Same! Switched my Mavrick over to Celsius - so much easier to keep track

ARGH! Sucky! It came out a little dry. Partly my fault, partly the rather lean cut I got

So:
Weight: About 1.7kg I think
Cut: I asked for "...a fatty scotch roast". Freedom Farms pork.
BBQ Setup: Charcoal briquettes using the "snake method", with coarse cherry wood chips on top of the first half of the snake.
Cook Time: 10 hours exactly to the minute
Cook Temp: 105 - 115°C constant, closer to 110°C
Meat Temp at End: 89°C
Rest Time: 1 Hour
Result: Good, but a) The cut was a little lean, and that's quite obvious when I pulled it. Some parts were juicy others were a bit of a dry grey mass. and b) the water in the drip pan dried up and I didn't realise My bad. Oh well... I'm letting it cool and then taking it on a road trip on sunday. I'll lay the sauce on thick and it should be ok. Anyone got any tips to improve the moistness between now and then?

Speaking of burns, I'm never pouring the coals out of the chimney in barefeet again, rookie move, lol.

I had the same problem when I tried to do pulled pork withal "shoulder" roast that was more middle/rib/loin roast, was way too lean for the long slow.

did lamb chops rubbed in dried mint/oregano salt/pepper, came out wicked

Spanked. wrote: Speaking of burns, I'm never pouring the coals out of the chimney in barefeet again, rookie move, lol.

I suggest jandels, pro safety gear.

Spanked. wrote: Speaking of burns, I'm never pouring the coals out of the chimney in barefeet again, rookie move, lol.

Deadm3at wrote: I suggest jandels, pro safety gear.

Ouch! ... yeah I always wear jandels when BBQing, and I always think to myself: "One day this is gonna end badly ... "

Deadm3at wrote: I had the same problem when I tried to do pulled pork withal "shoulder" roast that was more middle/rib/loin roast, was way too lean for the long slow. did lamb chops rubbed in dried mint/oregano salt/pepper, came out wicked

Yeah, I guess the cuts in NZ are slightly different to the US ones ... or our pigs a leaner, or a combination of both.

Oh well, maybe next time I'll try something new. Ribs? Belly? Lamb? ... something else?

Roast belly w/ crackling would be my vote, so that when I do it I know what/what not to do

Merkinz wrote: This is EXACTLY how I got mine!

Farkin lol, that looks jut like the one I got. It blistered then got a bit infected, took ages to heal.

I still go bare foot, just really careful to watch if any coals fall out of the chimney on transfer. Have so pretty cool BBQ gloves from Steven Raichlen that come up to near the elbow which are good for handling the chimney.

Merkinz wrote: Anyone got any tips to improve the moistness between now and then?

You could try adding a bit of stock and melted butter to moisten it up. I know when the Americans dry out a brisket too much they bathe it in beef stock for a bit. Though plenty of sauce should be sweet and if you are reheating add a bit of liqiud.

That bark looks fantastic! Hard to tell from the pics but it does look a bit lean. You need a good marbling of intra-muscular fat rather than large fat 'seams' between the major meaty muscle parts. I've always found "Pork Scotch Fillet" or neck as it's known, to work very well.

Did you foil the meat during the cook at any stage? Sometime it can work well to foil it for a couple of hours towards the end of the cook, with the last hour uncovered. Placing some liquids like a combo of butter, apple juice, stock or even water inside the foil as well. I don't usually bother, but it can help for leaner pieces. Also a kettle runs a bit drier than my WSM runs, and like you say, your drip pan ran out, so that's probably a factor.

Mate, try the lamb leg if you get a chance, or try a low n slow lamb shoulder

Here's tonight dinner. A piece of butterflied lamb leg that I coated in the same rub as the epic whole leg I did.

shadybrothers wrote: Same! Switched my Mavrick over to Celsius - so much easier to keep track

I'm the opposite. I have to work in farenheit for BBQ otherwise I mess up. I guess it cause I read too many American sites/recipe books and watch too many american based shows on Food tv

I do both :/
C for meat cooked temps because i remember those
F for (some) cooking temps because of damn america

Decided to rub down the pork shoulder the night before rather than right before it goes on just to see if it makes any difference, like the bacon a fair bit of fluid has leeched out already so something is certainly happening. Will report on whether it turns out to be a good something. Got the coals and the chimney all stoked up, just need to put a torch to it about 6am or so.

