zEli173

In the end I decided to go back for Day 2 rather than sell my pass. Glad I did. On Day 1 I had, in order: Moonlight Mutton -- I was a fan, not amazing but pretty tasty, although a little heavy handed on (I think) garlic powder. I like lamb, I like mutton too. My gripe: Before I got my sandwich I grabbed a sample hunk cut straight from the hind quarter, and this was a whole lot more interesting than the finely minced mixture they use for the sandwich. Bob Gibson's Pork Shoulder -- Usually among my favorites, but this year it was cold and pretty pedestrian. Martin's Whole Hog -- Last they were a very happy surprise for me, maybe the best thing I had. This year confirmed that Martin's is my new favorite vendor at the festival. I love their pork, it's tender and flavorful. Their sauce is terrific, and the slaw brings it all together. Pappy's St. Louis Ribs -- Decent, not great. Some smoke, but not enough. Not really succulent. Over-salted. A belly ache. On Day 2 I had, in order: Jack's Old South Brisket -- A nice showing. Moist and flavorful. Here's where I really agree with Fat Guy because although this was a good plate of brisket, it doesn't touch Hill Country. Blue Smoke Beef Ribs -- Again I agree with Fat Guy. These were very good beef ribs, although I was let down that the serving was a few bony pieces instead of one meaty piece. I struggled to find enough to meat. big ups to the pickled okra and assorted other pickled pieces. Dipping the beef in the pickle juice was a strong play. The Pit Whole Hog -- Still love this pork, it's just been surpassed for me by Martins.

A $25 increase in price but no increase in food credit. AFAIK in the past you always got food credit that was equivalent to the cost of the pass, now there is $25 surcharge for access to the express line. I'm still going to do it because there is no other way to manage the wait times, but if this time I am paying a sum that is directly attributable to the express line they should be making sure it is truly express. Mambwe, you can always pay cash once you run out of Fastpass credits so why not buy just two and hand the passes around to get everyone through the line. Seems better than spending another $125 for only $100 more worth of food.

Well, I served my brisket on Friday and it was great. Meat was perfectly pink throughout and I got an awesome sear in a blazing hot cast iron skillet. There were recommendations to drop the temp to the 131 range but I wanted pink rather than red for this meal so I'm glad I kept it a few degrees higher; my meat was not at all gray. I Like others have said, the result is something very reminiscent of a roast, rib roast imo. I made a red wine reduction sauce with lots of onions but I thought it was a bit overpowering. Better was simply the slightly reduced cooking juices. There really is very little fat that melts away so I had to spend some time trimming after the meat came out of the bag. I asked for this brisket well trimmed, but on my second go around I will ask the butcher to trim of the maximum possible amount of fat (this flat had very good marbling). I messed around with the blow torch on some leftovers and that was good too. My process: Seasoned with salt, brown sugar, mustard see and put some bay leaf and whole peppercorns in the bag. SV at 134 for 48 hours. Brown in blazing hot skillet.

I would love to get a result similar to the Momofuku short ribs pictured above from post 1968. A few posts down from 1968 it was written that these were browned via deep fry and speculated that they were sous vided at 135. I'm not intending to deep fry but this is what I have in mind and I think cast iron will get me a similar brown, I might add a touch of sugar to help carmelization. Robert, in post 2571 you reported your brisket done at 135 was on the rare side of medium rare, you also raved about the results. I gather you've found through experimentation that you like it even rarer and have therefore shifted to 131.5. I'd say what I'm chasing after is more medium rare - medium. Care to comment on that? Also, still looking for reinforcement on whether I want the brisket well trimmed or not.

