Christmas is around the corner, and you're gearing up for a festive feast that will impress your family and friends at the dinner table. This year, switch things up and challenge yourself by cooking a whole turkey—perhaps a honey-glazed turkey or a traditional roast turkey—instead of opting for store-bought options.
Cooking a whole turkey is indeed a holiday tradition, but getting that juicy roast turkey just right is known to be a culinary challenge. With the right preparation and cooking time, however, you can achieve the perfect succulent bird every time.
Here are some quick and easy tips for cooking a memorable Christmas lunch or dinner at home.
How big does my turkey need to be?
The size of turkey you buy depends on how many people you are feeding, and whether or not you want leftovers (of course you do!). The first to being the super star of Christmas lunch, is to decide whether the Turkey will be your main protein, or part of a larger platter.
As the main protein, we recommend:
3kg – Serves 6-8
4kg – Serves 8-10
5kg – Serves 10-12
6kg – Serves 12-15
7kg – Serves 15-20
How should my turkey be stored?
It's best to store your turkey in the refrigerator. If you have a frozen turkey, this allows you to purchase in advance and store it for longer—very convenient if you're managing oven space and preparing multiple delicious recipes.
Let's talk turkey thawing
To ensure even cooking, your turkey must be thoroughly thawed. In a fridge operating at 4°C, allow 10 to 12 hours per kilogram for thawing.
How to cook a turkey
While there are various methods, oven cooking is a favourite for many due to its straightforwardness and the classic result it yields. Plus, it leaves your slow cooker free for other delicious recipes.
Below, find an easy roast turkey recipe, complete with a citrus glaze:
In a large saucepan on medium heat, add your chopped dried apricots. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add your orange juice and honey. Bring the water to the boil, once reached - reduce to a simmer and simmer until the liquid reduces by half and is nice and sticky.
Preheat your oven to 160c.
Ideally, leave your turkey uncovered in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours before your cook to dry the skin out.
To prep your turkey, season the cavity with Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder (we use Jackalope's SPG rub).
Making two small incisions behind the breast through the skin, use this opening to massage butter under the skin of your turkey. Add any remaining to the cavity.
Place your whole orange into the cavity to block the entrance as best as possible - this helps to keeps moisture in.
Before roasting, tuck your wings under the bird, and using butchers twine cross over and wings and through the back legs to tie it all together.
This keeps your centre of heat closer to the centre of the bird, making sure your wings and legs don’t overcook too much compared to the rest of the bird.
If you are cooking to temperature, we recommend cooking your turkey until it reaches 73c internal.
if the turkey is over 4kg, calculate 20 mins per 1kg, plus 90 mins.
If the bird is under 4kg, calculate 20 mins per 1kg, plus 70 mins.
We like to turn our oven up to 200c for the final 30 minutes of the cook to get some extra colour on the bird.
Regardless of your method, in the last 30 minutes of your cook time - add the sliced oranges. (adding them earlier will cause them to burn).
Rest for 20 minutes and add to your Christmas Spread, ready to carve
For the full ingredients list, and to watch a video of Super Chef preparing a Citrus Glazed Roast Turkey for Christmas, view the full recipe here.
Ready to buy your own turkey? Shop our range and prepare to serve up a dish that will be remembered for years to come.
]]>We've paired this with an easy to make chutney (chop, into the pot and reduce) that's an unforgettable combination of sweet and savoury with just a hint of spice.
Pork Racks:
A criminally underrated cut of pork, pork racks are ideal for roasting as the bone acts as a heatsink allowing the flesh to cook evenly and raise in temperature slowly meaning jucier meat.
We're using a moisture infused pork rack today, which means the meat has been injected with a mix not dissimiliar to a brine - which adds flavour and juiciness.
Tied Roasts
These roasts are best trussed (tied with butchers twine) to keep the meat close together, ensuring an even cook. Our butchers are always happy to do this for you, if you're ordering online just add this to your order notes.
Feel free to score your rack to ensure the salt and flavour can penetrate the fat.
Chutney
A rough chop on your onions is essential here, as this will constitute the "Chunkiness" of the chutney as it reduces. If you want something closer to a more watery sauce, cut your onions finer. But a chutney is the perfect consistency to coat the meat and add body.
Doneness
A long time ago there was a turning point in the advice on cooking pork, it no longer needs to be well done to be safe to eat. As the standards of farms and producers (in Australia, at least) has increased dramatically - the risk of contaminants that cause serious illness and the diseases that were major worries at the time are no longer prevalent.
