Silversidejoint

[HeyBertHeyErnie]

Got a decent shaped 2kg silverside from t'ut supermarket, and after some tips on what to do with it on an offset?

It's got a lovely thick bit of fat on the top so I've done a bit of research and I'm going to try low and slow, try to keep it going for 5 hours or so until it reaches 57-60 IT, then sear for 5 minutes all over? Rub with pepper and salt it half way through?

Edited April 17, 2019 by HeyBertHeyErnie

[HeyBertHeyErnie]

So I've been cogitating on this for a few days now, and I've decided to go down the brine route aka https://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/recipes/recipedetail.aspx?id=216

Made it up as per, and stuck in the fridge now waiting for Monday!

[Simon]

Looking forward to it. Make sure you get some pictures. 

[HeyBertHeyErnie]

No worries 👍

[HeyBertHeyErnie]

And we're off...

Shooting for 60 IT, steady as she goes 😁

[HeyBertHeyErnie]

[HeyBertHeyErnie]

That's what she looked like post brine.

[HeyBertHeyErnie]

So have to thank Justin for posting his was a bit tough because it's made me lengthen my cook, I'm at 61 deg now, been above 55 for about an hour when I foil wrapped it, so p'd off I lost my temp graph as it was a thing of beauty. Potato gratin just going in the oven, yorkies in a bit, broccoli, and the meat should stay below 70 till then. 1230-1300 luncheon it is 😁

0715 to 1230 probably at around 120 temps. I was lucky I had no wind, it's just picking up now and cooling the Landmann off a touch.

I'll post some pics of it sliced. 🤞 it has been a worthy mornings work.

[HeyBertHeyErnie]

So, mixed reviews. Wife loved it, I felt it would be better cold with Horseradish. Like Justin, mine was also a little tough, not so bad it mattered, but not melt in the mouth. The outside of it was VERY salty. In the middle it was nice. All in all, I wouldn't use that brine again for a dinner dish, but I'd maybe do it for a week of sandwiches. It was really juicy, and would sit well in a New York deli sandwich for sure. I wouldn't bother putting any smoke on again either, it confused it all a bit.

Bonus Yorkie pic at the end 😀

[Simon]

How much salt did you use? I am careful with the amount of salt I put on the meats I’ve cooked, was there a lot of salt in the brine? Remember that when starting out you shouldn’t expect perfect every time. I’m sure everyone on this forum has had a bad cook, I know I have. It’s all a learning curve so never get disheartened when one doesn’t work out. Good effort!!

[HeyBertHeyErnie]

Cheers Simon, appreciate the pep talk. I just followed the recipe above, (1/4 cup of salt in 4 cups water) but didn't think that I was leaving it for three times longer than that recipe at the time. I did think about it yesterday, by which time too late obviously. 

I wouldn't stick it entirely in the bad cook box, but I definitely learnt a lot, not least that 2 chimneys of charcoal last exactly 5 hours with both the vents wide open on a windless sunny day 👍

[sotv]

Still looks good with a nice crust on the outside and a good smoke ring.

If you have a dutch oven or enamel pot with lid, perhaps try cooking it in there? After a quick sear in frying pan to retain the juices whilst cooking, Try smoking a piece of Beef in the smoker (save the drippings for the pot) for 60-90 minutes then put it in the pot with some liquid beef stock and vegetables and herbs leave beef to reach 145F in the pot. Remove the beef and leave juices to settle for at least 10 minutes, once it has, Sieve the remaining juice from the pot and add cornflour or granules and you have a cracking gravy to go with it or just reduce it with some madeira or BBQ sauce added for a sauce, if brisket

Works just as well indoors if the weather isn't the best, minus the smoking part. Done this plenty of times with silverside and brisket

[HeyBertHeyErnie]

Thanks SOTV, I've bookmarked that page to try next time I have a beef

[Justin]

I did not use any salt. And actually the next day and the day after. Cold cuts were nicer and more tender.....i like the smoky taste. Cherry. Not too much but there all the same. Silverside is really mean. Pot roast is the typical way to cook it. I might sous vide it next time.

Good effort though well done

[Wade]

22 hours ago, HeyBertHeyErnie said:

The outside of it was VERY salty. In the middle it was nice.

When you are making up a brine like this it is always worthwhile looking at the recipe and doing some simple math...

1/4 cup of salt weighs ~75 g and 4 cups of water weighs ~940 g. This would result in a salt (and sugar) concentration in the brine of ~9%. This is very salty. OK, if you were to allow the brine to reach full equilibrium with the meat (which would have taken 7-10 days for meat that thickness) then you would end up with an overall theoretical salt concentration of ~2.5% - about the saltiness of my dry cure bacon. The short marinade overnight will have resulted in the salt only penetrating a short distance into the meat and so the surface salt concentration would still be approaching 9% !! It is no wonder you found it too salty. The sugar would have masked some of the salt but I don't think it would have been sufficient to still make it pleasant to eat as a joint.

This is a good practical lesson to learn though - albeit a disappointing one. When you look at a recipes ingredients, try to see what the end result would be. With a short duration marinade of this type, a good rule of thumb is if it is too unpleasant to drink then it will probably be too unpleasant to eat. You can then adjust the quantities accordingly...

Let us say that you were aiming for a 3-4% maximum salt concentration...

• You could have reduced the salt in the brine to ~30-35 g (1.5-2 Tbs). The Sugar would also need to be reduced to the same (or less)
• You could have increased the amount of water to ~2.5 litres (~10 cups). If you did this though you would have had to increase the spices accordingly - which would have been a lot of spice.

I know that it is often tempting to follow recipes that you find online without question however (Shock! Horror!) some are actually posted untested... or maybe include typo errors.

Next time you try it I suggest that you reduce the salt/sugar in the brine to 2 Tbs in 1 litre of water and it should taste a lot better.

[Justin]

Great advice Wade, thanks

[HeyBertHeyErnie]

On 4/23/2019 at 12:21 PM, Wade said:

With a short duration marinade of this type, a good rule of thumb is if it is too unpleasant to drink then it will probably be too unpleasant to eat.

Thanks Wade, a really good point that I'll remember.