Your Guide to a Local, Patriotic, Sustainable BBQ
The quintessential event to participate in on July 4th is the barbecue. And though we have had a lot of trials and tribulations this 2020, we are learning, we are growing and we will continue to progress towards positive change, and that is something to celebrate.
We wanted to provide you a local and sustainable guide to gathering eight essentials for your BBQ get-together. We have included meat, meat alternatives, beer, spirits, bread, veggies, hot/BBQ sauce, and outdoor gear.
Meat:
The DCR is an environmentally healthy, diverse and socially responsible ranch that strives for a healthy and happy atmosphere for wildlife, people and livestock. Their sweet spot is beef, lamb and natural pork.
These folks prioritize the right things to make sure you are getting the cleanest, most sustainable, high quality product. They do this by not utilizing any herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics or hormones. They don’t have to because in their words “they have no place on our ranch because of our healthy and practiced grazing methods.” Their animals will never know a feedlot or taste of grain, soy or corn.
Not only do they care about their own cattle, they care about their ranch. It functions off solar energy and they value native plants and wildlife (including predators!). So, if you are grilling on 4th of July (or any day), you can’t go wrong with Date Creek Ranch.
The DCR sells most of their animals by ¼, ½ and a whole and you pay per pound. This might seem a little intimidating but all you have to do is save some in the freezer, split it with another family or give your dad a late Father’s Day present! Check out what they got here and where you can pick it up here. (They have a Phoenix pick up location!)
Not enough meat in not enough places? Well, we got a directory of all the local meat opportunities right here, just pick a new place and check it out!
Meat Alternative:
NexVeg markets itself not as a meat substitution, but as a meat alternative. From personal experience, this product lives up to just that. The patties they send you can be cooked like taco meat, a burger, a sausage, a meatball and more, but it brings its own unique and tasty flavor to the table. NexVeg was not trying to imitate meat, they instead gave you a whole new, flavor filled, tasty experience.
We got the down low straight from founder, Jonathan, about how to go about slapping these patties on the grill.
“If you're going to the grill with NexVeg, you'll want choose one of the NexVeg Hemp & Seed varieties or bring a skillet along to cook one of our Tepary or Black bean options. Hot rails for grill marks is okay, but stick with medium heat so as not to overcook the goal is to heat the patty and firm it up, not dry it out. Kind of the same principle as meat but without the need to cook through as a kill step.
We have Hemp & Seed Breakfast going up on the site soon. It brings some maple sweet and chili heat to the party which pair nicely with many a favorite bbq sauce. Hemp & Seed varieties can also be reformed into sausage shapes to suit your meal.”
Some examples of what you can do with your NexVeg patties!
They used to heavily focus on the Flagstaff region but we got lucky. They have a few Phoenix shops offering 1/2lb and 1lb patty stacks that can be delivered straight to your door. Check out this link right here to make sure you got some of these in time for your 4th of July celebration.
Beer:
AZ Wilderness has always been at the forefront of hometown pride and sustainability. Those two things happen to come hand in hand. These folks routinely step up to the plate to support other local business, farmers, and community organizations. They also have no trash cans in their stores, only recycling, composting and the dishwasher. Their obligation to state pride, sustainability and community development is evident in every decision they make. For example, their next few beers support wildland firefighters, the LGBTQ community and to raise up the BLM community. Check out what releases they have in the works for the July 4th and the week before and order them right here! (They also have all their staples ready to go as well, this isn’t their extensive beer list, check out the link!)
Upcoming Releases:
June 21st-June 27th
Don't F#%k It Up Honey Blonde (Our staple beer is back in cans!)
Smoked Apple Gose (brewed in memorial of Fallen 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots with proceeds benefiting Eric Marsh Wildland Firefighting Foundation)
WEEK OF JULY 4TH
Ro-Ro DIPA (homage to our Roosevelt Row neighborhood)
People Power (brewed to support the BLM community with 100% of this beer sales donated to ACLU)
Sonoran Prince Mixed Fermentation Sour Ale w/ AZ Peaches
A sneak peak at the label art for People Power.
