Gravy's Cooking Thread

Lanx

Lanx

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Rajaah said:
Yeah that was before I got a response on the wood question, got the chips purchased and was winging it. I move quick.

This is interdasting. I will try it.

Yesterday's steak (at 125ish final temp) was bloody as hell. I triple-checked the internal temps because it seemed super-rare. Would have guessed it was 115 if I didn't have a thermometer. In retrospect I think I didn't let it rest long enough to redistribute the blood. I let it rest for at least 3 minutes, maybe closer to 5. I guess for rarer it should rest for longer.

Worst thing in the world at this point is well done / dry steak meat. Can't stand it when I overdo it, just feels like a colossal waste of effort. However, also a germ-o-phobe and super rare/bloody also freaks me out a bit even though that's the way I want the steak to be. I have just a few degrees (120-125) where it's both safe and still rare enough, and landing on the target is important.
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if youre so antsy about meat temp, check your thermometer is reading accurate, fill a big glass jar with ice (better if chipped) and then water, swish it around, wait a few mins, put it in the fridge, you know this cup will be 32f

put your probe in there and see what it reads and adjust
 
Rajaah

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Lanx said:
if youre so antsy about meat temp, check your thermometer is reading accurate, fill a big glass jar with ice (better if chipped) and then water, swish it around, wait a few mins, put it in the fridge, you know this cup will be 32f

put your probe in there and see what it reads and adjust
Click to expand...

Huh, yeah, I guess I'm trusting this thermometer to be correct. The temps always seem spot-on. I think the bloodiness the other day was just a lack of resting. I'll test the thermometer though.

Lanx said:
if youre so antsy about meat temp
Click to expand...

Is meat temp not that important? I'm not trying to get a brain worm (then again I almost never have pork). I've always had it in my head that any part of a steak even slightly below 118 and I might as well be poisoning myself. Perhaps I'm being too rigid about it. At least with steaks. Chicken and fish, yeah, you need to torch those. Steak though, you can probably get away with a lot as long as all the exposed parts are sufficiently heated.

At this point I'm pretty much 70% beef, 14% chicken, 14% fish, 2% pork.
 
Aldarion

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fish doesnt need to be well done for safety. its all been frozen which kills the parasites you may worry about. you could eat it raw.

chicken, yeah, Salmonella.

pork, trichinella has been mostly eliminated from the supply as far as I know (like 1 in 1 million). eat it medium, its fine.

beef you can eat raw unless we're talking about the outer part of aged beef or something like that. I am also cautious about commercial ground beef.

Aside from chicken and wild game, doneness is mostly about taste and texture rather than safety.
 
Dr.Retarded

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Dug into the deep freeze and pulled out a couple of pork butts. Decided to make carnitas. Go to test run on the smaller one the other day and gave some way to the neighbors but turned out great. I'm doing the bigger one this afternoon I guess we still have tortillas and all that jazz to use up. First time I've made them.

Rubbed the chunks down in a heavy spice blend with garlic, cummin, oregano, chili powder, cinnamon, smoked paprika, etc.

Browned the meat in stages, then did my aromatics of onion, head of garlic, zest of an orange, bay leaves, then added meat back in with some chipotles in adobo, bottle of Mexican coke, a beer, little water, a huge bouquet garni of oregano, parsley, thyme, and sage from the garden, and slowly braising from there.

When we made the smaller one the other day, my wife made a pico de gallo that we added some corn and some black beans into as well. I made a avocado green sauce with mayonnaise, sour cream, and blend it up roasted tomatillos and serranos, with lots of cilantro, parsley, and some variety of Basil my wife is growing.

When we go to serve just break up some of the chunks which are fall apart, a little bit of the reserved fat liquid from the cook over the meat, and crisp up in the little air fryer.

My wife says I knocked it out of the park and it's as good as anything we've gotten a restaurant. It's honestly not super difficult to make. It's one of her favorite things and not so much mine but it's growing on me. For all of the different flavors, it turned out surprisingly well balanced. The key I found was to let it cool off a little bit, drain the meat in a colander over a big bowl and separate the cooking liquid. Let me it's easy to get to you and then you just use some of the liquid when you're reheating or crisping.

