Who's smoking meat this weekend?

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jammin said:
BBQ Bretheren,

Can I get your thoughts on some brisket I got this weekend:

I went to a local BBQ chain & ordered 1lb. Server was pushing chopped but I asked for sliced. The slices were thick, falling apart & a bit on the dry side. I said to him that it appears over cooked. I was then told “it’s called bark” and that they smoke their meat. At this point I just shut up and took my order.
I’m no expert on smoking brisket but are those not the tell tale signs of when it’s over cooked?

Here is a shot of the slices I was served. Mind you I had not touched them yet - this is how the slices were cut in front of me & served:
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“My server told me what was good, but I didn’t listen.” Those don’t look like sliced, it looks chopped. Maybe that’s all they really do there.
 
ericbw said:
“My server told me what was good, but I didn’t listen.” Those don’t look like sliced, it looks chopped. Maybe that’s all they really do there.
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You’re insinuating that because I didn’t have him chop it that I would have had better brisket. I don’t think you know what you’re talking about & you also sound smug.
 
That dry brisket could also be undercooked, no? With smoked brisket and chuck its somewhat counter intuitive but before it hits 200° it can come off as dry. Once last little bit of fat melts it gets juicier. Sometimes I'll just microwave it on my plate to get that last little rendering.
The other thing that could have happened is that if it sits in the warmer all day and is then put away and then the next day put back on the warmer or even more days than that it will dry out. I guess a 3rd scenario could be they removed too much fat before they smoked it.
 
I smoked the first of three hams we bought last weekend. I Googled a dry rub recipe because I have been unsatisfied with what I've been using. I've learned the hard way more than once to never salt a ham rub. Lately I just been doing brown sugar. Anyways all the rubs seemed like similar recipes. Brown sugar with pie spice and powdered mustard and onion. We didn't have any Pais by so we made our own with similar to what I use in my beer. Iirc it's Ginger, cinnamon, and allspice. Smoked with cherry and Hickory mixed. Lower cooking temp to 2:50 and that provided a substantial amount of more time to be on the smoker from 275. It was really really good. Also the Pea Soup we made was really good. I like that rub so much I might use it on other meats.
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jammin said:
You’re insinuating that because I didn’t have him chop it that I would have had better brisket. I don’t think you know what you’re talking about & you also sound smug.
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It was supposed to sound smug :) Thank you!

I’m saying you posted a pic of chopped brisket. They told you it was sliced. If I got a mess of chopped brisket that was dry, I would be less unhappy than if I got a mess of sliced brisket that was dry. Expectations factor in to what we think of something. That’s all.
 
Inkleg said:
View attachment 553011 Have followed and drooled over this thread for a long time and now I finally get to post. For Christmas my mil went in half with me on a Weber Smokey Mountain. My first smoke was a pork butt as it seemed to be the most forgiving for first time smokers and it turned out great. Yesterday using the minion method I was able to hold 235*+-5 for 6 hours in 30 degree temperature with no problem. These are pork spare ribs 3-2-1 method.
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Amazing!Looks so yummy!great work man.I wanna make this dish with beef.what type of spices do you use for it? Are the temperature and timing are same for beef? Let me know. thank you.
 
Need some advice. I want to try smoking pulled pork for the first time for the super bowl. My girlfriend is a vegetarian so I'm curious what size pork butt would be good to buy for just me, maybe a little extra for left overs. Any tips are appreciated!
 
Dimax said:
I found the recipe on the net,

BBQ Stuffed Cabbage

Ingredients

1 whole cabbage. medium size
3 slices bacon
1 cooking onion, medium dice
½ C BBQ sauce
2 tbsp butter
½ C chicken broth


1. Remove the tough outer leaves of a whole cabbage that has been washed and dried. Using a sharp knife cut the hard core out of the center of the cabbage. To do this cut a cone shape around the core, turn the cabbage upside down and give it a few taps; the core should simply drop out.

2. Fry the bacon slices until cooked and crisp. Reserve the bacon fat. Drain on paper towel and crumble into small pieces. Set aside.

