The Black Vault

Smack dab in the middle of the week the 4th falls on a Wenesday this year. Lots of people will combine that with one or the other weekend for a long getaway or maybe take the entire week. No doubt everyone will be doing something feastive anf firing up the ol BBQ.

One tip I learned that really helped me on Elton Brown was searing and crossmarks. Its pretty universal to all meats and really improved my results. I've always been prone to propane grills. Turn on the grill on high and let the grate warm up. Place your meat on the grill approximatly 45 degrees to the grate. Sear for 2 minutes, and rotate the meat 90 degrees, so the crosshatchs crisscross, sear for 2 more minutes on the same side. Flip the meat, and repeat the same process on the other side, taking a total of 8 minutes. The crosshatch looks very really nice, professional, and the meat is seared and sealed, locking in the juices. Turn down the heat and finish the meat off to the side of the fire, for another 6 minutes per side, depending on thickness. Try only turning once, but that usually is hard for me.


i also started using a brush for putting on the grilling sause either BBQ or terriaki, as it gets spread evenly that way, where before I just used a spoon which missed all the places and sides.

I like Elton Brown because he gives technical tips amd explains why.

Thought we could all trade tips.

The Aussie Barbeque.

YUM.

So ... What do you wanna know.

This may be a rather stupid question Rath, but in the USA we have a lot of Oak trees, and oak is one of the woods of choice for wood cooking. Is oak a wood of choice for Austrialia, or something else not found in North America? Is Oak common in Austrailia? Another wood found in our deserts is Misquite, is that found in Austrailia too? Many people also like to use citrus wood, which Calfornia and Florida have plenty of.

it's just baout done..hope ya'll had a good one

the best BBQ I ever had was some ribs out of Compton(some church there sells/or sold them regularly..to raise funds and such)..they used a rub, instead of a suce..there was definately cinnamon and sugar in the rub..what else was in it..I dunnoo..but it was sooo fricken good.

bionic wrote:it's just baout done..hope ya'll had a good one

the best BBQ I ever had was some ribs out of Compton(some church there sells/or sold them regularly..to raise funds and such)..they used a rub, instead of a suce..there was definately cinnamon and sugar in the rub..what else was in it..I dunnoo..but it was sooo fricken good.

But do you know if it was a dry rub, or a wet rub. ???

greeney2 wrote:This may be a rather stupid question Rath, but in the USA we have a lot of Oak trees, and oak is one of the woods of choice for wood cooking. Is oak a wood of choice for Austrialia, or something else not found in North America? Is Oak common in Austrailia? Another wood found in our deserts is Misquite, is that found in Austrailia too? Many people also like to use citrus wood, which Calfornia and Florida have plenty of.

Oak, not so much in Australia tho im sure there are a few fools who use it. mesquite yes mostly Hikory an such

However.

It Depends on what your going for.

If you have a good quality cut of meat, id just use hot coals, charcoal, or heat beads.

the heat is better & does not affect the flavor of the meat.


But like i said, it depends on what you like & what your going for, and how you choose to cook it.

Direct Method


Indirect Method


Smoke Cooking


Rotisserie Cooking

As a rule i stay away from using woods to cook with because like i said, they affect the taste & flavor of the meat.

But there are times i seek to flavor the dish & then i would use the smoking meted as required.


Ill give some examples ..............

methods of flavoring food.

Sauces & Gravy's

Marinades.

Rubs,

Smoking,

Natural ( do nothing )



if you have a quality cut of meat, why on earth would you wish to destroy the taste & flavor of a quality cut of meat.

say a ........

200 gram Angus beef, eye Fillet, aged 28 - 36 months & grain feed for 100 days.

or

An Angus beef, Rib on the bone 600 grams Aged 24 - 28 days & grain feed for 120 days

Or

an Australian wagyu Scotch fillet, Grass fed for the last 300–500 days of production.

http://www.thewagyu.com/products/kurosawa








Serve the cut of meat with a well cooked sauce/gravy.

such as a ?

Red wine sauce,
Jus Lie & balsamic gravy
Green peppercorn sauce
Mushroom sauce
Mustard Butter.

& it's all good baby.



But if i was wanting to smoke the meat or seafood, then i would use a wood based propellent to cook the dish & not
so much the coal or heat beads.



If i wanted to smoke .....

Poultry or Pork. i might use something like mesquite & apple cherry.

Beef & Lamb, i might use ... Mesquite & Hickory.

Seafood ...... mesquite & Alder wood. or fennel seeds / lemon myrtle.
( Regular smoking woods like hickory and mesquite can be a little strong for fish in my opinion. )



But don't forget Australia has an abundance of native produce to choose from to.

So like i said ....... it all depends on what your cooking an who for, as to what rubs, or wood for smoking one might use.



