I did this same thing a month or so ago. 4 racks spares (st. louis cut), 2 rubs and 3 sauces - Honey Mustard, NC Cider Vinegar and a Sweet (KC style) sauce. KC style sauce won out.
Lol, had to get that out. However, pork belly is definitely on my top 3 list of the best barbecue cuts to cook. The other two are brisket and pork butt.
So, I just got the feeling today: gotta smoke some pork belly! Direct heat style!
Yup, fired up my hot box today. All that fat dripping into the coals, adding lovely flavor.
The only thing I do differently today is I use briquettes. Main reason: I have ZERO charcoal. Yes, kinda embarrassing, need to stock up.
Plan of action: let the hot box run at 140 deg C/280 deg F, that’s where it thrives, always tends to lock in at that temp. I don’t do anything really, just let it run.
The nice thing about cooking using (low) direct heat is that the entire cook is faster. I have now done a pork belly in 2 hours. Meat temp is 85° C / 185° F, as I want it juicy and tender, but easy to slice also. Very nice. Here's the end result. Looks amazing, smells amazing, and tastes even better. Such a nice cook, and fun to use direct heat with PBC style flavor from the fat dripping into the coals. Love it!
I placed it in an oven pan, on top of a wooden cutting board, to let it rest loosely tented with foil for 30 minutes before slicing in. Helps with me not dripping meat juices all over the kitchen :-)
I was just reading about burrata cheese. I've never tried it, but it seems to be a thing on pizzas. It seems to be important to add it after the pizza is out of the oven.
To me it’s a pizza and sandwich shop crossing paths, so besides the baked Mozz, everything is topped cold as if it were a sandwich. Burrata is fairly popular now, that is for sure.
I didn't cook this, but it was glorious... red snapper, stuffed with exceptuonally complementary seasoned shrimp, on another superbly seasoned potato puree base...
A tapas place opened a few months ago and we kept meaning to check it out. It's way over priced for our towns economy, but not as bad as the last high end place that tried.
I hope they stick around, as I at least thought the quality of ingredients to price was reasonable. 36 bucks for this plate. Another place in walking distance has a whole snapper plate for like 22 bucks, that place is good, this place belongs in NY... where coincidentally they got the chef who designed the menu.
As some of you might recall, I recently bought a new microwave, The Ass Blaster-5000. Man, I love this thing! I’ll probably never use my kettle again for steaks. I did a filet tonight in it, came out great. Not only that, but I found out it does a great job with shrimp too!
The Ass Blaster-5000 proved to be a versatile cooker. Steak or shrimp, not a problem!
Chicken wings today, wet brine, starting this morning. Used some leftover brine from pickled cauliflower, and then did a 5% brine solution to top it off. I planned to do two batches, since I freeze some for 'air fryer wings'. Early this evening, set the Kamander with the Vortex, lump charcoal, indirect heat, 2.5 for vent and damper. I dusted them with Badia rotisserie chicken seasoning (outstanding, btw). Mesquite chips thrown in the fire for smoke.
Here we are with batch 1 done, pulled and to be frozen. Note: these cooked for 15 minutes, no turning required.
Next batch, for dinner, nice flare up (I took a bit too long to place the chicken, haha):
I almost forgot to season these, but I got 'em.
Once they got to temperature (15 minutes for both batches), I finished some of the wings over fire and threw on some hot dogs.
It can be awkward on the grate, but I got it done. Nice close-up:
The top third of the plate were not finished over direct; the bottom two thirds were finished up.
Plating:
My hummus from yesterday (w/za'atar), pita chips, celery, and wings, of course. The wings were good enough without sauce, so I didn't even bother. Hummus was better after sitting for 24 hours, but I think it needs more acid. Sugar-free birthday cake soda (I'm not kidding...tastes like cream soda).
I vacuum packed and froze two 1-dozen packs of wings. These are outstanding in the air fryer and beats the heck out of any commercial brand of 'air fryer wings'.
This was a very good meal. I used baking powder on the wings (mixed by hand) to help with the crispiness. I am glad that Meathead included that trick in his latest book. I've been using this technique for a few years with great success.
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
I see a trend here….. I went to a FM today to visit a company that I applied for a job with. I came home with our favorite Greek items. I marinated coppa steaks with Greek seasoning and lemon and olive oil. Grilled it up! Tzatziki and hummus and fresh pita.
Those who have been following my relocation threads may recall that we've been on the receiving end of some good luck in many aspects of the process. Got one more bit of that yesterday when I powered on my Pit Boss pellet smoker. Last time I tried to use it, the auger would not turn, and I feared the motor was burnt out. But it was also the coldest time of year, so I had been holding on to a faint hope that that's all it was, it got seized up in the cold. Yesterday the spaghetti monster smiled again, and it fired right up and is operating normally. Big relief, changing out that motor is not a simple process.
So it became a bacon day! Busted out my A-frame bacon racks for a pack of Smithfield "double thick" butcher's cut bacon from the local grocery, and made us BLTs for lunch with the farm-fresh tomatoes now readily available. Bacon runs in the Pit Boss with a setpoint of 225/107, and it maintained temp very steadily. Bacon cooks in about 2 hours using this method and comes out so great, with perfectly rendered fat and that smoky flavor. Plus the smoked bacon grease collects in the troughs of the A-frames, so after the cook I pop those in the fridge to congeal it, which makes it easy to dig it out and store it for use. (Don't try pouring the grease out while still warm and liquid - don't ask me how I know)
Then for dinner I used the remaining bacon to make a honkin' twice-baked tater for us to split for dinner. Potato scooped out and mixed with light sour cream, butter, shredded cheese, and finely chopped green onion. Not much to look at, but incredibly tasty.
Mine are bare stainless steel - I had the Pit Boss ones first, but their painted "non stick" surface eventually scratched through, no bueno. The key thing for these is to get the bacon off them asap after they come out of the cooker, don't let the bacon cool on there or they'll be much harder to peel off.
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