Words and Images: Kerren ” Kezza” Packer
When it comes to barbecue the Thor’s Hammer (beef shank), is undoubtably one of the most impressive looking and tasting centre pieces going. Hammers for short, are relatively simple to barbecue and when just the right amount of smokey goodness and heat is applied to make the meat “fall off the bone” they are sure to “wow” the crowd!
Whilst Hammers can be hard to find in your supermarkets, a quick chat to your local butcher or a search online for Silver Fern Farms stockists will yield results.
Let’s get stuck in…
1. Set your barbecue of choice up for indirect (Google with help here if unsure) cooking and get it cranking with a smoking wood that pairs nicely with beef – I like to use pohutukawa.
When barbecuing Hammers, I send them “hot and fast” rather than the more traditional “low and slow” approach – this means my target cooking temperatures are around 175c (350f) to 200c (400f) instead of the traditional 120c (250f). I find not only am I saving precious time but getting a great crust/bark, deep smoke ring, getting plenty of flavours but also saving actual money on fuel burn (coal and wood).
2. Trim away any silver skin and/or hard fats present on the Hammer. Trim away around 40-60mm from the top of the Hammer to expose the bone. This will allow the meat to “pull back” easily and give the Hammer its final aesthetic appearance.
3. Rub the Hammer with your beef rub of choice or a simple homestyle option of salt, pepper and garlic (4:2:1) will do just fine.
4. Ensure your barbecue is up to temperature and you have a nice clean smoke going, add the Hammer indirect for a couple of hours – rather than searching for a specific internal temperature here, I am looking for the crust/bark to be set and looking nicely smoked.
5. Wrap the Hammer up tightly in quality tin foil with decent splash of red wine, 50g of butter and a dash or two of barbecue sauce.
6. Place the wrapped Hammer back on to the barbecue or into an electric oven, both set at 200c (400f) for a couple of hours. I prefer the oven option myself as I do not see much point in burning “expensive” coal or wood once the meat is wrapped. Be sure to lace the Hemmer in to a heat proof tray, just in case there are any leaks in your wrap. If you do notice any leaks, add another layer or two of foil.
7. At around the two hour mark, open the wrap and using an instant read thermometer, check for tenderness (probes like soft butter) which will be somewhere over the 98c (210f) mark.
8. Close up the wrap and allow to rest for an hour or so in a chillybin with towels.
9. Unwrap the Hammer (saving the au jus in the wrap), place on serving tray in front of your guests (this step is important), wearing heat proof gloves under food safe rubber gloves pull the meat from the bone – if you have the tenderness dialled in this won’t take much effort. Mix the pulled beef back thru the red wine au jus, serve on creamy mashed spuds and char grilled veges for a deliciously impressive meal to share with friends and whanau.
Till next time, keep the fires burning!