This is something I've never attempted. What's in the rub for the meat?
Last year I got onje of those combo grills: gas grill, charcoal grill and smoker.
Alas, there were no instructions on how to use the smoker.
I will see if I can figure it out
Our comprehensive road trip begins in Virginia and the Carolinas where whole-hog pulled pork reigns. As you count down the miles from start to finish, expect the meat (for the most part, except for several creative variations developed by some of the newcomers) to be dressed in either a vinegar-, tomato-, or mustard-based sauce. If not served on a simple white bun, then it's probably on a platter with baked beans, mayonnaise-based coleslaw, the occasional hushpuppy, and a tall cold glass of iced tea.
Part two stretches from the deep South up into the Midwest to take us through what is traditionally beef brisket, sausage, and rib territory. Whether they're serving out of a repurposed market, off a back porch, or even out of a trailer, the majority of these legendary joints forgo the frills to offer simply delicious smoked and/or grilled meat garnished in a range of rubs and sauces. Along with simple and common sides of crackers, beans, white bread, and pickles, meats vary along this route, with barbecued poultry and lamb sometimes finding a spot on the menu.
Our last leg covers the heart of the southeast. Across seven states, expect to find some of the country's best brisket, pulled pork, sausages, ribs, and even gator. Pits along this 2,253-mile route range from family-owned franchises to modest dining rooms with concrete floors and wooden tables. You're likely to find a variety of traditional rubs and sauces, including Alabama's white sauce, a mayonnaise-based condiment that's most often used to dress barbecue chicken.
If any gastronomical treat could give the proverbially American apple pie a run for its money, it might just be barbecue. The culinary tradition of cooking meat low and slow over indirect flame (the true definition of barbecue – imposters who grill, take note) has become so prevalent over the years that BBQ itself represents a sort of pop culture, spawning TV shows, historically-focused road trips, and even fusion dishes like BBQ tacos. Barbecue’s ability to reflect whatever might be hot at the time (from reality TV to the taco craze) isn’t new; in fact, barbecue has a long history of permeation, perhaps best experienced by the ongoing barbecue feud that plagues the South. From the Atlantic to the Gulf, bordered by the western outposts of Texas and Kansas City, the area of the United States known as the “barbecue belt” houses four distinct barbecue traditions – Carolina, Texas, Memphis and Kansas City. From where did these traditions come, and how, in a relatively small region of the country, have they evolved along such different paths? The history of American barbecue is as diverse as the variations themselves, charting the path of a Caribbean cooking style brought north by Spanish conquistadors, moved westward by settlers, and seasoned with the flavors of European cultures.
All across Britain, the whiff of charred, low-quality sausage meat is hanging in the summer haze. And with it, floating almost indistinguishably in the grease-filled air across the garden fences, is blokey barbecue chat. If there is anything less compelling but more oppressively penetrating than the conversation of four suburban men discussing how to light and then operate a barbecue, I have yet to hear it.
Is there anyone who doesn't know how to employ a match, a matchbox, a firelighter and some charcoal? Sales of charcoal bags may have risen sixfold on last year's rain-sodden summer, but it's hardly as if you need years of experience. You stack the coals in a small, chimney-like arrangement, lace it equally with bits of firelighter, which you light, then you walk away and pour a drink. That's it.
How best to position the meat on the grill? Er, how about arranging it, equally spaced, above the embers? And how, then, to cook it? Well, simply prevent it from burning by moving it around. If it's burning, take it off. That's it.
No, what really drains the joy from the summer breeze is the assumption, and the practice, that this is Man's Work. All over the UK, probably the world, the barbecue is now one of the last places where even normal blokes become sexist. What we have here is some kind of psychic counterpart to the Paleo diet, a biologically deterministic blizzard of bullsh*t that sees women as salad-spinners and men as the keepers of the grill, the tenders of the flame, lords and masters of the meat. It's a sausage-fest out there, and it's getting ugly.
I have been thinking about trying to make my own smoked brisket for a long time and today I finally began the experiment.
I say experiment because it is, from my reading on the subject, more art than science.
Cooking time, for instance, depends on a variety of factors. Of course, I cheated. I read extensively from this site (http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/texas_brisket.html) before I did anything.
I don't have a dedicated smoker so I had to adapt my gas grill to the job. First, I cleaned it out...got rid of all of the burned up stuff that had been collecting in the bottom. Then I dedicated one side to cooking and the other to smoke generation. The grill was removed from the smoke side so that the wood could be placed directly above the flames on the corrugated metal that is supposed to prevent flare ups during normal grilling. On the cooking side I placed a 1" high aluminum pan between the flare up preventer and the grill...then I added about 3/4" of hot water. The burners on the smoke side were turned on and the temperature was established, about 225F. In case I haven't made it clear this was an indirect cooking setup where there was no heat originating under the meat.
