Tag: beef
Pecan and Oak Smoked Brisket
Pecan and Oak Smoked Brisket
Once considered a cheap cut, brisket is very prized for its flavor and tenderness in the bbq world. It is so popular that restaurants charge upwards to $30lb; even more. It’s even costly at your average grocery store. The best way to purchase a brisket is to buy it whole, untrimmed, still vacuum sealed in the bag. I purchased a whole one, 9lbs, for $4lb from my friends at wild fork foods.com. Best quality you can find for the price.If you purchase an untrimmed brisket, you will need to trim it unless you want to smoke it whole. I wanted just a brisket flat, meaning that I’m going to have to trim it. Any fat on the top muscle side should be trimmed off. I trimmed off 1/3 of the fatty triangle point side of the brisket. It is probably about 70% lean, so I’m going to keep that and grind it for some brisket burgers. But that’s another recipe for another time.This next step is very important and is a huge reason why people’s brisket turn out dry and flavorless. The brisket straight up needs to be brined. If you are concerned about sodium content and fat, maybe you shouldn’t be eating brisket. The brine will add moisture and flavor to your brisket, so after it smokes for hours on end, it will be juicy and not suck. I have no better way to say it. Brine it in a large bin, making sure it’s completely submerged; about 2 hours per lb. Allow it to dry out on a rack in the refrigerator for a day.Smoking brisket is labor intensive. It will take up to 90 minutes per lb at 250 degrees to reach an internal temperature of 200-205 degrees. So my 6lb brisket will take up 9 hours. A 10lb brisket will take up to 15 hours. You will want to use a digital probe thermometer to monitor the temp in the thickest part of the muscle. So when you start your brisket, it most likely will be in the ear;y morning. I through my brisket in the smoker at 7AM. It took 8 hours total to smoke. You will want to let the brisket rest for at least 30 minutes before slicing.Most people enjoy their brisket sliced with bbq sauce on sandwiches, which is absolutely delicious. But there are so many more things you can do with brisket. Get creative. Make smoked brisket tacos. Dice up a couple slices and add it to your omelette. Put it on top of a burger. The answer to your brisket needs is in the cheeba.
Equipment
- large bin for brining
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- whole beef brisket 8-12lbs
Brine
- 1 gallon water
- 1 cup sea salt
- 1 head garlic minced
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
Dry Rub
- 2 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds ground
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
Wood Chips
- 1/2 pecan
- 1/2 oak
Instructions
- Pat dry the whole brisket.
- Trim off the large piece of fat from the top side. Leave the fat cap on the bottom untrimmed. Trim of 1/3 of the fatty triangle point end if you are looking to have just a brisket flat. Save for later use. If not, leave whole and disregard steps 1 + 2.
- Place the brisket in a bin that is large enough to hold it. My brisket was 9lbs untrimmed; 6lbs after I trimmed it.
- Mix together the brining ingredients and pour over the brisket, making sure that it’s completely submerged. Use a plate to weigh it down if it isn’t. Brine for 2 hours per lb.
- Take the brisket out of the brine and let dry on a rack overnight.
- Mix together the dry rub and rub the topside of the brisket.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Why is the picture of the brisket dark, you ask? Because smoking a brisket is a long labor intensive process. You will want to start it in the early morning. Like 6AM or earlier depending on the size of the brisket.
- The brisket will take up to 90 minutes per lb. You will want to reach an internal temp of 200 – 205 degrees. Use a digital probe thermometer to monitor the temp through the cooking process. My 6lb brisket took 8 hours to smoke.
