Cooking Cheap

Like I don’t have enough meat. The mega mart had a rack of spareribs, 3.41 lbs, $1.99 per pound and a $3.00 off coupon. The problem? The sell by date is tomorrow. Solution? I’ll smoke em tomorrow. I thought about buying another rack and freezing it but freezer space is at a premium.

I thought about smoking the ham at the same time. Should be about the same cooking time and only one load of charcoal to do them both but I decided against it.

For the rub, I started with a recipe from “Smoke & Spice”, Cheryl and Bill Jamison. I scaled the amounts down to fit the size of one rack of ribs and adjusted based on what I think is probably OK. I’ve used the rub before on a pulled pork and it was fine. I’m in the mood to try something different on the spares.

2 Tbl onion powder
2 Tbl onion flakes
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp cayenne — I went for 1 1/2
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Ribs are not likely to pickup a lot of flavor from the onion flakes are they? There’s no garlic or salt either so it’s different.

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I had some problems getting the WSM up to temp and keeping it up to temp. I used 19 briquettes and that wasn’t enough. No big deal with spare ribs. The only trimming I did to the spares was that little flap of meat and removing the membrane on the inside. I

The rub is good. The smoke seems to mellow the allspice down a bit and then the cayenne reminds you that it’s there. The amounts given above are about right for one rack of spares. After the overnight in the fridge, there was very little rub just laying in the pan to be discarded.

The temp problems do concern me a bit, it’s definitely a trend in my BBQ, an error in my procedures or assumptions. Then again, it’s only smoked meat and the ribs turned out just fine although the allspice talked back to me all night.

Sadly, but not unexpectedly, reheating the left overs two day’s later wasn’t as satisfying. Tis the nature of pork ribs.

I bought a ham a few weeks ago and I’m going to smoke it in the Q in a few days. 7 or 8 pounds. A lot of meat and bone and fat. If you wonder why I want to smoke a ham, then you don’t know BBQ.

Change the topic. This will turn out to be not Cooking Cheap. Maybe. Maybe not. I was nearly finished with the morning paper and the second cup of coffee when the front door bell rang. I was awake, I have no excuse. I’ll just post the story.

Young man at the door: “I represent mumble, mumble and we’re running a special to introduce us”. As it turns out, he’s from yummymeats.com, a website I had looked at a few weeks earlier when I saw the van driving around. Damn expensive meat.

For every vacuum cleaner salesman, there is a customer. I allowed YM (young man) to show me the box of steaks. It is good looking meat! Individually cryo-vacced and frozen and that appeals to a single person. YM did a a lot of selling. Buy this at the regular price, I’ll toss in the box of Pork.

“Let’s see the pork”…. “Nah. I don’t want the pork”. It might be perfect pork, but it didn’t make my juices run. I’m low and slow on pork.

OK, How about two boxes of steak for the price of one.

“I don’t have that much space in the freezer”

I’ll pack it in there for you.

“I’m single, I can’t eat that much”

I’ll sell the box of steaks for half price. $189!

“OK”
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There was a lot of jive talk about guarantees and customer satisfactions, FDA and ratings and so on. It’s Choice, maybe prime here and there. It seemed like a acceptable deal so I bought it. $208 with the tax. It’s a lot of meat. Special occasion stuff, should I get so lucky. What’s the real price? I have a scale, a calculator and the time to figure it out.

The empty boxes weigh 6.5 oz. I measured the boxes and the purchase contains (minus the box weight)

1. 8 peppered Sirloin steaks, 52 oz.
2. 4 Bone in “prime rib” steaks, 52 oz.
3. 8 Tenderloin Fillets, 53 oz
4. 8 “Thin” NY strips, 52.5 oz
5. 5 NY Strips, 62.75 oz
6. 12 burger patties, 96 oz

That works out to be 23.0915 pounds more or less, or approximately $8/lb. Not really a bargain with all that hamburger in the mix (YM: “it’s chopped sirloin”). Full price ($389)would cause your heart to stop. Twice.

I got suckered. but not too badly, just slightly hosed. Let me have that modicum of dignity. Did I mention they are vac’ed and guaranteed for a year in the freezer!

I’ll be eating well. I hope.

Bread is good but BBQ is important. Until next week when I run out of bread.

I picked up 5 lb.’s of corned beef at the big box place for cheap ($2/lb). Cheap is what we do here, so no apologies from me for for not being a “real foodie” or this not being “real pastrami”.

That size fits in my big pot (dutch oven size) so thats what I rinsed and soaked the corned beef in. Lots of cold water until it seems clear and the in the fridge until the next rinse and soak. I changed the water three times in 24 hours. Then I let it dry at bit while I make the rub.

Spread the rub on, wrap it in plastic (or a ziploc or both) and back into the fridge until the next day.

I estimate that the corned beef is going to take six hours of smoking. Normal for me, I didn’t get it on the smoker until 3:00 PM. I’ll finish it in the oven if need be. I think I have the point cut and not the flat cut so I definitely want to cook it to 185 or even higher.

