Finally found some Tri-Tip!!!

While living in Bakersfield, California during the Summer of 1996 I was first introduced to a cut of meat called "Tri-Tip." Everyone raved about this great cut of meat and how good it was... and they were right, every Tri-Tip I had in California was excellent. Only problem is I had never seen this cut in Oklahoma and many butchers in Oklahoma had no idea what I was talking about.

However, here in Ponca City, I will occasionally find some Tri-tip in stock at Food Pyramid. I bought a couple this week and here is their story:

(Click here for more Tri-tip Info)

First Tri-tip in Cryo



Fat trimmed off the top and sides and bottom trimmed to 1/8th inch thick



This was seasoned with Butcher BBQ Steak and Brisket seasoning. This was cooked by searing directly on the PG1000 then finished off indirect to an internal temp of 140 then tented and rested for about 15 minute. Perfect medium rare coming off the grill.



Pictures make it look a little more rare than it really was.



Sliced up and ready to eat



Turned out pretty good. Seasoning was good but overall was under seasoned. I'm not sure whether or not it was related to this mild seasoning or if I just didn't use enough. Also needed a little better sear to get a little char.





This was the second tr-tip of the week. This time I boosted up the seasoning a bit using Montreal Steak Seasoning. Here it is trimmed and seasoned, ready for the grill.



Again this tri-tip was seared directly on the PG1000 then finished indirect to an internal temp of 140... but I was a little late taking it off the grill so it was closer to 145-150





The meat was rested tented in foil for about 20 min then sliced



Very juicy and tender. More of a medium than the target of medium rare.



Regardless... medium rare or medium this was great tri tip. Better flavor with more of a char and more flavor with the more robust seasoning.

Stillwater Elks Blazathon

Dr. Nordy's BBQ competed in our second contest April 6-7 at the Stillwater Elks Blazathon in Stillwater, OK.  This was a fun event with 49 teams.  I was a little more relaxed after having one contest already under my belt, but not completely comfortable yet.  Though it stormed and rained all night and much of the morning we had a good cook and were lucky to get a FIRST PLACE call in Ribs and a SIXTH place call in Brisket!  Not to shabby for our second contest. I am thankful for our Cookshack FEC100 and PG1000 smokers that cook great even in bad weather!

Our site in the Elks parking lot.  It was nice of them to put a sign to direct people to our site... The signs were a nice "night light" after the sun went down. 

Another view of the site

This is what Frist Place Ribs look like... or at least what the award looks like!

Kelli says these aren't staying on the mantel... shes wrong!  Hopefully will be adding more!

Final Results Stillwater Elks Blazathon

Dr. Nordy's BBQ

Chicken 47th

Ribs 1st

Pork 27th

Brisket 6th

Overall 18th

Everyone gets a chicken!!!

When we were in Branson last year, we took the kids to Dixie Stampede.  Part of the huge dinner that is served there included a Cornish Game Hen.  The kids liked the show... but also thought it was great getting their own chicken to eat.

I finally got around to cooking some Cornish Game Hens on the PG1000.  I brined and rubbed them with the same recipe I used in WIfe Says NO BARBEQUE THIS WEEKEND.  Hens went in the brine for about 2 hours, they then were rinsed and dried uncovered in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.  I then cooked them on the PG1000 at 225 degrees for about 30 minutes then increased the temp to 350 degrees until the breast was about 165 degrees and the thighs were around 175 degrees.  I also basted them every 30 minutes with some Parkay.

They had a nice garlic herb flavor with a mild smoke flavor.  Definitely will be cooking these again.

Cleaned and headed to the brine

Rubbed with the wet rub

After about 1 1/2 hours on the PG1000 

Finished 

Served up with Kelli's Roasted Broccoli, and Potatoes Au Gratin from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Butcher BBQ Honey Rub Smoked Shrimp

If you video it... they will cook.

Cookshack has done a great job lately posting weekly cooking videos on their YouTube channel.  This weeks was ButcherBBQ Honey Rub Smoked Shrimp.  Having had shrimp cooked this way at their cooking class in December, it was time to make it myself.    

I'll let the pictures do the talking.  Video by Cookshack C.E.O. Stuart Powell included at the end.

