Four Little Pigs Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin for the 4th

When shopping recently for some MEAT, I came across the following in the meat cooler at Costco:

1. St. Louis cut pork spare ribs, for $5.99 /lb
2. Pork baby back ribs, for $2.59 /lb
3. Pork tenderloin, for $2.39 /lb

This means that the best-quality meat was actually the cheapest, so I walked out with 8.49 lbs of a whole pork tenderloin.  As they say, "we're eating high on the hog tonight!"

Approximately 5 lb. of pork tenderloin.

I saved about 3 lb. to either grill and/or smoke and cut the remaining tenderloin into 4 equal "chunks" for sous vide.  The filets were flavored with the following: (from left to right)

My four little pigs for the 4th of July.

1. Wild dried rosemary with salt and pepper.  The rosemary came from the lighthouse keeper's garden at Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego, CA.  Don't worry, the ranger was giving away excess trimmings to visitors since they were worried the rosemary bush was taking over too much of the garden.  It was just luck we were there at that time.  Unfortunately, I took the photo prior to seasoning this filet, so it's shown pristine.

2. Pink Himalayan sea salt and freshly-ground pepper

3. Brown sugar, honey and tarragon

4. Byrons' Butt Rub, my go-to pork dry rub

Pink Himalayan sea salt and freshly-ground pepper.

Brown sugar, honey, and tarragon.  An additional squirt of honey was injected into the bag before vacuum-sealing.  Photo taken prior to tarragon being added.

Byrons' Butt Rub.

Results:

The 135 F was a much better temperature than the 145 F I used previously for pork.  The meat was nice and tender.  The only two I prepared were the Rosemary and the Brown sugar, honey, tarragon.  The consensus was that the Rosemary yielded much stronger flavor.  The latter was far more subtle, though I would continue to experiment with that flavoring in the future.

The pork was removed at 5pm, having been in the water bath at 135 F since 10:30am.  Two were immediately frozen and two were seared and served.

Pre-seared.  The Rosemary pork is on the bottom.

Nice searing.

More nice searing.

Post-searing.

Sliced and served.

Nice color, very tender texture, good flavor.

Nice slice of the tenderloin.

Pork Chili for the 4th of July

What to do with left-over smoked baby back ribs on the 4th of July?  How about a slow-cooked chili? The best part of making this recipe on Independence Day is that if you have already started drinking, it does not matter.  All of the ingredients are to taste.  I threw it in a crock pot over night and sat back.

Sumrall and I didn't even bother to de-bone the ribs; after a bit, the meat just falls off.  This chili is quite spicy, so I rinsed the ribs before giving them to Ele and Patotas.

Here's what went in:
- 1 rack of smoked baby back ribs
- Large can of crushed tomatoes
- 2 cans of cannellini beans
- Cumin powder
- Brown sugar
- Whole, peeled garlic bud
- Cocoa powder
- Molasses
- 365 Blackened Cajun Spice
- Tomato paste
- 1 12oz bottle of amber ale
- Salt
- Pepper
- Water
- Frank's RedHot
- 2 tablespoons of cayenne powder
- Paprika

Mmmm....chili...

See the bone from the baby back rib.  The meat separated after only a short time cooking.

Pork Chop Sous Vide, Strike 1

While I had been planning to smoke a pork shoulder and duck this Sunday, a trip to Los Angeles this coming week made me rethink my leftover plans and switch to sous vide pork chops.  This actually turned into a big disappointment and was the first time I was not happy with my sous vide.

I selected six, very lean-looking, boneless pork chops from the grocery store.  Four were seasoned with a mustard-tarragon sauce and two were left to just salt and pepper.

Temperature: 145 F

Time: 6 hrs

Mustard-Tarragon Sauce

4 tablespoons brown spicy mustard

1 teaspoon tarragon

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon olive oil

The sauce was mixed and placed in the vacuum bags.