I'm planning to do a brisket next week and would appreciate feedback on my plan, which has been mostly pieced together from other posts in the thread and Douglas Baldwin's page. 1. Going with either a whole brisket or just the point if I can find it. Definitely prime, maybe wagyu. Should I have the brisket well trimmed or just lightly trimmed? I've seen arguments that lightly trimmed is best, even for SV, to avoid a dry point. But AFAIK the fat will soften but not melt at 135, so others suggest having the brisket well trimmed. 2. Considering a brine per Douglas Baldwin's suggestion, but because I have a small kitchen I'd prefer to skip this step. Would like opinions here. 3. Considering a preliminary browning. Do others feel this adds significant depth of flavor? 4. Sous Vide for 48 hours at 135 degrees, to be finished a day or two before serving. I'll chill down afterward. 5. On dinner night, I need to bring the brisket up to temperature but will be without my SV equipment. Thinking I'll can deal just fine with simmering water at about 110 degrees as measured by a digital thermometer. 6. Pre-service browning. Could do either blow torch or skillet. I'd like a nice hard sear for a nice crusty edge and don't mind a small ring of well cooked meat so leaning towards a skillet browning but I do want the bulk of the meat to have some pinkness (I'd prefer to not trot out strange techniques like blowtorching in front of some squeamish guests).

Yesterday was a bit of a disappointing day at the BABBP. That isn't to say I didn't have a good afternoon, but there were some definite bumps. The highlight of my day was Martin's whole hog. The meat itself was fantastic and nicely seasoned. And the sandwich with rather 'raw' coleslaw and terrific tangy thin sauce was greater than the sum of its parts. I'll usually eat the meat with a fork to save stomach space but the sandwich was such a well rounded affair that I couldn't help myself. This is up there with Ed Mitchell and Bob Gibson's as my favorites of the festival. I'm so pleased Martin's has been added to this years event and I'm hoping they'll become a regular. If you missed them yesterday, I recommend you make it a priority today. I also got to Jim 'n Nick's for their smoked pork sausage. They kept running out of food and stalling the line, so this was a bit of a chore. I like most any sausage, and this was no exception, but I was underwhelmed. It is nothing special. The pimento cheese with saltines is kind of worthless imo (although I'd like to see more vendors get away from beans or slaw). Baker's ribs was also very lackluster. The meat was tough and didn't have good smoke flavor. The serving size, three quite modest ribs, would have left something to be desired if the product itself was desirable. Baker's ribs has been a consistent let down at the event. IIRC they started out serving brisket a few years back and now have switched to ribs. Neither has been worthwhile. I hope they'll be asked to step aside next year. I hit Bob Gibson's which was great as always. Salt Lick was, from what I heard and gathered, completely out of food by 3:00. Running out of food only half-way through the day is pretty bad. I had spent a few minutes in a very long line and then aborted with the expectation of coming back when things died down a bit. Fast pass lines were worse than I've experienced the last two years. They ranged from just ten minutes for Bob Gibson's to what was probably an hour for Salt Lick, with something on the order of half an hour for the others I waited on. But I was there at much more peak times than '07 and '08 so it's not right to compare. I'm disappointed that I still have never had a great pork rib at the BABBP. I've never liked Mike Mills's ribs (I know others love them) although I do like his beans. Baker's I've already vented about. Blue Smoke is not so impressive (I wish they'd bring back the chicken from two years ago that I passed on but heard great reports about -- there is so much pork at the festival I think they could use a vendor doing great chicken and they should definitely have one vendor doing something exotic like mutton as mentioned up thread). I do really like Rack 'n Soul; they make a tasty baby back rib that it great for what it it, but it's not the 'real' bbq rib I am wanting for. I'm hopeful that Pappy's will put my gripe to bed when I get there today. I'm also let down that the organizers have still not added a representative from Kansas City. That's always been a big hole in the lineup. Today I will get to Ed Mitchell with one of my first (and maybe last) stops and will make sure to get to Salt Lick before the line builds too much. I'll also be sure sure to try Pappy's in my search for good ribs. I'm excited to eat at some of the NYC places -- Hill Country (which I eat at often anyway and which has better brisket than Salt Lick), Dinosaur (which I overlook each year but never actually get to in Harlem), and Rack 'n Soul. I'm going back to Martin's too!

I mean ... I don't need an immersion circulator to get 80 degrees Fahrenheit in June. Thanks for pointing me to the Dec. 15 posts, they are helpful. Seems like 80 degrees is a lot higher than what anyone else has experimented with. I'd like an end result that has a melt in your mouth succulent quality but after a slight chew. It should hold together, rather than pulling apart, when you slice with a knife or pierce with a fork. Pink on the inside like the brisket from post 2298 or as mentioned/seen elsewhere with short ribs would be a bonus.

