Beef Roast smoked impromptu

Posted on by June 24, 2016

June 23, 2016

Mary had about a 3 lb. beef roast with salt and pepper in the refer and we decided to smoke it this evening and re-warm or finish tomorrow evening. Preheated the MES to 250.

7:00 pm – Put the roast on a shallow aluminum pan and into the smoker with pecan in the MES chip pan and hickory in the AMZNTS maybe half filled and leveled.

Checked it often and relit the TS once. Had a very light smoke. The hickory smelled almost pungent.

10:00 pm – Removed from smoker and IT ranged from 155-165.

Pork Spare Ribs smoked

Posted on by October 22, 2016

June 17, 2016 – Ribs had thawed in the refer and pre-seasoned with Four Seasons.

June 18, Saturday20160618_130421

8:00 am – Sprinkled evenly My Rub kicked up to 2t of Cayenne. Smeared Mustard Moisturizer for Pork on top of the rub as forgot to add it first. This may be the way that works best as the rub was well blended in as opposed to sitting on top.

1:00 pm- Ambient Temp is 86°. Put into pre-warmed MES at 250. Good smoke from AMNZTS until removed. TS was loaded 50% with small apple chips and 50% hickory pellets. Added the chips then pellets then shook. Repeated until full.

6:30 – Put into oven at 275.

1:00 pm – Put on the top rack of the pre-warmed MES over the two small bone-in loins. See separate post of the loins. MES was pre-warmed to 250. It had coasted up from 230 to 260 when I opened the door and inserted the ribs and the two small bone-in pork loins.

4:15 pm – 3.25 hours later removed and wrapped in foil and put back in smoker still at 250.

5:30 – Unwrapped and returned to MES.

6:30 – Wanted to eat but they only dropped about 30° in the bend test. Sliced and served. Very chewy with ok taste. Meat did not pull off bone like it should so must not be cooked enough. Bark was hot (spicy) and a bit tough. All as could be anticipated with so little bend in the bend test.

Next time – 3-2-1 would have thought it done at 7 pm even though pulled it 30 minutes early. But, 30 minutes would not have been enough to get it done. Outer top bark was dry. Should have been moped when wrapped and unwrapped and continued until done. Also, as it was on the top rack and the thermo was on the third rack maybe the top was not as hot. [Later tests found the top rack is 15-20 degrees cooler that box or third rack]  Also as the exit port is in the corner the ribs acted like a baffle and the hot air ran along their bottom to the port and the top of the slab where the meat is did not see much heat. Don’t cook big things on the top grate.

Wednesday – Mary re-heated them wrapped to 250 in the convection oven for one hour then for another hour at 275. They were falling off the bone and had a good flavor.

LATER THOUGHTS FOR NEXT TIME

  1. Found at the SMF an analysis of a similar problem. The advice from several experts was “foiled ribs need the liquid!! Place them meat side down, add a little apple juice, butter, brown sugar.” Mary’s reheating in the foil likely did the same thing due to condensate and juices that had collected inside the foil before reheating. My “Next Time” above would have worked as the mopping at foiling would have added liquid.
  2. SmokinAl – “use butter, raw sugar, some pork rub & about 1/4 cup of water in the foil”. See his step by step here and his going to 195° IT.
  3. Think about when wrapping meat-side-down wrap it so when unwrapping it can be left in the open wrap with its juices for the final hour in the smoke. Could use shallow pans and foil over the top as the wrap. With meat side up the shallow pan will reduce smoke exposure to the bone side so it will not be as much loss of smoke affect.
  4. Process using ideas based on SmokinAls post could be:
    1. Pull membrane, slather with yellow mustard, rub with Stubb’s then plastic wrap to set for 4 hours or so.
    2. Smoke for 3 hours at 225°. IT should be in the 160’s and then the cook time while wrapped is about an hour to get to the mid 190s.
    3. Wrap in foil with butter, some more pork rub, mist with ACV & about 1/4 cup of water poured over the ribs that are meat side down.
    4. Smoke for one hour and check IT as target is 195.
    5. Sauce and let rest. Meat should not fall off the bone but pull easily when bitten.

Pork Loins Bone-in Smoked

Posted on by October 22, 2016

June 17, 2016 – Two 3-pound bone-in loins have thawed in the refer so sprinkled with Four Seasons to pre-season and salt brine.

June 18, Saturday20160618_130421

8:00 am – Sprinkled evenly My Rub kicked up with 2t of Cayenne. Smeared Mustard Moisturizer for Pork on top of the rub as forgot to add it first. This may be the way as the rub was well blended into the blend as opposed to sitting on top.

