Sunday, June 30, 2013

Pot Roast on the EGG

I decided to try to make a household favorite on the EGG as an experiment. The results were good, but I have some ideas on how to make it better next time.



For the vegetables, start with 2 large yellow onions chopped.


1 pound carrots, I used pre-cut crinkles


3 pounds red potatoes quartered


1 small can beef broth


I used a 3 pound Beef Chuck Tender Roast, next time I will use a regular Chuck Roast, for the extra moisture.


 The rub was 2 tablespoons kosher salt, 1 tablespoon ground black pepper, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, and 2 teaspoons onion powder.


These spacers are a way to keep the foil pan from getting direct heat from the firebox.




Foil pan goes on a pizza stone on level 1.5 of the Adjustable Rig.



The Roast goes on the top rack of the Adjustable Rig. 


It took 6.5 hours at 300 degrees, internal temp on the roast was 195 degrees. I will plan for a longer cook at 275 next time.




Monday, June 10, 2013

Cornish Game Hens with "Board Sauce"

Tonight's dinner was a couple of Cornish Game Hens, spatchcock style. I wanted to try something I saw in a magazine recently, making a simple sauce for roasted meat, right on a cutting board. It came out great, I will definitely use this sauce again!



To Spatchcock the bird, cut out the backbone with kitchen shears, and break the keel bone with a chef's knife, the bird should lay out flat. the rub for this cook was Weber Roasted Garlic and Herb.



The birds were cooked on the Big Green EGG, raised direct, 375 degrees for 45 minutes. I had one small chunk of Cherry Wood for smoke flavor.



Now, for the magic, the "Board Sauce" The idea is some herbs, some garlic, some salt, some acid, and some oil. I used cilantro, lime juice, and olive oil. Mince the herbs, garlic and some kosher salt, and a clove of garlic.




Add the juice of half a lime and some olive oil.



Sometimes the simple things really are the best.



Monday, June 3, 2013

Sauce Review: Sweet Baby Rays Cola-Q


It pays to be neighborly, I gave my neighbor a pound of pulled pork last week, and he gave me a bottle of this new barbecue sauce to try. I normally look past sauces that have High Fructose Corn Syrup, so I wouldn't have tried this on my own. The cola flavor is prominent in this sweet sauce, it paired really well with my overly spicy baby back ribs. I have made sauce recipes with Root Beer before, and I think I like this better. I plan to try to reduce some Coca Cola and try to replicate this sauce, and I'll probably pick up some more of this when I run out.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Baby Back Ribs and a Fatty on the Big Green Egg

Smoked some Ribs on the EGG.


  

3 Racks of Baby Back Ribs from Sam's Club, membranes peeled.


 Had a Fatty in the freezer, and room on the grid, so I decided to throw that on too. If you're not familiar with the Fatty, it's a smoked roll of breakfast sausage, this one is the jumbo size Jimmy Dean from Sam's Club. The Fatty is easiest to handle when it's frozen solid, cut the wrapper while it's still frozen, unless you plan to stuff it, and roll it back up.


 I picked up some Peach wood chunks on a recent trip to South Carolina.


 I used 3 small chunks for this cook.


Adjustable Rig set up, 14" stone on level 1.5 slide guide on level 4.5, rig extender and 2 oval grids 


 I used Magic Dust from "Peace, Love, and Barbecue" by Mike Mills as the rub for this cook. The recipe is in my Google Docs recipe folder. After tasting I think I was a little heavy handed with the rub, and will use less next time.


Every hour I spray the ribs with a mixture of 80% Apple Juice, and 20% Cider Vinegar.


Ribs going on the EGG.


Temperature target is between 250 and 275 degrees.
 

After The first hour.


At the 2 hour mark I rotated the grids top to bottom.




Pulled the Fatty after 4 hours, internal temp was 180 degrees. These are really good on some biscuits!




The smallest of the 3 racks came off at 5 hours, the other 2 at 6 hours. test for tenderness by using the bend test, grab a rack with the your tongs, right at the middle, the rack should bend, almost 90 degrees. You can also poke with a toothpick, it shouldn't have any resistance.You should also see some pull back on the bones.


 I mixed up some Sonny's Sweet barbecue sauce with some apple juice for a glaze.