Two cooking fails in one night... 3 in as many days... Bad stretch

worktogthr · Jul 27, 2015

So Saturday, I took a nice piece of prime rib around 4 pounds and cooked it on my weber kettle indirect at around 375. Pulled at 125 IT, was rushing around to bring the roast as well as a bunch of other food to my sister in laws for dinner. In my haste, I took what was probably a perfectly cooked piece of meat and made it nearly inedible by covering it in foil right off the grill which continued cooking it to the point of dry, grey, disappointment. Fail #1!

Today I made a double batch of marinara. Have been making this recipe for ten years and I always love how it comes out. Didn't have any chicken broth which I usually use (I know it's a strange ingredient but it works) so I used beef broth that I had in the fridge. Sauced smelled great all day simmering on the stove. Finally took a taste and it had a bitter, sour, horrendous aftertaste. After a little investigation, discovered that the beef broth I used was spoiled. Had to throw out a couple of gallons of marinara. Fail #2!!

Thawed out a duck that I had in my freezer. I have never cooked a duck in my life but have read a lot about it and always heard that the fat has to be rendered correctly otherwise it could be really chewy and unpleasant to eat. Common sense told me to at least start with very high heat and/or make some cuts into the duck that would allow some of the fat our (read about this somewhere). Well I ignored common sense and though, "hey, they cooked a duck on the pit barrel cooker on the videos on their website. I'll just follow that!" In the back of my mind I was thinking that there was no way the skin would get crispy at the temps the pit barrel achieves. But I just followed the recipe exactly and ended up with a barely edible duck with rubbery skin and even more unpleasant unrendered fat on the meat. Fail #3!

I'm in a bit of a slump here. Need to rebound with something good tomorrow night.! Just venting my frustrations as I'm sure you all know the sadness of ruining perfectly good food.

floridasteve · Jul 27, 2015

I had a weekend like that last month. The next weekend, everything went great!

b-one · Jul 27, 2015

That type of stuff happens! Time to regroup and get smoking,and get a sharpie and date stuff when it gets put away! I tell my wife that all the time once in awhile she actually does it!

Rafter H BBQ · Jul 27, 2015

You'll be good man, just dust yourself off & get back on the horse ! Thumbs Up

mike5051 · Jul 27, 2015

Sorry about the bad luck string! We all go through these situations, mine usually come from trying to rush or do too many things at once. BBQ is low and slow...take your time and enjoy the process.

Best of luck in your future endeavors.

Mike

worktogthr · Jul 28, 2015

FloridaSteve said:
I had a weekend like that last month. The next weekend, everything went great!

I've had a couple of these in the past and have bounced back fine, I just hate wasting perfectly good food!

b-one said:
That type of stuff happens! Time to regroup and get smoking,and get a sharpie and date stuff when it gets put away! I tell my wife that all the time once in awhile she actually does it!

Thanks! The sauce was the biggest disappointment of all. It was a stupid oversight that sent it to the garbage... Probably make me check the dates a little closer whenever I'm cooking. Especially such a big batch of something .

WaterinHoleBrew said:
You'll be good man, just dust yourself off & get back on the horse ! Thumbs Up

Thanks for the encouragement. I know I will bounce back. Haha saw on another thread compare cooking to golf... So true... When you are playing a lot you start to feel like you have some stuff figured out and then one day you go on the course and it's like you never played the game a day in your life. Cooking is like that sometimes. Sometimes it's even a recipe you can make in your sleep, like the marinara, and you just make a silly mistake

mike5051 said:
Sorry about the bad luck string! We all go through these situations, mine usually come from trying to rush or do too many things at once. BBQ is low and slow...take your time and enjoy the process.

Best of luck in your future endeavors.

Mike

The prime rib was definitely that. I was preparing 5 different things and my wife was calling me from her sisters house saying people were getting hungry and I wasn't thinking when I covered the prime rib up so quickly. Just trying to rush. Makes me want to invest in a Cambro haha

tropics · Jul 28, 2015

Hang in there we all know you put up some great smoke,you'll be back at the top of your game.

Richie

jcollins · Jul 28, 2015

I am sorry to hear about your cooking misfortunes... id say it happens to most of us.

mdboatbum · Jul 28, 2015

I hate it when that happens!! And it does, unfortunately, happen every now and then. Luckily for me it's usually all lumped into one meal. I'll scorch the sauce, over cook the meat, drop the salad on the floor, forget to chill the wine etc...
All you can do is clean up the mess and move on.
As for your particular misadventures, maybe we can exercise a little hindsight and avoid them ever happening again.
#1: The meat. At anything over 350°, a dense chunk of meat like a rib roast is gonna have carryover. The outer layer holds a lot of heat and that will migrate into the inner part. Lower heat, say 250°, will help to keep in check, but the crust suffers. To get the best of both worlds, cook at 250° to just under the desired temp (in your case if you want 125°, take it to 120°) then rest just until the temp starts to drop. Then put it in a preheated 500° oven for about ten minutes to set the crust. Perfect edge to edge doneness, crispy crust and no carryover.
#2: The marinara. More specifically, the spoiled stock. If it was just old, well there's no fix for that. However, if it was not that old and had the bitter flavor you described, it might have soured. Fresh stocks can get incredibly funky if put into the refrigerator while still hot. Same thing can happen if they're left to cool on the counter for the several hours it'll take to get the temp down. To quickly cool a stock, you can do two things. Put a heavy bottomed pot large enough to hold the stock in the freezer for a couple hours. Then when it's time to strain the stock, strain it into the cold pot. Then put the whole thing in the sink with enough ice water to come about half way up the side of the pot and stir until it's cooled. Should only take 15 minutes or so.
Other thing you can do is take an unopened bottle of water, wash the outside thoroughly and freeze it. When it's time to cool your stock, plop the frozen water bottle in it and stir until it's cool.
Good luck on your next cook!!

