j biesinger
TVWBB Platinum Member
I dig octopus, but sourcing them can be tricky. I usually pick one up when in Chinatown NYC, as they usually have frozen 5 pounders somewhere. But if you've ever cooked a 5 lb octopus, you know it looses a ton of water weight and ends up pretty meager.
Tried of playing around with little guys, I order up a case of octopi rated at 8 pounders from a friend who supplies restaurants with high quality meat and seafood. The case ended up at two 9 pounders and one 15 pounder!
Here she is in a cambro with her head, beak and webbing trimmed off. It was pretty cool because the suckers were sticking to the cambro and my hands.
After a few water changes, I blanched it in a large stock pot
To get her tender, I managed to just squeeze her into a 2 gal ziplock bag and run her sous vide at 160 degrees for a little more than 7 hrs. I poked her with a knife and she felt nice and tender but not mushy.
I threw her on an 18" wsm, and smoked her with a little lump and some alder wood chip. I tried to keep the temps under 200 since she already was cooked
We served her with chimichurri
Sliced
The texture was not unlike a firm scallop, but my daughter preferred the crispy tentacle tips
Tried of playing around with little guys, I order up a case of octopi rated at 8 pounders from a friend who supplies restaurants with high quality meat and seafood. The case ended up at two 9 pounders and one 15 pounder!
Here she is in a cambro with her head, beak and webbing trimmed off. It was pretty cool because the suckers were sticking to the cambro and my hands.
After a few water changes, I blanched it in a large stock pot
To get her tender, I managed to just squeeze her into a 2 gal ziplock bag and run her sous vide at 160 degrees for a little more than 7 hrs. I poked her with a knife and she felt nice and tender but not mushy.
I threw her on an 18" wsm, and smoked her with a little lump and some alder wood chip. I tried to keep the temps under 200 since she already was cooked
We served her with chimichurri
Sliced
The texture was not unlike a firm scallop, but my daughter preferred the crispy tentacle tips
