Tag Archives: smoked

Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Smoked Lamb Shoulder + Smoked Pulled Pork

Take 10lbs of lamb shoulder (we sourced ours from Central Market), rub generously with salt, pepper and garlic powder overnight, then smoke over oak and hardwood just like a beef brisket.

Mind you that this lamb shoulder does have a few rib bones in it, so a little more studious monitoring is required so it doesn’t overcook. Our Thermoworks Thermapen MK4 and Dot make this an easy task.

Most BBQ lamb recipes I’ve seen treats lamb like a steak, to be grilled or seared over high heat to a rare temperature. In this instance we are cooking low-and-slow for juicy, fatty, shred-ready pulled lamb.

We wrapped the lamb shoulder at the 165F mark and smoked till internal meat temps reached 195F-200F in our BGEXL, again as we would a beef brisket. I should mention that we also had a pork shoulder (boston butt/picnic) also sharing grill space with the lamb that we sauced and wrapped at the stall temperature. (Our favorite bottled sauce on most everything barbecue is Trader Joe’s Organic Sriracha & Roasted Garlic BBQ  Sauce.)

Once rested, we started pulling the meats apart and feasted on the bbq goodness for over 2 weeks.

 

Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Smoked BBQ Ribs

It’s no secret that we’re in love with smoking on the Big Green Egg. And with our handy ThermoWorks gear, (i.e. DOT and Thermapen Mk4 both in screamin’ Green) smoking and grilling to temperature has gotten a whole lot more accurate.

So when I spotted a post on ThermoWorks blog about competition style BBQ ribs, I just had to put our BGE to work reproducing those delicious BBQ pork ribs.

We sourced our pork ribs from two vendors: our local Kroger grocery store (for back loin ribs) and a butcher shop, Matador Meats, in Plano (for St Louis cut ribs).

I applied our cajun-style dry spice rub to the ribs and refrigerated until we were ready for meat to hit the grill.

Here’s a reprint of my Cajun/Blackening Spice recipe:

  • 2-3 tablespoons paprika
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes, ground cayenne, or a dash of ghost pepper
  • 1-2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1/2 to 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon basil (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin (optional)
  • 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar

We primed our BGE to cook low and slow at no more than dome temp of 250F, using oak chips and lump. We had at least 3 temperature probes monitoring meat temperatures during the 8 hour smoke. When the the temps hit 165F, we pulled them from the BGE for the wrap portion of the cook.

Our go-to sauce is Trader Joe’s Organic Sriracha & Roasted Garlic BBQ Sauce, and we slathered this on the ribs in their foil wrap, before returning them to the BGE for the final march to 200F.

The result: tender, pull-apart sweet-spicy pork ribs that easily fell off the bone.

 

Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Smoked Glazed Pork Belly (aka Pork Belly Burnt Ends)

The Labor Day weekend is summer’s last bow before fall arrives, and the holiday is usually marked with backyard cookouts across the US, involving grills and smokers.

My household planned on staying home during the weekend, spending some intimate time with the Big Green Egg XL…and I wanted to do something different with pork belly from my usual crispy smoked roast pork. I wanted something sweet, smoky…and spicy a la Sichuan style. And of course I’d heard of pork belly burnt ends so…

This here hunk of smoked pork belly with crisped skin…

…went back into the BGE with a generous application of my spice rub, along with helpings of butter, honey and brown sugar…

Which then turned into the sticky-sweet-and-savory pork belly dish below!

The only things I would have changed to this recipe: get a larger slab of pork and add some real heat–Sriracha or chili oil–to the glaze.  Oh, and I could’ve certainly used a lot less butter.

The recipe as is:

  • 6 tbsp salted butter (2 or 4 tbsp would be less wasteful)
  • 3oz Neem honey
  • 3oz light brown sugar
  • 1-2oz of spice rub (I used my cajun rub)
  • about 3 lbs of skin-on, boneless pork belly
  • a bunch of green onions, sliced, for garnish (optional)

In contrast to some burnt end methods that I’ve read, we didn’t cut or rub the pork belly before the smoke. We slapped the raw, uncut and unadorned pork belly onto the BGE to smoke at 300F (over hardwood coals and post oak logs) for about 15-20 minutes. We then applied direct heat to the skin for another 5-10 minutes to get crispy.

After pulling it off the smoker to slice and cube, I tossed the pork belly chunks in a foil pan with the glaze ingredients.  Then back onto the BGE they went for another 10-15 minutes to caramelize.

Once the pork belly got sticky and a little blackened, I pulled the pan from the smoker and let it sit while I chopped up the garnish.

It was mighty hard sneaking bites in of the hot bits of pork…but it was soooo delicious!

Dining, Reviews

Best of BBQ: Smoked Brisket

This list comes long overdue. Here’s my best of bbq featuring smoked brisket that can be had in Dallas and surrounding neighborhoods:

Pecan Lodge: Intense, smoky, melt-in-your-mouth fatty beef brisket. This is the best of the best in Dallas, found in Deep Ellum. The parking may be inconvenient, the lines may stretch out the door, but I head over to the express counter where I’ll purchase 5lbs or more of all the smoked barbecue goodness. Wanna amp up the flavor? Try the brisket burnt ends!

Hutchins BBQ:  Steer clear of the Frisco outpost and make the commute over to McKinney, where the original Hutchins perfected their marbled smoked brisket. Moist, flavorful brisket will make your tastebuds dance–the best in the ‘burbs!

Black and beautiful brisket from Hutchins

Cattleack Barbecue: So they smoke their ‘que with gas, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that from their brisket, which possesses the same smoky flavor that can arise from wood. Cattleack sources their brisket from premium meat suppliers, and it’s evident in every tender, marbled, juicy bite!

The Slow Bone: The only barbecue joint on my list that smokes/grills with hickory, and the sharp tanginess of this wood shines in every bite of their brisket. If you’re looking for a different flavor profile from pecan and oak smoke, try the tender brisket at The Slow Bone.

Honorable mentions:  Meat U Anywhere BBQ

Revisits needed: Ten50 BBQ, Lockhart Smokehouse, Bartley’s BBQ, Mike Anderson BBQ, 3 Stacks Smoke & Tap House, North Main BBQ