BBQ/Smoker ???

[germerikan]

Ahhh a brine, never did that for ribs. This rack was thinner than the normal ones that I get, might just try a mix of rub and cider and see what comes out. Although the wifey is getting a little tired of ribs this summer, if that is at all possible...

The lil smoker I have keeps the heat pretty good during the mops, I was also thinking of doing the first 3 hours in a covered pan and then the last 1,5 on the rack with smoke chips. I have some pretty darn good whisky chips that do not get to strong. I dont soak them though, the chips are big so they dont go down to fast.

[Trey Cannon]

Getting started....

[dtel]

There's nothing like a big hunk of great looking meat........ok yes there is but I am only allowed to look. [:'(]

[JL Sargent]

Geeze Trey, did you put the meat on and then light the carcoal? LOL [] Little bit crispy already.

[fini]

There's nothing like a big hunk of great looking meat........ok yes there is but I am only allowed to look. [:'(]

I love it when you talk dirty.

And the ladies (ok, lady) goes wild!

[Trey Cannon]

Only wood in my smoker...I had it a little close to the flame...but I like to crisp the outside then slow cook the rest of the time. It helps to keep it moist. After this pic, I covered the meat in foil and moved it to the other end of the grill. there it cooked for 4-5 hours until the bone was ready to fall out. I let it cool for a bit and cut it up for chopped pork.

Its not easy to get that big cooker the right temp for just 2 small chunks of meat. Keeping it hot was not easy as it rained about 3 inches in 1hr right in the middle of the cooking. The pork turned out just fine.

[Trey Cannon]

A "little" rain can cool a grill off quick.

[Trey Cannon]

finished...

[dtel]

I doubt I could keep up the temperature on mine in the rain, never had to try yet. When that bone comes out like that you know it's good.

[Trey Cannon]

I like to cook it until they fall out...some think its over done, but that is the way I like it when making chopped pork. (I don't like calling it pulled pork, kind of sounds dirty)

[dtel]

Nice looking butt Trey []

I don't think it's over done either, on the BBQ forum many use the method of if the bone can easily be pulled out to know if it's ready.

I had never did a pork butt before so on my first one I used a thermometer to be sure, 195*, wrap with foil and let it cool. Supposedly as it cools the juce runs out and as it cools more is sucked back in ?

One tip that i really liked was what they said to do before cooking, it really works . They said rub with plenty of seasoning, then coat with as much plain/cheap yellow mustard as you can get to stay on it and season again.

I was a little worried about that mustard thing but they were right, it melts off or in, and makes the whole thing black looking, the good part is it does NOT taste burned at all or like mustard at all but like the seasoning. It really works, I would not do another without it, it was the best part and mixes in when cut up or pulled.

Try it just once, you will do it again like that after you taste it, use plenty of seasoning also. [Y]

[Cal Blacksmith]

Ok, I promised that when I had it I would post about the Kielbasa sausage. Those of you who are so inclined, give it a try, it is soooooo much better than what you get from the store. If you don't have a stuffer, you can make bulk sausage and make patties, or meat balls or burgers or ?????

6 feet large hog casing

3 pounds lean pork butt

1 pound lean beef chuck

1/2 pound veal shoulder

1/2 pound pork fat (can use salt pork but reduce the salt later)

2 tablespoons sweet paprika

1 tablespoon freshly ground balck pepper (medium grind)

2 1/2 teaspoon kosher or coarse salt (reduce if using salt pork)

2 teaspoons dried marjoram

2 teaspoons dried summer savory

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

3 cloves carlic, minced.

prep casing as need.

cut pork, beef, veal and fat into 1 inch cubes Freeze the cubes for about 30 minutes to firm them up before grinding

Grind the meats and fat together through the coarse disk of a meat grinder (or have the butcher do this for you at the store)

In a large bowl, combine the meat mixture, paprika, pepper, salt, marjoram, summer savory, allspice and garlic. Mix well, using your hands (clean of course!)

Stuff the mixture into long links, lengths of 18 to 24 inches are traditional

coil the links and allow them to dry in a cool place for 4 hours or referigrate for 24 hours, uncovered

cut the links apart with a sharp knife and referigerate for 2 to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months. Cook by roasting in a 425F oven for 45 minutes to an internal temp of 160

Makes 5 pounds.

I find that smoking them works very well too. You may want to cook them in the oven then smoke/heat them later in the BBQ both ways work well but be sure you hit 160 internal temp due to the pork.

A different topic, if you are pulling your pork and have a KA mixer with a dough hook, you can "pull" the meat in seconds that would take half an hour to do by hand. Just a thought for those of you with the tools in your kitchen!

