WOA!!!! Slow down, it's BBQ time. Lets see your Q.

[Bill Wyko]

Alright guys, fire up those smokers, lets see your BBQ for the holiday. I'm starting with a 14lb brisket. Covered in BBQ Bill's great tastin' grub rub. (PM me for the recipe) Cooked in a Rec Tec pellet smoker for around 14hrs, 210 degrees over night then I'll kick it up to 225. I also add a pellet tube filled with Jack daniels chared whiskey barrel pellets. This is the before pic. See you in 14 hours or so.:D
269716

[Stephen Cherry]

Looks good. Is this a portion for one, or is it meant to be shared?

[Bill Wyko]

At 14 lbs, as much as I would like to eat it all, it will have to be shared.

[Jason Roehl]

I'm going to smoke a brisket starting very early Monday morning. I haven't decided what sort of marinade or rub I will do yet.

[Shawn Pixley]

What time should I be over? Looks great!

[Bill Wyko]

All right guys, here's the ultimate beef rub, do this and your guests will want you to open a BBQ joint.

Ingredients:

2 to 3 (I do 3) tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons table salt
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons mustard powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili or ancho powder
1 teaspoon chipotle or cayenne powder

Cooking Instructions:

First the rub, This is a derivative of Meatheads rub for brisket. I use this on steaks and burgers too. This rub is extraordinary.

Trim fat to about a quarter inch, inject brisket with beef broth. Now rub Brisket liberally with Veggie oil. Next apply an even coat of the rub all over and wrap with foil. Let sit in the fridge overnight. Next day, remove foil, put temp probe in the thick side of the brisket. Set your REC TEC to 225 degrees. Place brisket fat side down in the REC TEC, close the lid and walk away. I let it cook right through the stall but some prefer to use the Texas crutch method and wrap it in foil at 160 degrees. Cook until you have an internal temp of 203 degrees. Once done, wrap in foil and let rest for about 30 to 45 minutes. Now for the good part, slice it up and serve the way you see fit.
Serving Suggestions:

Get yours first before it's gone.

Serves:

1 or more
Shawn you better drive fast, it'll be gone in minutes.

[Bill Wyko]

After...... Any questions?

[Jason Roehl]

Somehow, I decided to also do a Bacon Explosion today ( www.bbqaddicts.com for the uninitiated). I'll keep your rub recipe in mind, Bill, but I'm leaning towards a salt/vinegar marinade, beef broth injection prior to going on the smoker, and a salt/brown sugar-based rub.

[Todd Burch]

@Jason - it IS international BACON day. How apropos!

@Bill... I'm confused. I'm from Texas. When is it NOT BBQ time? :D The brisket looks great! Wish I were there.

Todd

[Bill Wyko]

All gone. I own a stereo business but my customers know I always bring in BBQ for a holiday weekend. Like clock work they showed up asking if I cooked. Of course I said "Of course." 14lbs lasted about 15 minutes.

[Jason Roehl]

@Jason - it IS international BACON day. How apropos!

@Bill... I'm confused. I'm from Texas. When is it NOT BBQ time? :D The brisket looks great! Wish I were there.

Todd

Unfortunately, it didn't happen. Had a thunderstorm come through, and I've used the smoker in the rain before--too tricky for my setup. At least the storm came through before I was elbows deep in making it. Postponed until tomorrow now.

If it's BBQ time all the time in Texas, perhaps I need to move!

[Eric DeSilva]

You inspired me. I had to stop by Wegman's today--Hatch chile fest, so had to pick up a 25 lb box of roasted peppers--and a brisket came home with me. It will go into the Cookshack Sunday night. I'll give your rub a go and see what happens. I've gotten pork shoulder down to an art, but my attempts at brisket have been pretty lame. I don't think I've let it go long enough to really break down the connective tissue.

[Harold Burrell]

Lets see your Q.


OK...but I don't see how this relates to the discussion...


