Everyday Misc Cooking Photos w/ details

[tony b]

@Forrest - I just did a chuck roast (similar to cooking brisket, just smaller) and had a nice smoke ring. I'd suggest a stronger smoking wood for brisket - I use a combo of post oak and mesquite in the smoker pot. If you have any of Dennis' coffee wood chunks, toss one of those in the mix, too. 

Upfront confession - these pics are from a previous chuck roast cook. I had a dinner guest for this last one and didn't want to mess around with "food porn."

Edited May 16, 2021 by tony b

[MacKenzie]

@ jonj, lovely looking dinner. That pix sent my taste buds into overdrive.  🥂 

[DennisLinkletter]

We've been buried since last June.. Please excuse my not spending much time here.
Sai wanted some Pastrami so I grabbed two brined brisket pieces from the freezer. I have a German butcher here who sells pastrami and I've talked him into selling me uncooked ones.. uncooked piggy bellies for bacon and shoulders for ham too.

I soaked them in fresh water a half hour to reduce saltiness.. hit with pepper again.. Some coffee smoke at 235º no wrap because I fell  asleep.. pulled at 205º  the thin flat with little fat was typically a bit drier than it would have been wrapped  but the thicker piece as you can see is heavenly.. I love when meat gets this oyster shell look..
Yes it tastes as good as it looks..

 

 

[tony b]

@DennisLinkletter 

[MacKenzie]

Farmer's sausage for dinner, tasty and easy especially when the sides are already done.

 

[DennisLinkletter]

11 hours ago, Forrest said:

Coffee and beef are good pals, coffee just adds a subtle earthiness that rounds everything out.

Yes, used my 475ml smoke pot stuffed full with hickory chips. The brisket had a very very subtle smokiness, I would have preferred more. I may have to use the KK hot/cold smoker in addition to a smoke pot for brisket.

Also I got no smoke ring even though the meat went in cold and the lid stayed closed for the first 14 hours of the cook. Might need to add celery seed for a smoke ring in a KK, it just cooks so efficiently I don’t think I’m getting the charcoal fire burning vigorously enough to cause the chemical nitrate reaction.
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Plenty of shots of meat coming out of KK's that look like purple lipstick smoke rings..
Look at Tony's post recently.. And this ColmenaBBQ on Insta.

 

[Dono]

14 hours ago, Forrest said:
Also I got no smoke ring even though the meat went in cold and the lid stayed closed for the first 14 hours of the cook. Might need to add celery seed for a smoke ring in a KK, it just cooks so efficiently I don’t think I’m getting the charcoal fire burning vigorously enough to cause the chemical nitrate reaction.


 

Yeah, I noticed that. Great observation you have about the efficient cook!!  That’s why I asked.  I’ll try the celery seed on my cook. And may try burying 3-4 pieces of wood chunks in the lump for my pork butts instead of my smoke pot. Sure it was awesome!    

[Forrest]

Plenty of shots of meat coming out of KK's that look like purple lipstick smoke rings.

G2K, thanks Dennis. I will have to keep playing around with it. Of course the smoke ring is pretty much just aesthetic. And my brisket was amazing regardless. My wife even said she loved it and she isn’t a brisket fan, so KK for the win!!!


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[Forrest]

Plenty of shots of meat coming out of KK's that look like purple lipstick smoke rings.

G2K, thanks Dennis. I will have to keep playing around with it. Of course the smoke ring is pretty much just aesthetic. And my brisket was amazing regardless. My wife even said she loved it and she isn’t a brisket fan, so KK for the win!!!


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[Forrest]

[mention=3733]Forrest[/mention]how did you like that rub?

Not exaggerating it was the best Brisket rub I’ve ever used, I will be buying more.

I’ve cooked probably 20 Briskets on my KK and only gotten a good smoke ring mauve once.

Yeah that doesn’t surprise me. A very hot vigorous wood fire is what really causes smoke rings, something I don’t think the KK is great at. But in the same token that is why it is a great cooker, efficiency!

Adding nitrates like celery seed, putting the meat on the cooker super cold, keeping the lid closed during the first part of the cook, and spritzing through one of the probe holes, I assume will help me get a smoke ring on the next cook.

I like a lot of wood smoke and the smoke pot doesn’t usually give me enough

I’m probably going to double up with the smoke pot + the KK external smoker on my next brisket cook, I like subtle smoke, but brisket can take a lot of smoke imho.


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[jonj]

I'd planned this cook for Sunday, but it rained 4.25" so it was postponed to today. Two slabs of baby back ribs and a pork loin, marinated in Wicker's for 36 hours, smoked at 225°-245° with hickory chunks, no wrap.

With BBQ beans, grilled corn and a 2011 Merry Edwards Meredith Estate Pinot Noir.

[Troble]

I’ll take a plate please @jonj

mind sharing your bean recipe?

[MacKenzie]

Gorgeous smoke rings . 

[jonj]

@Troble, my BBQ bean recipe is not very sophisticated and I pretty much make it up as I go each time. The basic components begin with canned pork and beans, with the “pork” and liquid removed, then rinsed. This is just to get basic cooked beans for the dish – I have made them in the past starting with dried beans and cooking the day before, but found it not to be worth the effort. 

I sauté bacon (or pancetta), chopped onion and minced garlic (to taste), then add the beans, some of the same kind of marinade I’ve used on the meat (about 1/3 cup or if I have just used a rub instead, a healthy sprinkle of it), some molasses (about 1/3 cup), a dash of Worchester sauce, and some of the BBQ sauce I plan to serve with the meat (about 1/3 cup). All this is basically to taste. I sometimes added some cayenne or crushed red pepper if I think the meal will need some spice. 

 This typically results in a pretty loose mixture, which I heat on the stove to just a simmer, then transfer to my bean smoking pan and place in the smoker for 30 -45 minutes (depending upon the smoker temperature) to gain some smoke flavor and thicken to the right consistency. If left in the smoker too long, the beans will dry out. When the meat comes off the smoker, I carve off some of the edge meat with bark and add to the beans. That’s it.

[Basher]

Jonj those bean sound good.
I’d try that


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[Troble]

@jonj thanks. I’ve never made baked beans but thought that some combination of onions, bacon and Worcester would work. Your description works for me perfectly and I was wondering if getting dry beans and doing it the day before was worth it. Thanks for answering that. I’m gonna make these next weekend with my pig 

[Aussie Ora]

Scored a nice tomahawk the other day

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[jonj]

@Aussie Ora, that looks really good!

[jeffshoaf]

For me, the killer ingredient for baked beans is molasses.

[Syzygies]

2 hours ago, jeffshoaf said:

For me, the killer ingredient for baked beans is molasses.