joe black · Jul 28, 2015

Really sorry about the bad luck. Sounds like you need a meat loaf or a couple of racks of baby backs. That should clear your head. If not, you could always try a mocha, vodka, valium, latte. Good luck, Joe.

crazymoon · Jul 28, 2015

WT, Carry on sir, bad BBQ is better than no BBQ!

inkjunkie · Jul 28, 2015

It is what it is. Perhaps it is time for some simple burgers?

worktogthr · Jul 28, 2015

Mdboatbum said:
I hate it when that happens!! And it does, unfortunately, happen every now and then. Luckily for me it's usually all lumped into one meal. I'll scorch the sauce, over cook the meat, drop the salad on the floor, forget to chill the wine etc...
All you can do is clean up the mess and move on.
As for your particular misadventures, maybe we can exercise a little hindsight and avoid them ever happening again.
#1: The meat. At anything over 350°, a dense chunk of meat like a rib roast is gonna have carryover. The outer layer holds a lot of heat and that will migrate into the inner part. Lower heat, say 250°, will help to keep in check, but the crust suffers. To get the best of both worlds, cook at 250° to just under the desired temp (in your case if you want 125°, take it to 120°) then rest just until the temp starts to drop. Then put it in a preheated 500° oven for about ten minutes to set the crust. Perfect edge to edge doneness, crispy crust and no carryover.
#2: The marinara. More specifically, the spoiled stock. If it was just old, well there's no fix for that. However, if it was not that old and had the bitter flavor you described, it might have soured. Fresh stocks can get incredibly funky if put into the refrigerator while still hot. Same thing can happen if they're left to cool on the counter for the several hours it'll take to get the temp down. To quickly cool a stock, you can do two things. Put a heavy bottomed pot large enough to hold the stock in the freezer for a couple hours. Then when it's time to strain the stock, strain it into the cold pot. Then put the whole thing in the sink with enough ice water to come about half way up the side of the pot and stir until it's cooled. Should only take 15 minutes or so.
Other thing you can do is take an unopened bottle of water, wash the outside thoroughly and freeze it. When it's time to cool your stock, plop the frozen water bottle in it and stir until it's cool.
Good luck on your next cook!!

You are correct... The higher temp produces more carry over and I know that... Just rushing and not paying attention. The stock was store bought so I chalk it up to my own stupidity. Hahah live and learn!

worktogthr · Jul 28, 2015

Thanks everyone for the support. Tonight I made oven fried chicken and it came out just like it was supposed to. I knew that I didn't forget how to cook overnight, just frustrating when it all comes in a short period of time

worktogthr · Jul 30, 2015

worktogthr said:
You are correct... The higher temp produces more carry over and I know that... Just rushing and not paying attention. The stock was store bought so I chalk it up to my own stupidity. Hahah live and learn!

Just had another question that maybe you could help me with that might benefit eveyone else. Let's say I wanted to cook that prime rib onnthe hotter side, say 375-400. But then it finishes 2 hours before dinner. Is there a way to rest and the. Wrap and cooler it without the internal temp going up. Could I leave the therm in and wait until the IT stops rising and then wrap, towel and cooler it? Thanks

jcollins · Jul 30, 2015

Once the temp starts going down during resting it cant go back up with out application of more heat.... it will continuously do so but better insulation will slow down the cooling process. I like to look at it like perpetual motion concept.

oldschoolbbq · Aug 2, 2015

Well all I. Can say is ,make your plan , use time wisely and be patient !

As I always say . . .

ak1 · Aug 2, 2015

Sometimes Sh*t happens. That's all there is too it. It keeps you humble!

I've made hundreds of ribs over the past 30yrs or so... Guess what; I can still screw 'em up.

chef jimmyj · Aug 3, 2015

I Learned your Sauce lesson a long time ago...Dates don't matter on open containers. And Dates on sealed packages only tells the store when they have to remove it from the shelves. Properly sealed, unbroken, food items, Box of Broth, pack of Cream Cheese, container of Buttermilk, will last a couple of weeks beyond their " Sell By date ". You need to use up open containers of stock/broth in 5 days or discard. The Nose Knows!...JJ

worktogthr · Aug 3, 2015

Chef JimmyJ said:
I Learned your Sauce lesson a long time ago...Dates don't matter on open containers. And Dates on sealed packages only tells the store when they have to remove it from the shelves. Properly sealed, unbroken, food items, Box of Broth, pack of Cream Cheese, container of Buttermilk, will last a couple of weeks beyond their " Sell By date ". You need to use up open containers of stock/broth in 5 days or discard. The Nose Knows!...JJ

You are correct! That's why I was so frustrated about the sauce. I always give open cartons of stock the smell test before hand and this time for whatever reason I didn't. Probably was trying to do much at once as usual.

Two cooking fails in one night... 3 in as many days... Bad stretch

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