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&roid

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Posts posted by &roid

  1. Beef cheeks are one of my favourite cuts and would make a great peposo. They make for a nice neat presentation too with a lot less waste than short ribs (when properly trimmed). 

     

    The main thing to bear in mind with them is that they need a lot of cooking to make sure you render out all the collagen. You want them to be fully probe tender before serving. Once you get to that point, reducing some of the cooking liquid and glazing them up is great. 

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  2. This sounds like a fun trip
     

    Lasagne is a go to of ours for feeding groups, super easy to make the ragu ahead of time, even assemble the whole thing. then you’re only half an hour away from eating. 
     

    Curry would be another - maybe a meat dish and a chickpea one with a salad. Very easy to scale up. 
     

    Last suggestion would be a slow roast lamb shoulder or two. 5-6 hours of unattended cooking will make the backbone of a great meal. 

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  3. We’ll be staying in soho but will be in most places south of the park during our stay. 
     

    I love Neapolitan and New York style pizzas so if there are any truly great options there I’d be delighted. Also any great Detroit style options we should look at for a bit of variety?

  4. On 2/20/2024 at 6:20 PM, dcarch said:

    So, adding batteries to kitchen appliances to tie into the grid? good luck finding a repair person if some thing goes wrong.


    I know what you mean but I’m sure there were plenty of horsemen and coach drivers who said similar about internal combustion engines, “pah! These new fangled cars will never take off. Who would even fix them!”

     

    it feels almost inevitable that we’ll all have cheap, scalable power storage in our homes.


    Whether these guys and this idea works out, who knows. But a current lack of repairmen isn’t the issue. 

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  5. You can but catering packs like this, they don’t work out much cheaper (if at all) than regular supermarket 280g packs but less waste

     

    https://www.marcoalimentari.com/online-store/PHILADELPHIA-CREAM-CHEESE-1-65kg-p131478726?gclid=CjwKCAiA75itBhA6EiwAkho9eyd58RLmnVtgs5nsGZVq5CqZiKGSjDSPcGf-gM5f5x2biNmm1s3eZxoCsfIQAvD_BwE

     

    Costco might well sell larger amounts, will have a look next time I’m in there 

  6. Farro is great. Makes a brilliant filling for a nice squash like a delicata. Cook the grains first with some stock and aromatic veg then stuff the squash and roast - I like it topped with cheese such as talleggio or a soft blue. 

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  7. 34 minutes ago, scott123 said:

    Two words. Peking Duck. The lower temp drying process they do for Peking Duck is, imo, the secret to super crispy and tender poultry skin with meat that hasn't been overcooked.

    My process is always evolving (and probably always will), but right now, I'm closest to the approach @Dave the Cook uses.  I start the wings in the oven at about 200 and then cycle the oven on and off for about an hour, making sure the internal wing temp stays below 135. Obviously, since the wings start at fridge temp, I can give them more heat at the beginning than the end. It's effectively a dry sous vide.  I use an infrared thermometer and make sure the outside doesn't exceed about 140.  The oven is typically off way more than it's on. It's a similar approach to the one I use to proof dough, but a bit warmer. If you make wings enough times, and stick to about the same quantity, you can dial in the drying process so it doesn't require constant attention.

     

    After that I'll either deep fry them or bake them in a 500 degree oven.

     

    This gives me the crispness that I'm looking for, but, the skin likes to stick to the bone joints, which I'd like to avoid. I also get slightly different results between the wingettes and the drumettes, so I might end up cooking them separately for the final cook.

    I've done 200 degree oil for 1 hour, and those were very similar, but, because the wings released so much of their juices, you have to toss the oil on the first 200 degree cook and start with fresh oil for the final fry.  Once you've dialed in the process, an oven achieves the first cook exponentially easier and without the cost of the oil.


    Interesting @scott123, I’ve often done the confit method so would like to give this dry process a go. 
     

    I’ve got a combustion inc thermometer, am thinking if I can find a reliable enough way of inserting it into a wing I can recreate this process. Might be stretching it a bit with the size of a chicken wing but will give it a go next time. 
     

