Pork Bastes, Sauces & Finishing Sauces To Try

Posted on by June 29, 2016

Recipes below came from posts at BBQ Brethren and Smoking Meat Forums. 

Smokin Okie’s Pulled Pork Baste & Serving Sauce – From BBQB

Use this on pulled pork starting about 1/2 way through cooking (after the smoke stops).

Mop this on the pork warm. I’ve also used this on the meat when it’s done — I just spoon some sauce over pulled pork right on the bun.

(makes about 5 cups)

4 cups apple juice
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoon dry mustard
4 tablespoon brown sugar
3 bay leaf
6 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cayenne (I sometimes use Hungarian Paprika)
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (the secret ingredient)

“Heat all of the ingredients in a nonreactive pan (the acid in the vinegar will react with some pans be careful) Bring it to a boil, reduce and simmer for 15 min.”

Pickin Juice – From BBQB

Ingredients

1 quart cider vinegar
1/8 cup salt
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon milled black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
1/2-3/4 cup light brown sugar, depending on taste
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce

Mix a day ahead and let it set.

“Another poster said – What I have found with vinegar sauces is that if you use just a touch of it, it will really let the pork flavor come out and most people don’t realize that it has the finishing sauce on it.”

“And another – When you cook the butts, cook a few of them in foil pans to save the drippings. Then take the drippings, separate the fat from the top, and pour the remaining juice onto the pulled pork. Otherwise, you could use apple juice.”

All below are from SMF

Tangy Pulled Pork Finishing Sauce – A finishing sauce for ribs from Chef Jimmy J

This is more of an Eastern North Carolina style Finishing Sauce.

2 C Apple Cider Vinegar
2T Worcestershire Sauce or more to taste
1/4 C Brown Sugar
1 T Smoked Paprika
2 tsp Granulated Garlic
2 tsp Granulated Onion
2 tsp Fine Grind Black Pepper
1 tsp Celery Salt
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper or Red Pepper Flake. Add more if you like Heat.
1/2 tsp Grnd Allspice

Combine all and whisk well. This is a thin sauce, bring just to a simmer and remove from heat. Adjust sweetness by adding Brown Sugar or additional Vinegar as desired…Makes about 2 Cups.

For Lexington Style Dip add, 1/2 cup Ketchup and 1-3 tsp of Red Pepper Flakes…JJ

Another from Chef JJ – Not much sugar and a good amount of vinegar

St. Louis Bubba Q Juice

1 1/2C Ketchup
1C Cider Vinegar
1/2C Water
1/4C Tomato Paste
1/4C Diced Roasted Red Pepper from a Jar (1-2 each)
1/4C Texas Pete or other Hot Sauce
1/4C Brown Sugar
2T Yellow Mustard
1tsp Gran. Garlic
1tsp Gran, Onion
1tsp Blk Pepper
1tsp Salt
1T Worcestershire Sauce
Cayenne to Taste

Combine all and simmer 10 minutes to combine flavors. Adjust sweetness or heat to your taste. Let cool and Puree.
Makes about 3 Cups.

From Chef JJ for Pork Loin

Carolina Q Dust

1/2C Sugar in the Raw (Turbinado)
2T Sweet Paprika (Hungarian)
1T Kosher Salt
1T Chili Powder
1T Granulated Garlic
1T Granulated Onion
1T Mustard Powder
1T Grnd. Black Pepper
1T Grnd. White Pepper
1tsp Cayenne Pepper, or more as desired.
1tsp Grd. Cumin
1tsp Dry Thyme, rubbed

Makes about 1 Cup. This has some Heat from the the jar but mellows when Smoked. If too Hot, reduce the Black, White and Cayenne Pepper.

