Recent content by Brad Benski

You can now find commercial versions all over Louisiana, even Texas and beyond, but the real thing is found primarily in Southwest Louisiana, Cajun country, around Lafayette. You will see it a little around Baton Rouge and New Orleans (not Cajun country), but SW La is its home. Have to agree...

If I look at Len Poli's introduction when talking about a wet cure for fermented sausage he bases his ppm calculations on both the water and meat. If you figure in equalibrium brining you'd shoot for an even distribution then it would make sense to include all ingredients. For Thanksgiving I...

I think this is a good idea. In addition we could pick some unusual but not as "challenging" ingredients. Like Beef Tongue! I think the Iron Chef format is good, but we've really knocked it out of the average "weekenders" capabilities. While it does make one think really creatively the...

Once I get back to the States I've got a chest freezer in my garage that needs cleaning out. I was going to convert it to a curing chamber. It's a non-defrost model (as most chest freezers seem to be) but it shouldn't present a problem. In the 4 years of continuous use the freezer has never...

Off the top of my head. Lump can burn hotter than kingsford briquettes. I'd suspect that the amount of coals you lit to start the minion were too many. Try cutting the # of coals in 1/2 for the minion start and see how that does.

I compared for about 2 months and chose the vitamix. A friend had the vitamix and I went to several Blendtec showings. My purchase happened at the State Fair of Texas. Got the 5300 deluxe package, a 32oz dry container (very similar to the Blendtec container), the flexible cutting boards and...

Sounds like they were underdone and most seem to agree. The key thing is find a method. I prefer the 3-2-1 method. For me I believe that the foiling period gives me consistency and a predictability on when the ribs will get done. I don't strictly follow the 2 hours in foil, nor the 1 hour...

It's my belief that the Butt was overcooked because of the braise in the applejuice while covered in foil. To me it's not much different than the late stages of being in a crock-pot.

I look for the overall taste profile, and a doctored up Sweet Baby Rays is something I've used on Ribs many times. As far as the added smoke flavor. Gotta tell you I love the #5 sauce with the smoked meat drippings in it. Gives a nice flavor especially for pulled pork and chicken. So it...

I have one, but don't really use it unless I want some higher temperatures, otherwise for anything 350 or below I don't use it. As others have stated, the cooker is good enough to hold temperature close enough for a long period of time to not "need" the controller. However, to "want" one is...

What's important is when the ribs are done; the meat has come to temperature and the connective tissue and collagen has transformed into gelatin to give you that heavenly bite and texture. At a lower cooking temperature it takes longer to get to that point, to a degree. With a higher...

To the point of the post I'd go for a rub with lots of flavor. For me the 50/50 salt and pepper would be bland. Not that I'm looking to alter the flavor of the beef, but rather to pull it out and make it kick. There was a thread about what ingredients in rubs "cook out" over the course of...

Yes, High heat works, as does low and slow. Some people prefer to do Prime and Wagyu low and slow but High Heat will cook a tender and tasty brisket. In the same way that many prefer to do Select Briskets in the high heat method but low and slow can produce a tender and tasty brisket as well...

I have a Large Big Green Egg. I've had it up to the 800+ range to do some searing of steaks. The gaskets got cooked and turned crisp. Replaced them with a Nomex kit Fred's sells Nomex Gasket Kit and it's been great since then. I mostly smoke in mine but do occasionally do pizza at 550-600...

The other downside is that heat effects it. After awhile it starts to harden up and eventually it get brittle. At least I've had 3 pairs of driving gloves get that way. So Mark if you have an Academy close by you must be around Texas somewhere...