Gonna make up a batch of ciabatta rolls, and really if you're going to make bread why would you make anything besides ciabatta?

Might even sneak some ribs on, it'd be a crying shame to waste all that smoke after all.

So, I'm seriously thinking about getting one of these pricks for my BGE when it arrives...

https://www.rocksbarbque.com/index.html

Expensive, but the geek in me approves of a computer controlled temperature monitoring and adjustment system that lets you do 20-hour smokes via wifi

DAMN YOU PORK
why must you smell so good when there is so many hours left to cook you


edit: and now the fresh baked bread smell is kicking in...
such torture

Grolim wrote: Farkin lol, that looks jut like the one I got. It blistered then got a bit infected, took ages to heal.

Just curious: Did it scar?

Grolim wrote: You could try adding a bit of stock and melted butter to moisten it up. I know when the Americans dry out a brisket too much they bathe it in beef stock for a bit. Though plenty of sauce should be sweet and if you are reheating add a bit of liqiud. That bark looks fantastic! Hard to tell from the pics but it does look a bit lean. You need a good marbling of intra-muscular fat rather than large fat 'seams' between the major meaty muscle parts. I've always found "Pork Scotch Fillet" or neck as it's known, to work very well. Did you foil the meat during the cook at any stage? Sometime it can work well to foil it for a couple of hours towards the end of the cook, with the last hour uncovered. Placing some liquids like a combo of butter, apple juice, stock or even water inside the foil as well. I don't usually bother, but it can help for leaner pieces. Also a kettle runs a bit drier than my WSM runs, and like you say, your drip pan ran out, so that's probably a factor. Mate, try the lamb leg if you get a chance, or try a low n slow lamb shoulder

Thanks for the tips! I'll definatly employ them next time! Cheers

... think I'll do lamb next time.

Deadm3at wrote: Decided to rub down the pork shoulder the night before rather than right before it goes on just to see if it makes any difference, like the bacon a fair bit of fluid has leeched out already so something is certainly happening. Will report on whether it turns out to be a good something. Got the coals and the chimney all stoked up, just need to put a torch to it about 6am or so. Gonna make up a batch of ciabatta rolls, and really if you're going to make bread why would you make anything besides ciabatta? Might even sneak some ribs on, it'd be a crying shame to waste all that smoke after all.

I always apply the rub the night before ... I'd be interestd to hear if you think it makes a difference.

Deadm3at wrote: Gonna make up a batch of ciabatta rolls, and really if you're going to make bread why would you make anything besides ciabatta?

From scratch? Share your method? Wouldn't mind giving this a go.

scratch-ish... i use a breadmaker to do the kneading because i'm lazy.


1.5 tsp breadmaker yeast, a bit more if you want more bubbles
1.5tsp salt
1tsp sugar
450gb high grade flour (home brand )
1.5cups water
1tbsp olive oil (haven't tried using a flash one, i just use home brand again heh)

toss it in the breadmaker on dough setting, it takes a couple of hours and does a rest/knead/rest/need cycle, then i either leave it in the breadmaker to keep rising if im just doing 1 big loaf or divide it into greased bowls and cover with glad wrap. can be made in advance and kept in the fridge a couple of days (which kicks the flavour into overdrive thanks to the yeast) or divide up into small lots and make rolls. I'll stick up a pic once the rolls come out of the oven in an hour or so.
bake on 180-200ish for 20ish minutes or until GBD / the base sounds hollow when tapped. spritz with a water spray if you want a really dense top crust.

the great thing is that most people never get real good moist dense bread right out of the oven so this gets reviewed as the best bread ever all the time, even though the effort is minimal. did 3 loaves at xmas to go with a free range ham (confirmed happy life pig so that the vegetarians will eat it ), and it goes like you wouldn't believe.