    For those unfamiliar with the CPT, it gives a really accurate of view of internal, surface and ambient temps using eight different sensors in a single probe. 

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  8. So many variables at play here. will try and give some thoughts on my experience so far. 
     

    I’ve had a kamado joe big joe for years now. They are truly great bits of kit. Versatile, very well made and can turn out brilliant food. Buy a fan controller like a ThermoWorks billows or a fireboard and you can keep smoking temperatures for 12+ hours with ease. 
     

    I’ve recently joined @rotuts pellet grill club, bought a Yoder 640s on eBay a month or so ago. They are amazing cookers and have a few big pluses over charcoal options - the ease of use, consistency and capacity are impossible to match with a kamado. I recently did a summer party for forty people and it was a doddle - two whole pork butts, a packer brisket and a plate of beef ribs, all at the same time with no drama. 
     

    The Yoder has the ability to do direct heat cooking but don’t let anyone tell you it’s as good as charcoal. If this type of cooking is more important to you, and you only have space for one device I’d have to go with a kamado. But if you’re more about smoking and want to turn out bigger quantities a pellet grill would be perfect. 
     

    Either way, buy the biggest and best you can possibly get - a Yoder is more expensive than a traeger but is 100% worth the difference. I’d happily get a used 640 over a brand new traeger, you’ll never be replacing it. 
     

    As to your question about adding pellets to a charcoal cooker, you can, but I’m not sure you would. Chunks of actual wood are the way to go here, you want different flavour, you add different wood. 
     

    Ultimately, there isn’t a single right answer to this question- Tell us a bit more about what you want to use it for and I’m sure we can help you spend some money!

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  9. What a great day - everyone loves the Yoder! By far the best food I’ve turned out at this event. 
     

    The pork butts were really good - made me realise how little difference the rub actually makes though, they were practically identical despite having very different ribs pre-cooking. 
     

    Brisket was okay - great flavour but had dried up a little on the bottom. I’d done it on the bottom rack so I think it was a little close to the deflector plate. Not sure how to deal with this in future if doing a fully loaded cook?

     

    The absolute star of the show though were the beef ribs. They were also done on the bottom rack but the bones protected the meat perfectly. These were a bit of a last minute addition and had the simplest of rubs (just salt and pepper), but they were astonishingly good. Juicy, subtly smoky and so so tasty. 
     

    The Yoder was the real star though, being able to cook this much food with such ease is amazing. I’m so glad it’s previous owner decided he needed space for that pizza oven!

     

     

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  10. Got a decent sleep and all looking good this morning. 
     

    pulled the ribs at around 530-6 as they were fully done. Wrapped in butcher paper and relaxing in a 140 oven while everything else finishes up. 
     

    pork butt 1 and brisket also finished now after a couple of hours wrapped so they’re resting too

     

    Just the final butt to do now, he’s still unwrapped as the bark needs a bit more work. Probably another hour or two I think. 
     

    What’s really interesting to me is how much difference there is between 200 and 225. I kind of knew there wasn’t a linear relationship of time to temp but the difference is stark - my brisket cooks at 200 have taken 20+ hours (including ramping the temp towards the end), this one was done in just over 12. 
     

    Pork butt 1:

    IMG_1163.thumb.jpeg.31e369a2b4fe0b6d5c9120450e0fc831.jpeg

     

     

     

    beef ribs:

    IMG_1157.thumb.jpeg.9f77a76c25d50b554d5915a4f43268af.jpeg

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  11. 2 hours ago, rotuts said:

    fantastic.   would you identify the pieces of meat


    so we have two whole butts, a plate of beef ribs (top middle of first pic) and a whole brisket (top left, first pic). Second pic is the brisket and third is the ribs. 
     

    2 hours ago, rotuts said:

    I'd love to know more cookng details

     

    Initial temp of the Yoder   temps you aim to,  then wrap 

     

    different timings , then the final unwrapping.