3. Heat the bacon fat in a skillet on medium heat and add the diced onion. Sauté, stirring often, until the onion becomes soft and translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the bacon crumbles and ¼ C of the BBQ sauce to the onions stirring to incorporate. Remove from heat. Spoon this mixture into the cavity of the cabbage.

4. Set the Grill to 225 F. Using a long piece of scrunched up tin foil create a ring that fits around the base of the stuffed cabbage. Place the ring on the bottom rack of the grill and stand the stuffed cabbage upright inside the ring. Baste the outside of the cabbage with some of the remaining BBQ sauce. Close the lid and smoke the cabbage for approximately 2 hours basting with BBQ sauce every ½ hour. Being careful, slip the cabbage off the grill and onto a pan.

5. Wrap the cabbage in heavy foil leaving an opening at the top. Melt the butter and combine with the chicken broth. Pour this mixture over the top of the cabbage then seal the foil to fully enclose the cabbage. Place the foil wrapped cabbage back on the grill, close the lid and turn the temperature control up to 350 F. Continue baking the cabbage until it becomes soft and starts to lose its shape. Test with a skewer to make sure the cabbage is cooked all the way through before removing from the grill. Depending on the size of your cabbage, this could take from 2 ½ - 4 hours.

6. Spoon the stuffing into a bowl, chop the cabbage into bite-sized pieces and toss with the onion/bacon stuffing. Add some extra BBQ sauce (that’s been heated) if desired. Serve immediately.
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A much delayed thank you!
 
treacheroustexan said:
Need some advice. I want to try smoking pulled pork for the first time for the super bowl. My girlfriend is a vegetarian so I'm curious what size pork butt would be good to buy for just me, maybe a little extra for left overs. Any tips are appreciated!
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I don't bother with a pork butt if I'm not making enough to feed the family plus leftovers. It's an investment of time. I like to make sure it's worth it. A whole bone in butt is the only way to go IMO. I've seen them no less than six pounds. You could freeze some I suppose.
 
lschiavo said:
I don't bother with a pork butt if I'm not making enough to feed the family plus leftovers. It's an investment of time. I like to make sure it's worth it. A whole bone in butt is the only way to go IMO. I've seen them no less than six pounds. You could freeze some I suppose.
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Yeah that's what I was afraid of. Thanks for the input! Maybe I'll stick with trying ribs or something.
 
treacheroustexan said:
Need some advice. I want to try smoking pulled pork for the first time for the super bowl. My girlfriend is a vegetarian so I'm curious what size pork butt would be good to buy for just me, maybe a little extra for left overs. Any tips are appreciated!
Click to expand...
You said it yourself, the pork butt is what you want. It is just the right size. Boston butt, pork butt, it can be labeled with many names. Honestly, i am not even sure I like the whole shoulder all that much anyways. Are you using charcoal, electric or gas. Best of luck to you, and awesome you are giving it a go. I have taken them frozen and gas grilled them in a couple hours and they are decent so have some fun and no worries. I like 2 to 1 sugar to salt rubs, but some prefer more salt and spice. 200° is a good starting place. Give it a little trim too for better results.
 
lschiavo said:
I don't bother with a pork butt if I'm not making enough to feed the family plus leftovers. It's an investment of time. I like to make sure it's worth it. A whole bone in butt is the only way to go IMO. I've seen them no less than six pounds. You could freeze some I suppose.
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I guess thats the joy of an electric. I have been known to fire it up for two brats or a couple hamburgers. I can cook pork butts between 3 and 12+ hours so it is whatever I have time for and a lot of times I wont worry about making the best ever. Its always enjoyable, yes, even the 3 hour gas grilled and from frozen. Better than none, just mo.
 
applescrap said:
You said it yourself, the pork butt is what you want. It is just the right size. Boston butt, pork butt, it can be labeled with many names. Honestly, i am not even sure I like the whole shoulder all that much anyways. Are you using charcoal, electric or gas. Best of luck to you, and awesome you are giving it a go. I have taken them frozen and gas grilled them in a couple hours and they are decent so have some fun and no worries. I like 2 to 1 sugar to salt rubs, but some prefer more salt and spice. 200° is a good starting place. Give it a little trim too for better results.
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I'll be using electric! Not looking to make anything award winning, haha. Just really wanting to learn more about the process and come up with something that tastes good. I'll see if I can find anything near 3 pounds at the store. Thank you for the input and boost of confidence!
 
