Hi all,
Yesterday I tried smoking schweinshaxe (ham hock?) on the RF for the first time at our company's annual Oktoberfest. It turned out really nice and I'm very happy to share it with you guys.
Started out with plain ham hocks with bone and skin, brined from store, about 2+ lb each. Whisked together a very simple seasoning mix,
* 2 parts marjoram
* 1 part sage
* 1 part coarse ground black pepper
First, I coated the hocks with regular mustard and then simply sprinkled generously with the seasoning mix all over.
Heated the smoker up to about 300F, got a chance to try my new coal basket!
Once bbq was hot enough we dumped on the hocks. Tried to keep the temps at 300+. Meat was at 170 after roughly 4 hours.. I foiled the meats as they approached 170 and left them for about 30 min in the foil before serving.
The end result was quite nice with a touch of smoke. Most of the smoke was trapped on the fat and skin. I have tried schweinshaxe in Germany many times but never has it tasted like this. I can definitely recommend this approach, although I will probably cook it around 6 hours at 250 next time to soften the meat up a bit more.
Served up with some home made sauerkraut and potato salad together with proper drink for the occasion this was undoubtedly awesome!
Cheers!
/Wes
Yesterday I tried smoking schweinshaxe (ham hock?) on the RF for the first time at our company's annual Oktoberfest. It turned out really nice and I'm very happy to share it with you guys.
Started out with plain ham hocks with bone and skin, brined from store, about 2+ lb each. Whisked together a very simple seasoning mix,
* 2 parts marjoram
* 1 part sage
* 1 part coarse ground black pepper
First, I coated the hocks with regular mustard and then simply sprinkled generously with the seasoning mix all over.
Heated the smoker up to about 300F, got a chance to try my new coal basket!
Once bbq was hot enough we dumped on the hocks. Tried to keep the temps at 300+. Meat was at 170 after roughly 4 hours.. I foiled the meats as they approached 170 and left them for about 30 min in the foil before serving.
The end result was quite nice with a touch of smoke. Most of the smoke was trapped on the fat and skin. I have tried schweinshaxe in Germany many times but never has it tasted like this. I can definitely recommend this approach, although I will probably cook it around 6 hours at 250 next time to soften the meat up a bit more.
Served up with some home made sauerkraut and potato salad together with proper drink for the occasion this was undoubtedly awesome!
Cheers!
/Wes
