Got Mustard?
This post was written by Jeff Ratzloff on September 20, 2009
Is that mustard gas in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
If you have watched any of the shows on the cooking networks about smoking; you have most likely gleaned several suggestions on how to prepare you meat before grilling or smoking. There are several ways to spice up your soon to be dinner, from marinades to injections to rubs. All work great and all are to taste. I did pick up one tip that seems to work for me when I am preparing meat on the smoker.
When I saw this method on a show about competitive cooking; I thought the guys were insane. After searching on the internet and visiting with a few folks that smoke competitively; I came to believe that maybe these guys were not crazy after all. I have had great results with the mustard method and hope that you will find success as well.
There is nothing technical about using mustard; but the basic reasoning is to help tenderize the meat and hold in some of the moisture. I am in the habit of rubbing or preparing the meat the night before I smoke (if I remember); and this is a good practice. Allowing your seasonings to soak in overnight will provide a more pronounced result. This is as important as the wood you will use to further flavor your meats. So the night prior to your smoking adventure; begin your preparations by covering your cuts of meat completely in mustard. You will want to rub in gently and get a good thin layer of mustard on all sides of the cut. I have used this mostly on pork butts and brisket; but have used with great results on ribs as well. The theory is that the acid in the mustard will begin to break down the fibers in the meat providing a greater level of tenderness.
Once you have the mustard rubbed in to your satisfaction; you are free to add any other spices you like. I have a rub that we have been using for a while and hopefully we will be able to offer this to our customers as well. I sprinkle on generous portions on all sides and rub in gently; then either wrap the cuts in tinfoil or place in a plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next morning I unwrap and place on the smoker cooking to my normal specs.
I hope that you have great luck with this method as I do; and if you have any question please shoot us an email and we will help with anything we can.
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This entry was posted on Sunday, September 20th, 2009 at 7:57 am and is filed under Recipes and Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
