A barbecue adventure, the saga unfolds.

Those look good. I usually go 250 for 5 hours in the turkey roaster. They end up falling apart more than they should though.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Those look good. I usually go 250 for 5 hours in the turkey roaster. They end up falling apart more than they should though.
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I did that slab solely on temperature. I recorded the times so I would know, if I did this again, roughly how much time to budget.
 
rack o' ribs in the oven 275* for 3 hours. took them out to sauce 'em up, the bones literally fell out of the meat themselves. delish.
 
eman1200 said:
rack o' ribs in the oven 275* for 3 hours. took them out to sauce 'em up, the bones literally fell out of the meat themselves. delish.
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2:40 @ 300F was what I did. I had a slab of really meaty back ribs and they finished just right. Were yours backs or spares?
 
Matthew said:
2:40 @ 300F was what I did. I had a slab of really meaty back ribs and they finished just right. Were yours backs or spares?
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just pork-ish kind of something-or-other type meat on bone rib kinda stuff. baby backs, I think. harris teeter* special.


*harris teeter, or "hairy peeter" as they are commonly referred to as, is a local supermarket chain.
 
eman1200 said:
just pork-ish kind of something-or-other type meat on bone rib kinda stuff. baby backs, I think. harris teeter* special.


*harris teeter, or "hairy peeter" as they are commonly referred to as, is a local supermarket chain.
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I like back ribs at home. But spares are always what win at contests. Spares have a more consistent bone size and meat thickness across the whole slab so they are easier to cook. Back ribs have a much thicker chunk of meat that’s thicker at one end so it’s harder to get a good cook consistency from end to end.
 
Matthew said:
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I like back ribs at home. But spares are always what win at contests. Spares have a more consistent bone size and meat thickness across the whole slab so they are easier to cook. Back ribs have a much thicker chunk of meat that’s thicker at one end so it’s harder to get a good cook consistency from end to end.
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I always get big thick St Louis cut monsters, are those spares?
 
Google to the rescue

Tutorial on Pork Ribs Cuts | Three Little Pigs BBQ Rubs & Sauces
 
eman1200 said:
just pork-ish kind of something-or-other type meat on bone rib kinda stuff. baby backs, I think. harris teeter* special.
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Spareribs = fat flat bones. Baby back ribs = skinny curved-like-an-arc bones.
 
Bill said:
I always get big thick St Louis cut monsters, are those spares?
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Yes. They’ve been trimmed to be rectangular.

It’s what’s cooked at contests about 95%+ of the time. There’s always someone that will do backs.

Tip: you’ll save money if you get regular spares and trim them yourself. It only takes a couple minutes and a sharp knife. Then you can cook the trimmings as riblets or use them for anything you want.

Here’s a pic from one of our local pros doing St Louis cut spares this past weekend for the football game.

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Matthew said:
Tip: you’ll save money if you get regular spares and trim them yourself. It only takes a couple minutes and a sharp knife. Then you can cook the trimmings as riblets or use them for anything you want.
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I think it takes me longer to pull off the paper/silver than it does for me to trim off the flaps/tips.
 
I was tasked with smoking appetizers for the game yesterday. I made one rack of bacon-wrapped japepeno poppers (the filling was cream cheese, shredded sharp cheddar, sliced scallion, and pulled pork), and another rack of smoked mushrooms, filled with sautéed hot sausage, onion, jalapeño, sharp cheddar, and parmesan-reggiano. Both turned out great, and it's fun to smoke something that doesn't take most of a day. Poppers done in 2 1/2 hours, mushrooms in just an hour at 240F over hickory and cherry smoke.

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Italian seasoned flank steak (Hanger steak) and chicken. Flank is a highly underrated cut. It’s like brisket but it melts in your mouth rare. I shot for medium rare. Came out perfect.
 
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Here is an interesting take on smoking ribs. This was yesterday at the pub. The one on the left is a baby back wrapped around a pineapple core. I didn’t try that one but the others were quite good.
 
Huh. The thing on the left looks like one of floating mines from a WW2 movie.
 
First contest of the year is next Saturday. I might end up judging 6-8 this year. Something I noticed last year were smaller numbers of teams showing up and several contests were either cancelled or almost cancelled. Meat and fuel prices were really playing a role in that. The first two contests I’m working are full - 70-ish teams at one and 107 at the other.

I’m also working a new, inaugural, contest and am looking forward to seeing what and how many teams show up for that one. That will be an out of town weekend trip. Those are always fun.
 
Almost dipped into a frenched beef shank today. It wasn’t overwhelming to think about smoking it, but something left me feeling it’d end up closer to barbacoa than brisket.

I like barbacoa. Just not a couple pounds of it.
 
Matthew said:
Meat and fuel prices were really playing a role in that
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Watch the stores soon, just a guess, but the range land fires in texas are going to be causing a short soon glut on the live cattle market as herds are reduce to make ends meet with trucked in fodder, then a prolonged reduction in the marketed cattle as the herds are built back up. When the price drops fill the deep freeze. (Regionally dependent on how much of a swing the consumer sale price will be, and that’s also directly related to the fuel/trucking cost of trans regional shipping cost).
 
