The Way Of The Smoke Master

#21
the smoker for me is hit or miss because it takes so long, and I have an electric smoker with the auto loader you really just set and forget. or drink to much pass out rocket out of bed at 4am remembering you have something resembling meat in the smoker that now looks like coal fuel.....
 
#22
D Durden said:
Yeah, that's where I am. I think a lot of it is grade of meat. That's what I'm being told, anyway. A guy who owns one of the local meat stores (been around forever) told me that it's really hard to get "the best" meat because most restaurants have people buying the best cuts up before they hit the open markets. You can get SOME stuff locally, but it's hit or miss. And with the expansion of restaurants all over, it's getting harder and harder.

I love brisket, but the more I study it, the more it looks like going from "good" to "amazing" breaks the line of being worth doing myself. I mean, doing the rub and all with the smoker work, eh, that's not too bad, but when it comes to crap like "and you inject 2.347 cc's of the dip that you make every .75 inches along both sides of the brisket, but only go between .25 and .27 inches or it's ruined" and "you smoke it for the first 4 hours, then you wrap it, cook it in the oven for 3 to 3.1 hours at 225 degrees plus or minus a half a degree, then unwrap it, put it back on the smoker for ten minutes, mop on the sauce, smoke it another hour, take it out and wrap it in new foil, oven cook it another two hours, and then wash off the sauce and put new sauce on, wrap it back up and oven cook it fifteen minutes, and it's done . . . and yeah, it's just THAT EASY!"

Meh . . . I've ordered some brisket online that was amazing . . . and it wasn't that much trouble. LOL!
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I REFUSE to do the oven method. Some of the brisket that I've had was the "amazing" stuff came from one of those BBQ roundup kind of deals. No ovens for miles! The brisket had that thin but crisp layer on the outsides and tender on the inside. You could see the layer of rub penetrating.

Now I've gotten the perfect outside before... but the inside was the same as the outside. LOL

I get either that, or the whole thing is very tender to include the outside. Tastes good but not what I'm going for.

The problem that I have with the latter is that I could have dropped the whole effin thing in the crock pot and gotten the same result.
 
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#23
S&B said:
the smoker for me is hit or miss because it takes so long, and I have an electric smoker with the auto loader you really just set and forget. or drink to much pass out rocket out of bed at 4am remembering you have something resembling meat in the smoker that now looks like coal fuel.....
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Is it a metal one S&B? I have a lot of varying results with smokers made with metal exteriors. They vary too much in temperature.
 
#26
Big Green Eggs are stupid expensive and I just don't see where you get that much of an advantage.

As far as brisket goes...I'm not sure what the trick to it is except maybe to just cook it for a looooong time. I bet if you smoked it for a couple hours, then wrapped it in foil and left it on there for about 6 more hours it would be pretty tender!

Guy I work with does a good bit of barbecue, and he told me when he does a pork butt he leaves it on there for about 10 hours...sheesh.
 
#27
I think I cooked my brisket about 10 hours. It was "good" but not amazing. I think I'm going to try it again with a different (better?) choice of meat and a little change in style. I'll let you guys know how it works.

BTW, Lisa did a crock pot steak last night. Sweet mother of taste buds, it was good.
 
#28
Red_LX said:
Big Green Eggs are stupid expensive and I just don't see where you get that much of an advantage.

As far as brisket goes...I'm not sure what the trick to it is except maybe to just cook it for a looooong time. I bet if you smoked it for a couple hours, then wrapped it in foil and left it on there for about 6 more hours it would be pretty tender!

Guy I work with does a good bit of barbecue, and he told me when he does a pork butt he leaves it on there for about 10 hours...sheesh.
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I tell ya... My wife and I went to one of those Big Green Egg cook-off/gathering type of things. The organization of the event could have been better but some of the things that were prepared were simply amazing. Like you, I have a hard time parting with a couple grand for what amounts to an outdoor BBQ. I DO think you get what you pay for though. If you're someone who cooks outside regularly and like to put effort into the things that you cook, then it's probably money well spent.

If you cook occasionally, by tossing a couple preformed patties on the grill then it'll probably never pay for itself.

I don't have one because I can always find something better to do with $2000. :shrug:
 
#29
Red_LX said:
My wife and father-in-law went together back in January and got me one of those Char-Griller Duos with the add-on smoke box and I have been loving it. I have only done ribs so far, and brisket and pork shoulder once, but everyone has loved them. I got the ribs down pat (2 hours to smoke, 2 hours in foil, and then an hour or less to firm up a little...they come out fantastic), the brisket I may need more practice on, and the shoulder I made tasted good but didn't have enough time to really get tender. This thing makes some damn good slow smoked barbecue though!
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Those LQQK Amazing!!!!
 
#31
Okay, I did a big chunk of bolo this weekend, and it was pretty dern good no more work than I put in it. I scored it up, and made a glaze of mustard, soy sauce, and honey. Did it a couple or three hours in mesquite smoke, and it wasn't bad in the least.

Next time I'm going to make better cuts and really get the stuff down into the slits.

Did a brisket, too. It turned out a lot better. I changed a couple of things, and I think it made a difference. Oh, and it was a WalMart brisket . . . eh, decent quality all around.

Cornish hens coming up next . . . we shall see how they turn out.
 
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#34
Red_LX said:
I saw a brisket at Walmart...had that big ol' piece of fat on the back of it. The ones I picked up were trimmed, and I'm pretty sure that made a difference.
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Ummm, that's like saying there was something wrong with the steak you got from WalMart because it had a big bone shaped like a "T" in it. :D

The big ole piece of fat on the back is supposed to be there. When I smoke a brisket like that, I smoke it fat side up so it sort of dissipates into the meat. :) It really makes a difference from what little I've done.

But yeah, the fat is part of it.

I'm prepping some cornish hens right now . . . we'll see how they are tonight after class. :)
 
#35
Ain't nothing wrong with a little trimming but there should be a fat cap. I like to cross hatch score the fat, especially when cooking tri-tips. Tri tip roast is so awesome been doing a few lately.
 
#36
KT, you ever done anything like steak or the like in a smoker? I REALLY like skirt steak, and I have a great grilling procedure. I'm just curious about smoking it.
 
#38
Cornish hens went famously . . . it was almost too easy. I brined them about 4 hours, a little rub, and 2 hours till they hit about 170 degrees. Kerpow, easy little supper.

Really want to try some boiled eggs . . .
 
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#39
The big ole piece of fat on the back is supposed to be there. When I smoke a brisket like that, I smoke it fat side up so it sort of dissipates into the meat. :) It really makes a difference from what little I've done.[/quote]

Well that was my point...the ones I got at Kroger were completely absent of fat. I'm not sure why they would sell them that way, but now I know the difference.
 
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