Smoked Rack of Pork

Rack of Pork is a cut that is the pork equivalent of beefs prime rib. It has outstanding flavor and can be a real centerpiece for the table during the holidays or for special occasions. You may also see this cut presented as a crown pork roast which is achieved by taking two racks and forming them into a circle then tying the end ribs together. My wife and I have found it to be unmatched in flavor by any cut of chop, loin or tenderloin. This rack is 6.3 lbs which is rather large for this cut.

I will keep the dry rub simple as I will be putting a glaze on the rib roast in the last hour of cooking. I will lightly coat the roast with grape seed oil, put a nice dusting of Head Country rub and cracked black pepper. The dry rub has enough salt to prevent me from adding salt.

I will let the roast sit at room temperature for 20 minutes while the smoker comes up to temperature. We will be cooking at 220-230 degrees. The smoker will be burning lump charcoal and a mix of 70% apple and 30% cherry. This particular smoker requires a split of wood a little larger than a forearm every 30 to 45 minutes to maintain 225 degrees.

The smoker is up to temperature and ready for the rack of pork. While waiting, I have prepared au gratin potatoes to go on the smoker as well. They will be wrapped in foil and will not take on smoke, just heat.

The internal temperature is up to 118 degrees. There has been a lot of publicity from the pork producers stating that pork can now be cooked to 145 degrees internal temperature and be safe for consumption. My wife and I prefer it between 150 and 155 so I will cook it to 150 and it should rise to 155 while resting.

I am making a glaze with 1 cup of Apple juice, 1/4 cup of Spiced Rum, 1/4 cup of Honey and 1/8 cup of Black Cherry Balsamic Vinegar. I will brush it on several times in the last hour of the cook. After two basting's the internal temperature is at 140.

Internal temperature @ 150 and it will rest for 15 minutes.

 

Pinot Noir breathing for dinner. This should be a very good pairing.

I'm very pleased with the end result. Tender, juicy, nice smoke ring and a very nice balance between the smokiness and the glaze.

I will have grilled asparagus and au gratin potatoes as my side dishes. My wife will have broccoli and au gratin potatoes.

It was a beautiful late winter day in the Kansas City area. The temperature reached the low 60's and it was bright and sunny. A perfect day to tend the smoker and enjoy the beginning of spring. I was very pleased with the outcome of the meal and look forward to a leftover chop in the days to come. I hope you enjoyed looking in and I look forward to my next cook.

Burnt Ends a Kansas City Tradition

As I await this mildest of Midwest winters to pass into spring I will revisit one of my favorite Kansas City specialties, burnt ends. I rarely go out to visit the many great BBQ Institutions in the Kansas City area, preferring to stay home and enjoy leisure time, smells, and tranquility of smoking/bbq'g at home. When I do go out, I always make burnt ends a priority because the time required to prepare them at home limits me to a couple of burnt end cooks per year.

I will walk you all through my interpretation of burnt ends. I will start with a 14.5 lb packer brisket. This is a whole brisket that comes untrimmed. After trimming it of the hard fat I am left with a brisket that will stand up well to up to 20 hours in the smoker. I will be seasoning it with Head Country (award winning commercially available dry rub), cracked black pepper and a light dusting of Turbinado Sugar. The sugar helps create the bark on the exterior of the meat and bark is essential to good burnt ends.

The brisket is rubbed and ready for the smoker. This brisket was allowed to sit out for approximately 60 minutes to bring the temperature up a bit after exiting a 38 degree refrigerator.

The smoker will be fueled with lump charcoal and hickory splits and we will cook at 225 degrees.

With this being a 20+ hour labor of love the brisket will spend 8 hours on the horizontal smoker then move to an upright smoker for the 12 hours overnight. The upright smoker requires far less attention and as much as I want burnt ends I don't have an allnighter in me to continue feeding logs to the horizontal smoker. After 20 hours the brisket comes off the smoker with a nice crusty bark and the juices sealed up inside.

The next step is to separate the brisket. There are 2 portions to this brisket, the flat which is where your sliced brisket comes from and the point which is where the chopped brisket or burnt ends are often taken from.

This is the flat. We won't be using it now because this is a mission for burnt ends. Separating the two has let some juices flow.

This is the point. This is where our burnt ends will come from.

I will make a series of cuts to cube it up and get them ready to go back on the smoker. Once cubed they will be given a light dusting of Head Country and panned up to go back on the smoker.

Once returned to the smoker I will leave them dry for the next 60 to 90 minutes at 225 degrees. At this point I will add a homemade bbq sauce that I make thinner than I would if I wasn't going to let it cook. I will then finish the burnt ends off by allowing the sauce to reach the thickness and consistency we prefer.

Thin sauce added:

Sauce cooked to thickness and consistency desired:

There you have it, my take on the holy grail of Kansas City BBQ. These tender morsels of goodness melt in your mouth and are loaded with smooth hickory flavor.
In keeping with the Kansas City tradition you pick up a piece of white bread and use it like a catchers mitt to scoop up several pieces and you are stunned by the tenderness and flavor. Hope you enjoyed!

Prime Rib Meets Hickory In Kansas City

One of my favorite meals to prepare for guests, is prime rib. It is a cut of meat that can turn an ordinary Saturday night into an extraordinary Saturday night. Today I will be preparing a small prime rib for an early evening dinner for two.

I am going to cut a small (2 bone 4.5 lb) prime rib from this 15 lb bone in rib eye loin.

 

This meat doesn't need a lot of help. I will season it with a light coating of grape seed oil, kosher salt and cracked black pepper.

I will be cooking on a horizontal smoker fueled with a base of lump charcoal and hickory splits. This will be cooked low and slow with the smoker running 230-240 degrees throughout the cook.

The prime rib will be cooked until it reaches an internal temperature of 127 degrees. After a 10 minute rest while tented it should reach an internal temperature of approximately 132 degrees which is our preferred medium rare temperature. Horizontal smokers add a great dimension to cooking. When cooking at low temperatures (225 degrees for instance) the burning logs create a cooking process similar to a convection oven as the hot air rushes from the firebox and through the cooking chamber. In this instance it allows for a crusty exterior but a medium rare center without overcooked edges.

Having had an appetizer salad this will be a perfect plate for a meat and potato's person. A beef rib, an 18 oz cut of prime rib and a twice baked potato.

Normally prime rib at our house is reserved for dinner parties with several guests. But this evening it will be served at the bar table in front of the television. This meal needs very little help and will be served with a good horseradish and a glass of Cabernet. The cook achieved all of his objectives with this prime rib. It had a crusty exterior, a tender, juicy center and a beautiful but subtle hickory smokiness.

This is my casual take on one of the outstanding cuts of beef. In the future we will revisit prime rib with a large cut and more formal meal and presentation.