It may be a regional thing. The Costco where I live never has whole packers. I’ve discussed with them multiple times and they only ever have flats with no intention of changing. The only place I can regularly get a whole packer is Walmart.
This weekend I will be doing pastrami style short ribs. With only two people in our household a full pastrami is complete overkill so instead I do the following: 4-6 short ribs, dry brined with curing spices and pink salt (curing salt not Himalayan) for 48 hours, rinsed and crusted with rough cracked coriander and pepper. Onto the smoker at 250* for 3 hours of smoke and then foiled in a pan to steam until they hit 200* internal temp and are falling off the bone. Eat with spicy mustard and rye bread.
I did a great smoke on a whole brisket, but idiot forgot to photograph. I smoked it over fresh chopped oak from a tree we took down last year. Then I smeared it with caramelized onions and finished it in the over for about 5 hours until it held at 205 degrees for an hour. Outstanding.
Tomorrow I am probably going to do a leg of lamb marinated in rosemary, garlic and olive oil. I have never smoked a lamb leg. Anyone have any thoughts. It’s a boneless Australian grass fed lamb.
My first attempt at bone in prime rib and it was a success. I used Bobby Flay’s rub recipe but not the sauce and seared the roast on a Weber before going into the smoker.
An experiment. I am doing chuck roast with chili’s in the oven at 225 in a le creuset crock. I didn’t feel like browning on the stove, so i fired up the ceramic cooker and grilled instead of searing. 2 Costco chucks that I cut into 4 pieces. Only 3 of the pieces fit into the crock, so I left the 4th piece on the grill for 3 hours at 225. I then wrapped it in heavy foil and put in the oven with the roast cooking in the crock. It was very smokey and tender 2 hours later. So I chopped it and made green chile enchiladas with it. Turned out really good. Never tried smoking chuck before, but I really liked it.
Pork belly burnt ends
Cube pork belly into 1-1/2" pieces
Salt and let salt penetrate for about 1 hour
Apply rub. I use Meatheads “Memphis Dust” recipe. I really like that recipe since salt is not included which allows me to control the salt for various types of bbq.
Smoke for 2 to 2-1/2 hours at 275. I used cherry and pecan in my ugly drum smoker.
Place in foil pan with cubed butter, some honey, and some brown sugar.
Cover pan and put back in smoker (or oven) for another 2 hours.
Make glaze using bbq sauce, apricot preserves, apple juice, and a some hot sauce if desired.
Remove belly from braising liquid, place in clean foil pan and apply glaze.
Place back on smoker for 10-20 minutes, or until desired glaze is achieved.
Yes, this recipe is relatively sweet, but it wasn’t as sweet as I thought it would be and obviously can be adjusted for your preference.
Short ribs
I basically used Adam Perry Lang’s short rib recipe.
Differences were that I didn’t have plate ribs, so I used the same cooking times and foil pan for the braise like I did for the pork belly (2 hours smoke, 2 hours braise, 10-20 minutes to firm up the glaze; all at 275 pit temp).
I also just used Suzy Q as the seasoning instead of the seasoning that is in the recipe.
Also, I didn’t use any additional salt in the finishing dressing because of the fact that I used much smaller pieces of meat and didn’t want to over salt the final product. I’m glad I didn’t use that salt, but imagine it would be ok if you were using the big dinosaur plate ribs that the recipe is intended for. I definitely want to try this recipe with the 123A plate ribs, but they are hard to find around here. I was skeptical of using better than bullion, but damn it was really tasty, and a pleasant change from traditional bbq flavors.
I was really happy with both, but in terms of wine, I was exceptionally pleased with the results of the beef for pairing with wine. I often find the spices from traditional bbq don’t pair well with wine, but the beef worked really well with Larry’s 2016 Tercero Aberration, and I would think it would work with a lot of other bold reds. I might have to stick with the Suzy Q though because the actual recipe calls for chili powder which I’m worried may make wine pairings less successful for my palate.
Thanks Patrick.
I’m gonna have to copy/paste that recipe (pork belly).
Seems pretty straight forward, except what do you place the pork belly on during the initial smoke?
Yeah, used to do it all the time. Usually tea smoked duck, with a ball of rice, sugar, and lapsang souchong (smoky tea). Delicious, but smelled like a chemical fire in the backyard for the first hour or two. Don’t try this if the wind is blowing the fumes through your house. I usually put foil over the Brest for the first hour or two, though it’s not as essential as it is with chicken.
The other recipe I really liked was with Chinese five spice. Always wanted to try “Pepa” duck like you see hanging at the oriental bbq places, but never got around to it.
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