2 lbs shrimp - deveined, tails left on.  These are a little small... but worked

Shrimp coated with ButchersBBQ Honey Rub then with Parkay on top

Placed on the indirect side of the PG1000 at 225degrees for about 45 minutes

After some time the butter melts and the shrimp smoke in a butter bath.

Temp on the PG1000 was increased to 400 degrees and the shrimp

were grilled direct on each side for about a minute.

Finished product

EXTREME CLOSEUP

Dinner

Turned out great.  Excellent flavor.  No leftovers!

Here's the full recipe from Stuart Powell

Christmas Prime Rib

Merry Christmas - well... Happy New Year... or whatever holiday is nearest when you are reading this!  Christmas 2011 marked my first attempt at Prime Rib.  I've been wanting to try to cook a prime rib, but have been a little hesitant due to the cost... It's hard to experiment on a $100 piece of meat!  

First a little info on Prime Rib - or Standing Rib Roast.  This is a cut of beef from the primal rib.  It can include from 2 to 7 ribs.  The cut can be found both with the bones attached and with the bones removed.  Regardless of the status of the bones this cut will often be tied with twine to help hold the different muscles together during the cooking process.  Some will remove the bones and then reattach them with twine for cooking.  Prime rib sliced into steaks is also known as rib-eye steaks.  

I found a 5.25 lb boneless prime rib to try out my first cook.  It was choice grade meat and cost  about $60.  I then rubbed it with olive oil and then with cracked black pepper, cracked sea salt, and rosemary. I refrigerated it overnight wrapped in plastic wrap.  

I did a two stage cook on the prime rib.  I started cooking at 180 degrees in my FEC100 smoker for about 90 minutes then increased the temp to 225 degrees.  When the internal temp hit 135 I took the meat off and tented it with foil to rest for about 30 minutes.  During that 30 minutes I fired up the PG1000 to 500 degrees.  After the thirty minute rest I placed the roast on the indirect side of the PG1000 for about 8 minutes.  This crisped up the outside and gave a nice crust.  Since I didn't cook it directly over the flame it didn't char, but rather got a nice seared crust.   

So you may ask, "Why didn't you do the whole cook on the PG1000?"  I could have and usually would, however I needed to use the 2 stage cooking feature (cook and hold) of the FEC100 as I was not going to be immediately available to adjust the cooker temp.  

Overall the prime rib turned out really good.  It was more medium than medium rare, this pleased my wife who likes her meat well done (ruined) but my goal was a nice medium rare.  So... mistake made here was 1) removing from the first stage of the cook too late and 2)underestimating the "carryover" while the roast was resting (the effect of continued cooking and raising of internal temp during the rest).  Next time I would pull it to rest at a lower internal temp and hope to hit that medium-rare point.  Regardless, the meat was still juicy, flavorful, and tender. 

Rubbed and to the fridge overnight

Sear phase at 500 degrees on the PG1000

Sliced and ready to serve

  

Nordy's Video Debut - ABTs on the PG1000

Yes this is a repost from Feb 2011, but I wanted to add the video I recently did for Cookshack, cooking ABTs on the PG1000.  You can check out other great videos on the Cookshack Smokers YouTube Channel.

ABT = Atomic Buffalo Turd
Sounds yummy doesn't it...  Name aside these stuffed jalapeños taste nothing like a turd. Halved jalapeños filled with  a mixture of cream cheese, shredded colby-jack cheese, and hot sausage, then wrapped with some peppered bacon.  That cocoon of goodness is then smoked at low temp for about an hour, then the temp is increased to crisp the bacon, on the pellet grill.

ABTs - Post prep - Ready for the grill

ABTs on the indirect portion of the grill.  They are sitting on a 

frogmat.  Frogmats are completely non-stick mesh which prevents

delicate foods from falling through, or sticking to the grates. 

The finished product - Jalapeños plate nicely on a bread plate

The ABTs were spicy but mostly from the peppered bacon.  There is a little heat in the jalapeño but the longer you cook, the less heat they have.  Highly recommend these the next time you need some finger foods/appetizers.

Experimenting With Ribs

After attending the American Royal, I had all kinds of new ideas for flavor profiles.  So what better way to test them out then to make a bunch of ribs in different styles and feed them to my buddies to judge which is best.  So I made a rack of spares and a rack of baby backs for each recipe for evaluation.  6 racks in all.  Two were made purposely "toned down" for my kids to eat for dinner and the other 4 racks were full on high intensity competition flavor etc.

