Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

What did you stuff those puppies with? Brisket looks very good.

 

Brisket has been a long journey for me, but I love where I'm at with them. Most folks that eat it do, too . In 2015, I cooked somewhere in the range of 125-150 of them....all in my little drums.

Thanks! The fatties were my go-to: breakfast sausage, stuffed with Pitfaced BBQ Rub-a-Dub, feta and mozerella cheeses, a wee bit of diced onion, chopped spinach leaves, and parsley (the last two mostly for color).

 

whats your rub? Thats a lot for briskets!

 

Very nice looking and sound really good.

 

We make our own rub that we use primarily on pork ribs and pork shoulder, but it is also good on chicken (it is a "sweeter" rub). Hopefully in 2018, we'll be registered as a business, get production costs down and quantities up, then start "officially" selling it. Right now, we use most of what we make, but sell to folks that request it in a private-transaction-no-implied-guarantee sort of way .

It has 14 ingredients in it, but sugars, salts, garlic, thyme, paprika, serrano salt, onion powder, etc. Smoked varieties of some of the ingredients.

 

Do you mind sharing the basics of your brisket cook? Temp, wood, how long, fat cap trim / up or down?

 

I found your recipe

 

No problem. Hopping in to a meeting here shortly, but will post my method when I get a few free moments. I, as well as the rest of our team, are open books when it comes to BBQ. Happy to share all successes and, um, "lessons learned" .

 

I want some meat now!

 

that was not mine. it was from google

but yes ive had them spam sushi...delish!!!

 

Instead of spam try putting smoked brisket . In Hawaii rice is the starch of choice .

 

How about both! :mindblown:

 

Not to get all cliche, but I don't "exactly" know the timing because it is now down to look/feel from cooking so many of them. The ranges provided are good approximations, though.

Full packer brisket. Trim the fat cap down to roughly 1/4". If you don't feel like doing that, scoring it works in a pinch. Remove most/all of the big chunks of fat separating the flat from the point as well. Lastly, find the direction of the grain and cut a little corner off of the end of the flat that goes against the grain. This will give you a line for slicing when it is time to serve without having to search for the grain.

Usually, I prefer to apply the rub only about an hour or so before it goes on. I have an unsubstantiated hunch behind this**. Salt & pepper briskets are awesome, for sure, but if you want to try an easy rub recipe that imparts a little extra flavor, try this:

One "good" layer of

$13 Adkins Western Style Barbecue BBQ Seasoning 16 OZ All Natural

Adkins Western BBQ Seasoning
On top of that, one lighter layer of

$15 Adkins Home Style Chicken & Pork Rub 13 OZ All Natural

Adkins Chicken & Pork rub

I know what you're thinking, "Chicken & pork rub?!?!". The Adkins stuff actually isn't all that sweet and is quite savory, so it actually works really well. You should be able to find these locally somewhere, otherwise just order off of Amazon. Even if you don't use them on brisket, they're good, so you'll find a use for them.

If I want a bigger window for pulling the briskets, I'll get the smoker in the 250-275* range. I can get similar results cooking at 300-325*, but the margin of error is smaller. Favorite wood choice is 50% pecan, 25% cherry, 25% mesquite or thereabouts. If no cherry, just add that percentage to the pecan. Mesquite is stronger, so if you want a heavier smoke flavor, adjust accordingly.

Smoked with the fat cap down, unwrapped for 6-8 hours or so. I'm looking for when the meat has a really deep mahogany color. The internal temp is often in the 160-180* range. Once the color is good, I reach for the Texas crutch***. I wrap it in foil with the seams tight, but the foil almost tented, so as not to sit tight against the brisket. How long it takes from there is pretty variable, but it rarely takes longer than 90 minutes. After a bit, I'll start checking for tenderness at the thickest part of the flat. This is usually up where the flat overlaps the point. Stick a probe or skewer in and it should go in about like going through warm peanut butter. A wee bit of resistance, but pretty damn easy. If you want to practice by using a temp as your guide instead, wait until this part hits 200*, but learn the feeling as it is a more accurate indicator.

Pull the brisket and vent it with the foil opened for about 5-10 minutes. Once vented, seal it back up and put it up to rest. I use a Cambro, but a good cooler with a few towels over the brisket will work nicely, just don't open the cooler. I try to time my cooks so that the brisket can rest for a minimum of two hours. Three is even better, though.

Pull it out of the foil and cut slices of brisket about the thickness of a pencil and enjoy!

Hope that helps!

**The smoke ring is a purely aesthetic thing, but it does look sexy. It can be helped along by keeping the surface of the meat moist as the moisture "grabs" the smoke, which contains the particles that set the pink ring. Putting the rub on closer to when it goes on the smoker means that it is pulling moisture to the surface during the first part of the cook. In my head, at least, this is helping the smoke ring come along. I have noticed no real discernible change in flavor by rubbing the night before and letting the rub "penetrate" the meat.

*** The Texas crutch does sacrifice the bark to an extent. It will not be as firm as an unwrapped brisket. The upside, in my opinion, is a more moist brisket.

 

Don't think I would like that combo together . Separate oh yea....lol

 

In keeping with full disclosure, here is the ingredients list for our rub

Brown Sugar
Salt
Turbinado Sugar
Chili Powder
Serrano Smoked Salt
Garlic
White Pepper
Celery Powder
Thyme
Cayenne Pepper
6 Pepper Blend
Habanero Seasoning
Onion Powder
Smoked Paprika

 

Lawdy, I couldn't have asked for better. Bravo and thank you kind sir.

 

My pleasure!

You just have to post pictures of brisket if you try it out .

 

Will definitely do. Thanks again.