So I ended up with a 2.5 pound shoulder. I'm sure I'm fine since it's so small but I've read a lot of horror stories about people not being able to get up to the proper internal temp after smoking for many hours. What is the best way to avoid something like that happening?
 
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From what I have read and understand that can be a problem with the larger butts 8-9 pound range. My first smoke was with two 4 pound butts. I kept my WSM steady at 225 and they rolled through the stall with no problem.
 
rogernelson said:
Amazing!Looks so yummy!great work man.I wanna make this dish with beef.what type of spices do you use for it? Are the temperature and timing are same for beef? Let me know. thank you.
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Thanks! For not having a clue of what I was doing they did turn out fantastic and I thank everyone here who posts information for that.

Being my first time I did each rack differently. One was a light coat of yellow mustard with John Henry's Pecan Rub (recommended by the meat market were I got the ribs). The other was a light coat of pecan oil with 3 Beer BBQ rub. After 3 hours at 235 I wrapped them in foil with some honey, brown sugar and butter and put them back on for another 2 hours. I removed from foil and basted with 2 different finishing sauces for an hour. I hind sight I'll research and make my own finishing sauce next time as the ones I use were too sweet for my taste as I'm more of a vinegar base guy.
The funny thing was that I lost track of which was which. I could tell a difference between the two, but didn't favor one over the other.

As far as timing for beef vs pork I have no idea, but imagine they are the same?
 
Inkleg said:
Thanks! For not having a clue of what I was doing they did turn out fantastic and I thank everyone here who posts information for that.

Being my first time I did each rack differently. One was a light coat of yellow mustard with John Henry's Pecan Rub (recommended by the meat market were I got the ribs). The other was a light coat of pecan oil with 3 Beer BBQ rub. After 3 hours at 235 I wrapped them in foil with some honey, brown sugar and butter and put them back on for another 2 hours. I removed from foil and basted with 2 different finishing sauces for an hour. I hind sight I'll research and make my own finishing sauce next time as the ones I use were too sweet for my taste as I'm more of a vinegar base guy.
The funny thing was that I lost track of which was which. I could tell a difference between the two, but didn't favor one over the other.

As far as timing for beef vs pork I have no idea, but imagine they are the same?
Click to expand...

Relax, don’t worry, have a home brew.
 
treacheroustexan said:
So I ended up with a 2.5 pound shoulder. I'm sure I'm fine since it's so small but I've read a lot of horror stories about people not being able to get up to the proper internal temp after smoking for many hours. What is the best way to avoid something like that happening?
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The lower temperature you cook it at, the longer it will take. The higher, the less. Also, the stall is real but higher temps motor right through them. You are correct a smaller one, this is less of an issue. I have never wrapped a piece of meat but I think many have good results wrapping meat around the stall temp. You can always turn it up if you need to finish it quick. You can also throw it in the oven to finish to. Despite what some are willing to admit plenty of people have won BBQ competitions with high temperature quick methods. And plenty have won with slow temperatures. This is a piece of meat that is hard to dry out. 200 degrees is a good place to stop at. I think your biggest concern should lie in what rub you are using and what smoke you are using. Do you have a rub in mind? Are you going to add a sauce later? Are you going to make your own sauce or buy a store-bought sauce? I honestly don't know what to do with the pork when it's done other than snack it three sheets to the wind in the middle of the night. I like those vinegar-based Carolina sauces. And I also like really thick sweet sauces and spicy sauces to. If you are going to have to turn the heat up to finish it quickly or plan on cooking it quickly then the sugar rub should be applied later in the cook because the sugar will burn. Best of luck, if you hit 200 you have done it right.
 
lschiavo said:
I guess I only considered my own cooking situation. Never used an electric. Glad you guys sorted that out. I don't want to be responsible for anyone not having pulled pork;)
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That said, I'm like you. If I'm cooking pork butt, I go to Costco and buy the 2-pack of boneless butts. That's about 18# of meat usually. Whatever is needed for the event I'm cooking for gets eaten, the rest goes into food saver bags in the freezer.