I was very disappointed in the results, specifically the tenderness and texture of the pork.  They were very dry and appeared overcooked.  I'm not sure if that was a result of remaining in the water bath for so long, or the cooking temperature.  This was also the first time I attempted to sear the meat on the propane grill.  That worked better since I could do them all at once and was easier to clean up than Canola oil splashed on the range.

Next time, I think I will try 141 F and I would like to test 3 hrs vs 6 hrs in the water bath.

The mustard-tarragon sauce.  I think this would actually make a good glaze if reduced in a sauce pan.  That's something for next time.

Vacuumed up and ready for bath time.

When I opened the bags, I poured out the sauce into a pan.  I was thinking about heating it and serving it, but didn't get around to it.  I will next time.

Notice the colorization difference between the plain and those cooked with the sauce.

After searing on the propane grill for about 30 sec each side.  I achieved some nice colorization.

Kinda tough, kinda dry, kinda "overcooked".  I don't consider it a success.

Smoking Superbowl Weekend

My latest meat smoking / BBQ experiment was conducted on the Saturday before the Superbowl.  It was my largest meat selection so far and I was extremely pleased with the results.


Meat:
Duck, whole duck including head and feet
Pork Spare Ribs, 4 racks, 8.6lbs, two with spicy rub, one with wasabi and one plain
Beef Chuck Roast, 3.4lbs

Wood:
The chips had been soaking in a cooler and even developed a slime on the surface, which was cleaned off.  The water was drained Friday afternoon and the damp file was wood was allowed to set outside in the open cooler.

Brine (Duck):
- 7 cups of water
- Pinch of Thyme
- Sliced Orange
- ½ about of salt
- some sugar
- Ground black pepper
- 5 smashed garlic gloves
- 4 bay leaves

Preparing the duck brine on the stove.  The brine and whole duck were placed in a glass jar for 8 hours in the fridge.

Beef Prep:
The beef chuck roast was injected with melted butter using a syringe.  The butter did squirt out and it was a little weird.

Rub (spicy):
This rub included the same ingredients as previously, but with less cayenne pepper.  The rub was also mixed with the mustard in a bowl and applied to two sets of ribs as a slurry.  It did not adhere to the meat as well as applying the dry ingredients first and layering the mustard on top.  Butter and black pepper was added as well.

Don't do this!  I mixed the rub and mustard together into a "slurry".  It didn't adhere well to the meat and crumbled off when cooked.  I recommend spraying the meat with light oil, applying the dry rub like a boss and they then optionally applying a 1/4" thick spread of mustard to cover.

Rub (wasabi):
- 1.75 oz of wasabi power
- Water
- Soy sauce
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Sea salt
This rub was very runny and wasn’t like a rub at all.  It did stick surprisingly well to a single rack of ribs.


All the meats were placed in the smoker at 7am on Saturday 2/2.  Temperature was set at 225 deg F.  The duck was placed above the plain ribs so that the duck fat would drip down over it.

Chuck was removed at 6pm with an IT reading on the igrill of 217 deg F. Wasabi and plain ribs were removed at 630pm with an IT of 210 deg F. They had been on the lowest rack. Duck was removed at 230pm and allowed to cool to serve as deli meat. The best smoke occurred at 250 deg F. The side dampers were open. The top damper was 3/4 closed.  Beef and ribs were allowed to cool for an hour.

Results:
- The spicy ribs were good, but there was a problem.  I had mixed the rub and mustard into a slurry to apply to the ribs prior to smoking.  This was a mistake.  The slurry did not soak into the ribs and was too thick and goopy.  The ribs were best with this coating removed.
- The wasabi ribs imparted no wasabi flavor
- The ribs placed underneath the duck were the best, probably due to their exposure to the dripping duck fat.  This should absolutely be repeated.
- The beef chuck was excellent and pulled nicely using just two forks.
- The duck was served cold and was excellent.  The brine should be repeated.

Nice smoke ring.

The beef shredded nicely using two forks.

The beef didn't make it to plates; was consumed on the cutting board.