Smokin-It 3D
Weber Kettle with an SNS
Masterbuilt kettle that I call the $30 wonder grill
Bullet by Bull Grills gasser
Anova WiFi sous vide machine
Thermoworks Thermapen and Chef Alarm
I swear to god I was going to make myself a smash burger, but then I opened the fridge to get the meat and cheese and this was staring me in the face:
Suddenly inspiration and several beers hit, so we end up with this:
The Tostitos Queso chopped cheese. Ground beef, caramelized onion, American cheese, and Queso. All piled into a squishy sausage roll and wrapped in parchment paper and foil so everything could become friendly. Super tasty, my wife even agreed , even if she did give me that "why are you like this? look.
I'm not sure whether I'm a Super Genius or should be kept from using any of my cookers when I've been drinking, but, seriously...
I don't recall cooking pork tenderloin this way before and after doing it I'm not sure how often I'll do it any other way. This was so easy and so damn good.
I bet there was a bit of bread around to sop up that delicious sauce. Was the meatloaf old school (beef, pork, veal) or did you do something fancy with the recipe? My husband would kill for that plate of food. He's a real meatloaf hound.
I just realized I hadn’t smoked a single thing since New Year’s day. I don’t think I’ve grilled anything except a steak every couple weeks on the gasser either. Between the windy weather, daughter’s competition schedule and some just being in the dumps a bit it’s probably the longest stretch I’ve gone for at least 4-5 years. Anyway, the weather was finally decent last weekend, so I fired up the MAK for a trisket and the WSCG for a some steaks and whipped up a fresh stick of garlic butter.
I pulled the ribeye at 124° and it carried over to at least 135° when I finally pulled the probe to eat it. The girls don’t like ribeye unless it’s prime rib, so they got a strip, mine was done 5 mins before there’s, so my wife was noticing how beautiful mine turned out. There’s something about the beauty of a char-grilled ribeye when it gets the flame kisses that leaner steaks don’t get.
22” Blue Weber Kettle with SnS insert
Kamado Joe Jr with Kick Ash Basket
Char-Broil Smartchef Tru Infrared Gasser
Anovo Hot Tub Time Machine with Custom Hot Tub
So my last Click burger. Brioche bun, shreddy letty, Muenster, mustard, homemade mayo. I wasn’t even going to share, but then about two bites in, I had to.
Brined a whole chicken overnight then placed in the fridge uncovered for a couple of hours to dry out. Applied a room temp compound butter made with Spellbound Rub from Lane’s BBQ and placed into position over a can of dry white wine, garlic, lemon and rosemary in a cast iron skillet. Threw in some onions, garlic and chicken broth into the skillet. Roasted at 425°F until the IT reached 162°F in the breast before removing to rest. Topped with a spinach, onion and cream pan sauce! ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
Well, I suppose this was my first Boston butt of Spring 2023, so that's something!
My wife wanted to take a meal to some friends where the husband had a knee replacement this week, and she asked me to make pulled pork for her to take to them as the protein. So I dug around and found an 11# Boston butt in the deep freeze Tuesday, which I had no time to thaw, but rinsed and dry brined overnight anyway. It went on the SNS Kamado about 6:45AM Wednesday morning, and was too frozen still to put the meat probe in. About an hour or two in, I inserted the probe and it was up to 28F at that point!
Anyway, I ran this cook up in "hot and fast" territory, starting at 275F, then ramping to 300F after a few hours, with full expectations that I would be applying the Texas crutch (foil) in order to get this thing done by 5pm as required by SWMBO.
This is about 2pm, right before wrapping in foil. The meat was up to 162F at this point. Bark is not what I would normally expect, but the goal of hot and fast here was smokey and juicy more than barky. It had pulled back a lot from the bone at this point.
The butt hit 203F at 4pm, and went into cambro for an hour before pulling. Here it is unwrapped. Still a lighter color than my usual butt.
And finally, here is the SECOND pan of pulled pork - she took the first pan while I was still pulling, and all the good bark went to the friends before I got a chance to mix it all in.
