To me, beef is one of the most versatile and enjoyable foods. I love eating beef and I enjoy cooking beef. So much that I tend to take over people’s BBQ plates; ovens or other cooking strategies just to make sure it’s done well.
Before you think this is unusual, many years ago as a young Beef Cattle Officer with the Department of Agriculture – cooking steak correctly was a key skill requirement. And to impress older and more experienced officers, it was something I didn’t want to stuff up! So critical were the Beefo’s, that once during a training workshop all the steaks ordered were sent back not once but twice! And following the second service, the team went into the kitchen to help the chef and offer some advice on the methods to achieve what was desired.
So, I often feel I have a standard to meet! However, there is another and ore important consideration. Every time I eat steak, it’s the result of someone’s work over three or four years (or longer). Not just in the growth and finishing of that animal. But in the selection of breeders, choice of bulls, investment in pastures and farm infrastructure to handle animals safely and quietly.
I spend my career helping people produce what is and should be a perfect meal of beef. So, if I do that on farm, I should equally be able to do it as a meal.
I’m always keen to explore and refine how I can cook beef and serve it to my family and to my friends. I want people to enjoy eating beef as much as I do, and to enjoy the results of many people’s effort in the creation and provision of that meal.
This year I was gifted a smoker for Christmas. This is an entirely new method of cooking for me. I am still learning how to achieve the best results and I’m starting out small. But what I have done so far has been too exciting not to share!
It’s also a way of getting you to think about your beef meal and enjoy other alternatives to a steak!
This week I’m going to share my approach to smoked beef cheeseburgers. If you have a smoker, you’ll love this. I think you could probably get a similar result with a smoker box on a hooded BBQ. Either way, it’s a great take on a simple burger meal.
My smoker is a Formetto smoker. It works by smoking pellets that are fed from a hopper into an ignition box. The temperature and the auger are controlled electronically so that makes keeping a constant temperature pretty straight forward.
