Dried Albanian Beef???

rgautheir20420 · Feb 5, 2015

So another thing that my co-worker has wanted me to give a shot. He told me a story from when he was younger living in Albania that he remember his grandmother smoking out in the smokehouse for days.They'd cure thick strips of beef and then smoke them for days over hickory and some heat. His brother in law gave him some and brought it in and it was pretty good. Very heavy hickory smoke flavor and garlic and onion. Also it was pretty salty.

So we're giving it a shot. I picked up a 2.5 lb chuckie from the store because from what I saw it seemed like it was a similar cut. It's sitting in Cure #1, 2% salt, 1 Tbps of garlic powder and onion powder. This thing is about 2.5 in thick...it's a nice hunk o meat!

Here we go!

20150204_190139.jpg

rgautheir20420
Feb 5, 2015

atomicsmoke · Feb 5, 2015

Sounds like a good plan. How long will you dry/smoke it?

Is it supposed to be salty?

rgautheir20420 · Feb 5, 2015

atomicsmoke said:
Sounds like a good plan. How long will you dry/smoke it?

Is it supposed to be salty?

From what he remembers and what I tasted, yes it was salty. I plan to do a small fry test after the curing period is over. I don't want it over salty so. I can always soak off some of the salt if needed.

He explained that the stuff would be out there for days, but days on hickory seem to me like it would over smoke. I'll probably use the MES cold smoker attachment for this one and pick up a 20 lb bag of hickory pellets from HD. I'm thinking a 12 hour cold smoke and then back into the fridge. The next day I'll do another smoke and that's when I'll bring it up to IT for eating. Thoughts?

gary s · Feb 5, 2015

Count me in I'll be watching

gary

atomicsmoke · Feb 5, 2015

I assume the final product is dried chewy meat ....like bresaola, isn't it?

At 2% yours won't be salty.

rgautheir20420 · Feb 5, 2015

atomicsmoke said:
I assume the final product is dried chewy meat ....like bresaola, isn't it?

Well it's a fully cooked product. I guess I could liken it to a tender piece of jerky...just not quite as dry. Does that make sense?

This is sort of the reason I used the chuckie instead of something with very little fat. When he brought it in a sliced it, I could pull my slices apart pretty easily. Something he said they'd do a lot was put it on the fire that his grandmother had going and sizzle it up and it was good. That definitely leads me down the road of slow cooked and long smoked.

atomicsmoke · Feb 5, 2015

I misunderstood. I thought it was cured dried beef. Sorry. Can't wait for your results.

rgautheir20420 · Feb 5, 2015

atomicsmoke said:
I misunderstood. I thought it was cured dried beef. Sorry. Can't wait for your results.

Ah ok. Yeah this isn't a dried product like a breseola....although that might be a fun next time around! I'll be sure to keep the thread up to date.

themule69 · Feb 5, 2015

I look forward to seeing this. I'm betting it should be good.

Happy smoken.

David

rgautheir20420 · Feb 13, 2015

So it's out the cure. I cut it up into some thick strips and it's sitting on the MES rack in the back fridge until I start the smoke tomorrow. Looking at doing 2 full AMNPS worth of hickory.

The picture shows prefect cure penetration throughout. I'm guessing the brown exterior is from oxidation and coloring from the spices. I trimmed it just a bit and the onion comes through nicely. I'll say this....cured beef smells much different than cured pork!

20150213_185954.jpg

rgautheir20420
Feb 13, 2015

gary s · Feb 13, 2015

Looking Good

Gary

rgautheir20420 · Feb 13, 2015

gary s said:
Looking Good

Gary

Thanks Gary

pc farmer · Feb 13, 2015

Looks great. Cured nicely.

rgautheir20420 · Feb 15, 2015

Ok here's the final product. Smoked for about 16 hours with my MES at 100 and then just pulled and finished to 140 in the oven. Intense smoke flavor with a salty onion flavor. Cut across the grain they are nice and tender. My buddy loves them and says it's better than the stuff his brother in law have him that he'd shared with me. Some in progress smoking shots and money shot.

timberjet · Feb 15, 2015

Wow that looks great. Beef Bacon Albanian style.

gary s · Feb 15, 2015

Looks Great, making me hungry

Gary

Dried Albanian Beef???

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