The big one is a dough that i started when i put the shoulder on, then forgot about it and found it muffin-topping out of the breadmaker bucket, i just dumped it on some over paper and cooked it up.

I've never actually cooked any bread in the machine, just use it for dough.

Midway point where i took the ribs off for lunch and my smoky bbq sauce.


eff yea!


Only thing i didn't make is the coleslaw :]
omnomnomnom

Looks boss! ... if you don't mind me asking: Where did you get the pork roast and what cut did you ask for? cheers

Those Stokers are pretty cool Fortris. Have thought about getting one for my WSM. But can't really justify the price and these days after a bit of experience I can hold temps pretty stable just using the vents and number of startup coals.


Looks good Deadm3at! Have to give that ciabatta a try, wow!


In regards to putting on a rub the night before - if I do this I always use no salt or very little salt in the rub. The salt draws out moisture as evidenced by the liquid that you'll see. I prefer to keep that liquid inside the meat. So I put salt on just before cooking. When I do ribs or pulled pork I usually rub an hour or so before cooking, just to draw out a little moisture that helps create the bark, but not too much.

Merkinz wrote: Just curious: Did it scar?

A little, it's almost completely faded now.

Merkinz wrote: Looks boss! ... if you don't mind me asking: Where did you get the pork roast and what cut did you ask for? cheers

It was just a bog standard countdown 'shoulder' roast. but one of the bigger end bits, not one of the rib-y type ones. Not well explained... i'll try and remember to get a photo next time im shopping. It was about 2.5-7 kg and took a bit over 11 hours to cook @ 220-250F.

The rub had salt in it and probably at most 1/4 of a cup of liquid had leeched out by morning. This made absolutely no difference to how moist the pork was that I could tell. My gut feeling is that rubbing it the night before doesn't have a huge effect on the outcome.


Bread pro tip: when handling that ciabatta dough, because it's super moist, keep a bottle of oil around to coat your hands to stop the dough sticking. It works way better than water.

wow you guys are real boss bbq players..respect.

Merkinz wrote: And while I was waiting for the meat to cook I made some Kimchi for the first time:

Thats an odd looking Kimchi, well done for trying. Did you put some water or vinegar in it??

My wife would give you the recipe if you wanted shes korean.

or try this recipe http://tinyurl.com/8xvwkt2

gingeralenz wrote: Thats an odd looking Kimchi, well done for trying. Did you put some water or vinegar in it?? My wife would give you the recipe if you wanted shes korean.

Hey thanks for the link! I'll definately give it a blast. The one there is a recipe called "White Kimchi" by David Chang. I wanted to try it first cause my girlfriend is a vego. I've been thinking of trying a more traditional one if i like how this one tastes.

The liquid is mix of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar water (simple syrup). So far so good

No worries. Koreans are very passionate about their national food wouldn't want you to get the wrong idea of what Kimchi is. Kimchi is a health food, naturally fermented and alive. It contains alive good bacteria like yoghurt does. What you made is a pickle, by adding vinegar you are stopping any food fermenting, vinegar kills bacteria. My wife did laugh at that being called kimchi, they are pretty purist when it comes to their food. To make kimchi requires a bit of time for it to start fermenting and then you put it in the fridge. It gets progressively sour, you would normally eat kimchi within a month and at the end you are turning it into a soup Kimchi Jigae. If you have a Kimchi fridge you can keep kimchi for much longer periods.

Another korean food blog you might like here. Shes quite entertaining.

www.maangchi.com

Forgot to post my final shot from Friday night.



Have a pre-prepared butterfly lamb from Countdown for tonight after an announcement from the parents that they are coming over.

shadybrothers wrote: Forgot to post my final shot from Friday night.

I was wondering what happened there! It looks boss! How'd it taste?

gingeralenz wrote: No worries ...

Thanks for the reply, and the link as well. Looking forward to trying more and more recipes. There is very little vinegar in that recipe i showed, and it has alot of sugar. It's ment to start fermenting after 2 weeks ... I'll let you know how it goes.

What are some good kimchi soup recipes? I think thats what I want to make the most something that I can make vegetarian (for my partner).