    The Yoder is set to 225, started at 7pm with a plan to wrap each piece when it gets to 175. So far (four hours in) the ribs seem to be flying so they might end up not being wrapped (ie I don’t want to get up at 3am!). 
     

    When each gets to final done point (200-205) they’ll be pulled off and snuggled in a blanket to rest. Once the last piece is done I’ll drop the Yoder to 150 and they can all rest in there till we’re ready to eat.
     

    Big gamble here as I’ve never tried it exactly like this before but we’ll see.

     

    Only two issues I foresee: 1 - something is fully done while I’m asleep and 2 - something takes forever and I keep people waiting. Will report back what happens!

     

    The beef will be wrapped in butcher paper, the pork will go into a foil tray with a bit of liquid. 
     

    Christmas Eve has nothing on this! 😂 

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  12. The “raw” meat pics were last night, everything got a dry rub and overnight uncovered in the fridge. 
     

    scale is a little difficult on pictures but this is a LOT of meat!

     

    Let’s see how it goes 😊

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  13. So… big weekend coming up. We’ve got about 35 people coming for our annual “summer” bbq. Quotation marks as the weather forecast is pretty abysmal - rain, maybe some lightning, plenty of wind… never mind, we’ll have fun. The house might suffer a bit more than normal but it’s all cleanable!

     

    On the menu we have, two whole pork butts (11lb each), a plate of beef ribs (about 7lb) and a whole grain-fed brisket (11-12lb).
     

    The Yoder is going to earn its keep here! They’re all going on overnight and will get wrapped as each hits the right point then pulled to rest once they get done. When they’re all done the Yoder will go down to 150 and they’ll rest until we’re ready to eat - hopefully just before I’ve had one too many cocktails. 
     

    Wish me luck!

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  14. 11 minutes ago, rotuts said:

    @&roid

     

    make sure you notice that the 150 is in F  , not C 

     

    a similar method is a top like cooler

     

    Yeti is one

     

    https://www.yeti.com/coolers

     

    but expensive.    change the hot water , in bottles 

     

    fromtime to time if necessary 

     

    at some point  , ' tenderness '  may be over tender 


    Yep could be disastrous mixing those units up here!

     

    It’s ok though, I’ve got a fancy pants Miele oven that will happily hold anything from 50°C upwards (122F) so should be good to go with minimal fuss. 
     

    I note the Yoder will go to 150 too but not sure how stable it is at those temps? Guess if the meat is wrapped there’s little point in wasting pellets over 18h if my oven will do the job. 

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  15. 3 hours ago, FeChef said:

    If you want the most amazing Brisket, smoke to 190F IT then wrap in BP with some butter and beef tallow, then foil, and place in a SV cooler just above the water line and set it to 150F for 15-18 hours. Best brisket you will ever have.

    This guy knows whats up.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RlnrqM7Kis

     


    Interesting idea! those briskets look delicious. My oven can hold 150 really solidly so I’m guessing resting in that would be the same… might give this a try. 

  16. On 7/1/2023 at 9:50 PM, lindag said:

    I just saw this one.

    In case you're still lookiing.


    I bought one of these a month or two ago and have been really pleased with it. Hard clear ice, proper cube shapes and it can really churn it out when you get in a rhythm with it. 
     

    It’s a little fiddly to clean but the drain at the back definitely helps a lot. Would definitely buy again - with the hot weather we’ve had lately it’s saved us a fortune in store bought ice already. 

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  17. Thanks @rotuts, I’ll have a dig into those videos. 
     

    I got the brisket from an online butcher that specialises in American bbq cuts, their brisket actually comes from a Spanish producer who does lovely grain fed meat. I’d have had no chance doing this with British beef! 

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  18. For a first stab that was some really good brisket 😋 

     

    Will definitely go a little hotter next time, I tried to do 200F all the way on this and it took an age! 22 hours in the pit at the end! But it was a lovely piece of meat. And a great smoke flavour, just the right level for me. 
     

    We have a big party coming up in a couple of weeks, can’t wait to Yoder everything for it!

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