Round and round we go…

Recently I went to a Portuguese restaurant where they served meat on skewers to your table and cut it onto your plate with big sharp knives. Wait for it… ahhhhhh meatgasm the meat keeps coming and coming until you are fed into submission as your body shuts down all non-essential services for digestion. We lasted about two hours of solid meat feasting, oh and beer of course. I notice that these were not your ordinary skewers but square rods that were used to cook the meat on a rotisserie in a large open face oven.

The Modernist Cuisine says that is not roasting but instead baking if you have an enclosed oven. Spit-roasting also called rotisserie is an essential feature of the cooking. The food goes from hot when the food faces the fire or heat, and slowly rotates away from the heat into the cool which is the secret to a great roast.

“These two competing processes balance out such that the average heat below the surface of the roast is only a fraction of the peak heat at the surface. If everything is judged just right, the interior of a roast ends up, over a dizzying number of rotations, gently cooked to a shallow gradient of doneness from just below the surface all the way to the center, while the surface itself gets cooked to a crisp, deep-brown finish.”

I had done lots of rotisserie chicken , but after being at the Buffalo Grill in Lisbon I wanted to branch out to other meats. This is my second attempt at rib of beef.

I am not sure what preparation they use in Lisbon, but I believe it is a combination of marinades and also rubs. One of my favourites had a deep garlic flavour so that is what I am trying to replicate. My thoughts were a rub so I went to my Bible Barbecue Bible, Sauces Rubs and Marinades and chose the Texas Sprinkle.

Here it is with some of my changes:
¼ cup garlic powder
1 tbsp. coarse sea salt
2 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. freshly ground white pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme

I put the skewer in and fix the arms before I put the rub on, that way it does not knock off the rub during assembly. On a big tray smash the rub into the skin all around. This is the end result.

Texas Sprinkle on the rib of beef

On to the BBQ with the lid held open going round and round for about an hour and half.

round and round

I always check the internal temperature using a Thermapen from ETI, but you must check from the side near the skewer not the edge.

Thermapen

When the temperature gets to 134F then it is medium rare and ready for a rest. Turn off the gas and close the lid and let the meat rest and it will go up in internal temperature by possibly 5 degrees.
Resting

I brought the meat into the house and made a big slice to see how well done it was. This looked just perfect for my taste.

Carved

Here it is plated up.

Plated

OK so I know – where is the Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and gravy with a side of steamed cauliflower, broccoli and carrots… well since I have started eating SANE there will be no starch in this meal, just some homemade broccoli slaw left over from when the kids were here on Friday.

But, I NAILED – the flavour from the Buffalo Grill, it must have been a rub because I have an overall garlic taste in my mouth with a slight burn in the back of my tongue from the 3 peppers. Nice. I also cut the slice of beef (for seconds) a lot thinner which made the texture sublime. All and all a win/win for this recipe and will become a part of my BBQ repertoire.



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