Pork is perfectly fine to be eaten blushing (around medium) and is far juicier than a bland, grey, well-done piece. That being said - cook it how you like!
We like to take the same approach with the wine we use to cook, while you're never going to open something from the cellar downstairs to make a pie - we use a wine we're happy to drink the rest of the bottle from. Leaving a bottle just for cooking will quickly turn it into sour vinegar, so finish that bad boy off ASAP.
This recipe is nice and easy, don't be daunted by the steps - by using store bought pastry it's simple a case of making the filling and sandwiching it (delicately) between two layers of pastry. We use puff for the lid because it's delicate and flakey, while short crust pastry is sturdier and works better as a base.
When working with pastry, make sure you take it out of the freezer right before you cut the shapes out. This recipe makes enough for 4 small 100g pies, or one larger 400g monster.
Criminally underrated, as tender as eye fillet with a little trimming required. Tenderloin straps are a steal for family dinners this week.
We have shared the ingredients across these two recipes, but feel free to chop and change with what suits your palate - as tenderloin straps aren't always in stock, you can substitute these with our readily available Eye Fillet tails for less wasteage and the same great tenderness!
]]>Whether It's the big game, you've got 10 friends on their way to your house and you need something to throw together fast that still tastes great; or you have to feed the family something quick, easy and delicious tonight - buffalo wings are the ultimate crowd pleaser.
While it's easier to buy pre-marinated wings, or to just pour some "buffalo sauce" on top, we find that cutting your own sauce will give you the glistening, shiny wings you see on Superbowl ads and will make you forget all about your team losing 3 State of Origin games in a row.
Remember the Old El Paso ad where the presumably Spanish girl asks "porque no los dos?" (Why don't we have both?) - this is it.
Baking buffalo wings to par cook them, slowly render out the fat and push some of their moisture out will give you the CRISPIEST wings you could ever imagine. A quick flour dredge helps too, but we absolutely recommend the pre-bake (this ensures a good, even cook as well).
And without further ado - check out our newly famous Buffalo Wing recipe below.
]]>We've got you covered with the easiest chicken schnitzel recipe ever!
This recipe is great to get the kids involved. It's quick, extremely easy and the kids will love it!
With only a few ingredients you can have dinner sorted and get back to relaxing. We all know cooking can be tiring, and sometimes you just need a break but that dirty fast food just won't cut it.
This recipe takes the stress out of dinner while also steering away from unhealthy foods with minimal attention required. Just slice, cook, eat.
See below for some references for how to chop and slice your ingredients.
Now, let's get to the recipe!
]]>The key difference and also why these are so popular among many is the use of any minced protein you deem fit. Originally in China pigeon minces were wrapped inside a lettuce leaf. However, in Australia, the pigeon mince has been substituted for mainly pork minces but can can be switched up for your favourite lean beef mince, chicken mince or lamb mince if you so desire.
San Choy Bow is also a very easy and extremely satisfying dish that is both fun to cook and eat, which can be personalised further with your own garnishes or favourite sauces drizzled on top.
For this recipe we have chosen some traditional flavours accompanied by our own additions that we feel really brings out the best in this amazing dish, while keeping it simple for the first time cooks who want to know what all the fuss is about.
All of these ingredients are very easy to find at your local supermarket with some being everyday items you may already have in your cupboard.
See above for a rough guide on how each ingredient should be sliced or diced.
Anyway, enough about the dish, lets get cooking!
]]>
But what does "Chicken Fried" really mean? Well, there's no chicken about it. It's simply steak cooked just like Southern Fried chicken is - it's not like a crumbed schnitzel, and has an amazing texture to it. It's simply something that needs to be tried to be believed!
Season, Season, Season!
While you should be layering flavour in everything you do, much of it starts with simple salt and pepper.
By seasoning the steaks before you dredge them, seasoning the flour you dredge them with and then seasoning the sauce you're pairing with - you're ensuring flavour punches through the heaviness of the fry taking the beefiness with it.
It can be easy to run ahead of yourself and try to rush this recipe (especially if you're cooking for a family) - but to ensure this cooks evenly and isn't particularly floury or burned, ensure you're coating your steak evenly with the flour mixture and there are not any noticeable clumps.
While your oil should be hot enough to bubble when a little flour is added, ensure it is not taken too high. You want your steak to cook evenly and throughout before it starts to burn.
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We've taken the humble cottage pie and elevated it with Marble Score 3+ Black Onyx beef, shiraz and mushrooms. The intramuscular fat content in the beef renders down beautifully adding richness to the filling allowing the fat to exalt the accompanying flavours.