Apply your desired amount of Dust to the meat, wrap in plastic and rest in the refrigerator overnight.or longer. The day of the smoke, pull the meat out, add more Dust and go into your pre-heated Smoker…

Below is a sauce that goes well with the Rub…JJ

Lexington NC Style Dip

2 C Apple Cider Vinegar
2T Worcestershire Sauce or more to taste
1/2C Ketchup
1/4C Brown Sugar
1T Smoked Paprika
2 tsp Granulated Garlic
2 tsp Granulated Onion
2 tsp Fine Grind Black Pepper
1-3tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp Celery Salt
1 tsp Chipotle Powder.
1/2 tsp Grnd Allspice

Combine all and whisk well. For a thinner sauce bring just to a simmer and remove from heat or continue to simmer to desired thickness. Adjust sweetness by adding Brn Sugar or additional Vinegar as desired…JJ

Smoked Turkey

Posted on by January 25, 2017

January 24, 2016; Ambient temp was 65-70 with only a slight breeze.

Preface – This did not turn out well and serves as a good learning experience.20160124_Turkey raw

Thawed the 13-lb bird the day before. Removed from bag and trimmed an hour before the smoke. Removed backbone and butterflied. Rubbed with olive oil and seasoned with Simon & Garfunkel seasoning and salt. Setup Weber with foil on non SnS side to catch drippings and channel air. Misted bird with water.

  • 3:50 – Grate temp with Thermoworks was at 325 so added bird. Dome was 400.
  • 4:15 – Grate was 256 so opened up lower vent to 1/2
  • 4:25 – Grate was at 265 and rising. Dome at 345.
  • 4:45 – Grate was at 296 and rising. Dome at 350 so opened lower grate to 3/4.
  • 5:30 – Grate was 270 and not rising. Added 1/2 chimney of lite coals and changed lower vent o 1/2 and upper to 1/3.
  • 5:35 – Grate was at 330
  • 5:40 – Moved temp probe to breast and was at 154. Dome temp was 350. Set upper vent at 1/2 and moved lower to 3/4.
  • 5:45 – Dome at 375 and breast at 159 and rising. Drum stick with instant read was at 160
  • 5:50 – Removed, wrapped in foil an rested for 15 minutes.

Great color but not quite done. Mary’s wing was ok but my thigh was rubbery and did not fall away from the bone. Even though it cooked twice as long as it should have and at well below the 325 target.20160124_Turkey smoked

The next night reheated in the heavy cast iron enameled braising pot but my breast was dried out and tough. Mary’s dark meat was ok.  I sliced a piece out of the second breast that had not been warmed and it was also tough.

Also fed the temp probe through the top vent and that meant when the dome was removed and tilted all the trapped heat escaped. Need to drill a hole in the kettle so the probe can be inserted. Adding tape water to the slot (not hot) also cooled it for a time and per Meathead and SNS should not have been added even if hot.

Lessons For Next Time

  1. To get the kettle to 325-350 see the SNS advice here. “Add half a chimney (~40 briquets) of unlit  coals to the Slow ‘N Sear first, then add the half chimney of well-lit coals on top.”
  2. Do not use water in SnS slot.
  3. See this page –  http://www.abcbarbecue.com/#!slow-n-sear-turkey/wctxl
    1. If the next turkey is pre-basted check the sodium cloride content to see if above or below 200 mg as discussed at the link. If below 200 mg, for a 14 lb. bird, dry brine with about 2.5T salt inside and out at least 24 hours ahead. Leave uncovered in refrigerator to let the skin dry.
    2. “expect about 2hrs if the turkey is spatchcocked and fully thawed” at a minimum of 325 up to 350.
    3. Wrap the leg and wing tips with foil up to 30 minutes before it is done.
    4. See link for advice on setting vents. Full open to start up to 275 then bottom at 1/4 and top at 1/3.
    5. Do not cover or rest when it comes off so the skin does not become damp and soft.

 

 

 

Baby Back Ribs and Thighs

Posted on by January 25, 2017

January 10, 2016

Day before removed silver skin from slab of ribs and salted liberally.

Ambient Temp was 46 degrees and no breeze. Used the Weber Kettle with the SnS and large pecan chunks over Kingsford Briquettes. Piled burning briquettes in one end of SNS and poured fresh ones against that pile but not enough to fill the SnS as the cook will not take that long. Had foil covering the open lower grate and then remembered I should have threaded in the temp probe. Decided this cook would be simpler and would watch the dome thermometer subtracting 50 degrees to estimate the grate temp.

