I am a smoker, the BBQ type.

[ElFenix]

Good luck. Briskets are always challenging for me and hope it turns out tender. Got a recipe for the rub?

Salt + pepper.

 

[Jeffg010]

So when are we having a ATOT gathering with all the cooks so I can try out all this food?

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Good luck. Briskets are always challenging for me and hope it turns out tender. Got a recipe for the rub?

For brisket I usually use about a 75/25 mix of cow lick/red eye.

Cow lick:

No sugar, and a really nice peppery bite that provides an awesome flavor. It does not have too much heat, and never overwhelms the flavor of the beef. Instead it brings out the unique flavor of beef and has your guests wondering what that great taste is.

http://dizzypigbbq.com/portfolio/cow-lick/

Red eye:

Red Eye Express packs quite a bit of pepper, but we add freshly ground coffee which adds an enticing malty flavor and an incredible aroma. Then different herbs, spices and a variety of chilies round out the final result.

http://dizzypigbbq.com/portfolio/red-eye-express/

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Salt + pepper.

Ok here's the 'rub'.. Even though I am good with calibrated and consistent temps (measured at the grate, yadda yadda) I have never had an excellent tender brisket that wasn't foiled/braised.

And salt+pepper (and usually a little garlic powder) is fantastic on non-braised meat. But, if I have to foil to get it tender, it ends up rather flavorless.

So to me, S+P only is sort of risky. Either the brisket turns out perfect and it was a good decision, or it won't get tender and now I'm braising under-seasoned meat.


We'll see tonight. It felt really soft and tender in the cryovac bag, so I might run with just S+P and garlic powder.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Hmm

http://dizzypigbbq.com/portfolio/cow-lick-slow-smoked-beef-brisket/

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I found some great videos last night from a guy who runs a bbq place out in texas called franklin's. I'm going to follow his recipe and process just about exactly. I plan to add a tiny bit of garlic powder to the S+P, and will smoke at a lower temp since I have plenty of time. Going with JD oak chunks and some pecan for smoke. I might spritz with some apple juice/cider vinegar mix.


The brisket selection, trimming, and seasoning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTzdMHu5KU

The cook:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGZ39yYxeBk

The finish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMIlyzRFUjU

 

[Kaido]

So when are we having a ATOT gathering with all the cooks so I can try out all this food?

Come on over to Hartford! We used to have some local member meetups back when I was in college full-time (tech rooms on campus ftw). I think it was one of my classmates who originally got me setup here back in the day. Just wish I had a backyard to host a cookout! Hahaha.

 

[RagingBITCH]

I found some great videos last night from a guy who runs a bbq place out in texas called franklin's. I'm going to follow his recipe and process just about exactly. I plan to add a tiny bit of garlic powder to the S+P, and will smoke at a lower temp since I have plenty of time. Going with JD oak chunks and some pecan for smoke. I might spritz with some apple juice/cider vinegar mix.


The brisket selection, trimming, and seasoning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTzdMHu5KU

The cook:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGZ39yYxeBk

The finish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMIlyzRFUjU

Franklins is the sh!t. The hour+ wait is worth it if you ever make it down to Austin. His YT series shows how Texas BBQ is done, hence both Fenix and myself going straight S+P/oak in our recommendations. Not to say that others are wrong (Salt Lick bastes pretty liberally) but to each their own.

 

[Uppsala9496]

This is the most depressing thread ever. Too cold for me to start smoking. The sliding door to my patio in back is frozen shut and has been for the past 4 months.
Maybe it will get warm enough in a few weeks to use the smoker and grill. Can't happen fast enough.

 

[Kaido]

This is the most depressing thread ever. Too cold for me to start smoking. The sliding door to my patio in back is frozen shut and has been for the past 4 months.
Maybe it will get warm enough in a few weeks to use the smoker and grill. Can't happen fast enough.

Yeah seriously. I got my sliding door open to the patio last night, but it was so hard to move that I had to leave it open for the entire time I was cooking. The 30" of snow had also solidified into solid ice, so I hacked out a small area (and chipped my snow shovel in several places) & setup my bayou burner to do smash burgers instead. Hoping it will warm up soon so I can move the snow!

