Octoberfest Ideas

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Nefarious

Master of the Pit
Original poster
Oct 10, 2021
1,608
1,293
Seattle WA
I am having a party on Sat for a soccer match and th ought that I would do something octoberfest like. I tried to find some pork shanks, none available locally, and they are too costly to buy online, and I might not get them on time anyway.

I had the thought of getting a pork bone on roast like they cut pork chops from, removing every other rib so I can cut them thick, I was going to score the top and bottom to get more smoke flavor. I figured each bone would feed 2 people. Is this even realistic.

Another idea I had was to cut a pork shoulder into 1 lb pieces, and smoke them. I could get some good smoked pork but worry about too much fat.

Any other ideas would be helpful, I don't want to have to resort to bratworst, or some sausage thing.
 
Gepockelte

Thick cut pork chops
1 TBS Morton Tender Quick per pound of chops.

Rub TQ into pork chops

Place chops in plastic bags. Cure for 2 hours in refrigerator.

Rinse before grilling or pan frying.

Goes great with sauerkraut or roasted potatoes
 
I am thinking of doing a bratwurst fattie, I would have to buy a bunch of brats and take the meat out of the casing. Roll out and stuff with sour kraut (removing most of the liquid) some form of cheese like a Jarlsberg and mustard, bacon wrap? and serve with a side of some good whole grain mustard.
 
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I was going suggest curing some loin bacon, but the curing timeframe is not long enough... maybe double smoke a ready-to-eat ham, then make German potato salad, and serve with rye or pumpernickel?

A second thought is smoking some ribs, then adding to a pan cooking down some par-boiled potato cubes , kraut and a sausage. This is the assembly picture, I don't have a serving photo. I've done this in the 1/4 foil pans which works great.
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And when all else fails, Mr Google is your friend. Some of these ideas look really good especially for group serving.

 
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To me Ofest means pretzels and potato pancakes besides meat and beer. Good ideas so far. Shanks are defacto but not the easiest thing to make and would likely be hard pass for some. IMO nothing wrong with sausage but the key is stay away from Johnsonville brats and the like. I would suggest finding some good knockwurst. Not authentic by any means but would be totally making these for that party. Just use ground pork from the store if no grinder.
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...h-coarse-grain-mustard-on-pretzel-bun.311151/
 
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Good chefs are like entertainers...you need to know your audience and not just your art. The folks you're cooking for might really be looking forward to bratwursts. So don't be too quick to disappoint them. Just sayin'.

And don't forget the German beer and Rhine wine. And Clasthaller and St Pauli Girl both make a nice non-alcoholic brew, which may be appreciated by many as well, partic if they're athletes.
 
Gepockelte

Thick cut pork chops
1 TBS Morton Tender Quick per pound of chops.

Rub TQ into pork chops

Place chops in plastic bags. Cure for 2 hours in refrigerator.

Rinse before grilling or pan frying.

Goes great with sauerkraut or roasted potatoes
This looks like a good alternative, is there any advantage to curing it for a longer time? I will look it up, thanks.
 
View attachment 643583
I was going suggest curing some loin bacon, but the curing timeframe is not long enough... maybe double smoke a ready-to-eat ham, then make German potato salad, and serve with rye or pumpernickel?

And when all else fails, Mr Google is your friend.
Some good ideas, I appreciate it. I did google, there are so many choices, thats why I asked here. Google is where I found the pork shank and got the idea to do this. Only problem, they aren't available.here and I don't think lamb shank would work.
 
Good chefs are like entertainers...you need to know your audience and not just your art. The folks you're cooking for might really be looking forward to bratwursts. So don't be too quick to disappoint them. Just sayin'.

And don't forget the German beer and Rhine wine. And Clasthaller and St Pauli Girl both make a nice non-alcoholic brew, which may be appreciated by many as well, partic if they're athletes.
I will just have to make sure those that I include know what the dinner is. Although, I might just have to find a source for some good bratwurst.
 
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