Halloween Schweinshaxe

[Nerevar]

Happy halloween to everybody.
This evening I tried to grill a pork shank, what you call Schweinshaxe, and I decided to make something like a "german dinner" (forgive me if I didn't make the right things, I'm Italian!).

Now, let's talk about my shanks. I bought two shanks with rind, 1kg each one, and I brined it in water and beer (2:1) for almost 6 hours in the fridge.
After this, I removed the shanks from the brine, dried them and I made some incisions in the rind. Then I covered my shanks with olive oil and coarse salt.

Then, as I read in some blogs, I decided to try some smoke, cooking the shanks in a low and slow (110°) for 30-40 minutes and smoking them with apple wood chips.

After this, I removed my foil with chips and raised my temperature at 160°-170°.
In this way, lid closed, I grilled my shanks until they reached 75°C in the heart. This is how my shanks looked at this moment:

So I raised my thermostat at the maximum level, to let my Q1400 reach almost 210-220°C.
This was a though moment, because for a moment some oils coming down from my shanks started burning very very hard, and I burned the rind in two little points. No problem, I reduced my temperatures until the flames extinguished, then I re-heated my bbq at maximum level until the shanks reached 82°C in the heart.

This is the result. When I cut them they looked very juicy: and they were very juicy!

I served my shanks with mashed potatoes and obviously german beer.
After dinner, we had a little dessert prepared by my girlfriend.
A Strudel. I don't know if this is a cake made from german or austrian people, but It was simply delicious.

Now, german friends, what do you think of my work? Should I do something different? Am I a good german griller?

Greetings! And have everybody a good "Trick or treat" night!

 

[Nerevar]

PS: In some points we could taste some smoke flavour, but not very much. I don't know If I didn't smoke my shanks enough or if it's because their flavour it's so strong to cover the smoke flavour and without smoke is perfectly the same thing. Can somebody explain me this?

 

[Fiz]

Looks nice and i think it tasted very good

 

[Gast-1jZqf6]

I decided to make something like a "german dinner"

won't there be missing a german Sauerkraut then?
I'm not shure if you get enough smoke by just putting some woodchips in an aluminium foil bag...try next time some beech tree powder. Smoking usually was accomplished by filling some Woodpellets in a smoking tube, placed direktly above the gas burner (in your case the heater unit)
Usually porkmeat assumes easier and faster the smoky taste than beef ...try to create the maximum smoke to the beginning, since raw meat takes more of the smoke flavor than the cooked one...

 

[Nerevar]

@ I know that I missed the Sauerkraut...but we don't like sauerkraut please don't kill me

About the smoke: as you can see in the first photo of my bbq, under the aluminium shield, on the left, there is a little smoking pipe made with foil. It started smoking well since the beginning of my grill, but maybe I think that 30 minutes of smoking are not enough...

 

[Oph]

This is not Schweinzhaxe but the paw .

 

[Gast-1jZqf6]

This is the paw

What ?
you r not 1 of those "roof-rabbit" grillers - are you Oph? Ever had tryed paw? Forget it - way too much claws!
=Paw

and
= hindquarter shanks, smaller ones are forequarter shanks

= forequarter and hindquarter feet

Look:

and

 

[Nerevar]

I thought paw was the last part of the leg, the pig's foot. Indeed, I thought that "shanks" in english is the same as "schweinshaxe" in german, that is the part between the pig's knee and the ankle. You can see that is that part because there are two bones: if it's the anterior leg they are called "ulna" and "radious" like in the human arms, if it's the posterior legs they are called "tibia" and "fibula".
When you ask for a pork shank here in Italy there are no difference between the anterior or the posterior leg, you get what the butcher gives you. I don't know if in Germany you call in two different ways the anterior and the posterior shank...but I think the paw is this:

Here in Italy we use this part to cook them with sauce and beans, sometimes added also with sausages, a recipe we call "zampuccio e fagioli in umido", looks like this:
http://4./_FpOylkMXm5E/TQvLpIxPfUI/AAAAAAAABAg/RvsCCtFc-3U/s1600/FotoFlexer_Photo.jpg

 

[Gast-1jZqf6]

I thought paw was the last part of the leg, the pig's foot. Indeed, I thought that "shanks" in english is the same as "schweinshaxe" in german, that is the part between the pig's knee and the ankle

You are absolutely right @Nerevar , indeed is paw the last part of the leg. Some traditional Butchers here like to debone it and cook it with a sausagefilling. I recognized it by the name "Zampone", some chefs serve it hot whith lentils and mashed potatoes.
Maybe @Oph just wanted to make funny jokes about the size of your chunks, since they seem to be "Forequarter Shanks". They are defenitely smaller than the bigger "Hindquarter Shanks"

 

[Nerevar]

Yes. Right, i forgot the Zampone! Is a traditional Italian recipe done with the paw of the adult pigs. Indeed, zampucci, are the little ones, took from little pigs.
I don't know if my shanks where frome the anterior or posterior legs (I think anterior) but they were quite big: more than 1kg each one, my girlfriend was not able to finish her shank

 

[Gast-1jZqf6]

I re-heated my BBQ at maximum level until the shanks reached 82°C in the heart.

try next time 70 - 72°c, you will see: evenly cooked and even much juicier. Coagulation of protein is finished at 72°C. Let then rest a while.

Try and post the results.

cheers

 

[Nerevar]

Ok @ , I tried this recipe because I read it here on the forum and also in the internet. But there are lots of recipes for shanks on the barbecue: somebody cooks it until 75°C in the hearth, somebody in the way I've done, somebody else in low&slow until 95°C in the heart (american people)...

 

[Gast-1jZqf6]

low&slow until 95°C in the heart (american people).

forget the cowboys - the american gouvernment forces for Healthreasons the advice of cookinggrade in direktion well-welldone

 

[Nerevar]

eheheh I think that their fixation for low&slow and for very well cooking is something maniacal but I must admit that pulled pork and ribs are delicious

 

[Gast-1jZqf6]

What I wanted to tell you is that the american producers of themperature measurement devices are forced by a governmental Health Departement to show incorect (too high) values. Kompare the US with the european ones by yourself...you will see. I mean the one where you can choose the cooking grade "well" or "medium" or "rare"

 

[Nerevar]

@ you mean the thermometers?

 

[pernot86]

Looks very delicious!!!!

 

[Gast-1jZqf6]

you mean the thermometers?

jep - the ones with the preinstalled setup

 

[Nerevar]

no problems for me, @ , I have the Outdoorchef thermometer, there is no preinstalled setup...I think. It's a german product, isn't it?

 

[Mikkes]

PS: In some points we could taste some smoke flavour, but not very much. I don't know If I didn't smoke my shanks enough or if it's because their flavour it's so strong to cover the smoke flavour and without smoke is perfectly the same thing. Can somebody explain me this?

I think the rind on the shanks are so thick that most of the smoking flavour is not going into the meat. Secondly the flavour of the shanks meat is very intense by nature.