I am thinking about picking up some wagyu beef cheeks from Japan Premium Beef for sous-vide. The Japanese butcher actually suggested a sous-vide method without solicitation, he recommended 80 degrees for five hours with a sear before and after. Does that sound like a good starting point or should I go a bit longer?

Although the food is a central reason we decided to take our honeymoon in Italy, I've been delinquent in planning our meals. We leave this Tuesday the 28th so time is of the essence. I do have a few good recs for Rome, but always happy to hear more. The other destinations are an open book. Give me your best ideas from grand dining to hidden countryside gems to street fare. In addition to restaurants themselves I'm also looking for suggestions on particular dishes or food items I should seek out and where to do it, wine experiences, in home dining, and cooking schools.

I've seen that episode with the cochinita pibil. Looks damn good. Well, I don't actually have a stovetop smoker but I figure it's not hard to rig something up with some foil and a rack or two.

One afternoon last week I landed at the butcher without a plan for dinner. I looked through his meat case and decided I would take home a partial slab of pork spare ribs and try my hand at them in the sous vide set up for the first time. This was a full spare rib cut with the rib tips attached, but I had the butcher trim off the tips to turn it into a St. Louis cut with the tips separate. By the time I got home I only had a few hours before dinner and consulting cameo chef's table in post #2237 I saw that I didn't have nearly enough time to cook as recommended. I expected this but pushed on anyway. I divided into three portions: Four bones with a single tip; four more bones; and the remaining tips. I gave each portion a generous sprinkling of bbq rub, set the bath for 178 degrees, and let them go for about 3.5 hours. At the end of that time I took out the bag with the single tip, drained off the liquid, patted dry, applied more rub and put them under the broiler. I broiled on each side for less than five minutes. Then I basted the ribs with bbq sauce and put them back under the broiler for a few minutes on each side. Results were right about what I expected, which was to say pretty darn good. The meat had tenderized a good amount, there was no amount of unwelcome chew. A little more tender and they'd be in what I'd consider a sweet spot if I were having true barbecued ribs. The fat melted part way, I prefer a little more fat melting, but this was acceptable. The double broiling finishing method left me with both a crispy, flavorful meat exterior and a sticky caramelized sauce layer. I left the other two portion in the water at 178 for the next couple hours, then I turned the temp down to 170 for the overnight. When all was said and done they had 6-7 hours at 178 and anther ten hours at 170. When finished I cooled them rapidly and stuck them in the fridge. Earlier this week I had the second portion of ribs, finished the same way. The results here were truly outstanding. The fat melted pretty thoroughly but still just a perfect amount was left behind. The meat was super tender, falling off the bone, but no trace of mush. Ideally I'd have the meat just slightly less tender so it clings to the bone but comes off with little resistance. And again, the finishing method worked great. Tonight I had the rib tips. These were still good, but not up to par with either batch of ribs. That's probably because ribs tips just aren't as good as the ribs themselves, but next time I might go a little less time with this cut to see if the results improve. All in all a very successful experiment. I am really looking forward to next time and trying some flavor ideas beyond just bbq. However, I'm by no means abandoning bbq -- has anyone tried giving pork a pre-sous vide smoke in a table top smoker box.

What do the notes for the vegetables mean?

Found a long lost bone in strip steak in my freezer and decided to turn it into my first sous vide steak. The beef was dry aged, prime. After defrosting I hit is with salt, pepper, and a bit of frozen olive oil. Cooked it about fifty minutes at 57.7 degrees then seared a single side in a roaring skillet for about 40 seconds. I flipped it over for just a few more seconds because the gray sous vide exterior is so unappetizing. Finished with some more fleur de sel and very good olive oil. Results were phenomenal.

After setting aside my foray into sous vide for a few months, I am back at it with my second attempt at duck "confit". I had to toss out my first attempt because my circulator shut off overnight and I had no way of knowing how long the food had been below safe temperature. But I rigged a new setup which has solved my evaporation problems of the past. I didn't do a salt cure, so this is not strictly a confit (I usually find traditional confit overwhelmingly salty). The legs are being cooked with a good amount of salt, some rosemary, a few juniper berries, and a couple tablespoons of duck fat I had been saving. The duck has been at 180 degrees for almost 18 hours and I plan to go for a full 24. Although the standard thread recipe for duck confit is 8-12 hours I'm game to try longer. I plan to sear the skin in a non-stick pan and serve with boiled potatoes and a frisee salad. But I'd love to hear other suggestions. I do have one question which is only semi-sous vide related. Is it OK for me to keep leftover duck fat? And if so, what is the best way to store it and for how long? I'm thinking I will harden the fat in the fridge and then vacuum seal it.

