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Getting ready to make some beef snack sticks. Might be smoking in the garage since it’s a whopping 3 F degrees in PA.
 
Brown sugar bourbon bacon recipe...

75 grams of kosher salt. This is more than others might use. I prefer my bacon a little saltier. you could easily start w/ 50-60 grams

12 grams of pink curing salt

1/2 to 1 cup of brown sugar or any dark sugar. You'll have to experiment with the amount to suit your taste. I've used upwards of 2 cups in the past especially when I increase the salt beyond 75 grams.

1/2 to 1 cup of maple syrup (I have a client who's family is from Vermont area and they have a syrup farm so I get the real McCoy every now and then). Again, you'll have to experiment with amounts to suit your taste.

1/2 to 2 cups of your choice of bourbon. I personally use Jim Beam but I haven't noticed a difference in taste across other brands.

5 lb pork belly. Skin on or off doesn't matter. I use skin on bellies.

I mix everything up, brine it in a roaster pan for 7 -10 days. I flip it every day or so. After 7 days rinse it off, pat dry, leave in fridge overnight skin side down so a pellicle forms on the meat side. Hot smoke until internal temp reaches 160 degress F. Cut the skin off leaving as much fat on as you prefer and slice it up or leave it whole and slice as you need it. You can also bake it in the oven.

This recipe is based off the recipe from the book "Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing" by Mark Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. I highly suggest it. It is my go to resource.
 
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Happy New Years, all!
 
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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.
 
I remember watching Julia Child and Jacques Pepin do something like this on their show and it looked really interesting. Care to share your recipe/technique?
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.
 
Don't know if anyone has had to deal with masterbuilts customer service, but they are GREAT. Just thought y'all might want to know since I know there are a few mes users here. Part of the plastic faceplate on my mes I think snagged on the cover as I was taking it off and it cracked. I emailed them asking about buying a replacement. After a few emails back and forth about serial number, yadda yadda and they warrantied the part. Professional and easy to work with.
 
Smoked a few pounds of chicken thighs today to make chicken sandwiches with golden carolina bbq sauce and hand cut, deep fried french fries. One of our favorite Sunday meals.
 
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:
HPb6fS7.jpg
 
Yeah, I don't argue with uninformed BBQ workers anymore. A place opened in a little town I used to live in and they sliced their brisket wrong! I tried to educate that they were slicing with rather than across the grain and that it was making their meat seem tougher than it actually was. Zero Fs given.
That said, I'd rather get something that is a little dry but otherwise tasty than sopping wet (BBQ trailer near work kept their meat in a steam tray. Disgusting wet mess) or full of fat. I'd toss a little sauce on it and keep looking. Explains why they were pushing the chop! I've had a couple places that didn't know what a chopped brisket sandwich even was...SMH! That's why I just cook my own most of the time!
 
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:
HPb6fS7.jpg

“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.
 
“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.

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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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.

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.
 
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.

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!
 
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.

A much delayed 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!

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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