Pork cheeks are one of my favourite things to BBQ low-and-slow, I think. Writing this, I’m concerned that maybe I say that about everything, the problem with BBQ is that there are so many flipping tasty cooks, that when you sit down to think about and write about them, you remember how much you enjoy them. Anyway, I’m sticking to my guns, pork cheeks one of my favourites and certainly my favourite pork cuts on the BBQ.
Sous vide, cooking in a water bath with tight temperature controls (to within a degree of target temperature), is often used as the first step in a reverse sear approach. Whilst sous vide shines at precise and even internal cooking, it is impossible to get a nice finish on a piece of meat or vegetable using sous-vide, as it cooks at temperatures way below those needed for searing a steak, for example.
In terms of commercially available ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s has to be towards the top of the picking for me. There are some classier ice creams, like Hagen Daz, but in terms of pure decadence (and the the most non-ice cream ingredients added possible) you can’t really compete with Ben & Jerry’s.
Early on in the UK Covid lockdown, I had to work from home a lot, which meant two things: 1) I suddenly gained over two hours that would have normally been on commuting every week day 2) I was restricted to the house and garden (caveat, a lot of this time and probably more was actually used on childcare, as the kids were at home so I think I ended up with a deficit of time after all, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t use these circumstances as an excuse to get more cooking gadgets).
For a few years, all pre-pandemic, I attended a few UK Chilli Cook-off competitions. An annual competition where competitors meet for 4 hours to try and create the best chilli (chilli-con-carne, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be meat based!) and a panel of four judges score the chillis to decide the winner, with the winners going through to the UK finals. The competitions, both regionals and finals are normally hosted as part of a food festival - so usually in a field under a marquee, with no power source and just hoping for good weather. They were always great fun, but for one reason or another the UK Chilli Cook-Off Association seems to have paused, or at least reduced the amount of regional competitions they run. I keep hoping that they will re-instate them and I can get involved, but for now it seems they only do one a year, and that’s down in Dorset, which is a little far for me.
This article is an overall, how-to guide for the Weber Smokey Mountain (often referred to as a WSM). We will look at the science of how they work, as well as basic controls, cooking techniques and then finish with a look at potential modifications (mods).
This is just a quick Southern Comfort (or any Bourbon you like really - SC is quite sweet and works well, but there’s plenty of sweetness in BBQ sauce anyway so it could easily be swapped straight out for Jack Daniels or anything you fancy - just please don’t use an expensive single malt in there!)
BBQ sauce can be a great condiment. It’s a bit of a shame that its a little overused now, and often used to cover up for poor BBQ in chain pubs (I’m talking about all those times I’ve eaten reheated pulled pork mush, drowned in generic sweet BBQ sauce to hide the lack of quality in the pork). In moderation, and by that I mean, so its not all you can taste - I love it on barbecued chicken, pork ribs and even pulled pork, just as long as is modestly applied. Most supermarkets here in the UK will have several shelves stocked with different brands of BBQ sauces, but all mostly of a similar style (ketchup based) but with varying degrees of quality, and don’t get me started on the BBQ sauce pizza sauce that Dominos use.
