John,
When brining or marinating chops, or anything else for that matter, is it at all helpful to poke holes in the meat, as with a fork or something? I've never done it, but it seems it might improve absorption of the marinade. Maybe, maybe not. DW's typical marinade for chops is Italian dressing, sometimes mixed with beer. It seems to me that the dressing is too thick to do much more than flavor the surface, but...
I've rarely tried a true brine on anything. For these chops, I didn't even think of such a thing, because they were pretty juicy to begin with. Looking back at it, I'm sure it would have improved them, and certainly would not have hurt anything. I'll have to keep that in mind for next time.
I made the trek to Sam's last evening, and grabbed a couple bags of characoal, some bleach, and a few other things. While I was there, I took a walk past the meat case, and saw 10lb shoulder for $1.58/lb. Since DW already picked one up at the local grocery (for $1.89/lb,) I didn't get one this time. I'll have to keep it in mind for the future.
I've heard of throwing beans in the smoker, but chili's another new one on me. Sounds interesting.
I'm getting stuff lined up to smoke that shoulder this Saturday. Since I haven't done it before, there's a lot to think about. I also need to make a few mods to my smoker that I haven't done yet. I'll get on that either tonight or tomorrow night so it'll be ready early Saturday morning. I'm anticipating around 7-9 hours on the smoker for a 7lb. We'll see how close to that I actually get. Being the first time, it may well take longer, since I'm still working on holding an even temp.
I'll have to check out that site too. There's sure a lot to learn about this stuff. And here I thought "get a smoker, some charcoal, some flavoring wood, and a piece of meat, and you're ready to go." Talk about naive!
When brining or marinating chops, or anything else for that matter, is it at all helpful to poke holes in the meat, as with a fork or something? I've never done it, but it seems it might improve absorption of the marinade. Maybe, maybe not. DW's typical marinade for chops is Italian dressing, sometimes mixed with beer. It seems to me that the dressing is too thick to do much more than flavor the surface, but...
I've rarely tried a true brine on anything. For these chops, I didn't even think of such a thing, because they were pretty juicy to begin with. Looking back at it, I'm sure it would have improved them, and certainly would not have hurt anything. I'll have to keep that in mind for next time.
I made the trek to Sam's last evening, and grabbed a couple bags of characoal, some bleach, and a few other things. While I was there, I took a walk past the meat case, and saw 10lb shoulder for $1.58/lb. Since DW already picked one up at the local grocery (for $1.89/lb,) I didn't get one this time. I'll have to keep it in mind for the future.
Do you mean that you cook them at lower temps, or that cooking is complete when the meat reaches a lower temp?JohnT said:Loin and chops are done at way lower temperatures than a shoulder or butt, and dealing with a loin or chops is like a totally different animal than the other roasts.
I've heard of throwing beans in the smoker, but chili's another new one on me. Sounds interesting.
I'm getting stuff lined up to smoke that shoulder this Saturday. Since I haven't done it before, there's a lot to think about. I also need to make a few mods to my smoker that I haven't done yet. I'll get on that either tonight or tomorrow night so it'll be ready early Saturday morning. I'm anticipating around 7-9 hours on the smoker for a 7lb. We'll see how close to that I actually get. Being the first time, it may well take longer, since I'm still working on holding an even temp.
I'll have to check out that site too. There's sure a lot to learn about this stuff. And here I thought "get a smoker, some charcoal, some flavoring wood, and a piece of meat, and you're ready to go." Talk about naive!