Things We're Cooking

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Made some Cod last week that I caught while fishing off the coast of Oregon.

Deboned the fillets, and cut them into 6-8oz portions. Marinated them with this that I bought from the store:

Pan seared them with butter until golden & crispy. Then topped with more of the mango marinade/sauce. Served them with baked brussel sprouts (olive oil, S&P, honey & balsamic glaze).

I was pretty disappointed with the fish. Aside from the mango sauce it just tasted sort of blah.

 

[PnkPanther]

Pork belly cubed up


Will hit foil in about an hour

 

[Ojb81]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Brought home 8-10 fillets of Seabass (& Cod) I caught while I was over in Oregon. Been experimenting with recipes each week. This week:

Parmesan Crusted Rockfish

*Deboned the fillets, cut them into 4-6oz portions
*Placed them onto a nonstick baking sheet
*Drizzled each fillet with Lemon juice & butter
*Seasoned with S&P and Parsley
*Sprinkled plain panko bread crumbs over the entire sheet. Wasn't going for a breaded crust, just adding crunch.
*Covered each fillet with shredded parmesan
*Baked at 425 for 20mins, Broiled for 2-5mins.

This ended up being delicious. It was bursting with flavor. Not really sure the lemon was necessary, but it did add a slight citrus finish which was nice. The crust had great consistency using the broiling finish method. And the butter worked great to simmer the fillets while baking & add great flavor.

I would definitely recommend this.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Cooked some smoked pulled pork this past Sunday. I got the smoker last year and this was my first shot at pulled pork. It turned out OK -- but everything I'm reading says I need to let the temp raise to around 191 (instead I took it out at 165 when pork is normally cooked through). This was after about 8 hours of smoking. It tasted great but I ended up having to chop it up vs. shred it because it wasn't tender enough to shred with a fork:

 

[PnkPanther]

Cooked some smoked pulled pork this past Sunday. I got the smoker last year and this was my first shot at pulled pork. It turned out OK -- but everything I'm reading says I need to let the temp raise to around 191 (instead I took it out at 165 when pork is normally cooked through). This was after about 8 hours of smoking. It tasted great but I ended up having to chop it up vs. shred it because it wasn't tender enough to shred with a fork:

Yeah 165 is too low. For pull apart tender, I would say 195+. The bone should easily wiggle. Did you wrap at all? That'll help with time.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Yeah 165 is too low. For pull apart tender, I would say 195+. The bone should easily wiggle. Did you wrap at all? That'll help with time.

No, I read conflicting reports on wrapping it. I think next time I'm just going to start it way earlier and see if I can get it up to temp. I think if I had another 2-3 hours it could have gotten there.

 

[PnkPanther]

No, I read conflicting reports on wrapping it. I think next time I'm just going to start it way earlier and see if I can get it up to temp. I think if I had another 2-3 hours it could have gotten there.

There are different views of wrapping, I've done it unwrapped and wrapped. Wrapping does tend speed it up.

 

[4down20]

Cooked some smoked pulled pork this past Sunday. I got the smoker last year and this was my first shot at pulled pork. It turned out OK -- but everything I'm reading says I need to let the temp raise to around 191 (instead I took it out at 165 when pork is normally cooked through). This was after about 8 hours of smoking. It tasted great but I ended up having to chop it up vs. shred it because it wasn't tender enough to shred with a fork:

195 is the minimum. I personally shoot for 203-205.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

195 is the minimum. I personally shoot for 203-205.

I got nervous because I had never seen anything needing to be cooked to that temp before. 165 is what I knew for something like a well done pork chop, so I went with the directions that listed that as the temp. But now I know. Should be even better next time.

 

[4down20]

No, I read conflicting reports on wrapping it. I think next time I'm just going to start it way earlier and see if I can get it up to temp. I think if I had another 2-3 hours it could have gotten there.

You should wrap. It will make it juicer and it also helps reduce/remove the stall. I wrap around 140-150 degrees, before it hits the stall.

The reason for the stall is that the meat sweats. Just like when a person sweats, the water/moisture escaping cools it down. So the entire time you are in the stall, what's happening is all the water is leaving the meat. This will continue until all that moisture is "sweated out", then the internal temperature rises again.

