Sounds like my kind of staycation!
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I can't do a total staycation, because it isn't like I "go" to work, I live right next to the church. But I go to the house we'll retire to, two hours away. So I go to my own home for vacation. We decided three years ago this would be less expensive than buying an RV and putting fuel in it .Comment
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What a great looking non-trip. Welcome to retirement practice - where everyday is a staycation except when it isn’t.Comment
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Bogy that was always our plan too, locate our retirement home and try to initiate the purchase while I'm still working etc. But then I got this gig out here in DC, and that changed the entire calculus. I could see us staying right here until such time as we are no longer able to handle stairs, which I hope is a good ways off. We got so incredibly lucky with this place, the location is just perfect. Best neighbors ever, surrounded by natural areas, lots of wildlife and birds around, makes for a very peaceful and quasi-pastoral (if you'll pardon the expression) setting. And yet we are just eleven miles as the crow flies from the Washington Monument, able to take advantage of the huge range of things to do in this area (once we feel safer to do so). We're blessed.
Draznnl I hear that - last time I took a week off, we really felt that "retirement rehearsal" vibe. I feel fully prepared to retire, mentally if not financially...
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DaveD, when I figured out how much the whole rig was going to cost, and how fast the trailer (not so much the truck) would depreciate, and what our MPG would be, I said to my wife, how bout if we buy a house by Lake Okoboji (lake I've been going to since I was a baby, 68 years ago, and she has been going to since before we were married, and our kids have been going to all their lives, that will actually appreciate in value, where there's lots to do, she immediately said, "Done."
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Prepped the rack of Duroc SLCs for tomorrow's cook, with membrane removed and hit with kosher salt, back in the fridge.
Got my beady eye on the doppler radar... forecast calls for a strong line of t-storms to sweep through right about 6pm, just perfect timing...
I may move dinner forward a bit so that I can get my sear done before it gets here-- that's the only outdoor component, given that the flank steak for tonight is getting the sous vide treatment for the bulk of the cooking. Anywho, here's them spares...
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Flank steak is in the sous vide - and yep, that storm is threatenin'. Here's the piece after marinading overnight:
Used my gloved hands to scrape as much marinade off the surface as I could before thoroughly patting dry with paper towels.
I had to fold it in half to get it stuffed into a vac seal bag, which I then had to wipe clean thoroughly before sealing. But it worked! And being folded over won't make a darned bit of difference, the sous vide will even it all out.
In the sous vide at 125F/52C. Going to have move dinner forward a little to try to dodge those t-storms... see ya after!
Last edited by DaveD; August 5, 2022, 02:16 PM.Comment
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Well, I screwed up pretty good here - didn't sous vide this flank for nearly long enough. It was at temp for about 2.5 hours, but when I looked back at the notes from my first one of these (when I thought it was a tri tip), I did the SV for fully ten hours. That one was fantastic. This one, only OK, not tender enough. Flavor was outstanding from the marinade and the sear, but this cut in sous vide needs a whole lot longer. You'd a thought that I'd know better by now.
Sure looked great though!
So, with this unforced error, I'm hoping this is my "glitch for the mission" and that the rest of my food-a-palooza is more successful...! Got that rack o'spares dry brining away in the fridge for tomorrow.
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A young computer engineer came to IBM’s founder, John Watson, with what he thought was a brilliant idea. He made a great pitch to Watson and the team so got the green light to proceed. Several million dollars later, the project was cancelled and considered an abject failure. The young engineer went to Watson’s office with his head down and offered his resignation. Watson replied, “What? After I just spent millions of dollars on your training.Comment
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Got this here rack of Duroc SLCs doused with granulated garlic and black pepper after it dry brined overnight. Firing up shortly, with a noon liftoff planned
These will run at 225F/107C with a spritz or three until about 180F/82C internal, then I will do a foil wrap, a first for me, for the home stretch, just to capture juices, not going to add anything except one last spritz before wrapping up. Then back in until they probe tender near the 200+F/93+C target temp, hopefully no more than another hour.
Thus this is the addition of a single new variable, we'll see if it makes an identifiable difference. This is the last of four racks I got in a bundle on sale at Creekstone back in February, so I have notes from the previous cooks with them with which to compare. For SCIENCE!
And the weather forecast looks very favorable for doing my first brisket overnight Sunday into Monday. I'll be trimming that puppy this afternoon, will post the evidence. Been watching several vids on good trimming practices so I should be G2G. Stay tuned...Last edited by DaveD; August 6, 2022, 09:10 AM.Comment
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Ribs are cruising along, temps now up to about 150F/65C, and I've spritzed a couple times. Ran 'em on the low-T "smoke" setting for the first hour, then up to 225F/107C. Here they are one and two hours in.
Meanwhile, I trimmed the 13lb/~6kg brisket for tomorrow's overnight cook - USDA Prime from Wild Fork. My first time doing this, so I'm sure it could be prettier, was following the procedure from Chuds BBQ channel. Removed about 4lb/1.9kg of fat & some meat, which I vac sealed and tossed in the chestie.
Here it is out of the package, sorry the second one is a little blurry.
After trimming:
I salted the brisket at 1/2 tsp kosher per lb, and it's back in the fridge til tomorrow night...
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Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the ribs have gone through a lovely color change. Temps around 180F/82C, and the rack is getting kinda bendy...
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Ribs went into foil at temps in the high 180sF/mid-80sC for another 90 minutes, then rested on the countertop for 15 before serving. They were still piping hot. They came out super delicious and tender, almost fall off the bone. So juicy that it just exploded when I sliced the ribs apart... I'll probably wrap for less time next time around.
But tell you what, the flavor of that Duroc pork with only SPG was tremendous. And as you can see, no problem getting great color without anything like paprika or other dark spices in a rub. Hmmmm...
Wrap it up, I'll take it.
Slicin' & servin' with some corn on the cob. Simple but effective.
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Tonight's the night for that brisket! Weather forecast looks quite cooperative. My intent is to keep it as simple as possible, so after I trimmed and salted yesterday, it will get a coat of only coarse black pepper before going in, to stay with the traditional salt & pepper only approach.
Looked around last night and realized I don't have any coarse ground pepper on hand, and didn't feel like grinding it myself, so I hit up Amazon to see what could get here by today. (And having a ready supply on hand will be very useful for making rubs anyway.) Didn't quite think through just how much pepper is five pounds of pepper...! That's a standard 20oz/600ml water bottle for scale.
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Soon...
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RiverJeff - wow, missed this question too! My bad. There was no salt in what I put on the brisket at this step, it's just coarse black pepper. Did all the salting in the dry brine ahead of time. I did not measure out the latter, just sprinkled it on until it looked like "enough".Last edited by DaveD; August 14, 2022, 05:46 PM.
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