- Take the brisket out of the smoker when the internal temp is reached. Let rest for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Smoked Beef Jerky
Smoked Beef Jerky
Who doesn’t like beef jerky. Vegans. Let me start this over. Who loves beef jerky and is sick of paying $20-$30/lb for it? Me, god dammit! Most of the time, the jerky isn’t even that good. Well, I never pass up a good sale. When eye of round is on sale for $3.99/lb, I hop on that shit. This is the one thing that this mostly shitty cut is great for, and that is beef jerky. The other options you can use are top round and sirloin tip. The most important thing with beef jerky is to use a super lean cheap cut. And that is definitely eye of round. A cut like chuck is too tough and fatty. A good rule of thought is that if the cut you choose is good for rare sliced roast beef, then it’s good for jerky.Most people don’t have a deli slicer. If you do, throw the beef in the freezer for a couple hours to firm up. Then slice on your slicer somewhere between 1/8”-1/4” thick. You can also use a sharp fillet or carving knife. The beef has to be semi-frozen for this to work. If not, it will be like slicing meat jello. If these aren’t options for you, the person to talk to is your butcher. But let’s converse before you go any farther. And for my next rant, let’s talk about etiquette at a meat counter when it comes to slicing raw meat like this. Ask your butcher if they even have a deli slicer. Not everyone does. Ask them if they are able to thinly slice beef for jerky. Everyone will tell you to call ahead and place an order. Why? The butchers will also have to semi-freeze the beef in order to slice it that thin; whether by hand or slicer. So if you’re expecting beef properly sliced on the spot, it’s not gonna happen. Learn this. Place an order in the morning, pick it up in the afternoon. If every customer understood this, we butchers would be a lot less angry. End of rant.The marinade for the jerky is pretty straight forward. Most marinades for beef jerky are soy sauce based, some type of juice like pineapple(natural tenderizer), and black pepper. There’s countless other seasonings you can add to flavor the beef. I think at least 24 hour of marinating works best in penetrating the meat. When ready to smoke, place the beef on the wire racks of your smoker, making sure to minimally overlap.Smoking jerky is a slow process. Since we are drying out the beef through smoking, we will not use the water pan in the smoker. No extra moisture. I like to preheat my smoker to 250 degrees, let the wood chips smoke for 10 minutes, place the racks in the smoker, then drop the heat to 200 degrees. I maintain the temp between 180-200 degrees for about 5 hours. The jerky is ready when it can bend in half, but doesn’t crack.The jerky will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a month. Since we are using minimal preservatives in making the jerky, it doesn’t have a year shelf life like most of the jerky you find prepackaged. If you have a vacuum sealer, vacuum seal bags of beef jerky and keep them in the freezer until ready for consumption. If I may go on one more rant about jerky, it’s that jerky in a food dehydrator or in the oven is lame. Using liquid smoke is lame. Real jerky, in my opinion, having made thousands and thousands of lbs of it, is smoked. No comparison. You are fooling yourself. Smoke it. Smoke. It. End of snobby elitist jerky rant.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 3 lbs eye of round roast fat completely trimmed; sliced between 1/8”-1/4” thick
- 3/4 cup soy sauce
- 3/4 cup pineapple juice
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 3/4 tsp pink curing salts
Wood Chips
- 1/2 applewood
- 1/2 cherrywood
Instructions
- Mix together the marinade ingredients.
- If you have a deli slicer, throw the beef in the freezer for 2 hours to firm it up. Slice between 1/8”-1/4” thick. You can also use a sharp fillet or carving knife. Or ask you butcher. But we’ll talk about that etiquette later.
- Marinate the beef in a gallon sized storage bag for 24 hours.
- When ready to smoke, place the beef in a single layer on each rack, making sure to minimally overlap.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Let the wood chips light on fire and smoke for 10 minutes. Place the racks in the smoker. Turn the temp down to 200 degrees. Maintain the temp between 180-200 degrees. The jerky is ready when it is dry and bends in half, but doesn’t crack. This process will take up to 5 hours.
Trinchado
Trinchado
Trinchado was introduced through South Africa by the Portuguese; migrating to countries such as Mozambique and Angola. Trinchado literally means cut up in Portuguese, hence the slices of beef that get seared then stewed in a spicy peri peri/tomato-based sauce. Originally, trinchado was served as bar food. Whatever leftover meat was thrown into the fiery sauce and simmered until tender. The heat of the sauce plus the heaviness of the meat were considered the food to eat to sober up. Now, trinchado is served as a main course(either beef, chicken, or fish), always with a crusty Portuguese roll to sop up the sauce and a side of fries.There are two methods in making trinchado. The first is what is featured in my recipe; considered the “fast way.” Quickly searing slices of beef from either sirloin or strip loin, then finishing them off the last 5 minutes in the sauce takes about 40 minutes. The “long way” would beef to use a stewing cut of beef such as chuck and simmering it in the sauce for hours on end until it falls apart. Both are really good. Just depends on how much time you want to put into this.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs top sirloin or strip loin steak cut into 1/4” thick slices
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 large onion diced
- 4 roma tomatoes diced
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 cup peri peri sauce
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil for frying
Garnish
- cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Marinate the beef in the Worcestershire sauce and cornstarch for 30 minutes.
- Heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Add the beef in a single layer in the pan.
- Sear for a minute a side. You will have to cook the beef in 2 batches in order to not overcrowd the pan. Remove the beef from the pan anc set aside.
- Heat up 2 more tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat. Sauté the onions for 5 minutes.
- Add in the garlic and tomatoes. Sauté for another 5 minutes with a cover on the pan.
- Take off the cover. Pour in the beef stock, red wine, balsamic vinegar, peri peri sauce, and sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the beef back into the pan. Simmer for 5 more minutes.
