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Meat Alchemy: A Workflow

Diablote_389234

I've been experimenting with Sous-B-Q for several months, and I've discovered a workflow to get consistent, off-the-chain results for damn near any cut of meat. You need to first answer 4 questions:

1. Is this a high-collagen or low-collagen cut? This depends on where on the animal the cut comes from.

2. Is this a high-fat or low-fat cut? This also depends on where the cut comes from. Here is a diagram to guide you:

3. What color and texture do you want in the final product? Use your favorite doneness scale (I like Meathead's on AmazingRibs.com, but there are plenty of others). The parameters are simply how you like your actin (texture), hemiglobin (color), and moisture content.

4. What surface texture do you want in the final product? The range goes from slow cooker mush to smoked brisket crunchy bark.

Then just pick the right workflow for your answers:

I. Denature collagen into gelatin, if present (from Question 1):

a. 6-12h@130˚F - Optimal collagen denaturing on young animals (veal/lamb)

b. 24-48h@130˚ - Optimal collagen denaturing in mature animals (pork/beef/buffalo)

II. Set desired texture (from Question 3), min 140˚ for high-fat cuts (Question 2):

a. 1h@wherever for steaks

b. 2h@wherever for roasts

III. Shock to optimal temp for finishing:

a. 32˚ (ice bath) for smoking (or storage), patted dry in a clean bag

b. 120˚ (hot tap water) for broiler, torch, or charcoal chimney sear

c. 100˚ (warm tap water) for griddle or offset kettle sear

IV. Finish surface

a. Smoke (smoker or Weber kettle @ 250˚)

b. Offset sear (Weber kettle @ 450˚)

c. Direct sear

i. grate over charcoal (standard, chimney, inverted chimney)

ii. propane/butane torch (including Searzall)

iii. griddle @ 500˚

iv. broiler

Note that you need to do a surface prep at each step. I typically do nothing for Steps I-III; I then pat dry and apply my desired rub before Step IV.

Cheers.

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Comments

brian_martin2001

You do realize, that there it's no key to allow those who don't know their cuts? Basically, all you've given us, as it pertains to your diagrams, are a randomly colored silhouette of cows with the general cuts derived from each area.

Diablote_389234

Here are a few applications of the workflow:

Lamb forequarter chops

I. 9h@130˚

II. 1h@140˚

III. Shock to 120˚, then pat dry and oil+spice rub

IV. 70 sec/side on grate over raging charcoal chimney

Pork forequarter chops, beef Y-bone, buffalo scotch steak

I. 24h@130˚

II. 1h@140˚

III. Shock to 100˚, then pat dry and oil+spice rub

IV. Offset in Weber kettle@450˚ for 5 min/side

Beef bolar roast, Select brisket

I. 36h@130˚

II. None

III. Pat dry, then salt, rebag and shock to 32˚, to fridge overnight

IV. Water+spice rub and smoke at 250˚ to 150˚ core

Pork/lamb loin roast, beef ribeye roast

I. None

II. 2h@140˚

III. Shock to 120˚ and oil+spice rub

IV. Offset in Weber kettle@450˚ for 5 min/side

Kangaroo fillet, venison shoulder roast

I. None

II. 1h@131˚

III. Shock to 100˚, then pat dry and oil+spice rub

IV. Griddle@450˚ for 30 sec/side

Enjoy!

Diablote_389234

I developed the workflow specifically because I am in Australia, and my knowledge of U.S. beef and pork cuts is irrelevant here. Here is a good resource for U.S. cuts of beef:

http://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/ab_cowc.html

Pork and sheep aren't all that different from cows in their relative collagen and fat distributions, though pork has more fat throughout. Poultry, venison, kangaroo, camel, bear, turtle, rabbit, alligator, crocodile, and fish are different beasts altogether, but you can find descriptions of most of them on clovegarden, too:

http://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/index.html

brian_martin2001

Hey! You fixed it. You know that your reply to mine has absolutely nothing to do with my initial reply, right?

Diablote_389234

Apologies, but I was unclear on what you meant by your comment. If you were referring to the key missing from the diagram, I noted shortly after posting that I had omitted it (the image was a crop from a larger image with other diagrams) so I corrected it. Should I delete my reply to your post?

wolfiegirl

You've done a good amount of work and I for one thank you! Your diagrams and workflows are very useful and helpful! Thanks again!

#meat

Diablote_389234

Thanks for the kind words. It's ironic I had to travel halfway around the world to discover it, but the meat cuts here in the Outback don't lend themselves to simple barbecue. I feel like I did when I first bought my smoker almost 20 years ago…

fisher23

Thank you for sharing all your research, it is very much appreciated.

Diablote_389234

I hope it's useful. I won't lie, it was pretty rough sometimes. My worst outcome was trying to cook a buffalo scotch fillet as if it were a lamb chop. Fortunately, I had already ruined venison by the time I discovered kangaroo!