A Party in February?

[user 22118]

Who does that? I do, that's who.

I decided that I wanted to cure a pastrami as you can find in this thread. I was totally unsure as to how that would turn out, but hey I says to SWMBO, let's invite people over and eat this with forty other people.

Then we figured that we should have more than just one brisket worth of pastrami, so we added in another 20lbs of brisket, some pulled pork and throw some chicken in there for good measure. Then smoke it all. And have some kegs. And wine. And invite some brewing types. Yeah, that sounds fun.

Today (D-Day - 1) we readied the rub, the sauces, the brining and a host of other things in preperation for striking the BBQ tonight about 12am for the whole Brisket. Even though it is said to take longer than I think, I am going with midnight because it just sounds a lot better for my sanity than starting it just after dinner. At 19lbs actually, and 1.5 hours per pound smoking temp I should be starting it about now. But I plan on smoking it for five hours and then placing it into a tray and covering it for another five hours or more.

The rub I made up is a new version of an old favorite.

Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Onion
Coriander
Cumin
Mustard

Really tasty stuff and is going onto the pork in another hour or so. The brisket in another three hours or so. Then I made up Edworts vinegar sauce for anyone that wants it on their pork. The rest of the sauce is Tomato based and a little sweet and tangy style, sans any real spice. I will be making one last sauce that features dried peppers, tomato and garlic and salt. That is all.

I have some pictures and will work on getting them up here when I get another fifteen minutes to do so.

 

[user 22118]

Boy...I got the BBQ started and it has now had two hours worth of time to cook the brisket. I threw it on about 8"30 or 9 and it is going well. Still kinda working the entire logistics of keeping a six foot BBQ at the right temperature without too much work or too much fluctuation. Right now we are sitting between 200 and 300. I say that because it was about 285* for the first hour and has now dropped to about 225* since I refreshed and added some smoking wood. Going with Cherry and I also just added a couple of Hickory pieces just because I could. I think I will stick with an hour of cherry, then an hour of Hickory (or two of each...whatever).

It is a picture of me starting the pit. I like to start it with some briquets and then move onto lump charcoal for the entire cooking time. I find that the briquets are very easy and consistent to start three chimneys with. Then onto the lump for a more extended burn time and better flavor.

I will see about getting a couple more up, even though I am the only one reading this right now!

 

[user 22118]

After like two hours I took this picture.

My rub in some cheese shakers for easy application.

The brisket after close to five hours of smoking at midnight thirty.

 

[user 22118]

And feck, it has been a night for sure. That alarm is one annoying thing every hour. I realize now that I was slightly overpowered by my BBQ. I will enjoy the space about 12 noon, but when there is just one lone brisket, there is far too much surface area.