Pork Belly Burnt Ends
Pork Belly Burnt Ends
Today we are going to make a porky version of the brisket classic – burnt ends. These little super tender cubes of deliciousness are some of the best bits of a beef brisket. For this version we are making it from pork belly instead. Read on to see how this new experiment for pork belly burnt ends turned out.
Pork belly burnt ends on the smoker
Picanha (Sirloin Cap)
Picanha (Sirloin cap)
Today we are going to be trying a somewhat different cut of meat than what is normally done smoked on a bbq. This is going to be picanha, or sirloin cap, which you normally find served in Brazilian grills and steakhouses. There it is usually pushed onto a large metal skewer in a “C”-shape and roasted directly over a fire. This lets the thick fat cap render and keep the meat lubricated. This will not work over the lower temperatures used in low and slow bbq cooking. Read on to find out what we did differently to make this cut of beef turn out great.
Picanha (sirloin cap) on the cooker
Tri Tip Reverse Sear
It’s been a while and the original plan to do a long slow cook of Beef Ribs didn’t happen due to having a really busy end of the week and not getting the order in. Plus the idea of getting super early on Sunday to get them going lost appeal. When time is poor, but need for meat is high, time to turn to the speedy standby of Tri Tip by Reverse Sear. See how it came out by reading on.
Tri-tip on the direct heat of the Weber Kettle for its final searing
Smoked Leg of Lamb
Smoked Leg of lamb
Due to work commitments there has been very little BBQ action happening recently as weekends have been spent writing. This finally got done in early June, so the first weekend afterwards it was time to make up for last time and try out something new. Today were are going to try out a smoked leg of lamb. Back in the UK, lamb is much more common than it is in the US but in the UK you don’t get a chance to do BBQ very often (at least not in the dry). So I was keen to try a smoked version of something I don’t get very often and kinda miss. Read on to see how it turned out.
Rubbed leg of lamb ready to go on the smoker
Santa Maria-style Tri-tip (Reverse Sear)
Santa Maria-style Tri-tip
Wow, its been a while hasn’t it… ? A combination of lots of travel, meetings, holidays and other problems has meant that there has been a definite lack of barbecue action (and even what little BBQ action has happened such as the pulled pork I made for the Superbowl has not been written up here). Today we are going to try and rectify this by a cook of Santa Maria style Tri-tip. While I have cooked this before (I’m pretty sure cooking of it is mandated in CA’s overly long Constitution…), I don’t think I’ve recorded the process and I’ve also never been fully happy with how it has turned out (as the state BBQ dish pretty much, it seems important to me to get it right…). So inspired by a different method proposed by Meathead in his amazing book which Miss AdventuresInBBQ got me for Christmas, I decided to give it another go via the method of reverse searing.
The tri-tip undergoing its final sear over direct heat just before it comes off the grill.
Beef Short Ribs with Dalmation Rub
Today we are doing the somewhat badly named Beef Short Ribs. These rib bones are about 6″ long and can be up to 2″ thick and can weigh over a 1 lb each. They also need a long slow cook to get all the fat and connective tissue to melt and soften up and become tasty. Read on to see how they turned out after the long cook.
Ribs smoking in the Weber Kettle
Beef Brisket Flat
Brisket Flat
Today we are doing what many consider the quintessential barbecue cook, beef brisket. Since a whole so-called packer brisket, is a whole heap of meat for one person to be eating, this time we are cooking just the brisket flat (this sits on the bottom of a whole packer brisket under the point muscle and produces the long thin slices that people generally think of when say “brisket”. It is much leaner than the point with a lot less intramuscular fat so it can be hard to stop it drying it out in the long cook). Cook times for briskets can range anywhere from 8 to 16 hours depending of how big it is and how low a temperature it is smoked at. Read on to see how it turned out after this long cook.
Pork Rib (Baby back ribs, dry Memphis style)
Pork Baby back ribs (dry rub Memphis style)
Today we are doing pork ribs in the dry rub/Memphis style. Traditionally this uses St.-Louis cut spare ribs but since these seem to be rarer than hen’s teeth (which don’t make good barbecue…) in these parts, we are attempting it with the smaller baby back ribs instead. Read on to see how they turned out.
Baby Back Ribs on the smoker
Pulled Pork/Pork Butt
Pulled Pork from Pork Butt
Today we are doing Pulled Pork made from a long, slow smoked Pork Butt (which is not from the back of the pig but from the shoulder for…reasons…)
Rubbed Pork Butt ready for smoking
Pork Ribs (St. Louis Cut)
Today we are trying a classic staple of barbecue which is found all over in one form or another; pork ribs. Although I have done pork ribs several times before in the pre-Adventures in BBQ days, these have all been baby back ribs. In best scientific tradition, I thought I would try the other popular cut of pork spare ribs, the so-called St. Louis cut. These are the side ribs of the pig but come from further down the ribs than the baby backs, which as the name suggests, come from up near the back(bone). It should come as no surprise that Meathead Goldwyn has much more detail on the different pork cuts over at his (very appropriately named) Amazing Ribs site. Read on for more details of the cook and to see how they turned out.
Rack of pork ribs cooking on the Weber kettle