269785

[Bill Wyko]

Short for BBQ.
The secret to brisket is to recognize the stall, at about 160 degrees it will stall. The temp of the meat internally won't go up but maybe a few degrees. You have to just trust that it will get past it, it can take 4 or 5 hours at 225 just to get through the stall. As you reach the 180's & 190's you may think it's getting tough, it's not. The collagen is just about to break down. Let it go to 203 internal temp at the thick end of a whole packer & it will be amazing. Some people will do a Texas crutch which is to wrap it in foil when it hits the stall, this will make it power through the stall but you loose the bark. If you choose to go with the crutch, remove the foil & put it in the broiler for about 10 minutes at the end of the cook & it will crust right up. Keep an eye on it though. I've never had a tough brisket, not even close to tough. The stall will drive you nuts & you will be so tempted to turn up the heat, DON'T!!! Go do some woodwork or have some libations, just don't touch the temp.:eek::D
Try cooking your pork but to the same internal temp, it'll melt in your mouth.
The brisket in the pic cooked 12 hours.

[Eric DeSilva]

When I first started smoking, I pulled a pork shoulder out too soon and it was tough, dry and stringy. It took a while, but I've learned to be patient and let the collagen/connective tissue melt. I'm assuming the same thing happens with brisket, just haven't experimented enough with it enough--while I'm a Carolina-style pulled pork guy myself, my wife was born and raised in Texas, so I'd be a hero if I could master brisket. Somehow pork shoulder seems more forgiving.

Never really injected anything into meat before cooking, other than my one excursion into deep frying turkey. How much beef broth do you do per pound? Does it really make a difference? I'm also curious why you go fat side down--I'd naively assumed that fat side up would sort of baste the meat during the cook as the fat melted away.

[Bill Wyko]

With beef, the fat will not be absorbed into the meat. It actually acts as an insulator & helps disperse the heat more evenly. You also get that wonderful crust on the meat side. On a 14lb whole packer like this one, i inject about 1-1/2 to 2 cups beef broth. Don't use low sodium broth, you want the salt inside the meat. You are definitely right, pork is more forgiving. When choosing a brisket, always get USDA Choice or better, anything less than that and it will be a very up hill battle. PM me & I'll give you a link to the most informative BBQ site on earth. One more important thing, use a digital thermometer, analog ones can be off by over 20 degrees. You can calibrate your thermometer by putting it in boiling water. Google "what temp water boils at your altitude", your thermometer should be within one degree of that temp. An accurate thermometer is essential, I use a Maverick ET 732, very accurate & affordable. Here's a shot of my last one, this was just a flat, not a whole packer.

[Jason Roehl]

IF you want a good analog thermometer, you need to go to a store that is a food-service supply. They will have quick-read analog probe thermometers that are accurate because they have to get good temperature readings to comply with local health inspections.

[Larry Frank]

I read this thread a day or so again so I went out and smoked pork ribs using the 3-2-1 method. I saw it on a BBQ show and did reading online.

I use an electric water smoker and hickory for smoke. I would have posted a picture, but they did not last long enough to take one. It was ribs and sweat bi-color sweet corn...a little bit of heaven.

The ribs were very good and will make some minor changes the next time. It seems that no matter how many times you smoke something there is always another tweak to make to the process. I

[Eric DeSilva]

Sadly, I couldn't the needle part of my injector, so the brisket is going in sans broth. I'll cross my fingers. I've found in the sealed smoker I've got things seem to loose less fluid anyway.

Interesting about the fat cap. Makes some sense. When it comes to brisket, I'll take any advice.

I learned the benefits of an accurate thermometer after a candy making debacle with a pan full of burning sugar. I found a half dozen thermometers in my kitchen that were all off by staggering amounts--and also took from 1-2 minutes to get an accurate reading (which probably isn't critical for BBQ, but it is when you have a saucepan full of molten sugar you are trying to get to hard crack). Now I don't trust anything other than my Thermoworks Thermo 3--same company that makes the really highly rated, and pretty inexpensive, Thermapen. Mine is pretty old at this point, but it uses the K-type probes and it is fast and very accurate. My default probe is a teflon jacketed thin wire number that sneaks through most oven doors and the like easily, so it works well with the Cookshack and with normal oven doors. I recommend them highly if anyone is shopping--I also use one of their IR surface temperature probes.

Bill, I tried to PM you but your inbox seems to be full.

