Butcher BBQ Review

[watertowerbbq]

Todd (Plowboy) was kind enough to start a thread about offering a free sample of Butcher BBQ for those who had never tried it and a few other requirements. Merl was kind enough to make a similar offer and I was lucky enough to get a sample from Merl. Thanks Todd and Merl.

I also want to thank Militant Squatter for helping with a question I had about it earlier tonight.

OK, now down to business. I pulled a packer out of the freezer and fully thawed it in the fridge last week, but due to the cold weather, I had to postpone the cook until tomorrow. Tonight I trimmed the brisket and injected some of the marinade into the brisket. My first thought was that this appears to be quite a bit of marinade to put into the brisket, but I've never injected a brisket or butt before. I did not put in all the marinade, but I would guess that I probably used about 1/2. I would have put more, but it seemed to be coming out from everywhere so I stopped. I did try to make sure that I only injected the marinade as I was withdrawing the probe. My other impression is that the marinade seems very slippery/slimy to the touch. I thought that was interesting. It does have a strong odor, but not a negative odor. I spilled some on the white countertop and when I looked at it, I thought I had better clean it up before it left a stain. Now, I'm wondering if the stain will come out of the dish cloth I used to clean it up. Oh well.

Anyway, I put the marinade into the brisket, coated it liberally with Smokin Guns Hot to help soak up some of the marinade that may leak out of the brisket. I'm hoping to have it on the smoker by 6:00 am tomorrow morning. I'll post the picture of the brisket before injection and how it looks before I put it on the smoker tomorrow.

[MilitantSquatter]

I know you did not want to get up overnight

but I think a critical step in using Fab or Butchers is to massage the meat during the 4-8 hr period before you cook. Every two hours or so, rub the meat down with your hands... Crazy but I really think it helps.

Maybe you can try the massaging next time if you like the results.

Good choice with Smokin Guns but I would have just let it sit in the marinade rather than have the salty rub potentially draw out the liquid you added in. Probably minimal difference if any, but I would have waited to rub until the morning. I'm sure it will come out good either way.

[Bentley]

So you will have had the Butchers in for 9 hours...Very intresting! I have never tried it that long, almost makes me wanna get up and inject the one I am praticing on tomorrow, but that aint gonna happen at 10:30!

[watertowerbbq]

Originally Posted by MilitantSquatter

I know you did not want to get up overnight

but I think a critical step in using Fab or Butchers is to massage the meat during the 4-8 hr period before you cook. Every two hours or so, rub the meat down with your hands... Crazy but I really think it helps.

Maybe you can try the massaging next time if you like the results.

Good choice with Smokin Guns but I would have just let it sit in the marinade rather than have the salty rub potentially draw out the liquid you added in. Probably minimal difference if any, but I would have waited to rub until the morning. I'm sure it will come out good either way.

Reading your post this morning, it makes sense about the rub. Didn't really think about that last night.

[watertowerbbq]

Well.......the experiment has begun! Brisket was on the smoker at 5:45 am this morning. It's a balmy 28º here. When I pulled the brisket out of the fridge this morning, I reapplied another coating of the Smokin Guns Hot. I"ll post result later. Until then, here are a couple of the shots before it went on the smoker.

brisket trimmed


butcher bbq


brisket out from the fridge


brisket with smokin guns hot reapplied

[Jack2u2]

I am planning to order some soon, so I will be interested in how it turns out for you. The pic out of the fridge looks good. Let us know how you like the finished meat!

[CajunSmoker]

Originally Posted by watertowerbbq

Todd (Plowboy) was kind enough to start a thread about offering a free sample of Butcher BBQ for those who had never tried it and a few other requirements. Merl was kind enough to make a similar offer and I was lucky enough to get a sample from Merl. Thanks Todd and Merl.

I also want to thank Militant Squatter for helping with a question I had about it earlier tonight.

OK, now down to business. I pulled a packer out of the freezer and fully thawed it in the fridge last week, but due to the cold weather, I had to postpone the cook until tomorrow. Tonight I trimmed the brisket and injected some of the marinade into the brisket. My first thought was that this appears to be quite a bit of marinade to put into the brisket, but I've never injected a brisket or butt before. I did not put in all the marinade, but I would guess that I probably used about 1/2. I would have put more, but it seemed to be coming out from everywhere so I stopped. I did try to make sure that I only injected the marinade as I was withdrawing the probe. My other impression is that the marinade seems very slippery/slimy to the touch. I thought that was interesting. It does have a strong odor, but not a negative odor. I spilled some on the white countertop and when I looked at it, I thought I had better clean it up before it left a stain. Now, I'm wondering if the stain will come out of the dish cloth I used to clean it up. Oh well.

Anyway, I put the marinade into the brisket, coated it liberally with Smokin Guns Hot to help soak up some of the marinade that may leak out of the brisket. I'm hoping to have it on the smoker by 6:00 am tomorrow morning. I'll post the picture of the brisket before injection and how it looks before I put it on the smoker tomorrow.

Did you mix the entire package up or just half? The sample is enough for 2 briskets. Looks like a good start though, looking forward to the after pictures.

[watertowerbbq]

Originally Posted by CajunSmoker

Did you mix the entire package up or just half? The sample is enough for 2 briskets. Looks like a good start though, looking forward to the after pictures.

I mixed up 1/2 and put the other half in a ziploc bag. I mixed it with 1 cup of cold water.

[BBQ_Mayor]

Looking good Matt. Give me a shout when it comes off the cooker.

[watertowerbbq]

Originally Posted by BBQ_Mayor

Looking good Matt. Give me a shout when it comes off the cooker.

Will do!

Here's a couple of slabs that are going on the top rack of the WSM. Just put them on 10 minutes ago with The Slabs Birds & Bones Stephy Style. Never tried it before, but thought I'd give it a go. I'm cooking these ribs at 210º, lower than the 250º I usually do. I figured that since this started out as an experiment, why not try something else new.

ribs ready for the smoker

[watertowerbbq]

Ok, here is the review...............it was great! By far the best brisket I've ever done. The tenderness was better than I had done before and the "beefy" flavor remained. My wife and my neighbor, who is also a teammate, said it was my best. I did not see any blotchy spots within the brisket, but I did inject across the grain (thanks Txshutte) to eliminate the injection holes in the final cut prodcut.

I should mention that I smoked it for a total of 11 hours, with the last three being on the top rack of the WSM. The remaining 8 hours is was cooking on the bottom rack of the WSM. I set the pit temp at 210º for the top rack. Wrapped it at just under 160 (same time I was wrapping the ribs) and finished at 196º. I let it rest in a cold oven for 1 hour prior to carving.

A special thanks to Todd and Merl for starting this thread and significantly improving my brisket. It was good enough that even my 4 yr old son who doesn't like much and had never TRIED any of my bbq, tried this and said he loved it. Thanks so much guys!

brisket ready for carving

first slices

more slices.............

still more slices



P.S. here's the finished rib pics. not too bad, but dried out almost instantly after cutting. very disappointed

[MilitantSquatter]

Those slices look fantastic !!!

[1_T_Scot]

Good looking Brisket and ribs! I'd hit both of them!

[KC_Bobby]

Too bad you can't inject with Butchers for comps.

[watertowerbbq]

Originally Posted by KC_Bobby

Too bad you can't inject with Butchers for comps.

Yeah................too bad.