Tag: smoked

By Posted on Posted in Misc Food, Recipes, Smoked Goodness No Comments

I am sure this will not be the last episode of Adventures in Jerky but is was certainly a successful one and one with lessons to be learned.  Since the jerky turned out so well last time I made it and all but a hurricane was forecast here today; it seemed like a great day to make jerky. I could turn on the electric smoker, crack the garage door and the window, and let it works its’ magic.

It all started last night looking for what type of jerky to make, I wanted to make sure pepper jerky but I am not sure exactly how I want to go about that yet.  So pepper jerky is back burner-ed, although I think it I have it figured out.   Anyways back to today’s jerky.  Today’s jerky consisted of Teriyaki Sesame jerky and a BBQ jerky.  Both of them came out quite alright.

Once I had figured out what kind of jerky I was making.  It was off to the store to scope out some meat.  This is where I made a mistake, I bought the cheapest bottom round roast I could find.  Big mistake, after I trimmed a 1/4 pound of fat off the roast, you really don’t want any fat in your jerky it will spoil much quicker, I sliced it into fairly uniform slices across the grain about a 1/4 inch thick with a couple of thinner slices that would be done well before the rest for some early on sampling.

Jerky marinatingThe one on the left is Teriyaki Sesame and the one on the right is BBQ.

Once the meat was sliced up I divided it into two equal parts (about a pound a piece) and put them into two separate zip-lock bags.  Then I whipped up the respective marinades and poured them over the meat in the bags.  Then I squeezed the air out of the bags, worked the marinade into every crevice and void in the bag and let them marinate in the fridge over night.

This morning I pulled the jerky out of the bags and placed the Teriyaki Sesame on one rack and the BBQ on another.

Then I fired up my electric smoker to 155°F, which is quite easy to maintain with my PID controller for the smoker, I used only a couple chunks of hickory wood and a handful of mesquite chips for the entire 6 hour smoke.  I cheated a bit to get good constant smoke, I got a piece of charcoal going and plopped it in my smoker box for my grill and put that in the bottom of the electric smoker and added another piece of charcoal and some wood as needed to keep the smoke going.  This works well and doesn’t impact the temperature significantly.  This would be perfect for smoking some cheese….wink wink, nudge nudge.

After about 5 hours the Teriyaki Sesame jerky from the top rack was done, it was a little drier than I was aiming for but it got left unattended for a while.  I removed it and because I had covered the empty water pan with foil to keep the drippings off the element, the BBQ jerky closest to the pan needed a bit more time so I moved the rack up to the top to give it some better exposure.  About an hour later the BBQ jerky was done as well.  As I removed both kinds of jerky from the smoker I placed them on a cooling rack inside and let them come down to room temperature before putting them in a container and into the fridge.  Realistically if I was going to be keeping the jerky any longer than a day or two I would let it sit in the fridge for a while in the container with no lid on just to make sure all of the moisture that can be out is out.  But the way it gets eaten around here it will be gone tomorrow.

Jerky cooling offAgain Teriyaki Sesame on the left and BBQ on the right.

So how was it?  Both types of jerky had great flavor the Teriyaki Sesame was great, it tasted like I expected.  The BBQ however, I had little hope for but it surprised me, it has a great flavor that seems to be maturing as the jerky sits and it is growing on me quickly.  So at this point both of them are keepers in my book, they might get some modifications down the road but the are good as the are and can only get better.

Teriyaki Sesame Jerky
Ingredients
1 lb thinly (1/4″) sliced beef or other red meat
1 c teriyaki sauce (recipe)
1 tsp sesame seeds + extra

Instructions
Combine teriyaki sauce (if making your own allow to cool) and 1 tsp sesame seeds and pour over thinly sliced meat in a ziplock bag.  Purge air, seal and refrigerate and allow to marinate for at least 8-12 hours.  Then prepare as outlined above.

BBQ Jerky
Ingredients
1 lb thinly (1/4″) sliced beef or other red meat
1/3 c red wine vinegar
1/3 c ketchup
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dry mustard
bbq rub (such as BBQ 3000 or Bad Byron’s Butt Rub)

Instructions
Combine all but bbq rub and meat in a bowl, mix well.  Pour over thinly sliced meat in a zip lock bag.  Purge air, seal and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at 8-12 hours.  Remove meat from marinade, place on smoker rack and lightly sprinkle with bbq rub.  Prepare as outlined above.