I really just like it because the leftovers at that point are super easy and I can go a bunch of different directions with it like some breakfast tacos we made this weekend, or quesadillas, nachos. I think tonight we're going to stuff some baked potatoes with the leftover meat from the first batch, start tackling the second one tomorrow.

IMG_20260503_170102607~2.jpg


Now I've got to figure out what to do with the reserve liquid. I've got a few storage tubs in the fridge with it currently, and it's gelatinized which I don't want to throw that stuff out. Can probably freeze it and then use it for maybe soups or stews, possibly chilli.
 
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elcaro1101

elcaro1101

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Oven baked some wings this afternoon.

Baked them after saucing with a combined mix of Gouldens mustard and Arfican Dreams - Ghost Pepper. Then a few drops of Tsabasco - Scorpion on each, a few minutes before they were done.

1777850770174.png
1777850787872.png
 
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Aldarion

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Dr.Retarded said:
Dug into the deep freeze and pulled out a couple of pork butts. Decided to make carnitas. Go to test run on the smaller one the other day and gave some way to the neighbors but turned out great. I'm doing the bigger one this afternoon I guess we still have tortillas and all that jazz to use up. First time I've made them.

Rubbed the chunks down in a heavy spice blend with garlic, cummin, oregano, chili powder, cinnamon, smoked paprika, etc.

Browned the meat in stages, then did my aromatics of onion, head of garlic, zest of an orange, bay leaves, then added meat back in with some chipotles in adobo, bottle of Mexican coke, a beer, little water, a huge bouquet garni of oregano, parsley, thyme, and sage from the garden, and slowly braising from there.

When we made the smaller one the other day, my wife made a pico de gallo that we added some corn and some black beans into as well. I made a avocado green sauce with mayonnaise, sour cream, and blend it up roasted tomatillos and serranos, with lots of cilantro, parsley, and some variety of Basil my wife is growing.

When we go to serve just break up some of the chunks which are fall apart, a little bit of the reserved fat liquid from the cook over the meat, and crisp up in the little air fryer.

My wife says I knocked it out of the park and it's as good as anything we've gotten a restaurant. It's honestly not super difficult to make. It's one of her favorite things and not so much mine but it's growing on me. For all of the different flavors, it turned out surprisingly well balanced. The key I found was to let it cool off a little bit, drain the meat in a colander over a big bowl and separate the cooking liquid. Let me it's easy to get to you and then you just use some of the liquid when you're reheating or crisping.

I really just like it because the leftovers at that point are super easy and I can go a bunch of different directions with it like some breakfast tacos we made this weekend, or quesadillas, nachos. I think tonight we're going to stuff some baked potatoes with the leftover meat from the first batch, start tackling the second one tomorrow.

View attachment 627269

Now I've got to figure out what to do with the reserve liquid. I've got a few storage tubs in the fridge with it currently, and it's gelatinized which I don't want to throw that stuff out. Can probably freeze it and then use it for maybe soups or stews, possibly chilli.
Click to expand...
Carnitas is great stuff. And pork is so cheap, we should all eat a bunch of carnitas.

When we started raising pigs is when I got into it. I had these big cuts of pork where I was like WTF do I do with this? And instapot carnitas was the answer. Your slow braise may be even better, it sure looks good

Have to confess I end up almost always just discarding the liquid which seems like a shame. Just havent found a place for it in my regular meal rotation yet.
 
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Dr.Retarded

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elcaro1101 said:
Oven baked some wings this afternoon.

Baked them after saucing with a combined mix of Gouldens mustard and Arfican Dreams - Ghost Pepper. Then a few drops of Tsabasco - Scorpion on each, a few minutes before they were done.

View attachment 627271 View attachment 627272
Click to expand...
Next time you do oven wings, dust them with a little bit of baking soda to change the alkalinity of the skin and you'll get what a crispier results. Doesn't take a lot but you just dry brine them with a little bit of that and salt.