Want some more options around the Valley and all over the state? Check out our “beer” category in our directory right here.
Spirits:
Adventurous Stills is in the Green Business Program with Local First and they are heavily focused on supporting their local community through sourcing ingredients from them and raising money for nonprofits. Their ingredients are primarily local, and they pride themselves for going from grain to the bottle “without compromises”. They recently transitioned to making hand sanitizer to help with the COVID situation, but don’t worry, they still got whiskey. Better yet, you can get a bottle of spirits and add on a big ole squirt bottle of hand sanitizer for just 8 bucks!
Aside from their local ingredients, local business support and drive to be more sustainable they also have an incredible end product.
Their bottles routinely live up to their name, Adventurous. From their tasty Picketpost Vodka to their staple Fossil Creek Whiskey and all the bourbons and ryes in between, they are delicious, affordable and even the labels look great.
They are open Thursday-Saturday right here, and you can find their product all over the state right here.
Looking for more tasty craft spirit around the Valley and state? This list, right here, connects you to all our distillery members around Arizona.
Bread and buns:
Purchasing bread locally keeps more money in your local community, most people know this, what you might not know is it is also a delicious decision to make. Noble Bread offers some of the best bread in the valley. They don’t just stop at your regular sliced bread, they make buttermilk buns, brioche, pide, cracked wheat berry, super seeded and a good ole’ hamburger bun.
Some delicious hamburger buns from Noble!
You can get them all over the valley, just check out this link.
They also have a delicious eatery that spins out some incredible sandwiches, you know, for those weeks that aren’t July 4th.
Are you up North, down South or just want some other options? Here is a list of many other bread-makers around the state!
Veggies:
Sun Produce Co-Op is a fantastic place to get your greens (and fruit!) because they source everything in their weekly produce bags from various local farms across the valley. This is called a C.S.A.*
Here is an example of what you might get in a bag. This week in my bag (that I picked up at Tracy Dempsey Originals) I received strawberries, arugula, peaches, onions, carrots and half a dozen eggs (and that is the small bag!) If you want to make life even easier, some of these locations (like Tracy Dempsey’s) offer add ons from local purveyors like wine, coffee, meat, pastries and more (I ordered the Noble bread from above with mine!). Sun Produce Co-Op is all over the valley with plenty available pick up options.
An aerial photo of what your CSA bag might look like!
Here is a tool for finding the closest pick up option to you!
*C.S.A stands for community-supported agriculture. This means that you pay a monthly fee and pick up a weekly bag of a random assortment of fruits, veggies and sometimes eggs. It goes with the season and what the farmers are growing.
Can’t make the commitment to a weekly CSA? We definitely understand. Check out this link to find the closest local fruit and veggies to you!
Hot Sauce:
Cutino is a local hot sauce company that knocks BBQ out of the park with their smoked chipotle BBQ ribs recipe. Luckily, the owner/founder/creator, Jacob Cutino, said we could share it with you right here.
Click on this photo to figure out how to make this fantastic recipe!
Order some of their sauce straight from their website here or find it around the Valley right here to get your hands on some of Jacob’s flavors. Check out some of his other delicious recipes too!
#supportblackbusiness
I am always on the hunt for more BBQ/hot sauce, so I am sure that you are too. If you want to find some close, quality, local hot sauce, anywhere in the state just check out our directory!
Outdoor Gear:
Oh no! You want to hang out outside while you are grilling, but you don’t have anything to sit in? Nothing to keep your beverages cold? You need a tent, maybe a sleeping bag? Look no further than Just Roughin’ It up in Scottsdale. Just Roughin’ It regularly advocates for responsibility in the outdoors. They support leaving no trace, a greater comprehension of fire prevention and routinely host education events (they moved virtual for now!) to help you with a variety of things in the outdoors from hiking the Grand Canyon to secret hiking spots in the Valley.
Some offerings that Just Roughin’ It had for Father’s Day present, not present is their excellent selection of coolers and camping chairs!
Come grab all your outdoors essentials, coolers, chairs, camping stoves and more online right here.
Our other gear store member is Aspen Sports in Flagstaff, if you are up North, give them a visit!