It turns out that the bags of charcoal I bought around labor day are the new Kingsford not the old Kingsford. That’s a big controversy in the Weber Smoky Mountain (WSM) underground. I didn’t even know I had the new stuff until I looked. I may be pushing my luck. I only filled the ring half full so I might have to finish in the oven in foil. I haven’t had any significant problems controlling the temperature on the new charcoal but I’m not the kind of person that would drive around town looking for and buying whole pallets of the “old” stuff. I care, but not that much.

I think I under estimated the time to cook. It’s been 5 hours and it’s stuck at 158F on the meat probe. It could break out any minute or take hours.

It’s been 6 hours and still 158F on the meat probe. I took a peek in the chamber and I’m about out of charcoal and the lid temp had dropped to 220F. I opened the bottom vents a bit (air temps fall fast this time of year) and added some unlit briquettes (20 or so). I expect a temp spike in few minutes and I’ll throttle down the vents, perhaps and settle in for a “long cook”.

10:00PM. 165F on the meat probe, 270F on the top of the smoker. Time to throttle the vents down and break out the aluminum foil and the bag of potato chips. BBQ will be a little late tonight. Oddly enough, I haven’t looked at the corned beef. The probe, if misplaced, is going to read high isn’t it?

!0:30PM, The probe temp has move up a few degrees. Good! I hear sizzle! Not good The water pan is empty!. I refilled it and that will knock the cooker temp down a bit. I didn’t know it was going to be an all nighter cook. Tis the hand I dealt though, and all I can do is play the cards and stay in the game. There’s 10 bucks, 5lb’s of corned beef in there. Enough for a lot of meals, 6? 8? Maybe more?

I paid $10 for one serving of lunch today. Compare and contrast.

11:00 PM. 175F on the probe, It’s off the brisket plateau, a slow dash down hill for the Home Stretch. Maybe an hour left and then I can let it rest for an a great long time. It it what it is.

11:30 PM. I am not pleased. 179F on the probe and visually as black as the spare kid in the manger. But, it’s not done. Tougher than nails. I Foiled and put it in a 250 oven for gawd knows how long.

Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve baked bread. Time to make some bread. I’m not sure what I’m going to make. I let the starter warm from the fridge for a few hours. Stirred it up a bit and added 1/2 oz (half a table spoon perhaps) of the starter to another container with 1 oz of flour and 1 oz of water.

Unrelated from the bread recipe, I then fed the starter a scant half Cup of flour and some water. It’s been a while since it’s had anything to eat. Both stayed on the counter. When the jar of starter gets working well, it’s back into the fridge. The chef/levain/barm, the 2.5 oz thing will get 3oz of bread flour and water and that will be used to make the bread dough. It’s my standard procedure now days.

The next day I mixed in 10 of flour, 6 oz of water, 1 tsp of salt and did the stretch and fold every 30 minutes until it wasn’t stretching (4 times). I let it rise another couple of hours and into the fridge.

It wasn’t convenient to make bread the next day to I left in the fridge for another day. Then I forgot about it and when I remembered I rushed it a bit. Not long enough for the second rise. It tastes finem but it’s not picture pretty.

A week without baking is like, a week without the sourdough scent. That’s too long. Standard drill: 1oz flour, 1 oz water, tablespoon of cold starter. Mix them and let ferment overnight.

I’ve gone back to the generic mega mart bread flour. Mostly because I had a 5lb bag of it and I don’t see a lot difference in bread quality from using the higher protein flours. I’m a heathen, but the website is “Cooking Cheap” not “Cooking Without A Budget”. Mega-mart it is.

The starter was pretty pooped out, with a thin layer of hooch. Very thick. It’s been a few weeks since it’s last feeding so I fed it a 1/4 C flour and some water. It’ll stay on the counter overnight with the “levain”.

After 8 hours, maybe 10, I added 3oz of bread flour and 3oz of water. Standard formula. That was on the on counter for 4 hours and it was pretty “levain”. A ropey mess of goo only a baker would love.

I got busy installing the new computer so I just put the 8 oz of starter in the fridge last night and took it out this evening, let it warm for an hour or two and mixed it up wet (70%) with 10 oz of bread flour and 6 oz of water. (14 and 10 if you include the starter and you should). Let set for 20 minutes. I mixed in the salt (1 1/2 tsp+ Kosher) in a short hand kneading exercise. Use wet hands.

Four stretch and folds, 30 minutes apart. I like the no knead approach. A lot less clean up and I have not found either to better than the other for texture, crumb or taste when it comes to hearth breads (AKA artisan).

I think I should let the dough build now, In an hour or two, I can shape it and put it in the fridge. That’s what I did.

The next day, I took it out of the fridge and let it set on the counter for 3 hours and 45 minutes. Slashed, backed at 450F, just my “normal” procedure. It doubled in the oven, It looks great. It’ll taste fine. It is no better (or worse) than other pictures I’ve posted so I’m not going to fool with camera.

The mega mart bread flour can make good bread. I knew that. I know it again.

[update]
I should have taken a picture. I was a lovely loaf out of the oven and the tunneling was about as perfect as you could want. Not too big, but a few big ones, evenly distributed top to bottom. Visually, it kicked butt.

It also tasted very good. I defrosted a chunk last night for dinner and it too was very tasty. The crust was fabulous. Chewy and tough but in the inner crumb had enough strength to not collapse when slicing through the tough crust.