Cooks that I messed up this weekend (ribeye, chicken, Italian sausage)

[wilburpan]

I used Smaug a lot this weekend, but had many mishaps along the way. First was some ribeye steaks for dinner on Saturday. I’ve cooked steak a lot over my life, but on that day the fatal flaw in my plan was that I didn’t anticipate moderately heavy rain hitting our area right at the time that I would be grilling. And I had already seasoned the steak earlier in the day, so I felt that I was committed at that point.

 

Here are the steaks.

And here’s what I had to deal with, weather-wise. Luckily, Smaug seemed to have no issues with the rain.

Even though I don’t usually do a reverse sear for steaks, I decided to do that for this cook, since it would be less time actually sitting by the grill. (I usually go for direct cooking over very high heat for steaks, and flipping fairly often until they are done.) I did the indirect part at 250º, until the steaks hit 115º internal. Then I moved the steaks off, took out the grate and the heat deflector, put the grate back on, and started searing the steaks. Here they are, at the searing part.

In my rush to get things arranged because of the rain, I forgot to drop in the searing grate instead of the main grate, and did the searing on the main grate instead, further away from the fire. Because of that, the sear developed more slowly than it would have, and so the steaks seared longer than I would have liked. Losing track of the time also didn’t help me at all.

Final result:

 

They came out more medium than medium rare. Still, they were really juicy.

Next mishap was cooking a rotisserie chicken for dinner on Sunday. I basically followed the exact method I used in this cook, down to the chicken coming with head and feet attached, except that in the rub I used a higher ratio of poultry seasoning and black pepper to the salt/baking powder mix that I have taken to using on chicken to make the skin super crispy. I also only used 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp baking powder, to see how low I could go on that component of the rub.

Here’s the final product.

The chicken looks pretty good, but what you can’t see is that I lost track of time for this cook as well, and the chicken hit an internal temperature of 170ºF, higher than recommended. Still, it was still juicy, even the breast meat. Not as juicy as it could have been, but it wasn’t dry, either. The skin turned out great.

Last cook was some sausage that I got from the same butcher that I go to for steaks. It’s called Provolone sausage, and (you guessed it) has little bits of Provolone mixed in with the meat. It came in one long coil. I twisted it off to make links before cooking it.

I did this at 225ºF, indirect. After about an hour, with me turning it about halfway through, it looked like this.

Served on a bun.

What was the problem with this cook? Nothing, really, except that the sausages were so skinny I could fit two of them on a single hot dog bun.

 

The lesson I learned this weekend: even a less than perfect cook is better than not cooking at all.

[CeramicChef]

Wilbur - I should get so dadgummed lucky to mess up cooks like you did! Even your messed up cooks are better than 95% of what most folks can get right! I'll tell you what, Buddy ... you have any more mess ups like this that you and the family just can't quite bear to have to chocke down ... CALL ME! I'll take it all off your hands and buy you 5lbs of ground chuck to ease the pain!

Very nice cooks, as usual, Wilbur! Kudos to you and Smaug!

[MacKenzie]

Wilbur, I would have loved to be eating at your table this weekend, everything looks wonderful even with the mishaps things look so tasty and moist. Those pixs are making me hungry    

[tony b]

I wouldn't consider those "mistakes" at all in my book. Looks pretty damned yummy from here!! I find that "time management" is my weakness in the kitchen, too, sometimes.

 

So, they weren't "perfect;" who the F cares?? I'm as compulsive about my cooking as anybody, but I've tried to learn to just roll with it when it doesn't come out EXACTLY like I wanted it to. We're supposed to be cooking for the fun of it - that, and we have to eat, too!! LOL!!

 

So, as we say in the homebrewing community - Relax, Have a Homebrew!!! (meaning, don't get so uptight about it, have fun and relax, have a beer!!)

[Cookie]

Funny how critical of ourselves we can be when it comes to our cooks. I can't tell you how many time I've told my wife, "I can't serve this to our guests." She proceeds to tell me I'm mental and that my standards are too high. I usually say, "You're right, that's why I married you." Buys me all kinds of good will for the next few days.

Wilbur, love you're write-ups. I'd have gone back for seconds on any of it...

[bryan]

Wilburpan - It takes a strong person to see their errors.

A KK cook Has to do what A KK cook has to do.

Keep in mind "KK Can do - If I Will Do".

Harbor Freight sells a scaffold (on wheels) for around $200. Big yellow thing. Easy to cover.

Great for neat cover in bad wx. Works for me. Can be dressed up for any party atmosphere.

Also use for other things around the property. Like picking fruit.

Food still turned out good. Just not Wilburpan/KK quality. Glad to see a stand up for what can be done with a Komodo - Kamado.

[ckreef]

It all looks good to me. But I do understand about things not working out as planned. Looked like you pushed through regardless.

1/2 my cooks I consider just barely dog food even when my wife and son love them. Only every once in a while I hit a true home run in my mind.

[DaveyR]

If there are not 2 or 3 cooks that I screw up in a week then I must be on vacation and someone else is doing the cooking. Just means that I have to practice more 😊 <br />

[bryan]

After all these years I still must practice. All the KK cooks come out better than I ever did on regular grills. Just sometimes I'm not up to par.

But I get to eat all my mistakes and I'm eating better than ever before, while being stimulated to try again.

Must be a KK Owner thing. KK life is good! Love belonging this elite club.

[ckreef]

If I'm planning something for guests or the challenges and it's something new I'll always do a few test cooks just to make sure it's right.

My family already knows a lot of what I cook is an experiment so they are always prepared for the worst.