Looking for help/ideas on cooking

robnybbq · September 28

It’s been a while since I have been on the board but now weather may start turning cooler I want to use the egg more (or just plain use it).

we have been going out to restaurants or take out most nights as we forgot how to cook.

When we make pork chops, chicken the meat is always bland and dry. If I put bbq tub on a chicken breast it just tastes like salt and pure rub. Same for port chops or tenderloins. Just blah.

Steaks are hard to find anything above choice meat here (sad expensive to live here but supermarkets are horrible).

I need the meals to be healthy and most meals would be a single portion for me and no leftovers( u til I can find a way to make leftovers not taste drier then cooking the first time).

any true fool proof ways to cook so the food is not a pile of rub on cardboard?

Not talking briskets, ribs, port butts. Those come out sort of good but not healthy.

lkapigian · September 28

commodity Proteins are meh at best anymore, anything pork , chicken related ( sans locally sourced farm raised ) you will do a lot better with a brine

GrateEggspectations · September 28

A lot of your comments touch upon dryness, blandness, unappetizing texture, etc. Do you cook your proteins to target internal temperatures?

Photo Egg · September 29

Get a can of Goya coconut milk and toss into zip bag with some boneless chicken thighs overnight. Pat dry and season with a rub you can tolerate and grill to internal temp of 175-180. Even higher is ok.
Great for tacos and salad with leftovers.

kl8ton · September 29

As @Great_EGGspectations has hinted, cook to am internal temp. I will also add that dizzy pig makes some low salt options for seasonings.

You can order dizzy pig shipped to your house as well as some better protein. There are several places to order protein. Snake River farms is a good one off the top of my head.

fishlessman · September 29

when i stopped using as much salt the food started getting bland. add limes, lemons at the table. vinegar helps alot for flavor. champagne and sherry vinegars taste alot lighter than the traditional cider

robnybbq · September 29

Yes. Chicken breast to 155/160. To me if I put in a tsp of dizzy pig rub. And when eating the chicken it tastes like eating just the spoon of rub. Chicken does not get the flavor and only the outside.

Same for a rub on a pork tenderloin, only the outside has the flavor and the middle bland.

The next day chicken, pork, steak is pure dry unless buried in a sauce like a stew, tomato sauce. Etc. plain grilled meat is never juicy the next day.

GrateEggspectations · September 29

Not sure what would cause every single protein you cook to turn out dry. If you’re after juicy, you may want to try sous vide if you haven’t yet.

robnybbq · September 29

Ok. How to make chicken taste good without just tasting like rub? How to you have chicken moist the next day?

Legume · September 29

Marinate or brine. I rarely use rub on chicken and light if I do.

lousubcap · September 29

If memory serves me right this is not the first time @robnybbq has posted this issue. I'm guessing the several older suggestions failed. I'm not sure any of the above will clear the bar although Sous Vide may become the salvation. FWIW-

buzd504 · September 30

Legume said:

Marinate or brine. I rarely use rub on chicken and light if I do.

Same. I also get better results cooking whole chickens rather than pieces.

Canugghead · September 30

Photo Egg said:

Get a can of Goya coconut milk and toss into zip bag with some boneless chicken thighs overnight. Pat dry and season with a rub you can tolerate and grill to internal temp of 175-180. Even higher is ok.
Great for tacos and salad with leftovers.

Good to see you back in action!

robnybbq · September 30

Well a full spatchcock that day is very good. Cooking chicken breasts are not. Still the next day, if making chicken salad buried in mayo. Is ok. Eating straight up it’s dry.

robnybbq · September 30

Sous vide I have and ok for a good prime steak. Not for select or basic pork chops

slow cooked ribs I can do. Not for leftovers unless buried in bbq sauce

DoubleEgger · September 30

Quit the breasts and move to the thighs.

