JSMcdowell
TVWBB All-Star
Saturday went well. Definitely saw some big differences between the different methods. It was a lot of fun doing all the different things, not so much fun keeping it all straight. Lot's of labeling and diagrams.
So this is what I did. I cooked 3 pcs per method so I could get different opinions and my guinea pigs could see the difference as well.
I used the Jaccard to pierce the skin in one direction.
For the brine, it was just the basic brown sugar, kosher and water
The marinade was Italian dressing.
Overnight brine/marinate was about 10 hours, got a little later start than I wanted.
1st batch
Tenderized skin & brined overnight
Tenderized skin & marinated overnight
Normal skin & brined overnight
Normal skin & marinated overnight
2nd batch
Tenderized skin & brined 4 hours
Tenderized skin & marinated 4 hours
Normal skin & brined 4 hours
Normal skin & marinated 4 hours
I did not get as many pics as I would have liked, but everything pretty much looked the same in the 2 batches.
1st batched, rubbed and awaiting the smoker:
2nd batch, being marinated & brined:
Batch 1 on the smoker:
Batch 1, flipped after an hour:
Batch 1, almost finished. At this point they had been glazed once and were about to be glazed a second time. I took them off about 20 minutes after the 2nd glazing.
The winner was pretty easy to choose, it was the tenderized skin, brined overnight.
Using the Jaccard to tenderize the skin definitely made a HUGE difference. Easy to bite through. In the future, I will probably run it across the skin in both directions. In all 12 pcs that had been tenderized, this skin was much better than it's normal skin counterpart.
As for flavor, marinade vs brine was not a whole lot of difference. They were both very juicy, with a slight advantage to the brine.
The big difference between the marinade and brine was the skin. On most of the pcs that were in the marinade, the skin slid right off the meat upon the first bite. The brine seemed to hold everything together much better.
In comparing the 10+ hours to the 4 hours, the brine came out juicier on the 10+, but did not come out saltier than the 4. The marinade on the 4 hours seemed to leave all the flavor on the outside of the meat, it really didn't get all the way through.
Thanks for checking this project out. My first comp is this Saturday, and although my chosen method probably isn't the best way, I am glad I at least have something I am comfortable with.
So this is what I did. I cooked 3 pcs per method so I could get different opinions and my guinea pigs could see the difference as well.
I used the Jaccard to pierce the skin in one direction.
For the brine, it was just the basic brown sugar, kosher and water
The marinade was Italian dressing.
Overnight brine/marinate was about 10 hours, got a little later start than I wanted.
1st batch
Tenderized skin & brined overnight
Tenderized skin & marinated overnight
Normal skin & brined overnight
Normal skin & marinated overnight
2nd batch
Tenderized skin & brined 4 hours
Tenderized skin & marinated 4 hours
Normal skin & brined 4 hours
Normal skin & marinated 4 hours
I did not get as many pics as I would have liked, but everything pretty much looked the same in the 2 batches.
1st batched, rubbed and awaiting the smoker:
2nd batch, being marinated & brined:
Batch 1 on the smoker:
Batch 1, flipped after an hour:
Batch 1, almost finished. At this point they had been glazed once and were about to be glazed a second time. I took them off about 20 minutes after the 2nd glazing.
The winner was pretty easy to choose, it was the tenderized skin, brined overnight.
Using the Jaccard to tenderize the skin definitely made a HUGE difference. Easy to bite through. In the future, I will probably run it across the skin in both directions. In all 12 pcs that had been tenderized, this skin was much better than it's normal skin counterpart.
As for flavor, marinade vs brine was not a whole lot of difference. They were both very juicy, with a slight advantage to the brine.
The big difference between the marinade and brine was the skin. On most of the pcs that were in the marinade, the skin slid right off the meat upon the first bite. The brine seemed to hold everything together much better.
In comparing the 10+ hours to the 4 hours, the brine came out juicier on the 10+, but did not come out saltier than the 4. The marinade on the 4 hours seemed to leave all the flavor on the outside of the meat, it really didn't get all the way through.
Thanks for checking this project out. My first comp is this Saturday, and although my chosen method probably isn't the best way, I am glad I at least have something I am comfortable with.