Papperbark Smoked Kangaroo fillet with Juniper Berry glaze. served with wild purple basil, tomato & onion salad with a wild lime dressing, & wattle seed and olive oil over new potatoes with river salt


OR


Smoked, Barramundi & Lemon myrtle,


Ingredients

450g baby barramundi
1/5 of a Paperbark Roll
a generous pinch Lemon Myrtle
a generous pinch of Alpine Pepper
spray oil
10g Wild Lime Confit

Method

1. Use the side of the piece of paperbark with a minimum of loose fibre or stringy bark and spray it with oil
2. place the baby barramundi on the paperbark
3. season with Lemon Myrtle and Alpine Pepper
4. wrap the paperbark around the barramundi folding the length first and then the ends
5. tie the ends with twine to ensure the flavours don't escape during heating
6. place on to a BBQ hotplate on medium to high heat for approx 25 minutes; turn after 12 minutes
7. test the doneness by feel (cooked fish loses the firmness of raw fish)

I hardy ever use wood, and if I do its those chips you buy in small packages, however real oak wood BBQ smokers, slow cooking, it used quite a bit in the USA, burn strictly oak or other woods. Also mesquite, which is found in probably only Texas and the south western states. I probably say 95% of grills people buy in the USA are propane grills, for convienience. A lot of people do not care for wood smoked BBQ, I love it almost anyway, its all good to me. Mrs. G2 doesn't care for hickory at all, I like it myself.

I generally just grill on my propane grill, and use either a terriaki or traditional BBQ sause. Lately we have been using Famous Daves hot and spicy sause. I've played around with a musturd, but have never been able to replicate a recipe my Mother had using Mustard.

We definatly do not have Kangaroo in the USA, but we can buy Buffalo meat in our market. I keep wanting to try it, I had it one time when I was a kid in Yellowstone National Park, and the Old Faithful Lodge.

Smoking is fine, if it is done and used at the right time, for the right reasons.

& that all depends on what cut of meat you smoke to start with.

Id only ever smoke the prime cuts of meat an not the secondary cuts.

rath wrote:If you have a quality cut of meat, why on earth would you wish to destroy the taste & flavor of a quality cut of meat.

say a ........

200 gram Angus beef, eye Fillet, aged 28 - 36 months & grain feed for 100 days.

or

An Angus beef, Rib on the bone 600 grams Aged 24 - 28 days & grain feed for 120 days

Or

an Australian wagyu Scotch fillet, Grass fed for the last 300–500 days of production.

http://www.thewagyu.com/products/kurosawa

Fact is smoking drys out the meat an destroys the flavour & natural juices of the meat, so id only smoke the large primary cuts of meat.

However,

There are times i like to give the smaller 9 secondary cuts of meat that smoked flavour .....


So i find, rather then smoking such a fine piece of meat like an Australian wagyu Scotch fillet, Grass fed for the last 300–500 days of production.

I find i can get a better result with a dry rub.


( Rath's ) Porcine dry steak rub.

1 Cup porcini mushrooms dried
4 tbsp Castor Sugar
4 Claves Garlic peeled
4 tbsp Black Pepper corns
250 ml Extra Virgin olive oil ( EVO )

Place porcini mushrooms, Black Pepper corns. In a spice grinder or pestle and mortar, & crush / Blitz until it resembles a powder.

In a bowl, combine the sugar, salt, garlic, mushroom powder & Evo.
Stir well to form thick & fairly dry paste.
Rub paste over steak, refrigerate for 12 hours or over night.

Cook steak on a very hot grill or BBQ & serve with favorite side dish.

Roasted / grilled vegetables or or salad,


& don't forget, You could make a dry rub, out of anything,

Habanero Chilli Rub.
Creole rub,
Cajun spice rub.

& dry rubs give the meat that smoky flavour's without drying out the meat, and loosing all the meats natural flavour and salts.

bionic wrote:it's just baout done..hope ya'll had a good one

the best BBQ I ever had was some ribs out of Compton(some church there sells/or sold them regularly..to raise funds and such)..they used a rub, instead of a suce..there was definately cinnamon and sugar in the rub..what else was in it..I dunnoo..but it was sooo fricken good.

Cinnamon and sugar in a rub " FOR RIBS " NO NO NO...

Brown sugar is a must....plain cane a no no.... Never used or heard of Cinnamon but I suppose that's the beauty of BBQ'ed ribs, chicken, etc.

Been doin em for decades.............always use a dry rub...........dipping sauce at the end for folks who like it or are used to it...........most properly cooked meats NEED NO SAUCE..............Sauce kills the flavor.

Brown sugar,
Red Pepper,
Chili powder,
Garlic powder,
Salt
Oregano
Cumin,
Coriander,
Paprika,
Onion powder,

No specific recipe as far as measurements go " THAT'S OVER RATED "

The real key is cooking temp.....200 degrees for as long as you care to cook/smoke them....there are literally too many ways to communicate.

Most good southern smoke/cook houses/ BB'q joints smoke em all night...12-16 hours.....

Once you eat ours.................you'll pee on that Kali stuff..

Love ya's,

Cole

Rath, I think when it comes to BBQ per sa, most people are not using Prime cuts. In the USA beef is rated select, choice or prime with most times all meats in the markets are usually select grade. Sometimes you find choice, but actual Prime rated usually not in most markets, unless you go to the fancy markets like Bristol Farms. Real fine restraunts may serve prime steaks, but those would be real high end places, and they would not BBQ them for sure.

real BBQ was born using the lesser cuts of meats, slow coooking with sauses or rubs beause they were tough meats, and evolving into grilling in most cases. Things that use to be really unherd of as fancy meats, like skirt steak and flank steak, use to be .69 cents a pound 30 years ago, now are considered a top choice for the BBQ or backyard grill.

I'm with you about a good steak, I would rather have it done with nothing, and that is the only way to enjoy the natural flavor of a true prime beef steak, like filet minon. But there is nothing like other cuts that are BBQed with some sause or rub, depending on your tastes. Most people are not able to afford prime beef, so we all shop for good sales in meats we can addord.