 

[SpatiallyAware]

My 16lb was a bit large for my 18" wide green egg.

I ended up with S+P, little bit of garlic powder for the main brisket.

I had to cut a piece off the flat to make it fit, and used a cow lick (pepper rub) with turbinado sugar on the small piece..

Chugging along at 200f grate.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Turned out excellent! No foiling, and the simple S+P had a better 'beef' flavor.

 

[NetWareHead]

Turned out excellent! No foiling, and the simple S+P had a better 'beef' flavor.

Was it tender?

I had the opportunity to try some smoked BBQ brisket this weekend. Ran into this hole in the wall place near newry maine (as we were leaving Sunday River ski resort) and the brisket was one of the best I had ever tried. Tender but not falling apart, probably the best consistency in a brisket I've ever had. her secret was to smoke low and slow for 12 hours and then wrap in foil and smoke for another 4 hours.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Was it tender?

I had the opportunity to try some smoked BBQ brisket this weekend. Ran into this hole in the wall place near newry maine (as we were leaving Sunday River ski resort) and the brisket was one of the best I had ever tried. Tender but not falling apart, probably the best consistency in a brisket I've ever had. her secret was to smoke low and slow for 12 hours and then wrap in foil and smoke for another 4 hours.

It was very tender, not as tender as wrapping in foil for 4 hours but kept an excellent bark.. I wrapped it near the end when I shut the grill down, so it technically was wrapped for an hour or two just to cool off a bit.


One huge hiccup, is my remote therm et732 flaked out through the night. The grill went below temp and the alarm didn't go off to wake me up.

So when I woke up at 5am saturday the egg and meat were both 120f. Who knows if it was technically 120f most of the night.... IE inside of the 'danger zone' for bacterial growth.

Because of that I ended up tossing most of the brisket... I have a pregnant wife, and can't risk anyone getting food poisoning. I sampled a good bit the day of, but wasn't comfortable feeding it to anyone else or freezing it for later.


Huge lesson learned.. At least it was a $65 brisket and not one of the $140 kobe briskets I was eyeballing. Also glad to figure out that the simple S+P rub tastes the best by far.

I think having a huge water pan helped a lot with keeping the humidity levels high. I also spritzed the meat with apple cider+water 50/50.

 

[slag]

brisket needs a whole packer. you should be using oak or pecan - not hickory (pecan's inbred cousin). liberally season with salt and pepper. brisket is done when a temp probe inserted across the grain goes in with little resistance.

I never use oak to smoke unless its to cut the flavor of another wood. I like using the standard hickory, mesquite, cherry, and apple for the most part, with some alder for salmon, but thats just me.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I never use oak to smoke unless its to cut the flavor of another wood. I like using the standard hickory, mesquite, cherry, and apple for the most part, with some alder for salmon, but thats just me.

Oak is ok by itself, particularly for long cooks. I'm a huge fan of the jack daniels white oak barrel 'chunks'. They're the perfect size, and produce a fantastic lighter sweeter smoke than hickory.

And not all wood is equal. I've found that 'western' hickory and fruit chunks are pretty terrible, almost bitter. Most of my smoking wood comes from publix 'greenwise' hickory or a local butcher who buys apple/cherry/pear and hickory from some local farms.

I like mesquite, but it's soooo easy to overpower and doesn't seem to mix with other woods as well so I rarely use it. Actually about the only time I use mesquite is for steaks.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I'm thinking about trying these all natural briquettes instead of lump for the next long cook:

http://www.wickedgoodcharcoal.com/briquettes.htm


Part of what got me last weekend was the lump not burning evenly. Even though I stack them carefully (larger pieces on bottom etc) lump is still a very inconsistent product. No two bags are ever the same, and they all seem to burn quite differently.

 

[RagingBITCH]

I'm thinking about trying these all natural briquettes instead of lump for the next long cook:

http://www.wickedgoodcharcoal.com/briquettes.htm


Part of what got me last weekend was the lump not burning evenly. Even though I stack them carefully (larger pieces on bottom etc) lump is still a very inconsistent product. No two bags are ever the same, and they all seem to burn quite differently.

