Category: Outdoor Cooking

Steak!

We love steak in my house.  Except for my lovely vegetarian wife.  But she supports the three boys in the house in our passion for steak. So what cut is best?

According to Dawson, nothing beats a filet. It’s butter soft, not as fatty as ribeyes, and a perfect steak for home or the steakhouse.

Ryan and I both prefer ribeyes – the fat is much higher, and so is the flavor. To me, the bone in ribeye is the steak to order in a steakhouse, and nothing beats it.

If high quality New York steaks are on sale, it’s always a fantastic option. They are tougher than filets, but a little more flavorful.

People love Porterhouses, which are like a T-bone, with a New York on one side of the bone, and a filet on the other. To me, they are too hard too cook. Getting two different cuts to the perfect temperature is super challenging.

Finally, when I’m buying steak in the grocery store, a good grass-fed steak is always a great option, as it creates both great flavor and texture.

Ingredients

1 Steak, per person*
Soy Sauce
Montreal Steak Seasoning

Directions

Take it out of the fridge and let it sit at least 30 minutes. Don’t let it sit for hours – it’s unsafe.

Season with Soy Sauce To me, it’s more interesting that Worcestershire sauce

Season with Montreal Steak Seasoning. It’s the best. I cover mine with it, and sprinkle Dawson’s lightly. It has a Steak-au-poivre feel to it.

Cook it on the grill or on the Big Green Egg (Direct Cooking). No other way to do it. Get it hot – 400 to 500 degrees is great.

3 Minutes on each side, Rotate 90 degrees and cook 3 minutes on each side again (makes nice cross-hatch marks). I cook my steak until it’s 130 degrees. It’s a perfect medium rare.

Now, if you have a super thick steak – over 2″ thick, please see my recipe for Tomahawk Steaks. You are going to need to use some indirect heat.

Let sit for 3-5 minutes, then serve it up!

Smoked Turkey

bge-turkey

It’s easier than ever to add smoking to your outdoor cooking abilities. And with the right equipment, you don’t have to devote a whole day to the effort. I used to have to tend my $100 offset smoker every 30 minutes. It was tricky to keep the temperature right and the results were inconsistent. If you know this site, you know that I love my XL Big Green Egg. It holds the temperature like a champ, but it takes a little work to get it going, but once you do, it’s a rock and needs little to no attention. And the results are fantastic. But there are easier versions – the Traeger and its copycats are even easier. Plug it in, flip a switch, and you’re smoking. If you like smoke flavor, find your right fit and make it happen.

This is just like the Roasted Turkey recipe, but better. A real smoker is just like an oven. A lot of people believe in “low and slow,” where the temperature is 225 or 250, and it takes a long time. That’s a great strategy, but I like to smoke a turkey just like I do it in the oven. Same temp, same time, but a way different flavor.

Ingredients

Everything from the Roasted Turkey Page Make sure the turkey will fit in your smoker!
1 cup BBQ Rub. Choose your favorite or go with my Arkibu Rub .

Directions

Instead of dry brining the turkey, rub the turkey with the BBQ rub. There’s plenty of salt in that to do the work. Let sit for 24 hours.

Instead of preparing the oven, prepare the smoker. For me – it’s the Big Green Egg. Use the same temp as the Roasted Turkey Recipe – 320 degrees. Apple wood chips are outstanding.

Add apple wood chips, and Smoke until the breast temperature reaches 165. There’s no basting.

Pork Tenderloin

There is not much easier than this grilled or smoked pork tenderloin.  Really.  It is minimum prep, great for formal or informal dinners, it’s quick to cook, and as tender and good as can be. Costco has amazing deals on huge tenderloins, and you can find them in most grocery stores. I like to serve these with some kind of flavorful sauce, and with pork, anything goes, from bbq to chimichurri to some kind of cherry or blackberry sauce.

Ingredients

1 Pork Tenderloin (I use the 2-pack from Costco, 2 pounds each, Choice)
1 cup BBQ Rub. Choose your favorite or go with my Arkibu Rub .

Directions

Coat the pork tenderloin with a lot of the rub. Put it in a ziplock bag for 2 to 24 hours.

Heat up a grill or a cast iron skillet (I used my gas grill). Sear the pork about 5 minutes on each side to get some nice char on it.

I cooked the pork at about 400 degrees of indirect heat. I used my awesome Big Green Egg, but you could use an oven as well. Pecan wood chips add some very nice flavor. It took about 15 minutes. Take out the pork when the internal temp reaches 145 degrees, and loosely cover it with foil.

After about fifteen minutes, I sliced it and it was really, really good. I found a recipe for a blackberry sauce in the Big Green Egg cookbook. Or you can go the Brady Brunch route and get some applesauce or something! A sauce like that is quite nice with the pork. Happy cooking and eating.

Beef Tenderloin

This is an amazing dish that makes you look like a champ. But you’re going to spend some money to do it. If you like the flavor and texture of filet mignon, then you’ll love a beef tenderloin. This makes for a great dinner party dish, as it’s easier to get every piece of meat at the right temperature than it would be if you were grilling 10 different steaks. To me, a filet steak does not need a sauce, but a beef tenderloin does – chimichurri, horseradish, peppercorn, or something else you love.