While we've used black onyx beef for this recipe, any high marble score grainfed beef or a wagyu cut will add these same amazing flavors.
Aside from some hands-off simmering this recipe is quick to prepare, easy and simple to make. By starting with some hard hitting flavours with lots of depth, we're simply reducing them down into a flavour base worth writing home about and intensifying the experience.
The Meat
Start off by dicing your beef into stewing pieces approximately 1cm x 1cm thick, a consistent cut will ensure your meat cooks evenly. We trim any hard fat and obvious sinew that's too thick to render, but leave all other fats on as they simply melt away into the gravy.
Dusting your beef pieces in flour before searing will slowly thicken your gravy during the cook.
While we have used bolar blade for this recipe you are able to use gravy beef (boneless osso bucco), chuck steak or rump.
Gravy
By building a traditional onion and carrot mixture as the base for your gravy, you're setting yourself up for success. The key to adding the red wine to this base, is to ensure that the mixture is brought to a boil and kept at a raging simmer for at least 1 minute. This cooks off the tangy, alcoholic flavours of the wine and leaves you with a rich flavour.
The Lid
Mashing potatoes is pretty straightforward, we've all done it a few hundred times. A little known trick is to start heating your water from cold, with the potatoes already in - This will bring the potatoes up to heat evenly with the water, stopping the outside of the potato cooking faster that the inside. This will help prevent uncooked lumps of potato through your mash or loosing yield to the cooking water.
Brushing your potato with a slight layer of butter will encourage the tips to crispen, teasing the potato with a fork allows more raised surfaces exposed to the heat to get those brown, crispy edges we know and love.
Now that the tips are out of the way - let's get to the recipe!
]]>A great roast beef can make or break family dinner, as it's a working muscle it is naturally tough yet packed full of flavour. That's why we focus on our cooking methods, and let simple flavour combinations do their job and elevate the already supremely beefy taste.
The blade roast is from the shoulder blade area. It’s made up of several muscles containing layers of fat and connective tissue. This tasty cut is best roasted whole, allowing the connective tissue to break down and impart a full-bodied flavour while tenderizing the meat. The blade roast can also be diced for slow cooking.
[PRODUCT_LIST]Internal Temperature
While we are able to give you a general guide of how long to cook your roast (approximately 1 hour plus 45 minutes per kg), it is best to cook to an internal temperature.
As a roast will rise by up to 5 degrees in temperature while resting, we recommend cooking your roast to a temperature of 60 degrees at its thickest point. This will rise to a perfect medium, which is what is necessary for rendered fat and a tender end product.
We've paired this with an easy to make chutney (chop, into the pot and reduce) that's an unforgettable combination of sweet and savoury with just a hint of spice.
Pork Racks:
A criminally underrated cut of pork, pork racks are ideal for roasting as the bone acts as a heatsink allowing the flesh to cook evenly and raise in temperature slowly meaning jucier meat.
We're using a moisture infused pork rack today, which means the meat has been injected with a mix not dissimiliar to a brine - which adds flavour and juiciness.
Tied Roasts
These roasts are best trussed (tied with butchers twine) to keep the meat close together, ensuring an even cook. Our butchers are always happy to do this for you, if you're ordering online just add this to your order notes.
Feel free to score your rack to ensure the salt and flavour can penetrate the fat.
Chutney
A rough chop on your onions is essential here, as this will constitute the "Chunkiness" of the chutney as it reduces. If you want something closer to a more watery sauce, cut your onions finer. But a chutney is the perfect consistency to coat the meat and add body.
Doneness
A long time ago there was a turning point in the advice on cooking pork, it no longer needs to be well done to be safe to eat. As the standards of farms and producers (in Australia, at least) has increased dramatically - the risk of contaminants that cause serious illness and the diseases that were major worries at the time are no longer prevalent.
Pork is perfectly fine to be eaten blushing (around medium) and is far juicier than a bland, grey, well-done piece. That being said - cook it how you like!
We've put together our easiest, most delicious lamb shank recipe passed down through our butcher shops for decades. The best part about it is - this is virtually impossible to overcook!
You want your lamb to be falling off the bone, and while we recommend a cook time of two hours in the recipe below - an hour or two extra will only help your flavours infuse even more and make your lamb just that touch more tender.
Tips:
1) As we'll be using a stick blender to create a puree from the vegetables we're adding - there's no need to spend time finely dicing them. We recommend a rough chop for the onions, carrots and celery. But if you prefer to dice - go ahead!
2) Frying off your tomato paste adds an extra level of flavour to the sauce! Ensuring it contacts with the heat for a brief minute directly will add something special to your dish.