So far jerky has been a hit, although today’s was a little tougher than I like, I blame the meat.  It was a bad choice and now I have to live with it, although it is not half bad.  Next up, pepper jerky!

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By Posted on Posted in Recipes, Smoked Goodness No Comments

Well I have been holding onto this one for a while, a while back I got some books from the library and one of them featured a Fennel Coriander Rub, which while unique I thought sounded incredible to have on a beef roast or better yet a beef brisket.  Well I was a little unsure so I went with a chuck roast, instead of a whole brisket.  It would be horrible to make a whole brisket that tasted horrible.

Fennel Coriander Rubbed Beef Chuck Roast

Yesterday on the way home I picked up my chuck roast, the selection wasn’t very good so I got a smaller one, about 3 pounds.  Then it was time for the fennel, I had gotten a bag full of fennel heads from my dad so all the seeds needed to be pulled off the heads, this might be alright a tablespoon or two at a time but for a half cup it was a lot of work.  Anyways I rubbed it last night and threw it in the fridge over night and then it was onto the smoker this morning.  I smoked it at 225°F for about 5 hours to about 160°F, basting with apple juice and Worcestershire through the cook about every half hour.  Then I foiled the meat and stuck it back in the heat until the meat reached 200°F.  Then I pulled it and let it rest under a couple of towels for about an hour.

Then we sliced it and ate it with some garlic and rosemary mashed red skin potatoes they are quickly becoming a staple.  But back to the roast, it was cooked to perfection, it was juicy and tender and it had a great smoke ring.  But it wasn’t as good as I had thought it would be.  I didn’t think it was bad but the fennel really comes through, which if fine if you really like fennel (licorice).

Ingredients
1/2 c fennel seeds
1 1/2 tbsp whole coriander
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp granulated orange peel

Instructions
Preheat a heavy skillet over medium heat (cast iron if always good).  Once heated add fennel seeds, coriander and peppercorns to the skillet.  Keep them moving by swirling them in the pan, they burn quick.   Cook the seeds until they turn light brown and become fragrant.  Your nose is your guide in this one.  Once they are done pull the skillet off the heat add the salt and mix it in well.  Once the mixture is completely cooled.  Pour mixture and orange peel into a spice (coffee) grinder and grind to a fine powder.

Now for the verdict the meat was good and the rub was alright.  It was very fennelish, which depending on your perspective could be a bad thing.  I really enjoyed it but my wife was not a fan.  She said it tasted too much like licorice.  So would I make it again, I am not sure I might try it on something else maybe lightly on some pork or lightly on some fish even.

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By Posted on Posted in Recipes, Smoked Goodness No Comments

Ribs, Again!  This time with more style.  Last time I used two rubs out of a bottle and had good ribs come up but the rubs was not complimentary.  The ribs were good but they were not as good as they should have been.  This time, I managed a little more success.

Ribs with Garlic and Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

Last night I whipped up perhaps my favorite pulled pork rub, a brown sugar and rosemary rub, using some fresh rosemary, from the plant to the rub, it doesn’t get much fresher than that.  From there I lightly rubbed the ribs with Dijon mustard and then the rub and then it was into the fridge to rest overnight in bask in that magnificent rub.

Then in the morning it was onto the smoker with some apple wood and some hickory at 225°F for 3 hours, I did spritz the ribs a couple of times as the skin dried out with apple juice during this time.  Then it was into a double layer of foil for 2 hours, then back onto the grate in the smoke with no foil until they reached 172°F in the thickest part of the rib.  I brushed them lightly with BBQ sauce during this time as well.  Then it was off the smoker and back into some foil, a wrapped in a couple towels and then into a cooler for about 30 minutes of rest to allow the juices to redistribute and the flavor to mature.

Then it was time to eat them.  They were better than the last rack of ribs I smoked, either half of them.  They were sweet and had a nice bark on them were fall off the bone tender.  The rosemary complimented the sweet and the delicate flavor of the pork ribs, they were perhaps the best ribs I have ever had.

With one exception it looks like I have found my rib recipe for at least the immediate future.  My wife smelled the cumin in the rub when I was making it and she was able to taste a hint of it in the finished product, she wanted less cumin next time.  I thought all was well the way it was.

Either way they were great, an appropriate use of such a fine piece of meat and they went well with some garlic and rosemary mashed red skin potatoes.

