Timex
3801
Serious eats did a cool review of them.
There’s really nothing social about them. It’s literally just a big ass piece of steel. For that reason, i feel like a sucker for paying over a hundred bucks for it. But the main benefits over a pizza stone, in addition to making better pizza due to having a huge thermal mass and good conductivity, is that it’s indestructible. I’ve had Pizza stones in the past, which eventually cracked.
Clay
3802
Anyone? Anyone? It sure would be a good November Surprise for family Thanksgiving!
Skipper
3803
@ArmandoPenblade if you’re ready to move in here in Charlotte, I’m ready to hire you as a chef. I LOVE Indian food. And I love the pizza idea, I have to report on this to some Indian friends of mine. Also, I feel so inferior to be posting a lazy Sunday meal after that.
I went simple today for a Sunday meal. Chicken breasts, pan seared then braised in stock and herbs until done. This I added to a simple rice medley with some veggies I needed to go through and paired a buttered water roll from the store deli. I don’t particularly like to have huge meals on Sunday, and this worked perfectly.
I have LOTS of chicken to go through this week. (Not seen, another three breasts resting on a separate plate.):
I deglazed the original pan, then added the braising liquid, and reduced it for quite a while. Right after this I added a corn starch slurry to give it a bit of substance, then strained it and added a small pat of butter while off heat to give it extra richness.
Added on top of the chicken and plated, a very lazy Sunday meal:
RichVR
3804
Is that a brioche roll there? I’m getting really good brioche rolls from Lucky’s Market here. Went today and there was only one bag left, sometimes it’s out of stock. Amazing stuff.
The pizza turned out. . . surprisingly well, esp. considering the kinda crummy crust employed. I really kinda hope I can remember what all went into it (it was sort of improvised around 4 in the morning. . . ), but yeah, I wanna make it again sometime.
I see nothing worthy of shame there, man. That looks gorgeous and delicious. Happy to trade Butter Chicken for a plate of that anytime :)
Skipper
3806
Water rolls (Kaiser,) according to Whole Foods, but not really crunchy. I’d say brioche would be correct.
I think that belongs in the other food thread.
Nothing special about it except for the fact no one else on the planet makes such a thing.
Absolutely nothing wrong with spending good money on a kitchen tool that will last a lifetime in my book.
Timex
3809
Yep, this is my thought.
In the past, when I’ve shelled out good chunks of money for high quality tools, for the kitchen or otherwise, I tend not to regret the purchase. Buying something that you never need to replace is a cool thing.
Monday Night Football. Time for pulled pork!
Rubbed and ready shoulder:
Onto the smoker at 225 at midnight. 16 hours later:
None
3811
That’s a wondrous smoke ring!
Thanks! You know, before I bought the pellet smoker, I read that the didn’t produce as much of a smoke flavor. That might be true, but I’ve never felt the smoke was lacking in any way. And truth be told, if I wanted more of that I could use mesquite.
The pulled pork was dynamite. Getting great pulled pork is hard to come by in my experience, so much so I don’t usually go out of my way to get it, but this I would happily make again any time.
For sauce (unlike brisket, pulled pork needs sauce), I used a real simple Carolina mop sauce (vinegar with salt, brown sugar, chili flake, hot sauce, pepper) and then mixed that 1:1 with a nice smooth mustard that has a touch of ale in it.
None
3813
Nice. Are you in South Carolina, by chance? Currently living in Memphis, our BBQ sauces here seem to be based more on tomato than vinegar and are very sweet. I much prefer a vinegar-based sauce similar to what I grew up with in Georgia. I suppose the proximity to the Carolinas is the influence here.
Best I’ve had is more similar to your mop sauce: thin, sweet and sour. The South Carolina mustard sauce took me a while to get used to because I was too heavy handed with it when I first came across it. This confounded me because I love mustard. But once I learned to dip rather than pour, all was well.
Have you tried the mayonnaise-based white BBQ sauce found in parts of Alabama? It’s kind of like the sauce you’d make for a coleslaw. The color contrast makes it look strange when applied to barbecued meats but I love coleslaw so the flavor works very well for me.
Mustard-based BBQ is my absolute jam now that I’ve had it. Unfortunate, since I live in North Carolina and am indifferent–at best–to the vinegar-and-chilies sauce favored hear. I do have a special place in my heart for Memphis-styled tomato-and-molasses based stuff, though.
Beautiful pork, by the way, @Misguided. Please be my Qt3 Santa and send me smoked meats?
Nah, I’m in the Northwest. I love Memphis-style sauces, but I avoid them these days because of the sugar. The mop sauce has a tablespoon of sugar in 3/4 cup of vinegar and then I mixed a tablespoon of that with a tablespoon of mustard, so not much in the way of carbs. Meanwhile, my wife took a little of it and mixed it with a sweet Hawaiian bbq sauce to use for her sandwich (she’s not a low-carber). Similarly, the rub had a small amount of sugar to help with bark formation, but not that much spread over the entire shoulder.
I know of the Alabama white sauce, but haven’t tried it. The cookbook I’ve been using does have a recipe for it, though.
Armando, I basically split the diff by adding some prepared mustard to a vinegar-chile based sauce. I agree that the vinegar sauce by itself is missing something, but as mentioned above, I’m basically using it as a base to thin out/mix with other things.
Yeah, and I can definitely appreciate that. But my buddy at work who takes me to all the good BBQ places in the state when we travel will just shake a bottle of the mop sauce over a huge platter of plain pork and go to town. Kinda freaks me out!
Skipper
3817
Okay, I take it back. You may not live in this household. NC born and raised, Memphis style lovers need to move away.
Kidding really. All BBQ styles are fun and tasty, it’s why we love the food in the first place. And I agree, @Misguided, that looks amazingly tasty.
The reason for the vinegar based sauce was to cut the flavor of the smoky, salty, and rich pork. It’s also not far removed from what you might baste or mop meat with during the cook, so it was at hand when needed. I like to think of it as a more pure sauce, getting more and more traditional barbeque flavored as you move from the eastern part of North Carolina to the western part.
If it’s any consolation, that work-friend agrees with you wholeheartedly :)
So, we went out to Grady’s (out in Wayne Co–fairly East) this spring, and it was absurdly good. . . but had me huntin’ around for other sauces there (I found some). I do agree that it’s got a fabulous use as a basting/cooking sauce, and Grady’s slow-smoked, whole-hog style, with bits of vinegary, spicy, crispy skin mixed in with the pulled meat, really showcases it in that vein. . . but I still want something with a little more body at the end of the day.
It’s alright. Between that and my voting record, I’m sure NC will be deporting me soon!
Skipper
3819
I’m from Asheville. They would welcome you with open arms based on your voting record, as well as a more traditional tomato-y based barbeque sauce, not as sweet as Memphis, but still very tasty.
Yeah, it’s like a mother sauce for barbecue. You can use it straight, add mustard like I did, or add a tomato-based component like my wife did, etc. here’s the recipe from “Meathead” if anyone is interested:
East Carolina Mop Sauce
1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
2 T sugar (your choice)
2 T kosher salt
2 t crushed red pepper flakes
2 t finely ground black pepper
1 t hot sauce (your choice)
I actually made a 1/2 recipe but stuck with the full teaspoon of hot sauce (Cholula Chili Garlic in my case)
For a Western Carolina sauce, you could cut vinegar to a cup and add 1/4 cup each of ketchup and apple juice, with a bit less salt (becaus ketchup) and a touch more sugar if desired.
