Porkchop Posted March 27, 2006 Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 I used to work at a texas-style bbq place and i've done hundreds of packer-trim briskets. from a $$ standpoint, there always seemed to me a lot of waste, and, for them that have done them at home, they can be a challenge. plus, they're messy when carving, and contain some pretty nasty inedible items (nasty "center" fat, big veins, etc). so, i think i'm gonna try a "chuck roll" sometime soon; maybe saturday. here's a link to a great post on the BGE forum concerning a chuck roll cook. http://www.biggreenegg.com/wwwboard/mes ... 8295.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchop Posted April 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 Did the chuck roll... (sorry, no pics) well, my difficulties with my camera continue. but Kong, the cement wonder of the world, is cooking along nicely... bought a chuck roll at Sams for $36/18# cryovac'd roll. just as a side note, the first meat person i talked to didn't know what i was talking about. asked for a chuck roll, and she brought me out a 10# chub of ground chuck! heh. explained to her that it was the primal that they were cutting their chuck roasts out of, and she said, "oh, i'll check with *blank*, he knows about that kind of stuff." so, a few minutes later, big ol' slab o meat in hand, and i'm off. started with a 10# bag of royal oak lump, got about 4 left, after 20 hrs. not bad; did have temp spike up to 300 after i hit the sack, but what came out was beautiful. allow me to elaborate. after 20 hours, this hunk was tender, juicy, and just awesome. i've done plenty of brisket, and i much prefer this. after finish, i cut the whole affair in half, deciding to take 2 approaches; chopping and pulling. the first half i cut into 1.5" thick slabs and then chopped them. funny, but the general shape made them look a little like ribeyes. took pics, but they came out like crap. maybe i'll try to lighten them up a little and i'll post. anyhow, the chopping reminded me very much of chopping brisket points. very similar consistancy without as much vein-y stuff, or fat. there were a few clumps of what i call "nasty fat", but nothing like what you'd get off the bottom of a brisket point. made a sandwich mid-way, as i couldn't stand it anymore. wonderful! tender, juicy, and good! second half i pulled, and, i'll tell you, the way it chopped, i didn't have high hopes. as soft as the chopped came out, it fell very firm as i was chopping, making me anticipate a struggle while pulling. i was way off. the pull was MUCH easier than chopping, and was just beautiful. again, had to pick thru it for a few clumps of "NF" and veins, but overall it just came apart. i definitely prefered this to any brisket cook i've done. what i really loved was the uniformity of the chuck roll. with a whole COV packer trim brisket, you've got a thin end, and a thick end. the toe of that brisket always dries out, and the point is never done without throwing it back on for a couple more hours. NEXT time i do one of these (perfect for a big party!), i will try to slice some of the center a bit thinner and see what it's like as sliced beef. for them that like butt cooks, this is the perfect piece of beef to do. i STILL prefer my beloved swine, but this is a good alternative for them that don't indulge in the dirty beast! pics coming when i can! oh, as a side note, came away with about 10# servable beef (not counting the massive sammich i made myself!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchop Posted April 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 FWIW, here's pics here's 1/4 of the chuck roll, cut into steaks for chopping... see what i mean about "looking like ribeyes"? here's 1/4 of the roll chopped, and the other 1/4 before i cut it into the steaks you saw above... sorry, none of my other pics were even close to this good. but, if i have a choice between a good camera, or a KK, well... you can't eat the pictures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leejp Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 What camera do you have? Photography is my other hobby... Maybe I can help... First... Lighting. There is simply no substitute for good lighting. Those 2 photos look like they were taken in a cave. Put the food under a 100W lamp and you'll see a dramatic improvement. Second... it looks the focus was off. A lot of cameras have trouble focusing close unless you have it in macro mode. Look at the specs/instructions for your camera and you'll see a minimum focus distance. Third... and this really falls under lighting, it looks like there was some camera shake (slower shutter speed to get the correct exposure in a dark room). A tripod and timer shutter release is best but if you don't have a tripod, a beanbag, book... anything you can set the camera on while it's framing the food will do. That said... for a number of reasons, food photography is one of the most difficult specialties under photography. The camera helps but even with a give-away-for-free cell phone camera one can take good pictures if the lighting is good. A couple of work lanterns from the garage will do until you can upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchop Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 big thanks lee! i don't know squat about photography. i thot, good pics, good camera, and vice versa. learn somthing new every day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNakedWhiz Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Even the best camera in the hands of an idiot can produce bad photos. I could post some of mine, if you like. No, Porkchop, you need to buy a couple of light stands, an umbrella, a softbox, a couple of good lights, and you'll be in business! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchop Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 so, what you're saying is, there's no hope... it's just that, i know how much more i gravitate to posts with pics. i just want to "give back" a little, you know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