All this talk yesterday gave me a craving so I went over to Nicky's to give them a try for the first time. I've bean meaning for a long, long time to mix Nicky's into the rotation but this was the first time I followed through. This was also the first time I followed through on another promise I kept making myself; that I would try a sardine sandwich. Since I've never had sardine anywhere else, comparisons aren't worth much, but I was generally pretty happy. My impressions are in line with all the other comments. A little more money, a little less food, a little less traditional seeming, solid solid sandwich. It was still plenty to eat, so I wasn't upset about the size. The sardine is obviously very different from any porky fillings, but it was yummy. My one gripe is that I was wanting the sandwich to have a little more garnish to balance out the protein, but I liked the slightly thicker julienne on the pickled carrots.

Yeah I was going to say, the place on Broome has not been the same since it changed hands last year. It used to be my favorite, but no more. Not bad, but not as good somehow, starting with the bread. Prices went up too. I don't particularly care for 138 Mott (that's the one in the back of the Jewelery store, right?). The bread is too heavy and puts up too much of a fight. My new favorite is Paris Sandwich, a little further down Mott St at 113. I've only been once, but my impression was that the bread was very good and overall the sandwich was well put together. It also helps that they have a relatively wide variety of proteins, a good selection of other treats, and a plenty of room to sit inside.

Day Two: Hill Country was outstanding. Pretty much exactly like what they serve at the restaurant, which is outstanding. My Dad was in town and I really wanted him to try HC. He was pretty blown away. Bakers Ribs was very, very good. Spare ribs had a terrific crispy bark surrounding luscious meat. The simple salt and pepper rub worked perfectly. Also loved their sauce which had good heat as well as the peppery slaw. One of my favorites this year. Mr. Cecils was bad. I liked the asian style flavors on the beef ribs, but the texture was more akin to braised meat than barbecued. The Cajun hot link was also not to my liking, the interior has a mushy texture and the exterior had no snap. I'm not that familiar with Cajun hot links, maybe that's how they're supposed to be, but I didn't care for it. I thought I'd at least dig the cucumber and pickled tomato salad, but it was way too oily. I'll be hoping someone takes their place next year. Ubons was very solid. Dad wanted a pulled pork sandwich so I tired hard to steer him to Gibson's. But after walking by the Ubons' pit master as he was dissecting a butt, my father had his mind made up. It was fine by me since I had a go at Bob Gibson yesterday, but I was sad in inside for my Dad. Ubons is not as good as Gibson, but they do make a very fine pulled pork. I really enjoyed this plate. Blue Smoke was alright. Some bites were better than others, but even at it's best they don't get the texture results that Baker's does. Their spice rub is a little assertive for my taste. Pickled okra was pretty damn good. Salt lick was its usual self. I like it more than most on this board. We did a straight plate of sausage since I've been routinely disappointed by the brisket. It was good, but after a year of eating Kreitz's sausage at HC my taste has veered in that direction. Finally, we got some to go orders from Rack and Soul for my sis. She likes the sweet stuff. I was stuffed, but I threw down one rib for posterity. The style is all out sweet and sticky, and they do a very good job with it. I really wanted to try Wilsons and the Checkered Pig today, but I filled up on too many local vendors at my Dad's urging. That's OK because the NYC vendors aren't local to him so I was glad he got to try them, but I'll be kicking myself at some point this winter. My top four for 2008: 1. Hill Country (I tried hard to deny this because I can have it any day of the year, but the fact is they served the most delicious plate of food). 2. The Pit. 3. Bob Gibsons 4. Bakers Ribs.

Wait, did anyone try Baker's Ribs? They look good in Kathryn's photos. It's about time one of the out of town vendors did spare ribs. Only had time for two stops today so I did a hit and run on Bob Gibsons and The Pit. Both were great as in the past and as has been reported here already. I don't really like the Pit's slaw (onions), but whatever. I'm definitely going to make a run at Baker's and Blue Smoke tomorrow. Fat guy has convinced me on the latter one. I'm still sad I skipped the chicken they were doing last year.