3) Count the sprigs of rosemary and bay leaves you add, as you will want to remove this before finishing your sauce - if you have little ones, as these are very hard to break down with a blender - it's all the more important to get them out.
4) There's no need to heavily trim your lamb shanks! Lamb shanks come in varying sizes with varying levels of fat on them. Just remove the hard fat and leave the rest to break down into the dish and add flavour.
]]>
Whether you have an 30mm thick Rib Fillet, or a bone-in OP Rib or Tomahawk - cooking a thick steak is completely different to cooking a thin (less than an inch thick) steak.
Cooking a thick steak on high heat for too long can result in burning the crust before you reach a safe internal temperature, or cooking the outside of the steak to a far higher degree of doneness than the centre.
We recommend following our easy guide to achieve your perfect steak:
We recommend an instant-read thermometer when reverse searing, as thickness and time can vary far too greatly to achieve the precise results you're looking for, Blaze Instant Read Thermometers are available at all Super Butcher stores.
Here's the finished temperatures you're looking for:
Rare: 50C
Medium-rare: 54C
Medium: 60C
Medium-well: 66C
Well done: 72C
Size isn't all that matters - we recommend choosing a good steak to reverse sear (Gold grade or above) - a thick, low quality steak will always be harder to eat than the same steak cut thin. For best results, try any of our great brands of beef for guaranteed juiciness and flavour.
Bring your steak to room temperature before continuing.
You’ll need some of your favourite BBQ beef rub, or salt and pepper to taste. We love Lanes BBQ Ancho Espresso as a beef rub, which develops a great crust in a short time of searing. Apply your seasoning liberally 5 minutes before cooking.
Pre-heat a source of indirect heat to 140c. Using an oven, a pellet smoker, Weber Gas BBQ with a roasting rack and trivet or our favourite - a charcoal Weber kettle.
Put your steak in the oven or on your cooker/smoker using indirect heat. You can add some smoking wood over the charcoal for extra flavour.
Cook/smoke the steak until it reaches an internal temperature of 52C for medium-rare or just under your desired doneness (table above) for medium etc. The internal temperature will continue to rise from the resting process.
Remove and rest for 15 minutes covered with foil. The resting process will allow your steak to continue cooking and reach a temperature closer to what is desired. This also redistributes the juices of the steak and relaxes the fibres for a more tender eating experience.
Get your cooker/smoker/weber (or a cast iron skillet if you’ve used your oven) as hot as you can get it, we're talking piping hot! The goal is to cook this for as little as possible while developing the best crust you can.
Sear the steaks on both sides. It should only take a minute to get a nice crust. Once you have seared the front and back, we recommend spending some time searing the fat cap and all edges of the steak. Use tongs or a heatproof glove and hold the bone if you want to feel like a MasterChef.
Because the steak has already rested and been cooked almost up to full temp so gently it doesn’t need to be rested again. Take your steak off the heat, slice and enjoy.
]]>There are three moving parts in this recipe:
Without further ado, let's get to it!
Pictured: Serves Two
]]>Cuts: If you're aiming for a seriously crackled roast, we recommend a rolled pork loin for the juiciest meat with the best crackling possible.
Other cuts that are ideal for crackling are: Skin on pork belly, skin on pork leg roasts.
Our top tips for the perfect crackling are:
1) Remove your roast from the packaging and pat dry with a paper towel. With a small sharp knife, deeply score the rind at 1cm intervals, being careful to not cut into the meat. If time allows, leave the scored roast uncovered on the bottom rack of the fridge for 1 hour, or ideally overnight. This process further dries the rind and aids the crackling process.
2) When you’re ready to cook, put your pork on a wire rack in the sink and pour a jug of boiling water over the rind. Pat dry thoroughly with a paper towel.
3) Rub the roast with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and a generous amount of salt flakes (more if you like salty crackling), making sure the oil and salt penetrate the scores.
4) Place the roast on a wire rack inside a baking tray and cook at 240°C (max 250°C conventional) until the rind crackles, up to 50 minutes. If the roast is over 2kg, take 10 minutes off this initial crackling time.
5)Turn the oven down to 180°C and cook for 30-35 minutes per kg, depending on how well you like your roast cooked. We recommend a foodsafe temperature of 71c, using an internal thermometer is the ideal way to ensure a safe eating temperature without over cooking your roast.
6) Once cooked, let the roast rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Slicing Tip: Turn your roast crackle down and use a heavy knife to help you push throw the crunchy goodness.
