Someone's been cooking for the Holidays......

[HC in SC]

While having family in town I have done nothing but cook meat for everyone and so far everything has turned out well.

We decided against a turkey this year (looking at the Easter family gathering for that), but so far I have done

4 racks of St. Louis ribs:





1 - 9.91 lb pork butt:







6 bone-in Huli Huli chicken breasts:



And here is the garlic infused ghee I made for reverse-searing some fabulous looking boneless ribeyes that will have dry brined 48 hours by cooking time this afternoon:



I have definitely had some very happy guests thanks to all I have learned here at AR as well as some good old-fashioned trial and error beforehand.

Pics of my first reverse seared steaks w/ ghee coming tomorrow!

This is also my first time making and using infused ghee - I can't wait!! (Thanks Ernest and Kathryn!)

The only problem I may run into is getting my guests to leave!

PS: I have been asked to do another butt for New Years Day - it is a 8.9 pounder that will have been marinading in HRR and mustard for almost a week. MMMMMMMMM.......

[richinlbrg]

WOW I'm envious. OK, downright jealous! Looks GREAT!

[HC in SC]

Thanks - it has actually been fun being off from work and cooking all day! Every evening starts out with a plan of "what are we cooking tomorrow? - lol!

[Jon Solberg]

Great pic! HC. Awesome post!

[HC in SC]

Thanks - so far the ribs were everyone's favorite; but I'm hoping the ribeyes blow them out of the water!

[Huskee]

I see NO reason why those ribeyes won't be fan-freakin'-tastic!

[HC in SC]

I hope you are right. The steaks are just on the thin side (1.25") so I may use the "rotate" method to make sure they don't get over done, but I'll paint them up good with the infused ghee and probably garnish with a bit as well.

[David Parrish]

Great looking meals HC. One of my favorite vacations is having several days off to spend on cookin!

[HC in SC]

Thanks - and you are soooo right. No traffic to deal with, just wake up, light up the PBC and get to it!

On top of that we also met some friends out at a new BBQ place in West Ashley - Swig & Swine (http://swigandswinebbq.com/). The meat was good, but the sides were fantastic. There is an existing post about the place that I will add my review to.

[Huskee]

Great looking meals HC. One of my favorite vacations is having several days off to spend on cookin!

Amen to that. That is also me now through Saturday. Prayza Lawd.

[Dewesq55]

I've actually been "off" since 12/22 except for some paperwork at home, but had to come to NYC today to meet with a client :-( During my time "off" I have done little besides cook. I wish I could do just that.

[Huskee]

HC, good job measuring the gross weight vs. yield on the pork butt! I assume the 9.91lb was packaged sale weight, fat cap included? So it's safe to say that the edible product is nearly double in price since the yield is 52% of the gross?

[HC in SC]

Actually the 9.91 butt was weighed after trimming and mustard slathering; so it had a bit of extra water weight.

The packaged weight was 18.75 lbs, but that was for a 2-pack from Sam's. I would guess I trimmed about 1/2 to 3/4 pound of fat from it.

I am seeing about a 55-60% yield from butts on average compared to the pre-cooked weights; so yeah, that is safe to say.

[_John_]

Curious by the weight loss, did you freeze these? I seem to have more purge when I freeze vs when I don't. The last 2 butts I did for testing had been frozen, after trimming they lost about 35% during cooking.

[HC in SC]

No sir - fresh from Sam's. They didn't have a ton of fat either.

Even from the smaller, neatly cut butts from Publix I am only yielding about 50-55%; PBC or ECB cooking.

[_John_]

Interesting, I need to test mine more. I read a science paper somewhere about how meat is frozen, that the crystals can damage the meat somewhat if frozen slowly, so when it melts during thawing you lose more moisture. My scale can't do 2 butts so I haven't done a fresh vs frozen test.

[W.A.]

Well... If you wanted to bring it back to life ideally one would freeze in liquid nitrogen for storage and thaw very slowly. So, you are right about the ice crystals - they could damage cell membranes.

[Dr ROK]

Awesome job with pics and data. What is HHR?

[HC in SC]

Huskee's Rib Rub.

http://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/rubs-pastes-marinades-and-brines/1585-huskee-s-rib-rub-recipe

I add 1/4 teaspoon of chipolte powder to the recipe - it is jam-up and jelly-tight!