1:00 pm- Ambient Temp is 86°. Put into pre-warmed MES at 250. Good smoke from AMNZTS until removed. TS was loaded 50% with small apple chips and 50% hickory pellets. Added the chips then pellets then shook. Repeated until full.

6:30 – Put into oven at 275. IT temp for one of them is about 160.

8:00 – IT temp for the smaller one is 205-215. Removed it and left the larger one with an IT of 195. Moved the probe and found a spot that was 189.

9:00 – Larger one only. IT is still 189…strange. Removed it and it cooled until about 10 when I put it into the cooler with the ribs (in a plastic lock seal container) and the small loin still wrapped in foil.

June 19, Sunday, Fathers Day

11:00 AM – Chopped the small one up and added finishing sauce made from the jus with 50:50 vinegar, a little cayenne pepper and black pepper.  Had it with red onion and home grown tomatoes with my version of Franklin’s Sauce. VERY good although there was no heat from the rub nor the finishing sauce.

Vac sealed two “large” pieces remaining after cleaning up the chunks and tossing the bones. Odd that the original raw hunks that were the small ones of the lot (when I bought two full loins for $0.99/lb. did not have ribs but rather a large ball joint and small vertebra-like bones.

Mustard Moisturizer for Pork

Posted on by June 21, 2016

By Adam Perry Lang from his book Serious Barbeque.

1/4 C  Prepared yellow mustard
1/4 C  Water
1 T   Worchestershire Sauce
1 T   Apple Cider vinegar

Used first time 6/18/16 on Loin and Spare Ribs.  Loins had a nice bark from this added on top of My Rub.  Could not say it made a difference from straight yellow Mustard.

Tzatziki Sauce with Dill

Posted on by June 7, 2024

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup yogurt, strained for 2-4 hours
1 cucumber
4 tsp. olive oil
2-3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 Tbsp. fresh or 1-1/2 tsp. dried dill
Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Peel the cucumber and remove the seeds and soft portion.
Use a food processor to puree the ingredients and mix well.
Transfer to a serving dish, cover and chill for several hours prior to serving.

8/13/2016 – Followed above other than did not have lemons so used fresh lime juice and Greek yogurt rather than straining. Should have poured the thin liquid yogurt as the sauce was a bit thin. Straining would have been good.

Tzatziki Sauce

MAKES 3 CUPS

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 cups diced cucumber
  • 1/2 cup fresh dill minced
  • 2 teaspoons fresh mint minced
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

PREPARATION

  1. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir until fully incorporated. Chill before serving.

Blue Cheese Dressing

Posted on by June 30, 2016

1 cup crumbled blue cheese that is about 4 oz. in a block
1-1/2 cup mayo
6 tbl white wine vinegar
1-1/2 to 2 tbl sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbl finely chopped chives
by APL

Popular in a restaurant.

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (or a little less if you don’t like it hot!)
INSTRUCTIONS

In a small bowl, stir together sour cream and mayonnaise. Add red wine vinegar, lemon juice and minced garlic. Stir in blue cheese crumbles. Season with salt and pepper and taste.

For a lighter dip, replace the sour cream with greek yogurt and the mayonnaise with light mayonnaise.

6/18-22/2016 – Made per the recipe but the blue cheese used was Kraft crumbled and was bland. So, the dressing tasted strong mayo. Bought new blue cheese and added it. Now very chunky and better. Mary also added at least twice the lemon juice and that brought out the blue cheese taste.

Rib Roast Like a Steak – 2nd time

Posted on by June 14, 2016

June 12, 2016  – This was the second time to try this method as presented by Adam Parry Lang.

20160612_070120Two-bone rib-roast has thawed in refer for two days. Early morning of day of cook split the roast and removed heavy fat. Sprinkle liberally with Four Seasons plus cracked black pepper approximating his measurements. Rendered fat for baste. The ‘steaks’ are about 3″ thick.

Southern Baste – Modified his recipe some. As only used 1 cup of EVOO (he called for 1-1/2 cups) most other ingredients were slightly less than what he called for–hence the “slight” designation below. Note that this time did use the soy sauce, dark brown sugar and rendered fat from the roast..

