Cooking thread

June 25th, 2015 at 7:25:30 AM permalink
Mosca
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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I do a lot of outdoor cooking in the summer. Pork shoulders were $1.49/lb, so I couldn't resist. Rubbed with the secret rub, injected with a brine solution (sugar, salt, apple juice, some other stuff). Overnight in the fridge, then on the smoke @ 6AM.






About 10 hours later:




When the internal temp hits around 200-205, the shoulder comes off the fire, and gets wrapped in foil, then in a towel, and then placed in a cooler to rest for a couple hours. Then remove from the cooler, unwrap, and pull.





This was freakin' fantastic.
June 25th, 2015 at 8:05:09 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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Quote: Mosca
This was freakin' fantastic.


It looks really good.

Would you happen to have an oven recipe? Or know here I could find one?
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June 25th, 2015 at 8:31:24 AM permalink
Mosca
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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Quote: Nareed
It looks really good.

Would you happen to have an oven recipe? Or know here I could find one?


You can use an oven instead of a grill/smoker. All you give up is the smoke flavor. For the rub, use either a commercially available product, or grab a mix recipe off the internet. It's sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, chile powder, pepper, etc. If you're doing the injecting, no salt; if you aren't injecting, then you can put salt in the rub.

The injection is 2 cups apple juice, 1 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup kosher salt, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoonsful of the rub, and a teaspoon of hot sauce. You don't have to inject, this was the first time I did. If you are doing this, and want smoke flavor, add a tablespoon or two of liquid smoke. Start small with the smoke, you can add more later but you can't take it away.

I did the whole shoulder and brought leftovers to work. The guys here have come to look forward to my barbequeing! If you don't want to cook up a 10lb clod of pig, go for the pork butt instead, which is the better half of the shoulder.

In the oven for 275*. Put a pan full of water underneath to keep the roast moist, drying out is what you need to avoid. Let it cook until it hits 200-205*. That's about it.

I looked through a few recipes on line, and this is the one I liked best, for its simplicity and for my assessment of what it will taste like:

Low and Slow Boston Butt Pork BBQ ( Oven Method )

If you do this, it will come out really good. And, you can personalize the seasoning, as long as you follow the method, so it can be uniquely yours.
June 25th, 2015 at 10:45:37 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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Quote: Mosca
You can use an oven instead of a grill/smoker.


Thank you!

Quote:
If you don't want to cook up a 10lb clod of pig, go for the pork butt instead, which is the better half of the shoulder.


That will be tricky. You wouldn't believe how cuts of meat differ between the US and Mexico. But I'll see what I can get.

Quote:
If you do this, it will come out really good. And, you can personalize the seasoning, as long as you follow the method, so it can be uniquely yours.


Oh, I expect I will. I think I've developed a sense of what to change and when. For example, 1/4 of salt is way too much even for a bi under 5 kilos of meat, IMO.
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June 25th, 2015 at 12:16:44 PM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
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Quote: Mosca
I do a lot of outdoor cooking in the summer. Pork shoulders were $1.49/lb, so I couldn't resist.
Pork is particularly cheap now because local farmers take the risk and the ecological impact as supposedly "independent contractors".

If you are near an urban area with a wholesale meat market I've heard you can still get substantial bargains with a pre-closing visit, particularly one with a weekend or a religious holiday looming. They may not quote by the pound, but by their 30 inch long trays: half a tray, or a whole tray in dollars. Don't try to bargain, its on a take it or leave it basis because they know what it will cost them to refrigerate it overnight and bring it out after the weekend or something. so, just take 'half tray, done' or 'full tray done' and wait until you get home to weigh it if you are curious. they sell mainly to restaurants, fraternities, care homes, etc. so don't waste their time, its either yes or no.

In the florida boondocks lots of places have friday to monday smokers on trailers by the side of the road. different recipes but all slowly smoked. several fairs will feature two or three such vendors. a few vendors team up with spanish or egyptian bodega-type places. some of those homemade trailers are forty feet long.
June 25th, 2015 at 8:07:05 PM permalink
Mosca
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 22
Posts: 730
Quote: Nareed
Thank you!