I use it on ribs and butts as a standard - still need to try on chicken; Huskee has posted some killer pics where he used it on yardbird.

[The Burn]

I've actually labeled my batch, which I've got in a shaker bottle - Huskee's Chicken and Rib Rub. It's GREAT on chicken - used it on some leg quarters a week or two ago.

[The Burn]

Nothing like spending a lot of quality time around the grills/smokers during the winter holiday.

I cooked outside 6 out of 7 days last week and then started back in this week with various visitors with Sunday's Tri-tip and Salmon, Wings tonight, Grilled Fish Tacos tomorrow for a New Year's Eve gathering, I think some Beef Ribs on New Year's Day, and then I think I'm "off" Thursday and Friday. Next Sunday I start again with a couple of families coming over - I'll be the only male in a group of 12, so it may not be a big beef day :-)

[HC in SC]

12/31 UPDATE:

The steaks turned out pretty good I must say.

Since they were only 1.25" thick or so I used the MH rotation method on the gasser cranked all the way up.

I dry brined with OTS Montreal Steak seasoning (McCormick - I think) - it has huge chunks of salt and pepper as well as garlic.

I painted with the garlic infused ghee prior to grilling and then did a final painting after pulling of the grill.

The ribeyes were very tender - the thinner one was cooked to 165 or so and the thickest one was cooked to 150 for a nice medium rare.



I also got a wild hair and tried MH's sweet potato steak fries - they were pretty tasty as well.

I did mine in the oven at 400 for about 40 minutes - they were still a bit mushy, as sweet potatoes are, but they were a good pairing with the steaks.

http://amazingribs.com/recipes/potatoes/sweet_potato_steak_fries.html

I also made some green beans with bacon and my garlic ghee as well as slicing a sourdough baguette and toasting it garlic ghee.

NEXT PROJECT:

Start a 9 lb butt that has been rubbed, slathered and wrapped in my fridge for almost a week for New Years Day dinner.

I'll probably crank up the PBC around 4 am tomorrow and try to get 'er done for a late lunch with some fresh collard greens, field peas and rice - for good luck in the New Year you know.

[Huskee]

150 is more medium-well, 155+ is well done. Medium-rare would be more in the area of 135-140.

[Dewesq55]

That's what I was thinking Huskee, but as long as HC and his company enjoyed them then they were perfect.

DEW

[Huskee]

True man, true

[Huskee]

Doing 2 pork butts myself on Friday, along with 4 racks of StL ribs.

For the pork butts I'm copying HC's mustard marinade method with a heavy dose of mustard and heavy dusting of HRR on one, and plain ol' HRR on the other.
The butt are each doing their thing as we speak, which will be about 42-43 hrs by the time they get on the smoker Fri morning.

I hope to see if there is a noticeable difference between the two with my cooking methods of ash & apple logs.

[Spinaker]

Huskee, Just curious, how well does that Ash burn? I've got a lot of those trees around. I had heard that it burns hot and fast. I have no idea if there is any validity to this or not. And what kind of flavor does the wood impart on the meat?

[Huskee]

It has a wonderful flavor, some of my favorite ribs & chicken were with ash. I'm pretty sure I have white ash, I cannot speak for black or green. Smells unique, almost sour, but tastes mild and great. Yes it burns fast. The kind I'm using is from a felled tree that was old, and the wood is hard and very heavy. Not sure if this makes a difference in any of it.

[cdd315]

Doing 2 pork butts myself on Friday, along with 4 racks of StL ribs.

For the pork butts I'm copying HC's mustard marinade method with a heavy dose of mustard and heavy dusting of HRR on one, and plain ol' HRR on the other.
The butt are each doing their thing as we speak, which will be about 42-43 hrs by the time they get on the smoker Fri morning.

I hope to see if there is a noticeable difference between the two with my cooking methods of ash & apple logs.

Nice, are you going to slather the mustard on the ribs too?

[Huskee]

Nice, are you going to slather the mustard on the ribs too?

No, ribs get my usual treatment HRR for an hour or two, then a generous topper of brown sugar as I place them on the smoker. That's it for my rib recipe.