[oldtimer]

Smoked some spare ribs today, a departure from the baby backs I've been cooking lately. I didn't have apple cider but instead used some apple cranberry for the double overnight soak. I've decided the mopping process is not necessary, these turned out just fine without it as have the last several rib attempts. The apple cranberry worked just as well (no discernable difference from apple cider). I used a combo of oak charcoal, hickory wood, coconut charcoal, and oak wood. I'm almost out of the coconut charcoal, it burns great and I will miss it when it's gone. Sauce was a chipotle concoction modified from simple kraft sauce.

[Boxx]

Smoked some spare ribs today, a departure from the baby backs I've been cooking lately. I didn't have apple cider but instead used some apple cranberry for the double overnight soak. I've decided the mopping process is not necessary, these turned out just fine without it as have the last several rib attempts. The apple cranberry worked just as well (no discernable difference from apple cider). I used a combo of oak charcoal, hickory wood, coconut charcoal, and oak wood. I'm almost out of the coconut charcoal, it burns great and I will miss it when it's gone. Sauce was a chipotle concoction modified from simple kraft sauce.

My hat is off to you for taking on the "heat." Hopefully, we will get a break late next week....

[fini]

Smoked some spare ribs today, a
departure from the baby backs I've been cooking lately. I didn't have
apple cider but instead used some apple cranberry for the double
overnight soak. I've decided the mopping process is not necessary,
these turned out just fine without it as have the last several rib
attempts. The apple cranberry worked just as well (no discernable
difference from apple cider). I used a combo of oak charcoal, hickory
wood, coconut charcoal, and oak wood. I'm almost out of the coconut
charcoal, it burns great and I will miss it when it's gone. Sauce was a
chipotle concoction modified from simple kraft sauce.

Would there be any difference between apple cider and apple juice, for these purposes?

EDIT: I just checked on Gurgle,com, and it seems in the US, there is no legal difference between apple cider and juice! The question remains, though, as the experts here have jurisdiction over these matters.

[oldtimer]

I checked out the difference a while back out of the same curiosity. Like you said in the US there is no legal difference, and IIRC comparing the ingredients and nutritional info on the labels yielded no difference either. My brother has used beer, to decent effect, but for party quantities where he braises them first then finishes them on the grill. I would guess hard cider might make a difference in taste, someday I will experiment with it.

[BigStewMan]

i get hungry every time i read this thread

[Dflip]

dtel:

The myglobin in the meat is the liquid that most people refer to as blood, the red stuff that runs out of your roast or steak. Here is some information I downloaded a couple of years ago from America's Test Kitchen.

How resting keeps meat juicier

A final but very important step when cooking tenderloin (and all red meats) is allowing it to rest before slicing. As the proteins in the meat heat up during cooking, they coagulate, which basically means they uncoil and then reconnect, or bond, in a different configuration. When the proteins coagulate, they squeeze out part of the liquid that was trapped in their coiled structures and in the spaces between the individual molecules. The heat from the cooking source drives these freed liquids toward the centre of the meat.

This process of coagulation explains why experienced chefs can tell how done a piece of meat is by pushing on it and judging the amount of resistance: the firmer the meat, the more done it is. But the coagulation process is apparently at least partly reversible, so as you allow the meat to rest and return to a lower temperature after cooking, some of the liquid is reabsorbed by the protein molecules as their capacity to hold moisture increases. As a result, if given a chance to rest, the meat will lose less juice when you cut into it, which in turn makes for much juicier meat. In the case of beef tenderloin, the texture of the meat also improves, becoming a bit firmer as it rests. Eight minutes for a steak, fifteen for a roast or chicken, thirty minutes for a turkey and an hour for a port butt. You don't want to lose all of those juices from that pork butt. For steaks it also allows you to have a rare steak without all the myoglobin running all over the plate and grossing out many eaters. This method's other benefit is juicier meat for sandwiches the next day instead of dried out shoe leather.

As for the mustard, I was taught to apply the mustard first and then apply the rub to the meat. It helps the rub stick to the meat just like milk or buttermilk for chicken or fish. Just use a cheap generic yellow mustard for this job because you won't taste the difference. If you used something like Koslik's Grainy Creole or a grainy dijon the mustard flavour just disappears and you wasted your money.

[dtel]

Thank you, it was kind of explained to before but i didn't get it. I see what your saying and it now makes sense.

The mustard thing was a little weird, you would think with all that mustard it would have to have that flavor in the meat but there is no yellow mustard taste, but I really like the crust is helps make.

[BigStewMan]

Dtel--I'm sure colonel mustard knows what he's doing,