A quickie for a very slow day

[Chapalahorn]

Here is a pretty good guide to doing brisket, complete with pictures.

http://www.barkingcarnival.com/2008/05/15/brisket-pictorial/

 

[armadillo slim]

Slim I will have to disagree with up on Jeff brisket. I had some of Jeff brisket and it was top of the line. Now this is no slam to you my friend. But I have not had a taste of your brisket so for now the story is out on a brisket cooked by armadillo slim. My good friends y'all have a great week

Jim, my philosophy is to never pass up taking a cheap shot at Joey because he's sure as hell never passed up taking one at me. Defend him if you must for sucking up purposes, but don't expect me to follow your lead.

 

[joeywa]

Jim, my philosophy is to never pass up taking a cheap shot at Joey because he's sure as hell never passed up taking one at me. Defend him if you must for sucking up purposes, but don't expect me to follow your lead.

Slim is exactly right, (for once,) that I won't pass up a chance to throw him under any ol' random bus that's driving by. And I 100% expect the same from him. That's how friendship works. HA!!

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

Here is a pretty good guide to doing brisket, complete with pictures.http://www.barkingcarnival.com/2008/05/15/brisket-pictorial/

Wow! Seems so complicated!

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

We have a Weber smoker like this one:

Now, can I put charcoal and wood chips in the pit or only charcoal for this model?

 

[joeywa]

Personally, I'd use Royal Oak Lump charcoal, not briquettes. I'd also get some wood chunks of your flavor choice and use those as well, after you've got your coals nice and white.

I prefer Pecan & Red Oak for briskets, although since you're in Texas, Post Oak would take the place of Red Oak, and that is readily available to you. (And it's better IMO.)

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

Personally, I'd use Royal Oak Lump charcoal, not briquettes. I'd also get some wood chunks of your flavor choice and use those as well, after you've got your coals nice and white. I prefer Pecan & Red Oak for briskets, although since you're in Texas, Post Oak would take the place of Red Oak, and that is readily available to you. (And it's better IMO.)

Thanks so much Joey!

 

[Topstarr]

Go to Rudy's

 

[youknow]

http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/pluckyew.asp

I'll play:
The history of the middle finger

Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous English longbow was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as 'plucking the yew' (or 'pluck yew').

 

 

 

Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and they began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew! Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative 'F', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute! It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as 'giving the bird.'

Isn't history more fun when you know something about it?

And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing.

 

[aowells]

Personally, I'd use Royal Oak Lump charcoal, not briquettes. I'd also get some wood chunks of your flavor choice and use those as well, after you've got your coals nice and white. I prefer Pecan & Red Oak for briskets, although since you're in Texas, Post Oak would take the place of Red Oak, and that is readily available to you. (And it's better IMO.)

I concur with lump over briquettes and investing in a good digital thermometer - wireless if you can so that you can keep the lid closed. I've got the same Weber you do and I'm willing to bet the temp on your lid is off by at least 25 degrees, although high or low is an even money bet. Otherwise, it's a great smoker to start on, and is relatively easy to keep at temp. Make sure you get wood chunks and not chips or pellets. The smaller stuff burns up much too quickly - and unless you're really confident that it's dry, don't go picking up branches in your backyard or you can end up with a very acrid taste.

Is your smoker the normal size Weber (18.5") or the big one (22.5")? A full brisket is pretty tight on the 18.5".

Is this your first time cooking anything on that smoker, or just your first brisket? If it's your first time using the pit, start a couple hours early. Even just getting the fire going can be tough on your first attempt and put you behind schedule (Whatever you do, don't panic and reach for the lighter fluid!). The brisket will keep pretty well in a cooler if it's done early, but you really don't want to explain to your guests that "we'll be ready in a couple hours" and then miss the target. Especially late in the cook, your temperature will rise very, very slowly. It sort of plateaus and sometimes even drops a bit past 160 degrees and can stay there for hours. If you have guests waiting, it can be a disaster. If this happens and you can always foil it to speed things up (the texas crutch) but it kind of ruins your bark. Better to have extra time just in case.

If you can justify $70, I also highly recommend a Looftlighter. It's like a hair dryer on steroids that will start your fire inside of a couple minutes. It beats the heck out of stuffing newspaper in a chimney and is a helpful crutch during the cook if you're losing temp and need to recover quickly. (http://www.amazon.com/Looftlighter-70018-Fire-Lighting-Tool/dp/B000WYY65Y)

Here's a good scientific explanation of why temp plateaus if you're curious, or if you need to check your sanity when it happens (http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/the_stall.html).

Good luck and don't forget to post the pictures. We'll need a shot of the whole brisket and a close-up of the slices and smoke ring.

 

[streettopeschel]

Wow! Seems so complicated!

guys just want novices to think that. meat, rub, smoke. lawnchair, beer, cigar. boom. done.

 

[JimR]

guys just want novices to think that. meat, rub, smoke. lawnchair, beer, cigar. boom. done.

add eat

 

[joeywa]

guys just want novices to think that. meat, rub, smoke. lawnchair, beer, cigar. boom. done.

You shut your mouth Street. You may just be excommunicated from "The Club" if you keep this up.

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

Joeywa, so I've decided to BBQ on Saturday instead. I'm starting the pit around 7:30am but my nephew has a tball game at 10am. We will be away from the house for 2 hours. Is it okay to leave the pit unattended?

 

[joeywa]

Joeywa, so I've decided to BBQ on Saturday instead. I'm starting the pit around 7:30am but my nephew has a tball game at 10am. We will be away from the house for 2 hours. Is it okay to leave the pit unattended?

Should be fine. As long as you have a nice hot bed of coals and a couple of good sized wood chunks on it, AND have been maintaining a steady temp, you should be OK.

Once you've got the brisket on there, establish a consistent temp and note how long this holds before you have to add more wood. This will give you a good idea on how long you can leave and be OK. For only a couple of hours, you shouldn't have an issue. The fire won't go out, and at worst your pit shouldn't drop below about 175.

 

[aowells]

guys just want novices to think that. meat, rub, smoke. lawnchair, beer, cigar. boom. done.

I think that approach mostly works because a 12 hour brisket cook requires a couple dozen beers - which makes the final product largely inconsequential.

If we were talking ribs or pork butt, I'd agree that it's that simple. But brisket ain't exactly microwave popcorn. Maybe I just need to practice more...