I don't even want to know how hot that is. Surprised you didn't use a little bit of Honey to round out but heat unless the ghost pepper on that Tabasco has a little bit of innate sweetness.
 
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Dr.Retarded

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Aldarion said:
Carnitas is great stuff. And pork is so cheap, we should all eat a bunch of carnitas.

When we started raising pigs is when I got into it. I had these big cuts of pork where I was like WTF do I do with this? And instapot carnitas was the answer. Your slow braise may be even better, it sure looks good

Have to confess I end up almost always just discarding the liquid which seems like a shame. Just havent found a place for it in my regular meal rotation yet.
Click to expand...
I had watched a couple of videos just to brush up I'll let that flavor profile was and the method, and then just went from there.

At the end of it with the sort of shallow frying to Brown the meat, then adding everything back in not removing the oil, and adding my braising liquids, it pretty much confits.

I just pulled it off the heat and it only took like 2 hours to basically break down to where it was forked tender. Going to wait till it's a little cooler to do this straining, but having a couple of nibbles, this batch is even better.

The chilled liquid is definitely something I don't want to throw out I just have to figure out what to do with it. Like I said it really turned into gelatin from the first batch, and it's not a demi-glace, but it's kind of weird hybrid between it and a chilled stock, just a radically different flavor profile than your typical French.

The nice thing is you get the fat separation, and all that gelatinous gold at the bottom. I really think doing something like chili or even maybe using it for something like gumbo could be the ticket, or something as simple as using it for a roux to make a gravy. I think all the herbs but I added which aren't typically normal give it a little bit more versatility despite the cinnamon and the orange back end flavors.
 
Furry

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I save the liquid in pulled pork. I use the fat part to butter a pan to reheat, and the gelatin jus I’ll throw in cooking to hydrate the pork as I fry it. If you do it right the pork will be super juicy and get a bit of crunch from frying in the left over fat again.
 
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Lanx

Lanx

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Aldarion said:
Carnitas is great stuff. And pork is so cheap, we should all eat a bunch of carnitas.

When we started raising pigs is when I got into it. I had these big cuts of pork where I was like WTF do I do with this? And instapot carnitas was the answer. Your slow braise may be even better, it sure looks good

Have to confess I end up almost always just discarding the liquid which seems like a shame. Just havent found a place for it in my regular meal rotation yet.
Click to expand...
when i did brisket i'd make an aus jus out of it, mine was more chinesey since i'd have shaoxing wine and soy sauce available vs. red wine and worchester, oh and butter, i'd also put a bit of potato starch to give it a bit of cling, like weak gravy
 
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elcaro1101

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Dr.Retarded said:
Next time you do oven wings, dust them with a little bit of baking soda to change the alkalinity of the skin and you'll get what a crispier results. Doesn't take a lot but you just dry brine them with a little bit of that and salt.

I don't even want to know how hot that is. Surprised you didn't use a little bit of Honey to round out but heat unless the ghost pepper on that Tabasco has a little bit of innate sweetness.
Click to expand...
Did dry them and dusted with baking powder before saucing.

They are pretty spicy for sure, the Tabasco more so than the other, why I just used a few drops on each to control that heat addition.
 
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Dr.Retarded

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Furry said:
I save the liquid in pulled pork. I use the fat part to butter a pan to reheat, and the gelatin jus I’ll throw in cooking to hydrate the pork as I fry it. If you do it right the pork will be super juicy and get a bit of crunch from frying in the left over fat again.
Click to expand...
Yeah when I've been going to Christmas I've been using some of the fat and then the gelatinous juice spooned over the pork and you get the crispy bits that you serve about halfway through the reheating but it's delicious and still tender and juicy.

I'm just trying to think of other applications to use what I've got. The new match created like another quart for sale of liquid.

My wife thought maybe what we would do is soak some pinto beans, and then cook them tomorrow and use a bunch of the liquid to December those down. I figure what the hell, worth a shot and maybe with the amount of fat, I can mash them up and turn them into refried beans.
 
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