]]>To get into this recipe first we need to answer your two big questions:
The term "corned beef" refers to beef that has been preserved through salt-curing. We use a wet cure injected into the meat for efficiency, food safety and moisture.
The salt in this cure changes the structure of the beef, morphing its texture and enhancing the flavour of the beef. Corned beef is usually boiled or baked, but pastrami has taken this one step further.
Introduced by various cultures into the States in the 1900's, Pastrami's origins were similar to Corned Beef's - created to avoid expiry on long journeys and throughout the World Wars. These days, Pastrami is popular in American deli's and sandwich shops as a cold cut - the main difference between pastrami and corned beef being the addition of herbs and in most modern cases, being smoked for flavour.
We've made it simple for you! We sell Corned Briskets in-store, and our friends at Jackalope Trading Co have the quintessential Spice Rub for it - aptly named their Pastrami Rub. We recommend treating this just like smoking a brisket, washing some of the salt off before cooking is optional.
Having these right tools and a plan is key to making the perfect Brisket. Here are some must have tools and things to consider before your journey.
· Blaze Thermometer (Instant read thermometer)
· Carving knife (Keep it sharp, you don't want to lose any of that bark you’ve spent hours creating.
· Cutting board (Concave cutting board will help keep all the juices on the board and off the table)
· Time - Don't be last minute (Give yourself enough time to achieve the ultimate brisket)
Step 1)
Unpack your corned brisket from it's packaging and submerge it in a bowl of water for at least 3 hours in the fridge. Changing the water every hour. This is optional, but sometimes the heavily salty flavour without soaking can be overpowering.
Step 2)
Apply a coating of American Mustard or Olive Oil as a binder and rub Generously in Jackalope's Pastrami Rub. We make sure we cover every crevice with that unbelievable flavour.
Step 3) Set your pit temp to a minimum of 250f (120 degrees celcius) - fluctuations in temperature here are not as impactful on a regular brisket due to the moisture injection - so you can cook as hot as 300f (150c) if you are in a hurry.
Step 4) Smoke until the internal temperature is at least 160f (about 71 degrees celcius) - from here you can wrap in Pink Butchers Paper (we sell this in-store) or Alfoil.
This wrapping method is called the Texas Crutch and helps the brisket cook quicker while retaining more moisture. We recommend using a double sheet base to ensure no juice leaks throughout the rest of the cook.
We add some butter and beef stock to the wrap - but any liquid will do.
Step 5) After you have wrapped your brisket up in your material of choice - place it back in the smoker (or oven at this point - as it's no longer receiving any smoke) at the same temperature until cooked to your liking.
We recommend cooking until about 210f Internal (90 degrees celcius) or until you can push a probe or skewer through with absolutely no resistance - it will feel like a hot knife through butter. Every brisket behaves differently and is finished at a different internal temperature. We absolutely recommend cooking to time and temp.
Step 6)
Rest the meat in an esky, or in the oven on keep warm for at least one hour. Slice into thin strips against the grain. Eat hot or chill and use for sandwiches for the week
]]>
We've taken a Reserve Grade (Marble Score 3+) Bass Strait Porterhouse and broken down the steps to cooking it to perfection - and serving it with one of the only sauces that elevates a great steak rather than overpowering it.
Cooking a steak is so easy once you know the steps, but understanding how to do it perfectly takes time and patience. Follow the steps below to cook your favourite steak to perfection in a few easy steps.
By removing it from the fridge and letting it rest on your chopping board or bench. Depending on the thickness of your steak this can take between 30 minutes to an hour.
We do this so that the entire steak will cook evenly giving you an edge to edge medium rare - cooking a cold steak will take longer to cook from the outside in, meaning it will be pink on the inside and well done on the outside.
If your pan isn't hot enough, your steak will start to excrete water and begin to stew rather than sear. A hot pan cooks the steak faster and evaporates water as it begins to excrete. A hot pan gives a solid, even sear while not overcooking the inside.
On this topic:
Don't overcrowd your pan
if you have a 26cm skillet and two thick steaks, cook them one at a time. Ideally you're looking for at least a 3cm gap on each side of your meat so that the heat is distributed evenly and not absorbed by another piece of meat.
Trim a little fat from the fat cap of your porterhouse (or ask our butchers to leave some trim in each vacuum sealed bag for you) and render that first by placing it in the pan as it heaps up. Alternatively - start the sear with your fat cap down on the pan.
If you're not confident cooking by feel, cook to temperature. A Blaze thermopen or other digital thermometer will serve you for hundreds of steaks and ensure you're cooking it perfectly everytime. Cook to a couple of degrees before your preferred doneness as the steak will continue to cook while it rests.