While the kettle fire was catching:

  • Rubbed the ribs liberally with Memphis Dust. First time to try Meathead’s favorite pork rub.
  • The thighs had been cleaned of fat and excess skin and were removed from the Frig about an hour before going in the kettle. Mary salt & peppered them and liberally added poultry seasoning.  They waited in the pot on the counter.
  1. 3:30 PM – Ribs on the grill with dome temp at 300
  2. 4:10 dome at 290
  3. Placed chicken thighs all around ribs
  4. 6:00 dome at 310 and took off the chicken
  5. 6:20 – 295
  6. 6:50 – 270
  7. 7:15 – Removed ribs, wrapped tight in foil and put into convection oven at 7:25
  8. 8:30 – removed from oven and let cool some then into “tupperware” and refrigerator.

Two days later – Ribs are very dark — almost black but no burned taste. Mary warmed them in the foil in the oven. Very tender without falling apart. Very good flavor of the Memphis Dust rub that was not at all sweet and did not overpower the taste of the meat. WIsh I had smoked two racks.

Have had the thighs three times warmed in the microwave at work for lunch. The skin is somewhat rubbery although has a great flavor. The rubbery is likely due, at least to some extent, to re-warming in the microwave. The meat has the nice reddish tint from the smoke and tasted great. There was an occasional hot taste that had to come from the fresh ground black pepper. They did not taste like festival turkey legs like the legs I smoked at the farm with the pork roast. But, they were good.

Cooking Gulf Coast Shrimp

Posted on by January 9, 2016

From http://www.gulf-shores-alabama.net/gulf-shores-shrimp.html

Cooking Gulf Coast Shrimp

Boiled Shrimp…Boiled Shrimp…Boiled Shrimp…Boiled Shrimp…

Don’t over cook them. Place a packet of shrimp/crab boil seasoning, a chunk of squeezed lemon and some salt (unless cooking royal reds-don’t salt the cooking water) in a big pot. Bring to a boil. Dump in the shrimp. As soon as the water returns to a boil, pour out the water and shrimp into a colander to stop the cooking.

If you are cooking shrimp of mixed sizes, use a slotted spoon to remove the smaller ones as soon as they begin to curl. Work quickly.

Serve with Cocktail Sauce that you make using:
Good quality ketchup
Some Heinz bottled Chili Sauce or a bit of dried chili powder
Some fresh squeezed lemon juice
Black pepper
Dash of Lee & Perrin’s Worcestershire Sauce (not a cheap store brand)
All the plain grated horseradish you can stand (not the creamed horseradish sauce with a mayonnaise or oil base)
All the Tabasco sauce you can stand

OR

Remoulade Sauce for Boiled Shrimp

This is an easy recipe from a fabulous cook from Memphis, TN named Ruth Morrow. It is best (I think) made a day or two in advance–it keeps really well.  Get out the food processor. You can make less than this recipe, just adjust ingredients accordingly.

Quart of Kraft, Hellmans, or  Duke Mayonnaise
1/3 cup drained, grated horseradish
1/2 oz. or more Anchovy Paste (In toothpaste type tube at grocery store, does NOT taste like catfood & is an important ingredient)
1/2 cup yellow mustard

Chop finely in food processor:
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
2 small or one very large onion
1 celery heart stalks
couple tablespoons of bottled capers

mix everything together, dip shrimp in this sauce and enjoy or pour over peeled shrimp on a bed of lettuce. Remember, it is better the next day.

Simon & Garfunkel Rub

Posted on by September 28, 2016

Credit for this goes to Meathead at AmazingRibs.com

This is a great poultry seasoning with the body of dried–not ground–herbs and much fuller flavor that the usual ground seasoning.

1 tablespoon dried crushed parsley
2 tablespoons dried crushed sage
1 tablespoon dried crushed rosemary
1 tablespoon dried crushed thyme
1 tablespoon dried crushed oregano
1 tablespoon dried crushed basil
1 tablespoon dried crushed bay leaf
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

First made this in 2015 and love it anywhere we would use the commercial ground poultry seasoning.

