| Fabvsix |
Does anyone have a "simple" baste for marinating/smoking a large piece of meat (Aka Filet Mignon 5 pounder ) ? ? Please share your secret !
Much appreicated ! :rolleyes: ;) |
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| zafer |
| marinate in bourbon over nite, baste with melted butter while grilling. |
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| renov8r |
I was a biochem major in college and could bore the life out of almost anybody with details on what happens as meat cooks and marinates, but I won't.
Instead I will say that when really smoking (at temps of under 300 degrees F) you want a piece of meat that is tough and has an ugly layer of external fat (a 'cap'). A juicy, tender cut of with lots of intramusclar fat ("marbling") like tenderloin (aka filet mignon) is wasted by low temperature cooking. If you already have the cut, cook it HOT AND SHORT-- just use for steaks or kabobs or maybe a quickly cooked chateaubriand. http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/getrecipe.zsp?id=57462
If you have your heart set on a cooking some beef AND using a "wet mop" or marinade then I would give serious consideration to something with an Asian or Latin American bias. Get a tough cut like "skirt steak" or "top round". These will definately benefit from some lower heat, longer cooking times and flavor packed marinade/basting. If you go to any ethnic market they will sell juices of tamarind or guava, which taste pretty odd by themselves, BUT watered down about 3:1 and then made acidic with some mild rice-wine vinegar it is a great baste/marinade. To get fancy add beef stock(instead of water), cheap red wine, onion powder and fresh cilantro -- this makes a KNOCK OUT marinade. After the meat soaks in the brew I pour the stuff into a pot and boil it for 15 minutes so it is safe. Skim off any nasty grey stuff (they say that is the proteins from the beef juices but it looks like hell), cool the brew and use it to MOP the meat as it cooks. I have zested up this 'basic brew' with things like cumin and/or jalepenos for a Latin flair or gone for Asian with star anise/five spice powder/wasabi/Chinese hot mustard powder/fresh grated ginger . To DIE FOR!
I don't like to put too much hard liquor in anything that meat is going to sit in, becuase it tends to do bad things to the texture of meat. Also it can mess with cooking times as the stuff will "distill away" really FAST leaving the meat over cooked. Final point: I know A LOT of marinade recipes have oil in them, but I have yet to find that oil in a marinade does any good. The theory is that if you have a piece of meat that is "too lean" the oil in the marinade might make up for this. What I find is that the oil drips off and usually burns up. Now a pat or too of butter (tossed on when the meat is just about cooked) WILL work wonders, but that is very different than having oil in a marinade. If you get chicken or pork you can "brine" that to pump up the meat with moisture but DO NOT try that with beef! |
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| Fabvsix |
I agree partly, but do you have a custom built Pitts and Spitts Ultimate Smoker ? Every piece of meat smoked came out Tender, juicy regardless whether its the cheap or expensive cut of meat. P&S smokers allow you to put ANYTHING your mind can imagine to keep the meat moist and juicy.....Here is a picture of it......
Your pure fluid in the center main tank, as it smokes it begins to boil and moisten the meats. If you look toward the left, you see the brass drain plug as the steel they use are like All Clad pots. Yes you have to drain, wipe clean and spray pam to keep it in top notch shape. I didn't pay pennies for these works of art ! :1: |
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| renov8r |
I used to go to competitions where folks have used everything from some scrap corrigated metal to $10K++ custom cooking machines. Anything can turn out great product with appropriate attention/skill; certainly better tools can improve the work of an accomplished artist ;)
The chemical make-up of beef can't be changed and there are valid reason that "junk cuts" like brisket and ribs rule the barbecue shacks and contests from coast to coast. The down side is those cuts really take a _l_o_o_o_o_n_g_ time to finish and if you have kids or a regular job "forget about it". On weekends I've had to stick to stuff that I can smoke in an afternoon on my WSMC.
On work nights I have to limit myself to grilling on my TEC as "the boss" won't let me leave her with the kids for more than 40 minutes!
Enjoy! |
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| XStatic |
Simple...
Next to the smoker I just keep a spray bottle with 50/50 water/vinegar and 1tbsp of salt per cup. |
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| Fabvsix |
| I really appreciate your honesty. When searching for a top grade smoker, I was over whelmed by folks saying "if money is not an option" buy Pitts and Spitts. I paid dearly and certainly for shipping from texas to California ! Their product allows you to cook top grade meats due to the fluid feature. I found that most inexpensive smokers, upright water/electic etc... just take TOO much time, TOO much baby sitting and produced BEEF JERKY ! Having the BEST, you can smoke the BEST with little or no baby sitting. This product rocks ! I've done ribs, large pieces of meat, all except those tuff cheap cuts, chicken, smoked cabbage (um um). One of my favorite fluids is "Margarita Mix" ! Just pour it in the tank under the meat and you've never had anything so tender, juicy and moist ! |
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| Fabvsix |
I keep a spray bottle with
Water, Olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon ! NO salt because most likely your DRY RUB is loaded with SALT ! :rolleyes: |
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| one4gatr |
Montreal Steak Season!
I use this rub/season on all cuts of meat, fish, poultry. I recommend you just lightly coat the cut as too much of this can make your food almost inedible. I have tried a bunch of different rubs and marinades but this is by far the best. I would add that I have found marinades tend to "boil" out when using a smoker and that rubs generally are better suited for smoking. |
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| Fabvsix |
I use Dry rub almost 98% of the time. I will CAJUN inject some love juice before sending it to the smoker.
Do you have an url to get this stuff or is it avail at my local grocery store ? I'm far from Florida too ! |
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