying to get it to 220, I just left it and figured I could pull everything off early if I needed to.  It was a beautiful sunny fall day.  About 57 degrees.  I have a feeling if it was much warmer, I would have had trouble keeping it under 300 degrees and would have to have used just one burner.

With the grill loaded and the temperature set, it was time to crack open a pumpkin beer.  It was now 4:00, so eating before 8:00 wasn't going to happen (again).  With beer in hand, it was time to wait... and wait... and uh-oh, I notice there is no smoke coming out of the grill.  What happened to my smoldering wood chips?  I decide to just let it sit and see if they take off in the first hour.  As the first hour draws to an end, I decide that I'm going to have to give the wood chips a 'jump start'.

The plan is simple.  Give the wood chips a quick splash of lighter fluid, leave the lid open until the lighter fluid burns away so the food doesn't get tainted, then blow out the flames.  Bingo! smoldering wood chips and a smokey flavor for my ribs and pumpkins.

Now to put that plan into action.  I run and grab the lighter fluid (which must be ancient, since I haven't used lighter fluid at home since I got my charcoal chimney about 10 years ago).  I open the lid and see a couple small smouldering spots, but not enough to make more then a wisp of smoke.  'Excellent' I think, 'a quick splash of lighter fluid and it'll ignite its self'.  Being careful to move the food out of the way and stand back as far as my arm will reach and give it a quick shot of lighter fluid.  Then... nothing.

Thinking it must need some help, I lean in real close and blow lightly on a tiny glowing ember I see.  My mistake is brought immediately to my attention as the lighter fluid ignites and a ball of flame comes flying towards my face.  As I straighten up I smell an unmistakable smell.  If you've ever smelled singed human hair, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.  I then look over at my 4 year old who just watch this whole thing unfold.  His eyes are huge, and his grin is even bigger, like he's seen the best magic trick ever.

I decide that I'm not injured, and that taking inventory of my eyebrows can wait until I'm finished with the wood chips.  I let the lighter fluid burn away and blow out the flames.  Now the smoke is going good.  I then go into the house and have my wife check out the damage.  The verdict was two well singed eyebrows and some melted eye lashes.

After the second hour is up, I try the same process with the other pan of wood chips, but this time throw a match into the pan, instead igniting it with my face inches away.

After the third hour, the wood chips are pretty much gone, and it's time to start saucing the ribs, so I go ahead and put the garlic-q sauce on one side.  The pumpkins still feel firm to the touch, so I'm a little worried if they will be fully cooked.  However, the lids are starting to shrink up a little, so I know they are cooking.

I wait another 30 minutes, and sauces the other side of the ribs.  The pumpkins are starting to look cooked, and smell really good.  The outside is still really firm.

After the last 30 minutes, I open the grill, and everything looks and smells amazing.

The sun is now long set, and the wife and I are both very hungry.  I take everything into the house and let the rib set for 10 minutes to soak up all their juices.

The wife and I both dug in and thought it was amazing.  Pumpkin #1 was our favorite, followed closely by #2.  The #3 pumpkin was still good, but not as much flavor.  The outside of the pumpkins were more firm then I expected, but the inside flesh was pretty soft.

Things I'd do different. 

1.  A lighter sauce for the ribs.  The Garlic-Q sauce was a little over powering, and didn't allow for the smoky taste I was hoping for. 

2. Rotate the position of the pumpkins.  With the outer burners being the only ones on, the two outer pumpkins got a little scorched on the outside.  Not a big deal as it didn't affect the flavor of the pumpkin flesh.  However, the middle pumpkin was a little less done then the other two. 

3.  If I was doing the pumpkins by themselves, I'd probably turn both outside burners to high, and remove the top rack.  Then center the pumpkins and cook them in half the time.  The outsides would probably have a more toasted look that way.

4.  I'd put butter or some liquid in each pumpkin.  The one with butter was much softer, and I'm guess it helped to steam the inside of the pumpkin.

If anyone has any questions about the process, or general comments, feel free to leave them here, and I'll answer what I can.