Chicken Legs Smoked at Sundown – Dec 31, 2015

Posted on by January 25, 2017

During the 12/31/15 smoking of a pork butt at the farm I added chicken legs that had been salted and peppered with poultry seasoning on the skin side. They were positioned over the roast on a higher grill. By that time the charcoal was burned out and all that was burning was the small diameter (1.5-2”) pecan logs with their thin bark on a bed of coals and ash from earlier logs.

As noted in the entry for the pork butt the temp bounced early in that cook but during the chicken’s time it stayed above 220 but not over 250. There was always a good smoke stream from the top vent and the door that leaked too much.

When the internal temp with a bi-metal quick ready pocket thermometer read 140-150 I took them off and wrapped in aluminum foil.

I was concerned for too much smoke due to Meathead’s comments about that with poultry but found they had an identical smell and great taste of commercial, festival like, turkey legs. The color of the cooked leg was very dark brown with a few almost black areas–but no burned taste. The meat had the same red tint and firmness of the turkey legs. They were definitely not over smoked.

 

Pork Butt smoked at Sundown-Dec. 28, 2015

Posted on by January 9, 2016

12/30/2015 – Had thawed the pork roast in the frig for about 2 days. Removed fat cap and salted well. Returned to frig for about 18 hours dry brining..

12/31/201520151231_184129_crop

  1. 7 AM – Rubbed roast with Schultz’s Premium Seasoning and Rub received from Tim in Colorado.
  2. 8 am – Ambient temp is 60, breezy to windy and overcast. Stayed that way for the entire cook. Lite fire with 10+ briquettes under mesquite lump charcoal in the chimney. It light fine and dumped into the backside of the square fire box. Added more lumps beside and a few on top. Left it to stabilize but the box did not go above 130 and was very erratic—[likely due to the strong breeze and leaky door joints].
  3. 8:30 – Placed pork on the rack as temp seemed to be rising.
  4. 8:45 – Added on top of red coals am 8” long 1.5” diameter dry pecan log. As it caught the temp rose.
  5. 9:45 – Grate temp is 220 but seemed to be falling slowly.
  6. 10:25 – Temp had not recovered so added a second equal size log.
  7. 10:35 – Temp climbed up to and appeared to be staying above 220.
  8. 11:50 – Logs had burned apart and temp fell to 180. Stoked it and added a third short 1.5” diameter log. Came back to 220 by 12:15.
  9. 12:45 – had opened up side vents and full open top vent and tem got up to 240. Closed sides a bit and partially over one hole in top. Temp fell to 235. Right side is open equivalent of about an hour on a clock face and left is about 2 “hours” in angle open. At 1pm temp is 230.
  10. About 1 PM added about 10 chicken legs. See separate journal entry.
  11. 2:45 – Temp has been bouncing around but been above the 220 alarm point for an hour or so. Gave up as it will not be done for dinner. Moved it to the electric roaster set at 250. Internal temp is 162. That was the first internal temp taken as I move the Thermotemp to internal when put it into the roaster.
  12. 3:20 – Still at 163 internal. Must be in “the stall”.
  13. 3:40 – Internal temp is only 164. Raised the set point on the roaster control to 275.
  14. 5pm – Internal temp at 170. Considerable liquid in pan so inserted rack to raise it ½ inch so it did not stew.
  15. 5:30 – internal temp is 178.
  16. 6:00 – 186 degrees.
  17. 6:25 – 190
  18. 6:35 – Took Peggy and frank the small end.
  19. 7:00 – Carved slices for dinner. Crust was not crackly but not mushy. Nice thick smoke ring with no pink center. Pulled apart easily.

Conclusions:

  • Warmed up the next evening in foil and pulled some apart for sandwiches. Crust has firmed up and has a great flavor with the smoke ring meat attached.
  • Six hours in the smoker with heavy smoke from logs rather than chunks on coals provided a good smoke ring and crust. Finishing to temp in the electric roaster made it easy to get beyond the stall. Although that is why the crust was not crusty. But, with the ThermoChef monitoring the internal meat temp it was done to perfection.
  • The roast turned out well and provided numerous great left over meals. But, the chicken legs were the surprise as they had the same taste as carnival turkey legs. See separate journal entry.

