Cured Rack of Pork … Lessons Learned
Found a nice 5lb Rack of Pork, Bone In, at Costco and decided to cure and smoke it with Hickory. Found some Hi Mountain Buckboard Bacon Cure at Bass Pro Shop but didn’t know how long to cure it. I really learned a lot from this experience. Some good … Some bad …
Chose to cure it for 10 days like Hi Mountain recommends for a Pork Butt and I think that was my first mistake. I think I should have taken it to about 7 days max cause it turned out really salty near the edges. I will say that the 10 day cure did cure the entire Pork Rack but maybe 7 days would have done so also.
After curing in the fridge for 5 days I rotated the Rack of Port for another 5 days as instructed. Rinsed it under cold water and patted it dry. I think next time I will soak it in cold water for maybe 3 hours rotating the water every hour. Rubbed it with some Roasted Garlic EVOO and dusted it with some seasonings. Next time I will forgo the seasoning and just use the EVOO.
At our house it’s a tradition that we must have Scalloped Potatoes with Ham or anything that’s close to Ham. I use an easy recipe that I found years ago in a Betty Crocker recipe book. It calls to grease the pan, layer it with sliced potatoes, onions, sprinkle some flour, seasonings, and some pats of butter. Repeat the process 2 or 3 times and top it off with a layer of taters. Then pour some warm milk, to create the white cream sauce while it bakes, to about 2/3 full.
Preheated the MAK 2 Star Pellet Grill to 235ºF using Hickory wood BBQ pellets. Slapped the Rack of Pork on the bottom rack and used a half rack for the Scalloped Potato casserole. Another lesson learned was that that since it normally takes 1½ hours @350º to cook the casserole it will not properly cook in time at the 235º. After 3 hours, I removed the casserole and popped it in the oven @375º for an hour.
Pulled the Rack of Pork when the Internal Temperature reached 160º. Took about 5 hours.
Sliced the Rack of Pork and they smelled wonderful.
The money $shot … a slice of Pork, some taters, and a portion of corn … Variety is the spice of life
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MAK 2 Star Pellet Grilled Red Snapper Fillets
For a quick and dirty meal you can’t beat a little fresh Red Snapper fillets. Found these on sale at my local Market. Sprayed the Frog Mat with some PAM. Lightly coated both sides of the Red Snapper fillets with Roasted Garlic EVOO, Old Bay, and some Fagundes Seasoning.
Preheated the MAK 2 Star to 410ºF using some Alder wood BBQ pellets and slapped the fillets on the grill.
Took about 16 minutes … Red Snapper fillets were done when they easily flaked with a fork.
The money $shot … A Red Snapper fillet, some steamed Cauliflower, a salad, and a glass of some nice Syrah. Yes, I know that white wine normally should be served with fish (match the color of the wine with the color of the food) but I’m not a big fan of white wines. It’s all good …
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First MAK 2 Star Pellet Grill Pork Butts
First shot at a couple of 6 lb Pork Shoulder Boston Butts using my MAK 2 Star Pellet Grill. Rubbed the Butts with Carolina Treet and John Henry’s Texas Pig Rub. Wrapped in plastic and set in fridge overnight
Took the Butts out of the fridge and allowed them to come to room temperature for an hour. Preheated the MAK 2 Star to 225º using Hickory wood BBQ pellets. Slapped the Boston Butts in at 9 PM. Watched them till around 1 AM before taking a snooze …
At 7:15 the next morning the Butts had an IT of 168º and 164º. Right smack into a nice stall. There’s 3 things you can count on: Death, Taxes, and a stall on your Pork Butts
Pulled at 1:30 PM when IT1 hit 203º and IT2 was 197º. 16½ hours later. Got a nice glimpse of a smoke ring. Note that I have the fat cap side up but in hind sight, I’m going to be placing the fat cap side down from now on to help promote a better bark formation … not that there’s anything wrong with the looks of this bark!!
Foil, Towel, and Cooler (FTC) for 4+ hours
I be liking the look of these Pork Butts. Nice bark formation and an impressive smoke ring
The money $shot … Pulled Pork Butt, a fresh Growler of Amber, Cole Slaw, Beans, and a selection of finishing Sauces …
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Re-skinned Apple Smoked Chicken Leg Quarters
I like to season as much under the skin as possible on Poultry as I do on the skin. So I skinned some Chicken Leg Quarters carefully to keep the skin intact and rubbed the chicken with some Roasted Garlic EVOO, Jans Dry Rub on 3 and Fagundes Seasoning on the remaining 2.
Re-skinned the Chicken Leg Quarters, applies another coating of EVOO, and Seasonings.
Preheated the MAK 2 Star to 400º using Apple wood BBQ pellets. Setpoint to SMOKE for 1½ hours, then bumped the temperature to 350º until the Internal Temperature reached 180ºF. Rested under a foil tent for 20 minutes.
The money $shot … Chicken Leg Quarter, some fried red taters with onions, and a little salad
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Testing Fish Mats on MAK 2 Star Pellet Grill using Salmon
Used a few Salmon fillets to test out my new Frog Mats. Seasoned 2 fillets with the wife’s favorite, Kikkoman Teriyaki Baste & Glaze with Honey & Pineapple and the other 2 fillets with a dash of Old Bay & Fagundes Seasonings.
Preheated the MAK 2 Star General to 400ºF using some Alder wood BBQ pellets. Put the Salmon fillets skin side down.
Checked the Salmon after 15 minutes and wound up pulling them at the 18 minute mark when the Salmon easily flaked away with a fork. The Frog Mat worked really great. The Salmon did not stick to the mat and sure made the cleanup easy. I used to grill my Salmon inside a foil boat in my propane grill. I like the way this turned out better. Will be using the Fish Mat for other types of fish soon.