It's SO nice to just have frozen pulled pork when needed. Can easily pull out 1# of it for pulled pork nachos, for sandwiches, for chili, for salads, etc.

I think next time I'm going to buy two packages at Costco just so I have more leftovers lol ;-)
 
applescrap said:
The lower temperature you cook it at, the longer it will take. The higher, the less. Also, the stall is real but higher temps motor right through them. You are correct a smaller one, this is less of an issue. I have never wrapped a piece of meat but I think many have good results wrapping meat around the stall temp. You can always turn it up if you need to finish it quick. You can also throw it in the oven to finish to. Despite what some are willing to admit plenty of people have won BBQ competitions with high temperature quick methods. And plenty have won with slow temperatures. This is a piece of meat that is hard to dry out. 200 degrees is a good place to stop at. I think your biggest concern should lie in what rub you are using and what smoke you are using. Do you have a rub in mind? Are you going to add a sauce later? Are you going to make your own sauce or buy a store-bought sauce? I honestly don't know what to do with the pork when it's done other than snack it three sheets to the wind in the middle of the night. I like those vinegar-based Carolina sauces. And I also like really thick sweet sauces and spicy sauces to. If you are going to have to turn the heat up to finish it quickly or plan on cooking it quickly then the sugar rub should be applied later in the cook because the sugar will burn. Best of luck, if you hit 200 you have done it right.
Click to expand...

For only a 2.5# butt, though, I'd actually foil it when you hit stall temps. While butt is pretty hard to dry out, at only 2.5# it might be more likely to dry out due to higher surface area than you'd see on a much larger butt.
 
Poor-mans brisket, aka chuck roast. Rested for about 90 min in foil tray until ready to eat. Collected drippings, about 10oz, used to whip up a hollandaise like sauce. Smoked beef aioli anyone?

Too much smoke flavor with dinner, don't want Smokey sauce on smoked meat. But will go great on eggs Benedict tomorrow for breakfast.

Breakfast update:
Red Curried lamb patty, chevre, poached egg, on ciabatta with the smoked beef hollandaise. Was amazing and worth doing.
Also thinking that it would be good mixed in a bacon and bleu potato salad.
 
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Been smoking a few slabs of ribs and a pork butt since this morning. Almost ready and I can't wait to dig in, along with my home brew of course! Just in time for the big game!

John
 
Found myself a 15 pound USDA prime brisket today; $3.38 per pound.
Fell in love so it followed me home.
I’ll get it smoking this week.
Pics to follow.
 
Ham in, snow down. Same rub as before. 1c brown sugar, 2 tsp (homemade) pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 tsp mustard powder, 1/4 tsp onion powder. Cherry and hickory.
20180210_110911.jpg
 
^^thanks. Man it snowed a lot today. Ham turned out really good. Cooked at 250 and surprised how much longer it goes vs 275. Also the bark gets less char and comes out more golden. The kids snacked on the ham as it sat out. Which they never do with most meats. That rub is a great when you dont have a better idea rub. Pulled it at 135, so it will still be juicy after reheat
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Thanks.

Started at 15lbs.
Trimmed lean like that, probably 13.5lbs.

7 hours at 200*F gave an internal temp of 160*F.
Another couple of hours at 250*F gave an internal temp of 185*F.
Double wrapped in foil, then a towel and into a small cooler for a few more hours until chow time.

I’ve had them range from the 1/2 hour to 1-1/2 hour per pound.

Forgot to add: another 1/2 hour for the burnt ends after tossing in drippings and a bit of sauce.
 

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