Cooking time varies by starting temperature, heat temperature, whether you're cooking covered or uncovered and of course thickness. We hate giving cooking times as it can always change by the above variables - cook to temp for a perfect steak every time.
This is completely personal opinion, but we like to flip our steaks once. We keep our steaks completely still for the first 50% of the cook to develop the best crust possible. In the last 30-60 seconds of the cook, we will pick our steak up with tongs and ensure every side of the steak is seared to render any remaining fat and get a 360 degree crust.
While cooking, the juices in steak leave their original positions and pool towards one side of the meat. Resting allows these juices to redistribute to their rightful homes and means you will have a juicier end product. This also means when you slice into it those juices won't spill all over your board or plate and will actually make it to your mouth.
Using the pan you have cooked your steak in is the ideal starter for a sauce or gravy. Whether your sauce is wine or water based - heat this up to boiling first and deglaze the pan by scraping any stuck bits of flavour (as it reaches boiling these will begin to lift on their own and just need a little push).
We used a Gourmet Granny's Pepper Sauce with this cook - we deglazed the pan by bringing 300ml of water to boiling. Added the packet mix and stirred until combined. Added 100ml of cream, stirred until thick and served.
Once these steps become second nature, cooking a steak the Super Butcher way won't take any extra time - but it will be perfect every time.
]]>Important Tips:
When cooking skirt steak, it is imperative you slice it against the grain.
In the photo above, you can see that the muscle fibers run from left to right. By cutting against the grain, we want to cut through the fibers and shorten them, rather than cut in the same direction that they run. This makes it easier to chew through, since a lot of the hard work of breaking up the muscle fibers has already been done for you.
Slicing meat with the grain (or in the same direction as the muscle fibers), however, leaves you with a chewier piece of meat, one that could have been more tender if it was just sliced differently.
Trimming:
As a secondary cut, instead of intramuscular fat you will find most of Skirt Steaks fat on the outside of the meat. This fat can be masking the presence of gristle, we recommend trimming as much of it off as possible for this recipe. Skirt steak is flavourful enough without needing to rely on its fat for flavour.
]]>For instance, over the past 18 months we have seen a huge surge in the popularity of rump cap - the tender, top of a whole rump (the bit with all that gorgeous marbling in it). Skirt steak, like rump cap is a lesser known cut that is full of flavour and tender enough to use as a steak cut when cooked correctly.
And best of all - it's cheap as chips!
This week we will be populating our recipe section with some easy ways to make the most out of skirt steak (including a steak recipe!). But for now, we've teamed out with our pals at Brasserie Bread to bring your our take on Philly Cheesesteaks.
Philly Cheesesteaks are a sandwich made from thinly sliced pieces of beefsteak and melted cheese in a long hoagie roll. A popular regional fast food, it has its roots in the U.S. city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Important Tips:
When cooking skirt steak, it is imperative you slice it against the grain.
In the photo above, you can see that the muscle fibers run from left to right. By cutting against the grain, we want to cut through the fibers and shorten them, rather than cut in the same direction that they run. This makes it easier to chew through, since a lot of the hard work of breaking up the muscle fibers has already been done for you.
Slicing meat with the grain (or in the same direction as the muscle fibers), however, leaves you with a chewier piece of meat, one that could have been more tender if it was just sliced differently.
Trimming:
As a secondary cut, instead of intramuscular fat you will find most of Skirt Steaks fat on the outside of the meat. This fat can be masking the presence of gristle, we recommend trimming as much of it off as possible for this recipe. Skirt steak is flavourful enough without needing to rely on its fat for flavour.
Pictured: Trimmed Skirt Steak
]]>
We've all had a granny and she has probably made a stroganoff for us once or twice in our lives.. I always used to dream of recreating it at home, but never quite made it.
Then we found Gourmet Granny's and knew we had to have it in our stores!
We will tell you 99% of the time to steer clear of a packet mix as the flavour usually isn't there, but Gourmet Granny's secret ingredients - just like our granny's before her makes this unrecognizable as a packet mix.
We recommend Eye Fillet Tails for this recipe as they are much cheaper than regular eye fillet, barely more expensive than your regular cuts of stir-fry beef. They are also incredibly tender and only take a couple of minutes to cook when cut into strips (our butchers can do this for you).
SUPER BUTCHER TURKEY
Cooking a Turkey can be intimidating., especially when it is the centrepiece of your Xmas lunch. The last thing you want is a dry bird on your big day to celebrate.
So here are a few tips from us to show you how to make the perfect Christmas Turkey.
