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> Slow-cooking a ham or pork shoulder makes it more tender, but also
> more dry in my experience. How do you keep it moist?
>
>
How are you cooking it? If cooking uncovered it will dry out. I frequently
chuck picinic rolls (made from pork shoulders and brined to resemble ham)
in a crock pot and cook for about 8-10 hours on high with lid on. I'm not
sure of the exact temp of the crockpot but believe the high setting is
below 300F. The meat is quite tender and NOT dry when I remove it...It is
so tender it falls apart into chunks if you don't use silicon oven mitts to
remove it from the crock. I add no liquids to the crock... nothing other
than the picnic roll and some seasoning.
The same or simillar effect can be reproduced in a regular oven if the
oven temp is 275F-ish and the roast is in a pan that has a good fitting
lid.
Look for pork shoulder braising recipes on the web.
Since braising is the art of slow cooking, perhaps finding some basic
instructions on how to do it might help also.
>Slow-cooking a ham or pork shoulder makes it more tender, but also more dry
>in my experience. How do you keep it moist?
Keep it covered....completely...and don't peek. You should be using a
braising technique.
braise
[BRAYZ]
A cooking method by which food (usually meat or vegetables) is first
browned in fat, then cooked, tightly covered, in a small amount of
liquid at low heat for a lengthy period of time. The long, slow
cooking develops flavor and tenderizes foods by gently breaking down
their fibers. Braising can be done on top of the range or in the oven.
A tight-fitting lid is very important to prevent the liquid from
evaporating.
The Fine Art of Cooking involves personal choice.
Many preferences, ingredients, and procedures
may not be consistent with what you know to be true.
As with any recipe, you may find your personal
intervention will be necessary. Bon Appetit!
Also, undercooking a pork shoulder can make it seem dry. If the cologen
hasn't broken down yet, the meat will "taste" dry.
I cook shoulders slowly, uncovered in my smoker. They've never been dry.
Smoke @about 225 'til the internal meat temperature gets to about 190 to
200. This will also work in an oven, but you'd be leaving out a very
importantpart of the flavor. IMO
BOB
Steve
Thanks Ward and all responders.
I covered with a foil tent, because I didn't have anything big enough, but
it isn't a tight fit. I wonder how a pressure cooker would do.
> braise
> [BRAYZ]
> A cooking method by which food (usually meat or vegetables) is first
> browned in fat, then cooked, tightly covered, in a small amount of
> liquid at low heat for a lengthy period of time. The long, slow
> cooking develops flavor and tenderizes foods by gently breaking down
> their fibers. Braising can be done on top of the range or in the oven.
> A tight-fitting lid is very important to prevent the liquid from
> evaporating.
About browning in fat, do you sear these roasts first? If so, in the oven
uncovered, or in a hot pan?
YES.
> "Ward Abbott" <pre...@terian.com> wrote in message
Well, browning the meat on all sides does improve the flavour...but you
don't need to. Get a tight fitting foil covering or lid...the idea is to
stop moisture or water vapour leaving the pan. Then worry about improving
flavor. The vapour helps to cook the meat so keep it in at all costs.
When I do pork shoulder (smoked, on the grill) I first do a dry rub, overnight. When
the smoke box is perfect and the temperature just right, I put it on the grill,
unwrapped. When it's caramelized all around, I begin basting it with a apple cider
and spice (usually the same as the rub) combo. For the last hour, I double wrap it in
foil after generously basting with the cider. It's never dry, and always very good.
kimberly
>About browning in fat, do you sear these roasts first? If so, in the oven
>uncovered, or in a hot pan?
HOT pan. I use the oven vessel to do that...add liquid...usually
beer, cover and put in oven.
Cooking pork? Don't forget six cloves of garlic. That will be all
you need. Salt & pepper when you are finished.
> I have now done a Luscious Lawson recipe 3 times using a 7/8 Kg
> shoulder and they have never turned out dry. They cook slowly for 23
> hours with 1/2hr of high eat at start and finish, perhaps it's the
> crust that seals in the moisture ?
Please don't top-post.
You don't "seal in moisture" with searing. That's an old chef's tale
that's been pretty thoroughly debunked.