CPFC1905 · September 30

You're working with many variables here. Try a straight forward cut of lamb, whether a cutlet or low and slow shoulder, see how that tastes, or duck maybe. Chicken and pork are so lean that flavour can be minimal.
Don't overlook that your tastes, preferences and physiology will have changed, too.

fishlessman · September 30

on the grill i stick with thighs or wings. for spatchcock, cut the wings and legs off. very rarely would i just cook boneless breasts and when i do, thats stovetop with a pan sauce. wine, butter capers, herbs, sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, kalamata olives, etc. i remove them just under 150 internal if i catch it in time. i dont buy the big oversized boneless chicken breasts, they seem to cook more rubbery. thighs are way easier to cook, more forgiving, more flavor

robnybbq · October 1

Never really got into lamb. Friend made a leg of lamb once and it was good. No way they would eat that in this house.

Will try some chicken thighs again. Just dump salt and pepper or some rub on them and cook until 175? Direct raised at 350/400? Will only be for me so I guess cooking a single thigh would work.

Any other beef or pork ideas? Not just meat wi th rub dumped on it. A 1/2 inch thick pork chop (what they sell in the supermarket here).

Need some good vegetable ideas too but may just stick to frozen bags of mixed veggies for now.

fishlessman · October 1

lots of options with kabobs. soy/ginger, bourbon beef, mediterranean, lebanese marinades. lots more. dont have to go heavy on the salt. solves the veggie idea as well. with the veggies i just go simple with an oil and vinegar dressing before going on the grill, onions will get a brush of the meat marinade as well. dont fall for the put everything on the same skewer, easier to cook them properly with the meat on a skewer, peppers on another, tomatoes on another. can do zucchini and squash, just pick out small ones and avoid the bigger zucchinis. i use newyork sirloin which cooks a better texture at medium, aka flap steak. blurry pic but you get the idea. link below has a bunch of marinades for beef, chicken, pork, shrimp etc. for shrimp i like the green lightning shrimp often posted here, its good tossed on a steak for surf and turf

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/um/ypelpyi0b9pn.jpg

https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-make-great-grilled-kebabs

buzd504 · October 1

IMO, half inch pork chops are really too thin to grill unless you use a skillet and basically fry them.

fishlessman · October 1

buzd504 said:

IMO, half inch pork chops are really too thin to grill unless you use a skillet and basically fry them.

theres one way ive had luck on the grill with thin chops, rub then freeze them solid, then onto a hot grill with sauce while frozen. 135 to 140 f and off the grill to rest a couple minutes

robnybbq · October 1

Any fish ideas? I love fish but never can cook it right. Green lighting shrimp has flavor but feels tough most of the time as I am afraid of undercooking.

tried salmon a few times. Either dried out if raw in the middle.

I see the paper wraps or foil pouches but never tried.

Also fish the next day is probably not that good (even restaurant prepared).

Working on ideas to stop eating out.

GrateEggspectations · October 2

If I may suggest, I’d try flipping the script. You say that nothing you cook turns out, either because you don’t like the taste or texture. No one will be able to solve these sweeping issues for you besides being able to recommend fundamentals, like cooking to correct IT or seasoning appropriately. My suggestion would be to try new approaches to food you haven’t prepared to your liking in the past. As you try more recipes and techniques, you’ll learn what you like and what you don’t, getting better each and every time. A lot of great cooks on this forum consistently push their boundaries and derive great enjoyment from doing so.

I like fish but find it’s a protein I sometimes struggle to get exactly where I want it. About a month back, I bought trout fillets, watched some videos and cooked it with an approach that I don’t often apply. I surprised myself with the great results, thoroughly enjoyed dinner, and picked up some new skills in the process.

Tonight, I sous vide’d basic, Costco pork chops with nothing on them but salt and pepper. The meat was so tender it was melting in my mouth and all it had on it was a little salt and pepper.

My advice to you based on your above posts - push your boundaries. Resist the urge to overcook your shrimp. Try cooking fish en papillote. Ditch the rub you are not enjoying and instead build your flavours with garlic, onion, ginger, pepper, lemongrass, fresh herbs, etc.

Have some fun, and be sure to post your trials as you go!

(With respect to your comments about drying out proteins when reheating them, I should mention that one of my favourite applications for sous vide is for reheating things. No other approach better preserves moisture.)

Canugghead · October 2

^^^great post!

robnybbq · October 2

Good ideas. Thx

robnybbq · October 4

Was going to try chili again. But nope work got in the way. Take out FTW

Looking for help/ideas on cooking

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