Today I did a much smaller smoke than anticipated. However, I was still able to play with new rubs.
First I am using my usual rub (an adaptation of Jeff's) with mustard. I know this will be very tasty.
My parents traveled to Hawaii, and they picked up this coffee rub. Although coffee was the first ingredient, I couldn't taste it, so I added my grounds at a 1-1 ration. That gave me a nice, well-balanced rub with an excellent depth due to the coffee. As you can see I also used molasses instead of mustard. I thought the flavor of the molasses would add a nice touch.
This is what the rub looked like right out of the bag. Can you see any hints of coffee? I can't.
These next four pictures are just to do a comparison. You can tell which is which by the color.
I also made some stuffed meatballs. Usually, I go with fresh mozzarella but this time I went another route. I was hoping that not using fresh would prevent, or reduce, the cheese leakage. It would have worked if I didn't lose track of time.
You can see some cheese came out, but most of it stayed in the ball.
I finish them with a can of crushed tomatoes and top it with fresh grated parm and mozzarella. I don't put herbs in the sauce; it is just crushed from a can. I found that additional ingredients overpowered the meat flavor. I just top with cheese, cover with foil, and put it in my oven at 160 F, which is the lowest temp my oven will do.
The coffee butt is on the right and the top.
I pulled them at 155. I wanted to pull them, rather than slice, but 10 hours in and they were only at 155, so I took my chances. The temp was perfect; It was the juiciest pork I have ever had. The coffee rubbed shoulder was the best, by far. I will be doing that again, but next time I am going to use honey instead of molasses. I am not sure how that will be but neither was I about the molasses, and that turned out to be a huge success.
I can't wait to smoke more meat. I want to play with more coffee.
First I am using my usual rub (an adaptation of Jeff's) with mustard. I know this will be very tasty.
My parents traveled to Hawaii, and they picked up this coffee rub. Although coffee was the first ingredient, I couldn't taste it, so I added my grounds at a 1-1 ration. That gave me a nice, well-balanced rub with an excellent depth due to the coffee. As you can see I also used molasses instead of mustard. I thought the flavor of the molasses would add a nice touch.
This is what the rub looked like right out of the bag. Can you see any hints of coffee? I can't.
These next four pictures are just to do a comparison. You can tell which is which by the color.
I also made some stuffed meatballs. Usually, I go with fresh mozzarella but this time I went another route. I was hoping that not using fresh would prevent, or reduce, the cheese leakage. It would have worked if I didn't lose track of time.
You can see some cheese came out, but most of it stayed in the ball.
I finish them with a can of crushed tomatoes and top it with fresh grated parm and mozzarella. I don't put herbs in the sauce; it is just crushed from a can. I found that additional ingredients overpowered the meat flavor. I just top with cheese, cover with foil, and put it in my oven at 160 F, which is the lowest temp my oven will do.
The coffee butt is on the right and the top.
I pulled them at 155. I wanted to pull them, rather than slice, but 10 hours in and they were only at 155, so I took my chances. The temp was perfect; It was the juiciest pork I have ever had. The coffee rubbed shoulder was the best, by far. I will be doing that again, but next time I am going to use honey instead of molasses. I am not sure how that will be but neither was I about the molasses, and that turned out to be a huge success.
I can't wait to smoke more meat. I want to play with more coffee.