Ingredients

6 Trimmed Beef Tenderloin (Costco has great prices. The Choice (rather than prime) is excellent)
1 cup Soy Sauce
10 Cloves crushed garlic
4 tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning

Directions

Preparation

Tie up Roast with Twine. It should be fine, but tying it ensures it will be a beautiful presentation.

Make Marinade with remaining ingredients. Place meat and marinade in a Turkey Bag and marinate for at least six hours.

Cooking

Preheat to 400 degrees. I use a Big Green Egg Smoker with indirect heat at the same temperature. An oven works well too. You don’t need many wood chips here for the egg. I love pecan wood for this recipe.

Sear the meat on high heat on a grill or griddle large enough for the roast. Five minutes on each side.

Place in the Big Green Egg or in the oven. Insert meat thermometer. Close and take out when the internal temperature reaches 130 (medium rare). It should take around 45-50 minutes.

Let sit for at least ten minutes, and up to twenty, then slice and serve.

Grilled Chicken with Mexican Marinade

If I can find a good Carniceria or Grocery with high quality marinated chicken using a recipe like this – I’m buying!  But it’s not hard at all to make your own, and you will like the results.

Ingredients

4 Chicken Breasts, Boned and Skinned or 8 boneless chicken thights
¾ cup Olive Oil
¾ cup Orange Juice (Juice from 2 oranges is even better!)
3 Limes, Juiced
3 Lemons, Juiced
2 tbsp Paprika
8 Cloves Garlic, Crushed (or 2 tsp minced dried garlic)
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Salt
1 Onion, chopped1 large or 2 small

Directions

Mix all marinade ingredients together. Set aside 1/3 of the mixture to use after the chicken is done.

Marinate chicken in remaining marinade (with the fruit rinds!) for at least 1 hour. Overnight is excellent. A good ziplock bag works here.

Remove chicken from marinade. Drain. (You can get flame-ups if you don’t drain before placing on the grill. I learned that the hard way.)

Cook chicken on a hot grill. Turn at least four times to get good grill marks on both sides. Take off the grill as soon as the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees (breasts) or 175 for thighs.

Plate the chicken or place it in some kind of dish, spoon the reserved marinade over it, and cover with foil until you are ready to serve. It will hold for 20-30 minutes. As always, for safety, don’t let the temperature drop below 140 degrees.

Arkibu BBQ Rub

You’ve got to have a good rub for your bbq. Here’s my Arkibu Rub. I use it on almost everything I smoke. If I’m smoking ribs, I will rub in some brown sugar first, then add the rub.

Ingredients

1.50 cups Smoked Paprika (I use Penzey’s Smoked Paprika)
½ cup Black Pepper (Course)
½ cup Kosher Salt
½ cup White Sugar
¼ cup Chili Powder (Medium)
¼ cup Garlic Powder
¼ cup Onion Powder
1 tbsp Cayenne PepperThis keeps it fairly mild. You make it 1/4 cup to add more heat to this rub.

Directions

Mix it up and Store in a cool dry place. This is a “medium heat” recipe. Add more cayenne if you want some real fire!

Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork – The greatest BBQ food there is. You can make it perfectly every time with a good piece of meat, a smoker, some rub, and a meat thermometer! Pork Shoulders (also called Pork Butts?) are not small, so this is not a family dinner. This is a dinner/bbq with friends. I’ve made it for 8 people, and I’ve made for 100. As long as you have room on your smoker, there’s not much difference in effort. If you don’t have a smoker, there are a zillion great crockpot recipes out there, so don’t let that stop you.

Ingredients

1 Boston Butt (Pork Shoulder) Bone-In (Preferred) or Boneless, 10-14 pounds
½ cup BBQ Rub

Directions

Preparation

If using a boneless pork shoulder (aka Boston Butt), tie it up with twine, widthwise and lengthwise.

Seasons with at least 1/2 dry rub. Buy one you like at a store or use my Arkibu rub recipe. Cover every inch of the meat. Use your hands, and feel free to use some plastic gloves to keep everything clean.

Place in a pan and cover, or cover with plastic wrap or foil. I like to let it sit for at least 12 hours.

Smoking that Bad Boy

Prepare your Big Green Egg or other smoker. Stabilize it at 300 degrees of indirect heat.

Soak some apple wood chips or the chips of your choice. Subtle is better here. You only need to add smoke for the first part of the recipe. The smoker will do the rest.

Put the pork on the smoker and close it up. If you have a thermometer that you can keep an eye on the temperature with, insert that now.

Now you wait.

It’s going to be 5 to 7 hours, because nothing is exactly predictable. What is predictable is that 195 degrees is perfect, and take it off the egg once it’s there.

Take it off the egg, place on a large rimmed cookie sheet, one of those great disposable foil pans (pictured), or other pan, and cover tightly with foil for at least one hour.

You can keep ready to go for about six hours by putting the foil-wrapped pieces in  a high quality cooler, covering them with a towel, and closing the cooler.  I’ve had it sit in foil in a cooler for 7 hours, and it was still hot and ready to pull when I opened it up.

When you are ready to pull it, take the foil off and pull apart.  I use the bear claw tools that are helpful.  Some people just use forks.  

Don’t mix in BBQ sauce. It’s too good for that. But serve with BBQ sauce in a bowl or a squeeze bottle for people to use.

If you need to reheat it after refrigerating the pulled pork, put it in an oven at very low heat (200) with a little apple juice, or, my method is to put a little apple juice at the bottom of a large crock pot and heat it up there.