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter
1/2 cup rendered fat from the meat20160613_180259
1 teaspoon (slight) soy sauce
1 teaspoon (slight) Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon (slight) dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons garlic mashed then minced
1/4 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
2 tablespoons minced yellow onion
2 (slight) teaspoons sea or kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Continuous thunderstorms kept us from this today so plan to cook it tomorrow, Monday, June 13. Then will whisk into the baste 1/4-C fresh lemon juice and 1/4-C white wine vinegar just before using. Note that there will have been an additional 24 hours aging the baste in the refer and the Four Seasons dry-brining the meat.20160613_181527

Monday, June 13, 2016 – Left work at 4 PM. Mary lite the full chimney about 4:45 before I arrived.

Ambient temp is 85 and humidity is about the same.

About 5:15 the briquettes had settled down so I added some to fill the chimney. By 5:45 they are burning and all but the top were grey. Poured them evenly across the fire grate in the Kettle in a rectangular shape to match the space that will be between the bricks above. Had cut a 3″ diameter pecan log into two 1.5″ thick “cookies” and put one on either end of the briquettes. Placed the top wire grate, two old street bricks on each side and an iron grate from the gas grill across the bricks.

By 6 20160613_181942PM the iron grate was hot. Placed the meat on the iron grate turning about every 1-1/2 minutes and basting the hot top as soon as it turned. Some baste and likely some rendering fat dripped into the fire and small flames appeared as desired to make for more flavor. After four times on each side set them on edge for two times per side. Basting each side as it rotated up.

About 6:30 removed them to the cutting board and cut off the bone. IT ranged from 110-125. The pecan chunks have burned up. They had made a light smoke and burned with nice small flames. Covered the meat in foil to rest per APL. Lowered the upper iron grate to the wire grate level removing one brick on each side. Put the bones back on the iron gra20160613_184330te and they cooked fast. Although the coals were now only 1/2 their original size they were very hot. Kept having to move the bones further to the edge and off the flames.

About 6:40 (have rested about 10 minutes) became worried they would cool off too much and not get up to 135-140 before the fire burned too low. Put them on the iron grate that is sitting on the wire grate. Fat began rendering and the baste dripping off so it flamed up badly and consistently. Tried moving them around and turning but could not stop the flames. In 10-15 minutes they were charred and all the flavor built was burned up. Should have recognized that when the bones flamed up too much the larger pieces would be even worse. When the flames could not be controlled I should have quit trying and either: removed the meat and sprayed the coals or; wrapped and finished in the oven or; left the iron grate at the one-brick level so the meat would not have been so close.

Hurriedly prepared a Board Dressing like Langs using: 3 count of EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil); some chopped Cilantro; freshly ground black pepper, and minced garlic. Heated it a little in the heavy small pan. Poured some on the cutting board and cut up the meat that had been too long in the flames. The charred smell and taste of the meat overwhelmed the dressing.

20160613_191215Notes about the baste – Having used the rendered fat and dried thyme this time the baste seemed heavier and not as flavorful. In addition, as I did used only 1C and not the 1-1/2 C EVOO the percent of fat was a bit higher. I had also reduced the butter and should have reduced the rendered fat but do not think that would have made a big difference–it still would have been heavy/greasy. This time also used the brown sugar and soy sauce but could not tell they made any difference with the heavy greasy tone. The sugar may have contributed to the almost bland taste of the baste by hiding other flavors. Again forgot to add the lemon juice and vinegar just before roasting. Next time make it like I did the first time I did this cook.

Next time in the MES – http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110433/prime-rib-new-best-ever and http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/239166/smoked-prime-rib-47th-anniversary-dinner

Pinto Beans recipe from Ree Drummond

Posted on by July 17, 2016

Perfect Pinto Beans recipe from Ree Drummond

Ingredients

3 thick-cut slices Bacon
2 Bay leaves
3 cloves Garlic
1 Onion, medium
1 1/2 lbs Pinto beans
1 Red bell pepper
1/4 tsp Cayenne
2 tsp Chili powder
1 Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Cumin, ground

Directions

  1. Put the beans in a large bowl, cover with cold water and let soak overnight.
  2. Drain and rinse the beans, then put them in a large pot. Cover the beans with water and add the chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne, bacon, garlic, bay leaves, onion, bell pepper and some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook until the beans are tender, 2 to 3 1/2 hours.

Recipe courtesy of Ree Drummond

July 16, 2016 – Followed the directions but only had 1 lb. beans. Also substituted 6″ of green onion cajun smoked sausage plus 4 thin slices of bacon for the 3 thick slices. It was better than what we usually make and can still be better with a ham bone and ancho homemade chile powder and/or ground dried chipotle peppers. Could add a very small can of chipotles in adobe sause. Kicking up the cumin will make it more like what the mex-tex restaurants serve.