Brian
--
If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who
won't shut up.
-- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com)
"Default User" <defaul...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:51g62kF...@mid.individual.net...
> Please don't top-post.
>
> > Please don't top-post.
> Why not?
Rather than start a long and old argument, just go here:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~wijnands/nnq/nquote.html#Q7
--
Jani in WA
How do you do your searing? With the vessel uncovered in the oven at high
heat, or on the stove?
Do you leave any fat on one side?
> Cooking pork? Don't forget six cloves of garlic. That will be all
> you need. Salt & pepper when you are finished.
I seasoned before cooking. If a roast is several inches thick doesn't it
take time to get the flavor through?
Is that recipe on the web?
A Dutch oven or braising suitable pan is both stovetop and oven
safe...First I turn on the oven while it is coming to temp;I brown the
meat in a little oil on the stovtop. Add whatever I want to add then cover
and into the oven.
Any cooking vessel... say a frypan that is oven safe will do; as long as
it has a tight fiting lid.
Tom Del Rosso wrote:
> "Steve Y" <stever...@wanadoo.fr> wrote in message
> news:51f8jkF...@mid.individual.net
>> I have now done a Luscious Lawson recipe 3 times using a 7/8 Kg
>> shoulder and they have never turned out dry. They cook slowly for 23
>> hours with 1/2hr of high eat at start and finish, perhaps it's the
>> crust that seals in the moisture ?
>>
>> Steve
>
> Is that recipe on the web?
>
>
Here's a link to a Google Search for it: http://tinyurl.com/ywb4yv
Obviously you have zero experience because even the lowest culinary IQ
RFC pinhead knows (or should know) that those two cuts are as different
as different can be... ham essentially has all its fat concentrated on
its exterior with a very lean interior while shoulder has some fat on
it's exterior but has a great deal of its fat dispersed about its
interior... very different cooking techniques are employed for each.
And I have no idea what you mean by the very innocuous term
"slow-cooking"... unless you mean in a slow cooker (crock pot) slow is
relatively meaningless, how slow you tawkin' and cooking how?
Pork shoulder braises and BBQs well but doesn't do well dry roasted,
and I definitely wouldn't braise or BBQ a ham... only dry roasting does
ham justice. Probably the best method for preparing flavorful, juicy,
and tender pork shoulder is to use it for making sausage.
Sheldon
That's just some thieving guinea's version of the traditional Puerto
Rican recipe for "Pernil".
http://www.elboricua.com/recipes.html
Sheldon
Low and slow! A typical BBQ temp for pork shoulder (butt) is between
180-185F. Anything higher could dry out the meat. Don't rush it!
LB
Seattle
Sigh..........once again, one too many xperts.
Proves you don't know yer ass (ham) from yer elbow (shoulder),
figuratively AND literally... only real pig you know is the one you
stole to poke... ya heard of Pig inna Poke, well meet Tom Pokin' his
Mamma!
http://www.mothergoose.com/PopGander/Baum18.htm
Ahahahahahahahahahaha. . . .
Sheldon
Yeah, I disregarded it completely, and its post too.
Agreed that it looks similar and probably tastes just as nice but spices
and cooking times are different. LL cites Italian origins for the
recipe, I'm not that bothered, I just like the result !
I would have guessed that loss of moisture is what makes things drier.
I guess I'm naive like that.
-bwg
> Low and slow! A typical BBQ temp for pork shoulder (butt) is between
> 180-185F. Anything higher could dry out the meat. Don't rush it!
A typical temp at which you bbq a pork shoulder is 225 - 275F. The typical
internal temp of the meat when it is pulled from the pit is about 190F
--
Dave
www.davebbq.com
Hey Dave, I used to hang around over at the bbq newsgroup - I remember
you were starting a bbq restaurant awhile back too. How's that going?
LB aka jkdrummer aka JaKe
Seattle
> Slow-cooking a ham or pork shoulder makes it more tender, but also
> more dry in my experience. How do you keep it moist?
Oven or crock-pot. Oven it should be tightly covered. Crock-pot should be
moist!
--
Charles
The significant problems we face cannot be solved
at the same level of thinking we were at when we
created them. Albert Einstein