Sunday, July 6, 2008
Local grillin'
So now that I'm out here, a year later, I finally decided to give a whirl to that California barbeque oddity, tri-tip. This is a cut from the bottom sirloin, usually triangular (surprise.) I've tried it in several places around here and each time have found it lacking... but of course, that's with others cooking it up. Since most of the local barbeque contests involve some kind of tri-tip recipe, I thought I'd give it a whirl.
I got a three-pounder from Ribeye's Market in Brentwood. This was kind of a big cut, and as we all know, big cuts sometimes get tough, but Ribeye's tends to have pretty solid stuff so I figured on going for it. We had about 15 people over and I didn't want to run out.
The cut was pretty lean and didn't need any additional trimming. I applied a homemade rub of brown sugar, dried mustard, chipotle powder, dried onions and a few other select choices. After searing over a direct charcoal fire, the tip was moved to indirect heat and allowed to rest.
One weird thing about this cut: when it sears well, it puffs up quite a bit. This is good since it shows all the retained juices!
After a good amount of time on indirect, I basted with some solid barbeque sauce, allowed it to rest on the indirect some more, then seared in the sauce for about 90 seconds per side back on the direct heat.
Then, we took it off the heat and allowed it to rest on the cutting board for ten minutes or so, to soak in all the juice. Sliced thin and served on pitas with extra sauce and a creamy coleslaw -- it was fantastic!
There was a good variety of doneness levels, too -- the outside was fairly well done while the inside was nicely medium-rare.
I have a few ideas for this cut for the next barbeque contest....
I got a three-pounder from Ribeye's Market in Brentwood. This was kind of a big cut, and as we all know, big cuts sometimes get tough, but Ribeye's tends to have pretty solid stuff so I figured on going for it. We had about 15 people over and I didn't want to run out.
The cut was pretty lean and didn't need any additional trimming. I applied a homemade rub of brown sugar, dried mustard, chipotle powder, dried onions and a few other select choices. After searing over a direct charcoal fire, the tip was moved to indirect heat and allowed to rest.
One weird thing about this cut: when it sears well, it puffs up quite a bit. This is good since it shows all the retained juices!
After a good amount of time on indirect, I basted with some solid barbeque sauce, allowed it to rest on the indirect some more, then seared in the sauce for about 90 seconds per side back on the direct heat.
Then, we took it off the heat and allowed it to rest on the cutting board for ten minutes or so, to soak in all the juice. Sliced thin and served on pitas with extra sauce and a creamy coleslaw -- it was fantastic!
There was a good variety of doneness levels, too -- the outside was fairly well done while the inside was nicely medium-rare.
I have a few ideas for this cut for the next barbeque contest....
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Smokin'!
So... better late than never on this one, eh? Over Memorial Day weekend, I smoked a pair of pork shoulders (also known as Boston butts) on the Weber Bullet smoker in the backyard. This was a 19-hour smoke that started Sunday evening and carried over until about 4pm on Monday afternoon. At no point did the temperature in the Bullet exceed 250... low and slow!
I used almost a full Costco-sized bag of Kingsford (23.6 lbs) and about eight solid chunks of hickory (no chips here!) New lit coals needed to be added about 10am, so one full coal pan of Kingsford lasted about 14 hours from start.
When topped off with some homemade vinegar/mustard Carolina-style barbeque sauce... whoa.
I used almost a full Costco-sized bag of Kingsford (23.6 lbs) and about eight solid chunks of hickory (no chips here!) New lit coals needed to be added about 10am, so one full coal pan of Kingsford lasted about 14 hours from start.
When topped off with some homemade vinegar/mustard Carolina-style barbeque sauce... whoa.
The afternoon before the smoke... the butts are rubbed, covered in yellow mustard, Saran-wrapped and refrigerated
A peek inside... this is where the magic happens! Check out the hickory smoke.
The finished product... the thermometer in there read 199 (maxed out.) One of the strange things to get used to in making pulled pork is that you cook the bejesus out of it... that's what makes it so tender. Compared to the medium-rare steaks I prefer, that's a big adjustment!
Our afternoon at Station 93
This afternoon one of the neighborhood moms organized a tour of the East Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (there's a mouthful) Station 93 in Oakley... and in honor of Uncle Eric's new gig as one of the Mdewankanton Sioux' finest firemen, here are some pics...
What do all these switches do?
Trying to hit the cone...
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