I used two digital thermometers, one to monitor the grill temperature (the sensor kept close to the meat) and the second one (a probe type) inserted into the thickest part of the brisket.
The meat was taken directly out of the refrigerator, a light coating of oil was applied and then a rub seasoning was sprinkled and rubbed into all sides. Then right onto the grill.
It took several hours for the meat to reach 150F. During that time I closely monitored it to ensure that the oven temp stayed within a reasonable range so that the meat temperature would rise slowly and steadily. I also kept a close watch on the wood and the smoke being generated, adding more wood or stirring it up as the smoke output showed any sign of tapering off.
When the interior meat temp did finally get up to 150F I took it off of the grill and wrapped it tightly in foil (I kept the thermometer probe in plus added a small amount of water, some brown sugar and butter) and then put it into the kitchen oven for the final cooking.
That's where it is now. I am waiting for the meat temperature to get up to around 205F. Should be done in another hour or so. Then it will go into a beer cooler to "rest" for another couple of hours.
Obviously, the one thing I didn't plan for was the time when it would be finished. Right now I think it will be ready sometime around midnight. I just got started way too late for it to be ready at dinner time. I made a lasagna instead. But, when it is done I am going to slice it up and, after sampling some of it, bag it up for tomorrow and later.
I sure hope it doesn't turn out tough. That is the one thing that is said to be the most difficult to master, tenderness.
I think that I am probably going to end up getting a dedicated smoker at some point...almost certainly a gas-based unit. If any of you have experience with a gas-fired smoker I would be interested in your opinions.
I will post again when the meat is finished to let you know how it turned out.
BARBECUE BEEF BRISKET
1 - 12-oz can beer
6 cups water to cover meat
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 – 6 lb beef brisket
1 cup barbeque sauce
Combine all ingredients except barbecue sauce in Dutch oven. Bring to boil, cover & simmer 4 hours. Allow to cool to lukewarm in cooking liquid.
Transfer brisket to plastic container, add 1 cup barbecue sauce, cover & refrigerate for 48 hours. Cook over medium coals 15 minutes each side. Makes 12 – 16 servings.
Here's my mom's recipe. It turns out delicious!QuoteBARBECUE BEEF BRISKET
1 - 12-oz can beer
6 cups water to cover meat
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 – 6 lb beef brisket
1 cup barbeque sauce
Combine all ingredients except barbecue sauce in Dutch oven. Bring to boil, cover & simmer 4 hours. Allow to cool to lukewarm in cooking liquid.
Transfer brisket to plastic container, add 1 cup barbecue sauce, cover & refrigerate for 48 hours. Cook over medium coals 15 minutes each side. Makes 12 – 16 servings.
Here's my mom's recipe. It turns out delicious!QuoteBARBECUE BEEF BRISKET
1 - 12-oz can beer
6 cups water to cover meat
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 – 6 lb beef brisket
1 cup barbeque sauce
Combine all ingredients except barbecue sauce in Dutch oven. Bring to boil, cover & simmer 4 hours. Allow to cool to lukewarm in cooking liquid.
Transfer brisket to plastic container, add 1 cup barbecue sauce, cover & refrigerate for 48 hours. Cook over medium coals 15 minutes each side. Makes 12 – 16 servings.
Sounds most excellent! Where was your mom raised? I've never heard of boiling the brisket first, I've done it with corned beef though.
Moms cooking is always the best!
Here's my mom's recipe. It turns out delicious!QuoteBARBECUE BEEF BRISKET
1 - 12-oz can beer
6 cups water to cover meat
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 – 6 lb beef brisket
1 cup barbeque sauce
Combine all ingredients except barbecue sauce in Dutch oven. Bring to boil, cover & simmer 4 hours. Allow to cool to lukewarm in cooking liquid.
Transfer brisket to plastic container, add 1 cup barbecue sauce, cover & refrigerate for 48 hours. Cook over medium coals 15 minutes each side. Makes 12 – 16 servings.
Sounds most excellent! Where was your mom raised? I've never heard of boiling the brisket first, I've done it with corned beef though.
Moms cooking is always the best!
She was raised in Illinois, both sides of her folks from Germany. I'm not sure, but it's possible she got this recipe in Tucson, to where she retired.