When you wrap, it's like you going out and wearing a sweater. You may sweat, but because you are "wrapped" in the clothing, it does little to nothing to cool you down. Same exact principle with wrapping your meat. It may sweat a little, but it's not going to cool it down, so you'll pass right through the stall without much if any drop in temp, AND your end product will be juicer.

Also, another pro-tip - once you wrap, increase your temperature to 275. Same exact reasons above, it will get you through the stall faster and retain the moisture better. Smoke it at 225, raise it up after wrapping. The faster you can get past the stall, the juicer your end result will be.

Personally, I put mine in the oven after I wrap to save on wood and make it easier to maintain temp. I never put it back on the smoker after I wrap.

 

[4down20]

I got nervous because I had never seen anything needing to be cooked to that temp before. 165 is what I knew for something like a well done pork chop, so I went with the directions that listed that as the temp. But now I know. Should be even better next time.

It's a very low quality piece of meat and cooked like normal pork will result in a very tough meat. You have to get the internal temp up that high so the collagen(connective tissue that's real tough) renders down, and then it gets very very tender.

 

[PnkPanther]

I got nervous because I had never seen anything needing to be cooked to that temp before. 165 is what I knew for something like a well done pork chop, so I went with the directions that listed that as the temp. But now I know. Should be even better next time.

It sounds strange, but large cuts of pork and beef won't get tender until higher temps. Thats when fat and connective tissue break down

The final temp isn't as important as texture, your probe should slide in and out, and bone should wiggle. If you cook at higher temp, the done temp is usually closer to 195, if you cook lower and slower 200+

 

[PnkPanther]

You should wrap. It will make it juicer and it also helps reduce/remove the stall. I wrap around 140-150 degrees, before it hits the stall.

The reason for the stall is that the meat sweats. Just like when a person sweats, the water/moisture escaping cools it down. So the entire time you are in the stall, what's happening is all the water is leaving the meat. This will continue until all that moisture is "sweated out", then the internal temperature rises again.

When you wrap, it's like you going out and wearing a sweater. You may sweat, but because you are "wrapped" in the clothing, it does little to nothing to cool you down. Same exact principle with wrapping your meat. It may sweat a little, but it's not going to cool it down, so you'll pass right through the stall without much if any drop in temp, AND your end product will be juicer.

Also, another pro-tip - once you wrap, increase your temperature to 275. Same exact reasons above, it will get you through the stall faster and retain the moisture better. Smoke it at 225, raise it up after wrapping. The faster you can get past the stall, the juicer your end result will be.

Personally, I put mine in the oven after I wrap to save on wood and make it easier to maintain temp. I never put it back on the smoker after I wrap.

Slacker. I usually cook them in summer though, and I'm not turning the oven on during summer.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Slacker. I usually cook them in summer though, and I'm not turning the oven on during summer.

I have just a simple electric smoker that uses the wood chips. I could turn the temp up and just stop adding chips and it would act like an oven. So this would be pretty easy to do in mine.

 

[4down20]

Slacker. I usually cook them in summer though, and I'm not turning the oven on during summer.

I live in Arizona, so we only have summer and hell. I'll smoke year round, but I use an offset smoker and I only burn 100% wood in an open flame fire. The wood often times costs me more than the meat, and since there is no smoke being applied to it when wrapped, just a waste of money for me.

There is a place in phoenix that occasionally has apple or hickory for sale, but most often times I get stuck with walmart chunks at $8 a bag, and it takes 2 bags already now as it is.

 

[Across The Field]

I got nervous because I had never seen anything needing to be cooked to that temp before. 165 is what I knew for something like a well done pork chop, so I went with the directions that listed that as the temp. But now I know. Should be even better next time.

What was your temp set at?

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

What was your temp set at?

225

 

[Across The Field]

225

There's another thing. That's super low for a simple pork butt. I usually do mine at 275-300 and a normal 6 pounder takes no more than 8 hours and it's amazing.

 

[PnkPanther]

I live in Arizona, so we only have summer and hell. I'll smoke year round, but I use an offset smoker and I only burn 100% wood in an open flame fire. The wood often times costs me more than the meat, and since there is no smoke being applied to it when wrapped, just a waste of money for me.

There is a place in phoenix that occasionally has apple or hickory for sale, but most often times I get stuck with walmart chunks at $8 a bag, and it takes 2 bags already now as it is.

Mesquite Firewood - Wheelbarrow load