Tag: pork
Smoked Pork Leg
Smoked Pork Leg
Most people I feel aren’t very familiar with raw pork leg. Once cured and smoked, you may know it as ham. But the raw pork leg is a great cut that is really inexpensive and doesn’t deserve the neglect it gets. A whole pork leg is around 10-12lbs. You can usually find half legs at any grocery store if you don’t want 10lbs of pork. For smoking purposes, you will want to trim off the outer skin.The marinade is an oniony/garlicky blend with orange juice and vinegar acting as a tenderizer. Marinate the leg for 24 hours. If you are going to smoke the leg, it will need to rest in the refrigerator on a rack for 24 hours. If you are going to roast the pork leg, it will be ready to go. Smoke for about 5 hours in your smoker at 250 degrees. If roasting, bake for 2 1/2-3 hours at 350 degrees. Let your pork leg rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing.
Equipment
- food processor
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 5 lb pork leg
- 10 garlic cloves
- 1/2 medium white onion
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp Mexican oregano
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 6 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
Wood Chips
- 1/2 applewood
- 1/2 pecan
Instructions
- Dry toast the onions and garlic in a sauté pan over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Place the onions and garlic in a food processor along with the other marinade ingredients.
- Pulse until all of the ingredients are blended. The marinade doesn’t need to be puréed smooth. Semi-chunky is ok.
- Remove the outer skin of the pork leg.
- Place the pork leg in a gallon sized storage bag with the marinade. Marinate for 24 hours.
- Place the marinated pork leg on a rack. Allow to dry out in your refrigerator for 24 hours. Let rest at room temperature for 2 hours before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place the pork leg in the smoker.
- Smoke for 5 hours.
- Let the pork leg rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Smoked Char Siu Baby Back Ribs
Smoked Char Siu Baby Back Ribs
This recipe is another reason why we need to legalize marijuana federally, if not globally. Without it, I might not have came up with this concept. Char siu is my absolute favorite. So why not marinate ribs in char siu marinade and smoke them? It happened. All I can say is that this might be my favorite way to prepare ribs. It’s rather simple to do. It will take some patience since it’s really a 3 day process if marinating, 1 day of drying, and the next day to smoke. If you don’t have a smoker, you can bake these in the oven at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours, wrapped in foil. Then place the ribs under the broiler, brushing the ribs with the cooked marinade every 3 minutes until the top side is browned.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 2 racks baby back ribs
Marinade
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 3 tbsp honey + 1 extra tbsp for glazing
- 3 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 3 red bean curd cubes + 2 tbsp of liquid
- 1 1/2 tbsp five spice powder
- 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 3 garlic cloves minced
Wood Chips
- 1/2 cherrywood
- 1/2 applewood
Instructions
- Mix all of the marinade ingredients together.
- Place the baby backs in a gallon sized storage bag. Pour in all of the marinade. Marinate for 3 days; flipping the bag over a couple of times a day.
- After the ribs have marinated, place on a rack and let dry out in the refrigerator for a day. Save the marinade. Let sit at room temp for 1 hour prior to smoking.
- Place the ribs in a preheated 250 degree electric smoker.
- Simmer the saved marinade with an extra tbsp of honey for 10minced until reduced. At the 2 hour mark of smoking, brush a layer of the marinade on the racks of ribs. Smoke for another hour, brushing another layer of the marinade on the ribs. Some for 1 more hour.
- Let the ribs rest for !5 minutes before serving.
Smoked Turkey and Cottage Bacon Sandwich
Smoked Turkey and Cottage Bacon Sandwich
I smoked a whole turkey this past weekend with the intention of doing multiple things with it. This is one of them…I found these really nice sweet onions rolls at the grocery store and thought that smoked turkey and cottage bacon would go great on them. And so I made it happen. I didn’t provide measurements for most of the ingredients because, dammit; you should be able to put as much turkey and bacon on your sandwich as you want without me telling. I just provide the skeleton of the sandwich.
Servings: 2 sandwiches
Ingredients
- cottage bacon or any bacon of your liking
- 1 tbsp green butter or regular butter
- 2 sweet onion rolls
- smoked turkey breast
- 2 slices swiss cheese
- arugula
- 1 tomato thinly sliced
- spicy brown mustard
Instructions
- Cook your bacon until it is crispy on a griddle. Set aside. Drain all but a tbsp of the bacon grease.
