Quote:
Originally Posted by Byte1
Right after I retired, I started my "smoking" hobby. I started out with a brisket, which is considered one of the more difficult pieces of meat to smoke. I started at 2am and smoked it for about 14 hours and then wrapped it in plastic, foil and towels and placed it in a cooler for a couple of hours until company arrived. It turned out FANTASTIC, and I had folks that swore by pork BBQ that told me that they would rather have my brisket. I did a lot of research on line and watched a lot of BBQ videos before I attempted the project, but by taking a bit of each idea and combining them, my brisket was the best. Of course, I made my own rub with a couple of secret ingredients that I got the idea when traveling overseas. I also used apple wood that was given to me from an orchard. I spritzed the meat about every 45 minutes with a mix of apple juice and cooking oil. I think the real secret to great BBQ is the "resting" period, where you wrap it up and let the juice re-incorporate back into the meat. I mean, other than cooking it real slow and with a low temp.
I've done beef roast before, and it comes out pretty good if you prefer pulled beef over pork. I had a young relative that shied away from all meat, that tried my pulled pork butt and later asked me to do one for her birthday. I did and it made her day.
My opinion regarding smoking meat is that the only way you can mess it up is if you don't smoke it long enough. And when I mean smoke it, I do not mean that you have to have more than a couple hours of wood smoke, but rather a long period of slow and low temp cooking. You can actually smoke it for a few hours and then wrap it and place it in a well regulated oven for the remainder of the time without losing any of the flavor. It's a lot easier than watching a charcoal and/or wood fire for many hours.
Thanks for starting this thread. I really enjoy BBQ but don't do it as much now, since I have been here. There are a few decent BBQ eateries in the area, that have made me a bit lazy when it comes to spending hours at the smoker.
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My first brisket was a gas grill using smoke chips. I had to ride the temperature knobs all day to keep the temp at 225. There was hardly any smoke and the meat was pretty tough. It was not bad, considering the tools I was working with.
Fast forward to now, I have my brisket formula down pat. It's pretty much the same as this one except I've got it on the cooker at 4am, and wrap in butcher paper at the stall instead of the broth bath. I prefer 2 hours rest but have gone to 4 without much issue.
Recently I did a full 3 bone beef rib and cooked it pretty much exactly the same as this chuck roast. At 165 it went into a foil bed with a can of beef broth.
Low and slow is what makes all the difference. I have mostly used Applewood pellets. A word on pellets; Our NJ house didn't have a furnace until we did an addition in 2012. 6-8 cords of wood every winter. I don't think I'd appreciate babysitting an offset stick burner all day. I did that for 20+ years. Let me set a temp and walk away
That BBQ place up on 42 is pretty good. Artman. Ate there once a few months ago, I'll go back next trip.
My real ambition is to get as close to Lockhart smokehouse. I was in Dallas last year about this time and it was DIVINE! I want a repeat.
Here's two recent meats...