Below you can see 6 racks of ribs cooking on a rib rack on my PG1000.  All of the racks turned out pretty good, but there was a clear winner which will become the baseline comparison for future "enhancements."

American Royal 2011

I had never been to a BBQ competition... so why not make my first experience the BIGGEST of all BBQ competitions?  American Royal 2011 - Kansas City, MO.

475 teams assembled around Kemper Arena in Kansas City the first weekend in October for one thing... BBQ... Well not everyone was there for BBQ, some were there for the crazy parties on Friday night, or just there hanging with friends, or even there to try to sneak a few secrets, photos, and if lucky a bite of some good BBQ.  First off, I have to thank the team from Cookshack, Stuart and Jessica Powell (a father-daughter tram) from Ponca City, OK for allowing me to tag along and cook with them all weekend.  I'd also like to give a big thanks to Fast Eddy and Kathy Maurin for letting me invade their cook site as well over the course of the weekend.  

The "weekend" for many began as early as Wednesday as people began to load into the parking lots at various cook sites. I arrived Friday and met up with Stuart and Fast Eddy.  Friday at the Royal is known for two things.  Parties and the beginning of the Invitational part of the cook-off.    The invitational competition is only for those teams who have qualified by being crowned Grand Champion at one of the qualifying "State Championship"  competitions throughout the year.  This year 141 of the best teams in the nation competed in this portion of the competition.  But more people participated in "the biggest party in KC" which is the Friday night of the Royal.  Thousands of people converge at various private and public parties around the Royal site. There were multiple live bands playing around the area, as well as DJs and other forms of entertainment, such as  a mechanical bull and a hot tub with scantily clad women (anyone have a picture of that?!?).  People watching on Friday night is a great form of entertainment... I wish I had taken more pictures/video... 

Saturday is when the BBQ fun starts for most people.  475 teams spend the day prepping meats which will go in the pit later Saturday night or early Sunday morning.  We spent much of the afternoon Saturday prepping meats and talking with the visiting "Tours of the Royal" who were stopping by throughout the day.  Stuart and Eddy do a great job of sharing part of the Cookshack story and discussing the Fast Eddy line of Cookshack smokers.  We also prepared chicken and some steaks for each of these tours to sample as they came by. I enjoyed cooking the chicken, but also enjoyed listening to Stuart and BBQ legend Fast Eddy discuss  the history of the Royal and Cookshack.  Here's a video of Stuart and Fast Eddy doing one of the tours.

Late Saturday the briskets and pork butts go on the FEC100 smoker for Sunday's competition. The Saturday night festivities are much more subdued as the teams are starting their cooks for the competition.  Due to the ease of cooking on the FEC100 we then all hit the hay for a few hours.  

Sunday AM, let the games begin!!! Brisket and Pork finish up and are put in the hot box to hold.  Ribs and Chicken are prepped and cooked.  Turn ins start at noon and every 30 min a different meat is turned in, first chicken, then ribs, then pork, and finally brisket.  Then it's in the hands... or mouths... of the judges.  

A couple of hours later everyone gathers for the awards ceremony before heading home.

We didn't do that well in the opinion of the judges... but we cooked some great food and had a great time all weekend.  

Friday night at the Royal

Parties on the "DarkSide"

Cookshack Cook site

Fast Eddy's Cook site - (If you look closely there is a new prototype pellet grill in this picture)

Fast Eddy and Stuart presenting for a "Tour of the Royal"

Saturday Night FEC100 Getting ready for brisket and butts

Brisket and butts on the pit 

Stuart prepping ribs - (Dude on the left is a restaurateur from England)

Stuart continues to work... While Jessica watches...

Stuart and British guy working on parsley garnish for turn-in boxes

Stuart inspecting the work 

Jessica prepping chicken thighs

Thighs cooking on the PG1000 - Fast Eddy Pellet Grill 

Ribs

Brisket turn-in box

Jessica turning in brisket.  Behind that curtain are the 500 BBQ judges 

Fast Eddy after winning Reserve Grand Champion (2nd place) in the Legends Division (those who have cooked more than 20 years at the Royal) Congrats Eddy!

Pelletheads.com team and a few other "Pelletheads"

Pellethead = BBQ Cook who cooks on pits fired by wood pellets

Credit to Pelletheads.com moderator Bentley for this picture!