I said that to you about 20 posts ago All natural works great if you are worried about the lighter fluid/binder in traditional briquettes, especially if you are putting unlit ones on as you go, or do the Minion (or similar) methods. Doesn't burn as hot as lump but far more consistent.

WGC is rated very highly but not available around here. Stubbs is widely available around here...pretty much all I use nowadays.

 

[momeNt]

Sees thread title.

Enjoy your cancer.

Yes I read thread title correctly.

Steam your food, not a trace of anything charred or brown or discolored.

 

[NetWareHead]

Part of what got me last weekend was the lump not burning evenly. Even though I stack them carefully (larger pieces on bottom etc) lump is still a very inconsistent product. No two bags are ever the same, and they all seem to burn quite differently.

Yep. I only use lump when grilling steaks, burgers etc... It sure does burn hot. When I smoke for hours, I need something that an go the distance and I always turn to Kingsford briquettes. I may ditch the lump charcoal entirely and just try grilling with kingsford this season too, kind of a pain in the ass to stock 2 different kinds of charcoal.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I keep mine in 5 gallon buckets.

1 - "New" - always my go-to, either rockwood, weekend warrior, royal oak

2 - "Used" - used but good charcoal that I've removed for doing low n slow or high heat cooks

3 - "Ash" - spent ash

4 - "Special" - this is where I put maple lump or anything else odd. Like briquettes.


The buckets make it a lot easier to sift and sort through, and the lids keep dust down. Also they're stackable, so easy to keep in the garage (no hot coals, obviously)


I assume that regular kingsford (non quick-light stuff) has no chemicals that will harm my egg? The egg forums are full of people claiming that briquettes are the devil.

 

[Ancalagon44]

Sees thread title.

Enjoy your cancer.

Yes I read thread title correctly.

Steam your food, not a trace of anything charred or brown or discolored.

Some things are worth the risk.

 

[NetWareHead]

I assume that regular kingsford (non quick-light stuff) has no chemicals that will harm my egg? The egg forums are full of people claiming that briquettes are the devil.

I use regular kingsford and not the briquettes impregnated with lighter fluid. In fact I dont even use lighter fluid externally to ingite the briquettes. Always in a chimney starter lit with newspaper.

Besides there is nothing in kingsford briquettes that is poisonous. Just wood char, mineral char and mineral carbon, some starch and borax for binder and release agent. I'll admit that lump charcoal is more pure product and uses strictly wood, but the irregular size of lump makes it difficult to work with and get consistent results. If I fill the smoker with briquettes, light it and go to sleep, I'll have greater confidence that the fire will still be lit in 6 hours when I wake up. cant always say that with lump charcoal.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I use regular kingsford and not the briquettes impregnated with lighter fluid. In fact I dont even use lighter fluid externally to ingite the briquettes. Always in a chimney starter lit with newspaper.

Besides there is nothing in kingsford briquettes that is poisonous. Just wood char, mineral char and mineral carbon, some starch and borax for binder and release agent. I'll admit that lump charcoal is more pure product and uses strictly wood, but the irregular size of lump makes it difficult to work with and get consistent results. If I fill the smoker with briquettes, light it and go to sleep, I'll have greater confidence that the fire will still be lit in 6 hours when I wake up. cant always say that with lump charcoal.

I believe the concern is that with a metal grill the 'binders' don't get absorbed into the grill and at worst burn off. But, the egg is porous, so IIRC they claim it holds on to the flavor of the binders. But that could've just been a crazy making those claims, I'll research it this weekend.

 

[NetWareHead]

I believe the concern is that with a metal grill the 'binders' don't get absorbed into the grill and at worst burn off. But, the egg is porous, so IIRC they claim it holds on to the flavor of the binders. But that could've just been a crazy making those claims, I'll research it this weekend.

Accordng to this: http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/charcoal.html , an ingredient list of kingsford charcoal briquettes, the binder is merely starch. I think the claim is full of crap. The food that is cooked on a grill also contains starch; does that get absorbed into the porous grill too? Even the other stuff doesn't sound at all scary to me.