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Putzin'

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Focker
Focker Posts: 8,364
edited April 2016 in EggHead Forum
The Berkwood Project was completed today.  Created two mountains of opportunity.  Cold smoked for a total of 32 hours on two days, ambients were ideal.

Inventory levels are back to baseline.



Seasoned the 17" Blackstone with the scraps, not much after parfreezing and slicing.

Burgs tonight, ground chuck, Montreal seasoning, cheddar, and chimichurri.  Found a good brew from St. Paul MN, $2.99 for a 4 pack at the gas station down the street, seemed cheap.  Stuff is really good, went back and grabbed four 4 packs.  



Burgers were top notch, plated on the fine china.  Really impressed with the S7s camera.  Thanks for lookin'

Brandon
Quad Cities
"If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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Comments

  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
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    One of the best lookin burgs I have seen in a while.  Really interesting flavor combo with the bacon, cheddar, and churri. 

    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
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    Thanks much @SmokeyPitt.  It's what I had on hand, and it actually worked.    I have been putting chimichurri on just about everything, a phenomenal condiment, that holds well in the fridge.  Awesome flavors for finishing grilled chicken breasts too. 
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • pgprescott
    pgprescott Posts: 14,544
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    Looks delicious Brandon. I especially like festive design on your China. Really sets the tone for your meal nicely. Bacon mmmmmmmmmm. 
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  • WeberWho
    WeberWho Posts: 11,030
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    Killer Monday grub for sure! What's the MN beer you found? 
    "The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan

    Minnesota
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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
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    pgprescott said:
    Looks delicious Brandon. I especially like festive design on your China. Really sets the tone for your meal nicely. Bacon mmmmmmmmmm. 
    Thanks Pete.  The china is a collector, a one off from the Aldi Boulder brand.
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
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    WeberWho said:
    Killer Monday grub for sure! What's the MN beer you found? 
    Thanks V.  It's from Summit, Hopvale Organic.  
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,898
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    Those are kick butt burgers, Brandon!  Well played.
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
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  • MotownVol
    MotownVol Posts: 1,040
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    Damn.  Now that is my kind of burger.   Looks great.
    Morristown TN, LBGE and Mini-Max.
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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
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    Thanks guys, lovin' this 17" Blackstone.
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • Hawg Fan
    Hawg Fan Posts: 1,517
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    Great looking burgers and bacon.  I need to try curing and smoking bacon someday.  Yours looks terrific.

    Any road will take you there if you don't know where you're going.

    Terry

    Rockwall, TX
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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited April 2016
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    Than@Hawg Fan
    Makin' bacon is rewarding.
    Just do it. 
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • blasting
    blasting Posts: 6,262
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    Killer burger @Focker
    Phoenix 
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 18,731
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    A chimichurri burger sounds like something I need. 

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • blind99
    blind99 Posts: 4,971
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    Looks fantastic. How long do you usually cold smoke a slab of belly for, and with what wood?  
    Chicago, IL - Large and Small BGE - Weber Gasser and Kettle
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  • minniemoh
    minniemoh Posts: 2,145
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    Hey @Focker - how did you do your cold smoke and what wood? What was your cure? I have two bellies of Ruhlman cure that needs to be smoked this week and I was thinking of going cold this time. Thanks in advance.

    By the way, killer looking burgers too. I need to get a Blackstone.
    L x2, M, S, Mini and a Blackstone 36. She says I have enough now....
    eggAddict from MN!
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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited April 2016
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    Thanks guys.

    @blind99, @minniemoh
    As for the cure, I use the Briner container and a wet cure/equilibrium brine called Pops' Brine.  It can be adjusted to your taste, sweet vs salt.  Throw it in the Briner, place in the fridge, wait two weeks.  No overhauling.

