Posts Tagged ‘bbq’

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

Pork belly burnt ends on the smoker

Read the rest of this entry »

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

Picanha (sirloin cap) on the cooker

 

Read the rest of this entry »

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

Rubbed leg of lamb ready to go on the smoker

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Tri-tip undergoing its final sear

The tri-tip undergoing its final sear over direct heat just before it comes off the grill.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

Ribs smoking in the Weber Kettle

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Brisket flat cooking on the smoker

Read the rest of this entry »

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

Baby Back Ribs on the smoker

 

Read the rest of this entry »

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

Rubbed Pork Butt ready for smoking

Read the rest of this entry »

Lamb Shoulder with Black Sauce

With predicted temperatures into the high 70’s F today in our bit of Southern California, winter seems to be over so why not get the BBQ out of the shed and fire it up ? If even more of excuse were needed, this weekend is the Superbowl and all across the country people will be firing up grills and smokers and cooking barbecue. Today we will be doing a somewhat less common meat for this country (it is far more popular in my original home country of Britain) and cooking lamb shoulder.

Lamb shoulder after the application of the rub paste

Lamb shoulder after the application of the rub paste

Read the rest of this entry »

Smoked Turkey Breast

Smoked Turkey Breast

For the last day of the year in this first year (well eight months really so far) of starting these adventures in BBQ, we will be finishing the old year and ushering in the new with a Smoked Turkey Breast. Since there is only one of the household eating it, we went with a smaller turkey breast rather than trying to cook a whole bird. The smoked turkey breast will be done Central Texas-style with a simple salt and black pepper rub – the so called Dalmation rub (because its just black and white see…). Read on to see how it turned out.

 

Smoked Turkey grilling on the BBQ Read the rest of this entry »