[Bill Wyko]

I cleared out some space. I don't think there's a conflict in posting the link, it's all about BBQ Check out www.amazingribs.com It's BBQ biblical!

[Eric DeSilva]

Hit 203F after almost exactly 12 hours--this was a 7lb brisket--and had that nice jiggle. Left it for about an hour, then tore into it. Nice bark, really tender, fall apart brisket. I'm pretty happy with the way it came out--and my wife even happier. Could have been a bit more moist--the slices seem to oxidize really fast--but next time I'll try the injector and maybe that will be the other fix I've been looking for. Rub is really good as well.

Poked around amazingribs.com--might have to try his Memphis Dust on some ribs...

Thanks for the help and inspiration!

[Jason Roehl]

So the final procedure on the brisket was this: salt rub and vinegar marinade overnight. Beef broth injection and more salt rub prior to going on the smoker. 13 hours at 200-225ºF, with a final internal temp of 201ºF (we were getting hungry, so I didn't wait for 203ºF), and a 30-minute rest before cutting. It was fantastic. We had a couple friends over for dinner who raved about it, and I sent a plate with some over to the neighbor who was posting on Facebook all day about the smell wafting her way. I was definitely pleased with the result. I've never done crack cocaine before, but I have an idea what it's like now...

Alongside the brisket, I also smoked all the vegetables, save for the tomatoes, for another 25 pints of chipotle salsa that my wife canned today. The last 3 pints got a few habaneros and a couple bhut jolokias. Wow! The kitchen was a rough place to be after she food-processed the bhut jolokias and habaneros, made worse when she washed the processor bowl!

[Mike Cozad]

I`m a total noob on the smoker but the bacon explosion was superb. Been wanting to do this for a couple years and finally got `er done. So easy I plan to smoke more things this weekend. Picked up some country style ribs that ought to do nicely...

[Bill Wyko]

If you guys have any brisket leftovers, put a 1/2 oz of water per slice in a skillet at med hi. It makes an ajus and moistens it right up. Sprinkle a little rub on it to kick it up a notch.

[Don Morris]

Well, it's not exactly a BBQ photo, but it's the only one I have. But you can see from the photo, I have the wherewithall to do it all. I have a 42" Viking Grill and my family call me the Grillmaster. I live just outside DC where it snows occasionally. I grill with regularity and if I have to shovel to get to it, I do. I grill all sorts of foods. What you see in the photo is 4 Cornish Game Hens. But of course I do steaks, leg of lamb on the rotisserie, etc., even did a Standing Rib of Beef on the rotisserie at Christmas once. It was delicious. For meats of some thickness I have a digital thermometer that will take the temperature of the meat within seconds (and it wasn't cheap). There should be no guessing in good grillwork for rare, medium rare or well done for your guests. Grilling is fun and a point of pride just as is our wwing.

The day before this Labor Day we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. My #1 son, who took grilling lessons from his old man, came over and grilled baby lamb chops on the grill, and we served those as Hors Derves. It was a great party. One of my Christmas gifts to him was the digital thermometer. Grilling runs in the family.


270100

[Bill Wyko]

Lookin good and happy anniversary!! Because you don't have an after pic, my guess is, it was delicious. I have a concrete built in smoker, a BBQ galore gasser, a traeger jr & a RecTec pellet grill. I pretty much just use the Rec Tec for everything. I love pellet cooking.

[Don Morris]

The Viking has a built in smoker or chip smoker whatever you want to call it. I use mainly Hickory rather than Mesquite. Timing the smoke to be it's most productive when you want it to be so, is a little tricky. Getting the exact amount of smoked flavor is even more tricky...I would say even a little lucky. You need to do several with exactly the same amount of chips and other ingredients to get the timing right. Ambient weather conditions can influence the outcome if they are extreme: real hot, or real cold. But again, it's fun to try.

[Bill Wyko]

Also, the colder your meat is, the more smoke it will absorb. If you want less smoke flavor, start the smoke when your meat is closer to room temp.

[Jim Becker]

Baby backs! Delicious.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/riblings_zpsa4d9daf1.jpg

[Bill Wyko]

NOW you're talkin!!!! They look great.