BE PREPARED
The right tools and a plan is key to making the perfect turkey. Here are some must have tools and things to consider before your journey.
PICK THE RIGHT SIZE TURKEY
We know a beautifully roasted full Turkey sitting on the table absolutely looks the best! However, if you only have a few people coming over for your dinner there might not be a reason to get the largest bird available.
We have turkeys available in-store, available to order and available online here. This depends on how much leftovers you want and how many sides you are bringing. We like to load up on veggies, like potatoes and carrots as well.
THAW TIME
Turkeys are big and thick, when you buy it frozen you have to give it the proper time needed to thaw. We only thaw turkeys in the fridge and do not recommend any other method of thawing. There are other ways to thaw, but they are not fun, and it will take the joy out of the cook. A little planning can go a long way here. Make sure you have room in your fridge for the thaw or ask our butchers to thaw for you when you order.
It takes about 24 hours for every 2.25kgs of frozen turkey to thaw. For example, a 7kg Turkey will take at least 2 full days to fully thaw before you start the next step.
BRINE THE BIRD
A turkey is notorious for being a dry protein. So, you have to find a good way to get flavour and that juiciness into that fat bird. We recommend brining as the whole bird will soak up all that flavour and add to its final juiciness. With Brine the bird gets to fully take a bath in the solution, soaking up every area of the Turkey.
You should brine for no less than 24 hours fully submerged in water and Brine. We suggest our Lane's Signature Brine or Lane's Sweet Tea Brine, just add a cup of brine for every 3.7 litres of water and mix.
DRY THE SKIN
Now that you have soaked your Turkey in the Brine it's time to air dry the turkey in the fridge. After taking a 24-hour bath the outside skin layer of the turkey is absolutely drenched. You will need to dry the skin out uncovered for 12 to 24 hours in the fridge on a drying rack (to dry out the bottom skin of the turkey) The turkey meat will hold on to all that good moisture, this step is to dry the skin out so that the skin will cook nice and crispy.
SEASON THE BIRD
You are nearly there! Now that the Turkey skin has been drying out in the fridge, we will need to add a bit of exterior moisture, so we add some olive oil to make sure our seasoning will stick. Now we just need to give that outside of the bird a great flavour. We recommend using Lane’s Signature rub as the main seasoning to make your Turkey memorable.
COOK TIME
It's cooking time! all that hard work you put in is about to pay off.
Place your bird in an aluminium tray or baking pan (depending on how you are cooking it) To catch any juices and any basting juices. You don't want to try to move your bird while it is 160 degrees to a pan, just go ahead and put it in one.
We recommend:
GET INTO IT
The masses are hungry, but don't take your eye of the ball quite yet. Place your bird on a cutting board preferably one that is concave in the middle to hold all the juices. No one wants the juices from the turkey spilling out all over the dinner table. We absolutely suggest the Concave cutting board or a board with a wide moat.
Before slicing in we like to pull the legs, thighs, and wings off. Then we cut out both turkey breasts. We do this to make it easier to slice the breast the way we want it without all the other parts getting in the way.
Make sure you have a nice carving knife that is sharp. You do not want to cut into the bird with a dull knife which would just rip and pull that skin right off.
- Special thanks to Lanes BBQ for putting our meat to work and writing this recipe for us.
]]>SUPER BUTCHER PORK SHOULDER
Cooking a Pork Shoulder/Boston Butt is one of the easiest things to cook on the smoker, if you know how to do it. We will help you smoke the perfect pork shoulder so you can wow all your friends at the next barbecue hang out!
BE PREPARED
Having these right tools and a plan is key to getting perfectly pulled pork. Here are some must have tools and things to consider before your journey.
Shopping for pork
Shopping for right pork is crucial. You want a shoulder that isn’t overly fatty on the top and bottom, but still a small layer on fat on top (we call this the cap). Our Pulled Pork Roasts (or Boston Butts) are ideally trimmed to go straight on the smoker.
Different types of Pork you can use for pulled pork:
If you find you want leftovers for meals throughout the week, cook a larger Boston butt. You can vacuum seal and store in the freezer for future meals.
Trimming the pork shoulder
Time to trim your pork. We like to start with carefully taking the shoulder out of the packaging and removing and large chunks of fat that stick out. Preferably you’d want to trim away any silver skin that is exposed. This is to get more rub into the final product. Flip the shoulder over and start trimming the hard fat cap on top. We like to leave about 6mm of fat on top.