Spiral-cut Ham kissed by smoke

Posted on by December 25, 2015

As there was a good batch of coals burning when the Christmas Eve turkey reached temp Mary yanked the no-name spiral-cut ham from the frig to give it a little smokey flavor. I added several pecan chucks to the coals. At 5:40 pm with a grate temp probably at 300-325 I put the ham on the indirect side splaying open the spirals. About 6:50 took the ham off and wrapped it in aluminum foil. It had dried out some but had a nice smoked red look to the spiral slices with the edges that had had a fat layer are almost black.

Kissed?  Yup, firmly kissed as the open, thin, slices dried out a bit. But, they had a nice woodsy taste even though chewy.

Smoked Turkey – Christmas 2015

Posted on by August 27, 2016

Bought a 13 lb. frozen generic brand bird to be smoked on the 22″ Weber Kettle with the Slow-N-Sear with my new ChefsAlarm remote digital thermometer. The Plan – Will use the new thermometer to first monitor grate temp for 325-350 for the first hour noting dome bi-metallic reading. Then insert probe into breast to monitor final cook.

12/22/15 – Thawed it in the frig for 24 hours

12/23/15 – Placed in hot water in the sink, removed giblets and ice and filled with hot water until it was fairly thawed. Cut out the back bone and “spatchcocked” it. Injected it with a mixture of 6 oz. melted butter to which we added about 2t Best Stop’s No MSG Cagun Seasoning. Covered it with plastic and back in the frig about 8pm – about 20 hours ahead.

Mary fried liver and gizzard for the dogs tonight. Boiled neck and backbone for the dogs on Christmas Eve. Ungrateful dogs begged for more. Next time want to make the gravy in the smoker like Meathead.

Christmas Eve

  1. 6:30 AM – Mixed 1/4C Simon & Garfunkel rub in enough olive oil to make a paste.
  2. 7:30 AM – Seven hours ahead. – Rubbed paste under skin of breasts and thighs. On top of skin rubbed with olive oil sprinkled salt with Simon and Garfunkel dry. Returned to frig uncovered so skin will dry some. 20151224_smoked turkey
  3. 2:30 – Lite half-chimney of Blue Bag Kingsford and when almost all grey poured them into one end of the SnS. Added more unlite briquettes to fill the SnS up to about 1″ from the top. Added one small chunk of pecan to not over smoke the turkey. Placed aluminum foil over lower grate to catch drips and channel air to the SnS. Did not add water to the slot in the SnS. Connected ChefsAlarm with grate clip.
  4. 3:15 – Grate temp is 340. Opened and placed turkey breast side to the SnS. Closed up and temp dropped to 295 and continued to drop slowly. Opened and moved partially lite coals higher on lite coals. Opened air inlet some and outlet 100%. At 3:35 it was back to 300 and climbing smoothly. At 3:48 reached 325 degrees with a dome temp of 375. By 4:00 it alarmed at 350. Closed air inlet to a small slice opening and outlet vent to 1/3. Temp fell again and when opened vents a bit it came back slowly.
  5. 5:30 pm – 2 hours, 15 minutes later — Pulled the turkey off the cooker when it hit 155 but when inside with the instant read found the right breast at 135. Put it into the off oven.
  6. About 6:00 we each ate a leg that was moist and not falling apart. Legs had measured 170-180 with the instant read. The skin was not crisp but not too rubbery. I did not notice the cajun seasoning that was in the butter injection even though the legs had 2-3 squirts. Had not put aluminum foil over the leg tips but they did not burn. The legs were almost against the kettle as the breasts were on the SnS side. See Conclusion 3 below.