    Cold smoking was done with a Pro-Q cold smoker and Apple A-Maz-N Dust.  Ambients were anywhere from the 40s at night to 60s during the day.  Filled the Pro-Q and lit in the AM, finished later that night until the fire went out.  Bellies stayed in the cooker until the Pro-Q was refilled and relit.  So 16hrs smoke, 8hrs off, 16hrs on, then wrapped and rested in the fridge for a week.  Sliced, then placed in FS bags.  Seemed like the batches I have done before with less smoke time you could barely, if at all, pick up the smoke when served.  
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • Thatgrimguy
    Thatgrimguy Posts: 4,729
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    I've used Pop's Brine before. Great stuff. I liked it anyhow.
    XL, Small, Mini & Mini Max Green Egg, Shirley Fab Trailer, 6 gal and 2.5 gal Cajun Fryers, BlueStar 60" Range, 48" Lonestar Grillz Santa Maria, Alto Shaam 1200s, Gozney Dome, Gateway 55g Drum
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  • GATraveller
    GATraveller Posts: 8,207
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    Focker said:
    Thanks much @SmokeyPitt.  It's what I had on hand, and it actually worked.    I have been putting chimichurri on just about everything, a phenomenal condiment, that holds well in the fridge.  Awesome flavors for finishing grilled chicken breasts too. 
    Chimichurri is incredible.  

    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community [...] but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots."
                                                                                  -Umberto Eco

    2 Large
    Peachtree Corners, GA
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  • Florida Grillin Girl
    Florida Grillin Girl Posts: 4,973
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    Nice burgers, Brandon. I love chimichurri, too.
    Happily egging on my original large BGE since 1996... now the owner of 5 eggs. Call me crazy, everyone else does!
     
    3 Large, 1 Small, 1 well-used Mini
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  • hondabbq
    hondabbq Posts: 1,980
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    Glad to see you went cold smoke and not hot smoke.
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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited April 2016
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    Thanks all.  Herbs, calabrians for heat, good EVOO, salt, pepper, roasted garlic, red wine vinegar....tons of flavor, and versatile.  Keep it in a glass Italian Fido jar, and pull it a few hrs before use to get to room temp.
    hondabbq said:
    Glad to see you went cold smoke and not hot smoke.
    Thanks @hondabbq, cold smoking is the only way to go IMO, same goes for the equilibrium brine.
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • blind99
    blind99 Posts: 4,971
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    that's interesting to hear how long you're smoking for.  I'm piping smoke from the small egg into the big egg, and I feel like I get plenty of smoke flavor after a four hours.  it seems to generate quite a lot of smoke so maybe that's the difference.  (in fact the smoke last weekend was almost acrid - I'm not entirely happy with the result, so I'm letting the bellies mellow a bit before I slice.)


    that's cool to see you're using an equilibrium brine. I've started playing around with brines for bacon, as well. most recently it was leftover liquid from an experiment to make crispy pork belly bites.  pork belly is such a great cut of meat!

    Chicago, IL - Large and Small BGE - Weber Gasser and Kettle
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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited April 2016
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    blind99 said:

    that's interesting to hear how long you're smoking for.  I'm piping smoke from the small egg into the big egg, and I feel like I get plenty of smoke flavor after a four hours.  it seems to generate quite a lot of smoke so maybe that's the difference.  (in fact the smoke last weekend was almost acrid - I'm not entirely happy with the result, so I'm letting the bellies mellow a bit before I slice.)


    that's cool to see you're using an equilibrium brine. I've started playing around with brines for bacon, as well. most recently it was leftover liquid from an experiment to make crispy pork belly bites.  pork belly is such a great cut of meat!

    Cool, I like the simplicity of the brine, toss it in, wait, no palpating to feel if it's cured. Lol

    The Pro-Qs burn is milder, the smoke smells sweet at all times, alot like it was done traditionally, with small fires burning and smoldering daily on dirt floors in the corner of brick smokehouses.  I hang the slabs on sausage smoking accessory hooks on the WSM, but have used a rib rack in the egg too.  The bacon at my Maid-Rite is awesome, you taste the apple, that's what I'm shooting for.

    Many here use the A-Maz-N, same concept and Todd is a nice Minnesoooooohtan.  They're cheap, less hassle.  And a fellow egghead got me an electric hotplate to replace my old school lightbulb for the really cold days here in IA/IL if needed, setup with the chef alarm to get things in the sweet spot of 50-75 or 85 degrees.  Any higher, and you start flirting with the cooking process, like SV.
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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