That will be tricky. You wouldn't believe how cuts of meat differ between the US and Mexico. But I'll see what I can get.



Oh, I expect I will. I think I've developed a sense of what to change and when. For example, 1/4 of salt is way too much even for a bi under 5 kilos of meat, IMO.


Kosher salt is less dense than table salt (bigger grains), and you'd only need 1/3 of the brine for a 5 kilo roast.
June 26th, 2015 at 6:39:40 AM permalink
Nareed
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I really don't want to get into a salt/sodium discussion. I'll just say I get plenty from other sources, like snacks and breakfast, and thus I almost never add it to my cooking.
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June 28th, 2015 at 8:01:31 PM permalink
Nareed
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I have to post this while I still half-recall what I did :)

Kathy's spicy chicken in BBQ sauce

Sauce:

600 gr. tomato puree (or tomato sauce)
2 small medium cloves garlic, quartered
2 1/2 Tbsp. paprika
2/3 cup vinegar (I mixed abt 1/3 rice vinegar and almost the rest white vinegar with a little balsamic to top it off)
2 1/2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire
1 1/2 Tbsp. ground pepper
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Morita chile, hydrated, seeded and de-veined
I also added some onion, but I can't tell you how much past "I grabbed a handful from an onion I'd chopped" (much of my cooking is like that; I rather like it).

To make the sauce put everything in a blender and blend it.

The rest:

2 chicken breasts, flattened but thick, cut into strips (about 800-1000 gr. at a guess).
1/2 large onion cut in rings
2 carrots cut in short sticks
2 medium potatoes, peeled, diced and boiled (it's ok if they're not coked all the way through, just be warned diced potatoes cook more quickly)
1/3 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 tsp. paprika
About 2 Tbsp. peanut butter (creamy)
oil as needed.

First saute the onions. When they begin to soften, add the carrot sticks. Keep cooking until the onions are soft. remove from the pan and set aside. Cook the chicken strips on medium heat until they're nicely browned on both sides. Remove it from the pan and set aside Turn the heat to low and add the sauce, make sure to deglaze the pan. Add the cinnamon, paprika and peanut butter. Stir until the peanut butter dissolves. When it begins to bubble, add the chicken and potatoes. Stir/toss everything so the sauce covers everything. After a minute or two add the onion and carrots, and toss/stir things again. Let it cook for a few minutes, until the chicken is cooked through (if it wasn't before).

Done.

I like the bottled BBQ sauces, but lately they taste too sweet. Sometimes I think they'd go better with ice cream. So I looked up BBQ sauce recipes on the web. Just reading them gave a sugar high (not literally). I adjusted one to taste.

I managed not to make biscuits because I forgot to get milk :( Next week for sure.
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July 3rd, 2015 at 8:46:15 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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I found non fat dry jococque quite by accident yesterday. The flavor is the same and the texture very near to the regular. I had some with breakfast, but naturally I'm now pondering how to cook with it.

For this week the big project is making biscuits (and I forgot again to get milk), and something simple for the rest. Maybe vegetarian chili or lazy lasagna.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
July 6th, 2015 at 6:53:38 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
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I wound up doing sopa de fideo and a barley and cabbage stew. I also wasted the weekend.

Two thigns conspired for this:

1) long, long, hard workweek. I think the earliest I left the office last week was around 8:30 pm.
2) a really hard electrolysis session, done rather late (noon). I felt I'd been through the wringer, even if it lasted only 35 minutes.

So I got home eventually and I just napped the rest of the day. Sunday I had to wrestle some more with BLUESCREEN at the office to make a reimbursement request. It crashed twice, too. By the time I was done with that, I didn't even feel like cooking. So I worked out a bit, then I cooked.

but not biscuits.

I'm determined to do them next week (yeah, right).
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER