Tri-Tip Roast

Posted by Doug – April 27, 2003

Wanting a change from brisket, but still looking for a cut of beef to slow-cook, I decided to try a tri-tip roast. They usually average two pounds as typically trimmed by your grocer. This one was a USDA Choice, priced at $2.99/lb. at a local supermarket. I got started at around 11:30am, figuring it to be done, rested and ready to eat by about 5:00pm.

While firing up a Weber chimney-and-a-half of charcoal, I trimmed some fat off the roast to leave about a 1/8-inch layer. I then coated it lightly with olive oil, and sprinkled on some McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning– great on grilled steaks– surprisingly good on slow-cooked beef barbecue. By 12:30pm, the coals were ready and I put the meat on the top grate. I added a large chunk of hickory, and a medium chunk of oak. With the bottom vents all closed, the temp dropped quickly from 315° to 210. I opened two bottom vents about 1/3 each, and the temp rose only to about 225. I then remembered I was using only 3/4 of the amount of charcoal I usually do, so I cracked the 2 vents to about 1/2 open each, which brought me to my target 240-250° range.

Things sailed along fine, and, at about 3:00pm, I broke out the digital probe thermometer to find I was already at 159°. I was going to be done much sooner than anticipated. It’s probably because I didn’t have anything else cooking, so there was nothing but the roast to absorb the heat energy. Within a half hour, I was at 165. No matter– I wrapped it in heavy foil and towels, and put it into a small ice chest to await dinner time. The temperature declined slowly, and since it dropped to 145 before I was ready to eat, I placed it in a 165° warm oven until a little later.

At 5:30pm, I carved it into 1/4-inch thick slices, and served it as-is. It was very tender and had good flavor, but I think I still prefer brisket.

Whole Brisket

Posted by Doug – April 14, 2003

I did a 9.75 pound whole brisket yesterday, and, while not the best I’ve done, it was OK. I didn’t have time for an extended cook, so I decided to forego cooking it whole, and separated the flat from the point and divided the flat approximately in half so I could remove the thinner half if it got done sooner.

The result was an 8 hour cook to reach 185* in the larger flat piece, with temps hanging rock-solid (not exaggerating– I barely nudged the vents twice in 8 hours) at 240*. I left the point on for another 90 minutes– until the coals were on their last legs.

The flat, sliced after resting, was very tender, but not as juicy or flavorful as my last brisket flat. I blame this on a couple of things: One, I was a bit lax on basting, even though I did turn at the half-times (at the 4, 6, and 7 hour marks). Two, it was an $.88/lb. select brisket. I think I can remediate this one with some careful re-heating procedures, though. (Update: a reheat of the sliced brisket in a warm oven in a shallow foil-covered dish with one cup of vegetable broth pre-heated in the microwave, for about 10 minutes did the trick.)

The point I shredded immediately upon removal, gave it a light sprinkle of rub, and mixed well. A taste test proved I’m gonna have some fabulous sandwiches this week.

Brisket Flat

Posted by Doug – March 31, 2003

I bought a trimmed brisket flat for $1.19/lb. At about 4.75 pounds, it woudn’t be an extended cook. A “flat” is one of two parts that comprise a “whole” brisket. The other part, known as a “point” is not usually offered for sale separately. The point is typically fattier than the flat. The two parts are essentially two different muscles from the breast area of the cow connected in a sort of offset manner by a vein of fat. Brisket flats are usually offered trimmed of most if not all of the layer of fat known as the “fat cap”.

I prepped the flat the night before, by sprinkling both sides liberally with McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning. Sounds unconventional, but it proved very tasty.

Firing up the Bullet conventionally, I used 2 Weber chimneyfulls of Kingsford. I took the opportunity to try out my new Polder remote digital thermometer.

Temperatures on the Bullet stabilized quickly, and I added the meat and inserted the thermometer probe. I also threw on a slab of pork spares– next to the brisket on the top grate– and two butterflied four pound chickens on the middle grate . Over the next several hours, the temperatures hung rock-solid at 240�.

The meat temp rose slowly, but, suddenly, the remote thermometer reading jumped up 30� in a matter of seconds. I tested with an instant read, and found the remote to be in error. I turned off the remote, and then turned it back on, hoping it was just momentarily confused. It seemed to return to normal. Later, it did it again, so I just removed it, and decided to spot check with the instant read from time to time, when I turned and basted. Later I tried the remote again, this time to read cooker temperature, and it misbehaved similarly.

At some point, around 3-1/2 hours, I checked the chickens, which were done, and removed them to a warm oven to await dinner. At the 5-1/2 hour mark, I removed the ribs, sauced and foiled them, and placed them the oven along with the chickens. I later pulled the brisket flat when it reached 180� internal, and let it rest before slicing.

The ribs were very tender and tasty, but the brisket was the star– fork tender, juicy,and flavorful. I’ll try a whole one next time.

Garden in a Box

Posted by Doug – March 30, 2003

Last summer, I had a bit of success growing some herbs in pots out on the patio. I had out-of-control basil and some rather robust chives, but the oregano, thyme, and mint were pretty much a waste of time. This year, I decided to splurge and order two of the gardening container known as the Earthbox.

I had read about the Earthbox before, after seeing two of them at a home I visited when we obtained our second cat. At 30 inches long by 15 wide by 12 inches tall, they don’t require a lot of room, but are supposed to produce fantastic amounts of produce for the space and resources they use.

Last summer, I had purchased pots locally– that work somewhat like the Earthbox– to test the methodology. The design of the Earthbox includes a perforated platform to raise the potting mix about 3 inches off the bottom of the container. Two “wells” in the rear corners allow the soil to extend down into the bottom water reservoir. A large tube in the front corner provides a duct to add water to the 2.2 gallon reservoir. 50 to 60 dry quarts (2.5 cu. ft.) of potting mix are used to fill the box all the way to the top. After pouring two cups of dry granular fertilizer in a two-inch wide stripe in a manner appropriate for the plants being grown, a plastic “mulch cover” is stretched over the top.

The theory of this system is that plants take up moisture and nutrients “on demand”, with the water only being soaked up as needed, and the fertilizer similarly leeching into the soil from the stripe on the surface. The raised perforated platform allows soil aeration. The mulch cover serves to keep out weeds, and its dark color helps warm the soil. A hole in the side of the box just beneath the level of the raised platform prevents over-watering– just add water until it overflows the hole.

According to the amount of space and resources required, plants are planted by cutting holes in the mulch cover and creating a suitable hole in the potting mix. Tomato plants, for example, are limited to two plants per box, while other herbs or vegetables may be planted at the rate of up to 10 or more per box.

I chose to do two tomato plants in one box, and a variety of things in the other. For the second, I put a Japanese eggplant in one rear corner, and a bell pepper in the the other. I modified the fertilizer striping technique slightly to allow for a triangular area in the front center, where I put in a basil plant. I may also add some other small herbs in this area later.

If all goes as advertised, I should have more tomatoes than I know what to do with. I’ll add some pictures as things progress. I’m encouraged by the success I had with the small pots last summer– they, too, “sipped” water from a reservoir beneath a raised platform. I even planted seeds from an orange I ate, and now have two twelve-inch tall trees. Wonder how big they’d be by now in an Earthbox?

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Barbecue Bulletin’ – Pork Loin End Roast

Posted by Doug – January 5, 2003

I looked at 3 groceries trying to find a nice boneless pork loin roast to do, with no success. So I settled on a pork loin end roast. Not my favorite– it has that weird bone– but I wanted to try brining it.

The day is partly cloudy, 65�, with a light breeze. The night before, I brined the 4.6 pound roast in a solution seasoned with crab boil, like I did the last turkey.

At 11:25am, I lit a Weber chimney-full of leftover charcoal, which took about 20 minutes to get going. At 11:45am, I poured the lit charcoal into the charcoal ring and added another Weber chimney-full of fresh unlit briquets. When they got going, in about another 15 minutes, I assembled the Bullet, putting the foil-covered water pan in place– adding a gallon of cool tap water– and leaving out the middle cooking grate. With the bottom vents each open one third, the temperature rose to 425�. I closed the vents down to 30/0/0% to bring the cooker down to my target cooking temperature of 225-250�.

At 12:30pm, the cooker had dropped to 325�, and I placed the roast on the top rack, along with a rack of pork spare ribs in a rib rack. Fifteen minutes later– when I noticed no smoke coming from the Bullet– I placed 2 chunks hickory wood and one of oak on top of the coals.

Over the course of the five and a half hour cook, temperatures were reasonably manageable, and stayed in the 225-250° range. I basted the roast at the 3-hour mark, and also turned the ribs. Around 4:00pm, I added some hot water to replenish the pan.

Around 5:00pm, I again turned and basted. The roast read 156� internal– my target being 161. I decided to leave the ribs on at this point, even though, on previous cooks, I had usually only cooked them a total of 4-1/2 hours. This proved to be a good decision, as the extra time rendered out quite a bit more fat, and the ribs were not the least bit greasy. fifteen minutes before I removed them, I glazed them liberally with my homemade sauce.

What have we learned? Let them ribs cook!

Next time, Rib Half Pork Loin Roast.

Barbecue Bulletin’ – Christmas Day Turkey

Posted by Doug – December 25, 2002

It’s Christmas Day and I’m doing my turkey on the Bullet (of course). The day is partly cloudy, 45°, with a very light breeze.

At 10:00pm the night before, I brined a 9.6 pound bird using a previously prepared and refrigerated solution containing a gallon of vegetable broth into which I dissolved 1 cup Kosher salt, and 3 Tbsp. of liquid Louisiana crab boil. For those of you unfamiliar with the stuff, crab boil is available as either a bag of seasonings to be used in boiling crabs and other seafoods like shrimp and crawfish, or as a convenient liquid. The seasonings it contains include clove, allspice, pepper, and bay. I placed the bird breast side down into a 3 gallon plastic bucket, and poured in equal amounts of my gallon of brine solution, and of ice water until the bird was completely submerged– about 1-1/2 gallons combined. I placed the bucket in the refrigerator until just before lighting the Bullet the next day– a total of about 14 hours.

At 12:00noon Christmas Day, I lit a Weber chimney-full of charcoal, which took about 25 minutes to get going. While I waited, I removed the turkey from the brine, patted it dry, coated it entirely with canola oil, and sprinkled on some rub. I quartered a lemon and half a large onion, and placed them in the cavity. At 12:25pm, I poured the lit charcoal into the charcoal ring and added another Weber chimney-full of unlit briquets. When they got going, in about another 15 minutes, I assembled the Bullet, putting the foil-covered water pan in place– empty– and leaving out the middle cooking grate. With the bottom vents each open halfway, the temperature quickly rose to 500�. I closed the vents down to 50/0/0% to bring the cooker down to my target cooking temperature of 350�.

At 12:55pm, the cooker had dropped to 425�, and I placed the bird on the top rack. I placed 1 chunk each of apple, pecan, and hickory on top of the coals. I waited until an hour into the cook to insert my new Taylor thermometer probe once the cooker stabilized at 350 or below. I did this to avoid damaging the probe, which is rated to a high of 392°.

Five minutes after placing the bird in the Bullet, the temp was down to 300°. Not in the mood to battle getting the temp up like at Thanksgiving, I opened all the vents to 100%. The temp hit 320 in about 15 minutes and stayed steady for almost an hour.

At 2:05pm, the temp rose to 350, and, by 2:30pm was at 370. I set all the vents down to 50%. The Bullet dropped to and hung at around 330° until 3:00pm, at which time the bird was done.

What have we learned? I think this was a pretty uneventful cook, which was a good thing. The turkey turned out great– I will use the crab boil again next time. I also think that, when the Bullet tops out at 500° after assembling it, I will put the bird on at that point and then work to stabilize the temps down to my target cooking range. I think this will have a beneficial effect of crisping the skin, and may speed up the cooking process as well.

Next time, Pork Loin End Roast.