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By Posted on Posted in Smoked Goodness, What's for dinner No Comments

Or a brisket sandwich at least.  Like so many quests in the kitchen and life I began my summer with a goal to smoke a brisket, I am not going to lie I have never smoked a brisket before and I am not had all that much smoked brisket.  But with a bit of patience, alot of hickory and mesquite wood and even more patience, the brisket got done and beyond that it was phenomenal.

Smoked Beef Brisket Sandwich

The brisket was good on its own and even better between a couple of slices of bread.  It was juicy and flavor filled and fall apart tender.  But enough bragging here is how it came about.

Tuesday I headed over to a local butcher after work and picked up a 9lb chunk of brisket with a healthy fat cap.  After a little waffling I decided to the only cook half of the brisket and freeze the other half until I was sure I had my brisket technique down, I ended up cooking only the flat part of the brisket.  I then proceeded to trim the fat cap down to about a quarter inch over the entire brisket and scored the fat cap in about a 1 inch grid.

Then it was rub time, I had planned on making my own rub but decided to save that until later, so check back.  I used a Cookshack Brisket Rub I picked up on my last trip to Cabelas, it was MSG free and looked tasty (can’t really smell it in the store) and  I was actually very happy with the rub and will likely use it again.  I digress, I rubbed the meat with a healthy layer of plain boring yellow mustard and then rubbed the brisket with the brisket rub.  From there it was into a sealed container and into the fridge for a night of rest.

Early the next morning before the sun had even decided to rise, I was out tooling around in the garage getting the smoker fired up, water pan filled and the smoker pre-heated to that prime BBQ temperature of 225°F.  Once the smoker was ready to go I added a healthy dose of hickory and mesquite and threw the brisket on the top rack, fat cap up and gave it one last dusting of the rub.

Beef Brisket fresh on the Smoker

Then it was time for the patience, checking in occasionally to make sure it was still smoking and the temperature was still good. One hour, two, three, four and then it was time to spritz with apple juice every hour on the hour.  At hour four I shoved my remove electric thermometer into the middle of the brisket to keep track of the progress and got back to waiting.  Around hour five is when it happened at the internal temperature of 151°F, the dreaded stall and it sat there for five hours before it budged even a single degree, it was frustrating but that is what the patience is for.

One Cooked up Beef Brisket

Finally after 14 hours on the smoker the brisket was done, it reached an internal temperature of 200°F and it was pulled and allowed to rest for about 2 hours.  Then it was time to slice and pull, this was magical.  Upon slicing into the brisket I picked up one half only to have it fall apart in my hands, pulling was never more easy.

Sliced Beef Brisket

Then it was time to enjoy, I ate way more than I should have last night and we had a lunch time feast at lunch at work today and the verdict was unanimous, it was excellent.  Can’t wait to smoke another!

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By Posted on Posted in Recipes, Smoked Goodness 6 Comments

So many people have raved about apple cider brined pork chops and smoked pork chops that I had to see what all the fuss was about.  Well now I know, they didn’t knock my socks off but they were certainly good enough to make again and when paired with my made from scratch bbq sauce, it was a match made in heaven.  They were delectable.

Apple Cider Brined Smoked Pork Chops

Looks expensive doesn’t it, well it doesn’t have to be.  In addition to being inexpensive, it was crazy easy to make.  All that is involved is an over night soak in the brine detailed below, a quick dusting with any seasoning you want.  I used a little bit of BBQ 3000 just to give it a little more and then a quick (2 hourish) jaunt on the smoker at 225°F with some apple wood.  I cooked them up until the internal temperature was 165°F, pulled them and let them rest for a short while, before cutting into these juicy and mighty tasty pork chops.

Ingredients
4 c apple cider (not juice)
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c kosher salt
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp chile powder
1 c boiling water

Instructions
Mix sugar and salt into boiling water until dissolved.  Cool mixture.  Mix together apple cider, chile powder, vinegar and water mixture.  Place pork chops in a 1 gallon zip lock bag, pour in brine and fill remaining space with cold water.  Refrigerate over night in brine, remove, season and smoke.

Like I said this recipe will be sticking around next time it might not be chops, it might be another cut of meat.  It would also make a great base for some other marinade, just adjust the seasonings.  Please tell me it at least made you hungry to look at.

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