Seasoning The Pork
We are almost there! It’s time to season your newly trimmed pork shoulder. Optionally, you can put down a layer of oil or mustard on the pork to help the rub stick, but this is completely optional as pork out of the packaging has a lot of moisture.
Take your Pork shoulder and season with your favourite Lane’s BBQ seasoning. Make sure you season from a height to allow even coating of rub.
Lane’s suggested rubs:
COOK TIME
It's cooking time! all that hard work you’ve put in is about to pay off.
Place your pork, fat side up on the preheated pit.
We recommend:
Time to get stuck into it
Once your pork has rested, it is time to pulled apart and serve. Once you have pulled your pork, add in a touch of Kinda Sweet bbq sauce and some more Magic dust on top.
Last tip – Whip up some sides that go great with pulled pork or pick them up from the shops like we did.
- Special thanks to Lanes BBQ for putting our meat to work and writing this recipe for us.
]]>Cooking a Brisket is often a daunting task in theory, however once you know the motions it is rather quite easy. Follow these fool proof steps to make great barbecue brisket.
Having these right tools and a plan is key to making the perfect Brisket. Here are some must have tools and things to consider before your journey.
· Blaze Thermometer (Instant read thermometer)
· Carving knife (Keep it sharp, you don't want to lose any of that bark you’ve spent hours creating.
· Cutting board (Concave cutting board will help keep all the juices on the board and off the table)
· Time - Don't be last minute (Give yourself enough time to achieve the ultimate brisket)
Searching for the right brisket can be easy, providing you know what you are looking for. A thick even flat and nice marbled point is what you are looking for. For instance, you don’t want your brisket to cook quicker in certain places.
Any of these briskets would be perfect:
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· Gathering of less than 6 people: 3kg Brisket
· Gathering of 6 - 8 people: 4kg Brisket
· Gathering of 10 - 12 people: 6-7kg Brisket
· Gathering of 14 - 16 people: 8kg Brisket
· Gathering of 16 - 20 people: 2x 6-7 kg Briskets
If you find you want leftovers for meals throughout the week, cook a larger brisket. You can easily slice, vacuum seal and store in your freezer for future meals.
As pictured, the brisket has 2 muscles connected to one piece of meat. This is the point and the flat. The flat is a leaner piece of meat where the point is more marbled. You get your lean sliced brisket from the flat and the fatty slices/burnt ends from the point, but we will get into that a little later down the track
It’s now time to trim your big hunk of brisket. We like to start with carefully taking the brisket out of the packaging and trimming the bottom side first. Be sure you get rid of any hard bits of fat and most of the silver skin. Flip the brisket over and start trimming the hard fat. We like to leave about 6mm of fat on top of the flat and remove all hard fat from the top of the point.
You are nearly ready to throw your perfectly trimmed brisket onto the smoker. But first, we need to season with your favourite Lane’s Rub. When seasoning the brisket, it’s best to season from a height, so you get even distribution of the rub. After you’ve seasoned the brisket, be sure to let the rub set up for about 20 minutes at room temperature before it hits the pit.
Lane’s suggested rubs:
· Lane’s Brisket Rub – Beautifully coarse salt and pepper rub with a good amount of savoury thyme and garlic.
· Lane’s Ancho Espresso – Dark robust coffee flavour with a touch of sweet and salt. The oils in the coffee cook down, really enhancing the beef flavour.
· Lane’s Brisket + Ancho Combo – The perfect brisket. This is a carefully mixed product using both Ancho Espresso and Brisket rubs.
It's cooking time! all that hard work you’ve put in is about to pay off.
Place your brisket on the preheated pit with the point facing the warmest part of the smoker (this is to distribute even cooking, as the point takes heat a lot better than the flat)
We recommend:
· Set your smoker/oven to 275f or 135c degrees, cook for roughly 2 hours per kilo of meat.
· Once your Brisket hits 165f or 74c, it’s time to wrap your Brisket. Use a thick bit of foil or pink butchers’ paper and wrap up nice and tight, placing the wrapped meat back on the smoker.
· Take your brisket out once the internal temperature is roughly 203f or 95c. If it is still not probing softly, leave it on the pit until it probes like soft warm butter.
· Rest brisket for 2 hours, wrapped in an old towel, placed in a cooler (this helps keep the meat nice and hot)
Time to get stuck into it
Once your brisket has rested, it is time to slice and serve. Cut your brisket flat against the grain roughly a pencil in thickness. Once you reach the point, rotated the brisket 90 degrees and slice large pencil sized slices, as the point muscle fibres run in the opposite direction.
Last tip – Whip up some sides that go great with brisket or pick them up from the shops like we did.
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