Flatiowa said:
Watch the stores soon, just a guess, but the range land fires in texas are going to be causing a short soon glut on the live cattle market as herds are reduce to make ends meet with trucked in fodder, then a prolonged reduction in the marketed cattle as the herds are built back up. When the price drops fill the deep freeze. (Regionally dependent on how much of a swing the consumer sale price will be, and that’s also directly related to the fuel/trucking cost of trans regional shipping cost).
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One of my cooking team buddies manages the front of a restaurant, and deals with their suppliers. His meat guy usually gives him a 60-90 day price and supply prediction. I’ll need to see what their guesses are. Pork prices are never really too bad but beef can be really high at times.
 
Beef is pretty costly here, but on the other hand most of it comes from here as well so I doubt the fires in Texas are going to affect us much unless there is a market redirection.
 
Corned beef season is right around the corner. Any tips for smoking it?
 
asicer said:
Corned beef season is right around the corner. Any tips for smoking it?
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It’s just a brisket flat, treat it as such. Wash off all that jelly crap, then low and slow. Thin slice it and you have pastrami for years.
 
asicer said:
Corned beef season is right around the corner. Any tips for smoking it?
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Soak it for a while or it will be really salty. Use a rub with a lot of black pepper. Smoke it like any other brisket and expect a lot of shrinkage. Makes a really good “pastrami”-like brisket for sandwiches. I like to get them on sale after St Pat’s.
 
Matthew said:
Soak it for a while or it will be really salty. Use a rub with a lot of black pepper. Smoke it like any other brisket and expect a lot of shrinkage. Makes a really good “pastrami”-like brisket for sandwiches. I like to get them on sale after St Pat’s.
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But as long? I know that when I do crock pot corned beef, more than 4-5 hours on low is overdone and it's dry and crumbly.
 
Sac Arrow said:
But as long? I know that when I do crock pot corned beef, more than 4-5 hours on low is overdone and it's dry and crumbly.
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It probably won't take as long, since it's going to be smaller (usually) than a trimmed brisket flat or point. So go by temp. Smoking a brisket normally goes: smoke until 160-165 internal, add whatever extras you like (brown sugar, honey, additional rub), wrap in foil, continue to cook until 200 internal, pull it and rest. Since corned beef is already seasoned by the brine, start with a good black pepper-based rub and then you really only want to add a little more rub to replace what's run off with the juices while cooking before you wrap. The corned beef that I normally see in the vac-bags is approx 1/4 of a flat or point, so about 2-3 pounds vs maybe 15-20 for a whole. It might shoot right past 165 and reach 190 or more really quickly. I'd figure 4-ish hours total for about a 3 pounder. If you don't have a temp probe you can leave in while cooking, then I'd check the temps after about 2 hrs and every 30 minutes or so after that. You'll get a good idea of progress after a few pokes.

The problem I've had with store-bought corned beef, and that's all I've ever smoked, is they are so saturated with water due to the brine it's been soaking in. A long smoke cook tends to drive a lot of that water out and you end up with a very much shrunken down piece. Wrapping and then resting prevents some of that moisture from being evaporated out.
 
I headed over to the airport this afternoon to do some safety pilot duties. The local BBQ contest, the first of the season in the KC area, is this weekend, and I had drive near the park on the way to the airport. I saw a few teams already heading over to the venue. Part of me wishes I was still competing, but then the rest of me overrules that feeling with extreme prejudice.

I'll be over there Sat morning as a judge. Last year it was so cold the ink pens we use for scoring froze. We should have much better wx this year.
 
A small point today. Meat Church’s The Gospel rub. Will smoke at 225 with mesquite.
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Trimmed, but the bottom has a solid layer of fat.
 
Matthew said:
The problem I've had with store-bought corned beef, and that's all I've ever smoked, is they are so saturated with water due to the brine it's been soaking in. A long smoke cook tends to drive a lot of that water out and you end up with a very much shrunken down piece. Wrapping and then resting prevents some of that moisture from being evaporated out.
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I'm thinking a bold wood is required for meshing in with the brine, something like Hickory or Mesquite. Is that about right? I could see the fruit woods getting lost in the noise.
 
masloki said:
I'm thinking a bold wood is required for meshing in with the brine, something like Hickory or Mesquite. Is that about right? I could see the fruit woods getting lost in the noise.
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I agree. I typically use the apple, cherry, and pecan wood/chips/pellets on pork and chicken, with hickory. We don’t use much mesquite in KC, oak is used a lot in combination with the hickory.
 
First pick looks like a “damn”, second pic looks like a “dayuuum!”
 
I’m judging a contest tomorrow. Really looking forward to it. First KC area contest of the year so a lot of big national names will be here. Contests like this raise everyone’s game.
 
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