It tasted good, and I will say that the hot and fast method for pulled pork is great if you want to get it on the table in less than 12-14 hours. But the bark suffers compared to traditional low and slow without a wrap.
Oh - I weighed the foil pans, as my food scale was on the counter. This 11# butt yielded just over 5 pounds of pulled pork, after pre-cook trimming of fat (maybe a half pound), shrinkage, losing the bone and some gristle and fat that didn't render out. I sent 2.25 pounds off, and kept 3 pounds here.
Smart wife you have there, Jim , taking the flavorful portion of the PP to friends who will probably rave about your smoking skills forever now. She knows how to make a good impression on your behalf.
fzxdoc Haha thanks Kathryn - I'll pass that along. However, it was more an act of impatience. I had pulled about half the pork and was taking too long, so she grabbed the pan and took off, saying it was enough to take for the 2 people we were feeding...
I find about half of the people go after the barky bits, and the other half avoid it. Some folks just think that part is "burned" if it is black and crunchy. My family all go for the bark!
I am six weeks into my mother stock with a rotation of chicken beef pork bones, then reserving a quart from the last stock into the freezer, to add into the following week’s stock. I’ve been drinking likely 12-16 ounces a day, just to learn the flavor profile, and what herbs can quickly transform it into soup. Generally I am reserving a bit of the cook the bones came from as welll to add into a soup. Yesterday I roasted potatoes and carrots how I generally do, except it was in the oven. I had a batch of noodles I was testing on freezing and then cooking, so those went in, this week was chicken. Made a roasted root vegetable, chicken noodle soup. I’m really enjoying keeping a continual kitchen going.
Last edited by Richard Chrz; March 30, 2023, 12:45 PM.
Hanging in the Bronco with some hickory and oak smoke today are two boneless Boston butts and a pastrami. The butts clock in at 6 and 7.5 pounds and got a massage with a homemade rub. The pastrami is shy of 2 pounds and got a dose of Meathead's Katz-like rub. This photo was taken at the three-hour mark.
Smoker:
Landmann Smoke Master Series Heavy Duty Barrel Smoker (COS) - With mods including 2 level rack system with pull-out grates
Masterbuilt ThermoTemp XL 40" Vertical Propane Smoker
Weber Smokey Joe with mini-WSM Tamale Pot modification
The Good One Marshall
Gas Grill:
BBQPro (cheap big box store model) Stainless steel 4 burnerswith aftermarket rotisserie.
Brook King Regal S490 Pro
Charcoal Grill:
Weber Smokey Joe Charcoal Grill 14"
Thermometer:
2 x Fireboard 2 with Drive cable and 20 CFM fan and Competition Probe Package
ThermoWorks Mini Instant Read
Lavaworks Thermowand Instant Read
ThermoWorks IR-GUN-S Industrial Infrared Thermometer
ThermoWorks ThermaPen Mk4 x 2
ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE
Govee Bluetooth Thermometer with 6 probes
Miscellaneous:
Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator - 1st generation
Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator - wifi/bluetooth connected
Favorite Beer:
Anything to the dark side and malty rather than hoppy. Currently liking Yuengling Porter and Newcastle Brown Ale. In a bar or pub I will often default to Guiness
Favorite Spirit:
Bourbon - Eagle Rare for "every day"; Angel's Envy for special occasions, Basil Hayden's, Larceny
Favorite Wine:
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Super Tuscan Sangiovese (Including Chianti Classico Riserva) Brunello di Montalcino
Favorite Meat(s):
Pork - especially the darker meat. I love spare ribs and anything made from shoulder/butt meat
Chicken - Mainly the dark meat and wings
Beef Ribeye steak
Favorite Cuisine to Cook:
Can't list just one: Indian, Chinese, Thai, West Indian/Carribean, Hispanic/Latin American, Ethiopian, Italian, BBQ
Favorite Cuisine to Eat:
Indian, followed closely by BBQ.
You're killing me here. I let my Sam's Club membership lapse. I've been meaning to re-up for a while now but since my wings have been clipped for the past 6 months, I've been in no hurry. I need to schedule a meat run there, just for the pure fun of doing it! I honestly do have a t-shirt that says "I like to take romantic walks through the meat department"
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