- Cook the smoked turkey breast in the bacon grease for a couple minutes per side. Remove from the pan.
- Melt the butter of your liking on a griddle over medium heat. Toast the sliced side of the onion roll until browned.
- Flip the rolls over. On the top side of the roll, placd a slice of Swiss cheese and as much bacon as you’d like. Remove from the griddle.
- Squirt some spicy brown mustard on the bottom half of the toasted roll. Layer the turkey on top of the mustard. Place the sliced tomatoes and arugula on top of the bacon side of the roll. Put them together.
Smoked Turkey Breast
When I see a bone in turkey breast on sale for $.99/lb, I hop on that shit. You can pay up to $10/lb for good quality smoked turkey deli meat; so why not make it at home for a fraction of the price. Even if you don’t have a smoker, you can still brine the breast and roast it in the oven at 325 degrees for 15 minutes per lbs. The internal temp needs to read 165 degrees.Most bone in turkey breasts will weigh between 6-8lbs. For maximum flavor, I like to brine my turkey breasts for 12 hours; pretty much overnight. The turkey breast will need to be pat dry and let to rest at room temp for at least an hour before smoking. If you want to add anymore seasonings to the outside of the breast such as Cajun, lemon pepper, mix herbs, honey, etc, do so now. I left mine plain since there is plenty of flavor in the brine.The nice thing about poultry is that it will take on the flavor of whatever wood chips you choose gor smoking. I used a combination of oak and cherrywood. Smoke the turkey breast at 250 degrees for 3 hours. At the 3 hour mark of smoking, use a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature in the thickest part of the breast. You want the thermometer to read 165 degrees. Depending on the size of the breast, this can take an additional 15 minutes – 1 hour. Let the turkey breast rest for 30 minutes before serving.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- bone in turkey breast 6-8lbs
Brine
- 1 gallon water
- 1 cup sea salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 head garlic minced
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp thyme
Wood Chips
- oak wood chips
- cherrywood chips
Instructions
- Mix all of the brining ingredients together. Place the turkey breast in a gallon sized storage bag. Pour in the brine. Brine for 12 hours.
- Pat the turkey breast dry with paper towels. Let sit at room temp an hour before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees according to the manufacturer’s directions. Place the turkey in the smoker. Smoke for 3 hours.
- At the 3 hour mark of smoking, use a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature in the thickest part of the breast. You want the thermometer to read 165 degrees. Depending on the size of the breast, this can take an additional 15 minutes – 1 hour.
- Let the turkey breast rest for up to 30 minutes before slicing.
Cottage Bacon
There’s no question about it: bacon is king. But have you ever had cottage bacon? The bacon you are used to eating is made from cured pork belly. Cottage bacon is made from cured pork shoulder. The results are even better then I expected. It has the flavor of belly bacon. It cooks up the same way. What makes cottage bacon even better in my opinion, is how meaty it is. It has a larger meat to fat ratio. I love my belly bacon, but I’m starting to think that cottage bacon is the way to go.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 3-4 lbs boneless pork shoulder
Dry Rub Cure
- 3 tbsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp pink curing salts
Wood Chips
- 1/2 hickory wood chips
- 1/2 applewood chips
Instructions
- Mix together the dry rub ingredients.
- Cover the pork shoulder with all of the dry rub.
- Place the pork shoulder In a gallon sized storage bag. Place in the refrigerator for 1 week. Flip everyday so the pork marinates in it’s juices.
- After 1 week, take out of the storage bag. Place on a rack and put back in the refrigerator for 1 day to help dry out the pork to develop a pellicle. When ready to smoke, let the pork shoulder rest at room temp for an hour.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Throw the pork shoulder in the smoker. Once the woodchips are smoking, turn the smoker down to 200 degrees. Repeat this step every time you change out the wood chips.
- At the 3 hour mark, take the temp of the pork shoulder. Continue smoking until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees.
- Let the pork rest until completely cooled. Place in the refrigerator for 1 day before slicing.
- Slice to the thickness of your liking.
- To cook, preheat a skillet or a griddle over medium high heat. Place slices on the pan.
- Cook for 6-8 minutes, flipping the pieces every 2 minutes.