I'm going give some differing advice. First, last year the wait at Ed Mitchell's was little to none. At least I can say that was the case in the fast pass at the times when I was there (which was both days during peak hours). That hadn't been true in past years, but it was my experience during quite a few visits I made last year. Ed Mitchell is my favorite of the pit masters. Next, I really disagree about Mike Mills. I do not understand the love. I've tried his ribs three different years and I've always found them mushy and salty. His beans, however, are sensational. Chris Lilly is number two on my list. His pulled pork is pretty sensational. Salt Lick is my definite number three. If Southside were coming back I'd call it a toss up between these two. Seems like the majority of EG'ers prefer Southside to Salt Lick, but I think they are equal (although different). In the past I was much more excited about Southside and Salt Lick, but now that we have Hill Country 365 days a year it is less of a special occasion. I've had much better brisket at Hill Country than I've ever gotten from Salt Lick or Southside. And yes, I've tried asking for the deckle. I'm excited to try the guy from LA. I have a good feeling about him. I'm curious about the dude from CT. I think this is the guy that the Sterns once put in their top 10 BBQ places in the country (a claim I'm very skeptical of). ------- Finally, is it my imagination, or have prices gone up this year? I thought BBQ plates used to be $6.

So the intent is to leave 30-35% percent of the fat solid? I guess that seems about right.

I don't have an answer, but I'm wondering whether you're using the whole brisket, just the flat, or just the deckle. Do you know what the French Laundry uses?

probably not but why risk it? ← Because I was really looking forward to my duck confit Seriously though, I guess the important question is whether spoilage will be obvious (e.g. a rancid smell) or it won't be apparent until some unfortunate time after I eat.

I put my duck legs in late last night at 82 degrees (180 F) and when I woke up this morning I discovered that my circulator had shut off overnight. I covered loosely with foil, but I guess a lot of water evaporated. By the time I found it, the water temp was down to 37 degree. Is the meat ruined by the risk of spoilage or is it ok for me to just resume the cooking process?

I get to participate for real too now. I've done a few quick cooking items sealed in my food saver and monitored with a candy thermometer. But I finally got myself an immersion circulator so now I can join in on long cooking with precision control. I've been searching eBay for a deal on an immersion circulator since January, and earlier this month I found a Haake DC1 that I won for just over $100. I've quickly discovered that with this unit you need a fairly deep vessel to avoid spilling water everywhere. I don't have anything deep enough on it' own, but I rigged some aluminum foil around the interior of my 8-quart stock pot and it did the trick. Does anyone have a recommendation for a large cooking vessel that doesn't take up much space when stored? I'm in a small NYC apartment. One thing I like about the Haake circulator is that it basically stands up on its own. To make sure it didn't tip over I fastened it the the handle of the pot with some rubber bands, but it was fairly stable without it. I suppose I should buy myself a clamp to make sure the electronics never fall into the water. I also like the digital control, but I'm not sure what all the buttons do. Nathan, are you familiar with all the functions and buttons on this unit? Anyway, like Chris, my first trial was with Duck breast. I did two of them last night at 55.2 degrees for just over three hours. Then I put them in a pan to brown and render the skin side. I started them in the pan on a medium low heat and gradually moved the heat up to medium high for the last two minutes. The browning process had a minimal impact on the temperature of the meet. I served them with poblano peppers stuffed and roasted with rice, shallots, currants, and a little bit of chopped olives. Everything was finished with a 'vinaigrette' of wine wine vinegar, port, a splash of white wine, some of the rendered fat, and peppercorns. Overall, the dish came out pretty well. However, I'm not convinced the sous vide process did much to enhance the meat. I think I could have gotten similar results doing the whole thing in a pan. Next time I might go at a slightly lower temperature (maybe 54.5) as I'd like it slightly more rare. But I was also hoping for the meat the come out a little more tender and I'm not sure how to help that. Next up are the legs from said duck which are ready for a long confit.

Yep, the chef's blog says Spring is all booked up in April. But it looks hot. Grr ... should have started my research earlier. I'll look into La Bigarrade!