Conclusions

  1. I did not get the grate temp to even out as it kept dropping to below 300 although it only went over 350 one time and then stopped at 355 by closing the dampers some. Opening up the air dampers brought it back to 350 but then the dampers must have been closed off too much as it would fall back to below 300 again.
  2. As the SnS had burning coals in one end the breast on that end cooked faster than the other where the temp probe was inserted. So. when the temp probe read 155 the other breast was at 180. The legs were also different temps. Next time drop the lite coals to one side of center of the SnS and un-lite coals only near the center and against the lite ones. The idea is that the fire will burn from one side of center to the other side during the 2 hour cook.
  3. Place the bird on with the legs to the SnS as they need to reach 170 when the breasts reach 155.
  4. Next time try…”spot check the temperature with a good digital instant read thermometer by inserting the probe into the deepest part of the breast. Push the tip past the center and pull it out slowly. The lowest temp is the one to watch for.”
  5. Target temps next time are as follows in an extract from the AmazingRibs.com page linked below; “Dark meat has about 9% fat, 33% more than white meat, so it tastes and feels best at about 170°F. White meat is very lean, about 6%, and it dries out quickly if it is overcooked. It is at its best texture and juiciness at about 155°F”
  6. Must do next time is: put pan below with water (dampen temp swings and make gravy); watch closer; have fire in the center of the SnS; and rotate the bird to keep breasts from getting too hot. Or, see Conclusion 3 above.

  Recipes referenced before and during this cook:

Prime Rib for 2015 Texas family Christmas party

Posted on by December 23, 2015

Preface – This party is in lieu of a Christmas day meal as we are going to Sundown the day after Christmas. So, the dinner and present exchange is today, 12/19/2015. That seems odd as it is the first time Christmas has been before Mary’s birthday on 12/21/2015.

Mary bought a 3-bone, 7.4 lb. prime rib roast at HEB for $77. The bones were left in the meat for the cook. She followed a recipe by Bobby Flay that was a basic beef roast at 350 degrees until the meat reaches 130 in the center.

  1. The day before cooking she salt and peppered it.
  2. About 1:30 pm, 12/19/2015, took it out and sat on the counter. Tied two wraps of cotton string between the three bones. The string did not pull the meat into a round shape due to the bones.
  3. 2:30 pm – Put it into a 350-degree oven that had been on for 15 minutes. [We had calibrated the oven with the ThermoWorks ChefAlarm–my Christmas present.] The roast was sitting on the flat-bottom heavy wire rack in the large roasting pan. The pan and rack were sprayed with Pam. Inserted the ChefAlarm probe into the side and set the temp alarm at 130 degrees. Internal temp was 45 degrees.
  4. 4:30 – Internal was 84 degrees.
  5. About 6:30 internal had risen to 130 with the final 15 degrees rising quickly. Removed from oven and wrapped tightly in aluminum foil. Was in the wrap for maybe 30 minutes.
  6. Cut off bones and sliced roast into about 3/8 inch slices.
  7. The innermost 2-3″ sphere shaped area where the probe had been was rare with that reddish color of a restaurant prime rib. The rest of it was gray, moist and very tender.

Conclusion – Prepared it and cooked it like we always do roasts following Bobby Flay’s advice for prime rib. We got a roast like we always do but expected something else.  [yup, earlier in the day there was a dispute about cooking it low temp (225) per Meathead or hot (350) per Bobby Flay.]

The dispute arose over trying to discern when to start the meat so it was ready to eat at 5pm. Meathead never gives much guidance on time but what is at AmazingRibs.com led Tom to think it would take 2+ hours to get it from cold out of the frig to 130 degrees. Bobby Flay also said about 2 hours at 350. As it turned out Bobby was right–but only about the time. But, Meathead was probably also correct if we had deboned it and it was in the smoker as anticipated with his time estimate.

Next Time – Remove the bone and make a beef broth to put under the roast as it cooks. Season it with an herbal rub when salting (dry brining) like Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow Crust.  Cook it slow (225-250) and reverse sear for the last 20 minutes–5 minutes each side of the round, tied circle of meat. Without the bone it would have weighed 5+ pounds and would have cooked to 130 in maybe 2+ hours in the smoker that acts somewhat like a convection oven as there is alway air flow with the smoke. That is Meathead’s advice. So click here and follow his 11 steps.

Go to ThermoWorks page here to read how to smoke one that is essentially the same as Meathead’s way. Note they say the time required will be about 4 hours.

See this recipe for smoked prime rib roast with the reverse sear in a 500 degree oven.