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Great American Barbecue & Grilling Manual
Hi {FirstName} & Welcome! In our last issue, we discussed the merits of changing the Smoke 'N Fire Enquirer's format to better reflect our readers' interests. We certainly appreciate the several thousand of you readers who took the time to offer your thoughts on this, your newsletter. We are still evaluating the direction to proceed, but rest assured, we will continue give you 110% of our time, attention and dedication in turning out the finest in outdoor cooking newsletters!
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As you're reading this, we're working on our regular LONG version of the Smoke 'N Fire Enquirer and will have that out to you before the end of the month! Hope you are planning a great summer of outdoor cooking!
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We're particularly happy to have Smoky return to discuss some of the deep dark secrets of outdoor cooking. He brings to the table a great understanding of the benefits of the often overlooked Pork Loin!
In Praise of Pork Loins
By Smoky Hale
If asked to name the cut of meat that I can recommend to all (who have no aversion to pork), I would have to say, "Pork loin." The reasons are several. It is delicious, tender, moist, economical, healthy and versatile. When I find this delectable morsel on sale at $1.88 per lb. I pause to thank those merchandising marvels who made the "baby back ribs" such a popular fad.
Trimmed of fat and membrane, the pork loin can be prepared in myriad ways, simply and deliciously. It has less interspersed fat than its beef counterpart, the rib roast or rib steak and therefore has less fat calories. This is fine for health reasons, but causes problems for those who insist on overcooking pork. Because it has no internal fat to melt and baste as it cooks, pork loin will dry out if overcooked. Of course, this happens when one overcooks a rib steak as well, even though it is marbled.
With all its attributes, pork loin really excels in versatility. Trimmed and lightly rubbed with seasoning and roasted at 350° until 145° in the center, it makes a delicious centerpiece. Cut into 1 1/2" steaks and broiled quickly until medium rare, it will surprise your palate into thinking you are eating beef steak. It is great as a stir fry meat and cubed it absorbs and associates with all manner of exotic ingredients, pineapple immediately comes to mind. It also lends itself readily to Southwestern flavors, fitting in well with chiles of every ilk and scoville unit.
One of my favorites, that requires very little time is Roast Pork Loin Aw Juice (that is Southern for au jus)
Trim up a fresh pork loin, removing all the fat and silverskin. (Rub the fat on your grill, season your cast iron skillets, render it down for lard, toss it to your dog or use it to help the fire get started.)
Place on a rack over a shallow pan with 1/4" of water to keep the first drippings from burning. Pop into the hot grill and close the lid. It will take around 1 hour, depending upon the temperature and the size of the roast.
Remove from grill to a platter or cutting board and let the juices set for about ten minutes while you deglaze the pan with more water or wine. Correct the seasonings and reserve as Aw Juice. (After you try it you may want to call it "Awesome Juice.")
Slice the loin across in thin (1/8") slice to a warm plate and pour the warm aw juice over it. Try to save some if you can.
Left overs, if there are any, make great sandwich meat. Keep it tightly enclose so that it will not dry out.
Precious Pork Steaks
Trim the pork loin of fat and sinew as above and slice crosswise 1 1/4-2" thick. Bring to room temperature while you fire up the grill for broiling - 700+°.
Saute chopped shallots in olive oil until tender and add a dash of Worcestershire or mild soy sauce. Reserve.
Place the pork steaks firmly on the properly heated grates and let them sit until they release from the grates. Turn and do the same. Depending upon the thickness and beginning temperature, they may be done enough. (Press the center of the steak - if it gives resistance, it is probably cooked enough) Otherwise, flip and turn 90° to give a nice cross hatch design. Quickly flip again to decorate the other side and DON’T OVER COOK.
Remove to warm plates and lightly cover with the shallot sauce.
Next time experiment with your own sauce flavors.
The so called "baby back" ribs, accurately identified as "loin back" ribs, are actually the bone familiar to those who enjoy an occasional pork chop. The meat part of the pork chop is the long muscle that runs from stem to stern on either side of the back bone of four legged critters that we esteem for their flesh. It performs less strenuous work than most other muscles because it gets less work. The tenderloin is the only muscle more tender, yet it lacks the flavor, in my opinion of the loin. This applies to beef or pork.
"Babyback Ribs"
Pork need not, and should not, be cooked past 155-160 degrees. All the bacteria has departed and the juicy tenderness remains. Besides having less calories from fat, pork has another advantage over beef: the fat does not oxidize as quickly. Therefore it is much closer to its freshly cooked taste as a left over than is beef. Beef fat begins to react with air almost immediately and this off flavor is apparent the next day regardless of how tasty it was freshly off the grill.
Pork appreciates garlic and onion, favors sage, thyme and bay and even joins with sweeter spices such as cinnamon and cloves. It is so flavor friendly that it is hard to mess up unless it overcooked or over seasoned.
Fire up the grill for roasting - 350°. Rub it well with a mixture of:
Mix well and apply as if it were salt. Cover all surfaces.
Smoky
Steel Prices Going Up!
Fasten your seat belts
The price of steel is headed to the stratosphere! In the past 9 months, steel has almost doubled in price which will affect new steel grills being purchased this spring. The cause is attributed to, most notably, skyrocketing demand from China's rapidly expanding economy. There is even some "hoarding" going on which exacerbates the problem. To read more about the problems you will be facing on any items which are made of steel, visit THIS LINK.
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Keep Those Fires Hot!
OK, guys and gals.....Go fire up those grills! We'll see all of you again later this month.........
Charlie @ barbecue@nottingham.com
Sincerely,
Your Barbecue'n hosts,
Charlie McMurrey (a/k/a/ "PC") & And Smoky
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Hi {FirstName} , spring is sprung and those wonderful days of backyard grillin' are more than just a pleasant memory. By now, you should have already pulled out the grill and started to get it back into racing form! If you haven't, then better get with the program or your neighbors will already be out of the starting gate.
