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Salt & Pepper brisket bs

Aaron Franklin is running a restaurant and is cooking probably 70 or 80 briskets a day! I will almost guarantee you that his rub doesn't get too much more intricate than salt and pepper! He may throw more stuff on at home or for small batch cooks but I doubt that he does when cooking for the masses.
 
My first time at Franklin, I went up to chat w Stacy (Aaron's wife) when the line died off. Aaron had just gone home unfort... I bluntly asked about the s$p rub and she smirked and said of course that's all. Her face was riddled w sarcasm. I prodded more about what they do and got the same smirking response. This was when the first opened the brick and mortar store.

Essentially, he's doing more than just lightly placing s&p on a brisket. I understand the site admin saw him do a simple rub at a festival, as I'm sure he would in the public. I've done salt and pep a ton with great success. you'll never ruin a brisket w just salt and pepper.

I just don't buy his mantra of salt n pepper.
 
40% - kosher salt
40% - black pepper
10% - garlic powder
10% - onion powder
a splash of paprika for color

thats all i use on my briskets.

my father in law has been in the cooking business all his life, never used any seasonings, after speaking to a friend and owner of a resturant who spoke to franklin, he switched to S&P (my father in law that is) and will always go that route.

i care not for all the fancy expensive rubs, brisket doesnt need much
 
Andrew said:
40% - kosher salt
40% - black pepper
10% - garlic powder
10% - onion powder
a splash of paprika for color

thats all i use on my briskets.

my father in law has been in the cooking business all his life, never used any seasonings, after speaking to a friend and owner of a resturant who spoke to franklin, he switched to S&P (my father in law that is) and will always go that route.

i care not for all the fancy expensive rubs, brisket doesnt need much
Click to expand...
Good recipe! I would probably throw in a little cayenne too for pop but the hot stuff's not for everyone.
 
Bludawg said:
The reason some of you complain about S&P being to salty is your measuring by Volume not By Weight.:doh:
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Measure? Cmon...

I tried copyin a popdaddy video.... I guess I went by volume. In which case it wouldn't REALLY be no 50/50.... I just decided, I'll just pput on as much S/P as I think it oughta have. that works best for me. and that'sz what i'm gonna keep doing. And no I am never ever gonna squirt no pickle juice on there or pit foil on it or any of that. If I can't cook it right.... I won't cook it.

I know I said I don't care about tradition but I know some housewifes that boil a tasty brisket from start to finish. No foil, foiling is boiling.
 
For the record sorry about a double post, I don't not foil cause of Popdaddy videos. It's cause about 11 years ago, when I was dating my wife (Japanese lady) and Stationed in the Kanto area of Japan. I got off work early one day. I decided I'd cook her some fish so I went town to the store picked up some fresh salmon and veggies cut up the veggies and put them in foil packs with the fish and butter I thought it was great... My gal pretty much told me I ruined the fish, made it too mushy. After that I learned how to grill fish on the grate. Mostly Salmon, Mackeral and a really skinny oily fish pronounced Sama (translates to fall knife fish).. But if it swims I'll put it over the coals.

I just figured that if you make Fish too mushy in tin foil you also would make anything else (including Brisket) too mushy in foil.

anybody else here I'm not saying you are wrong and what you do might be better for you. I'm just saying what I do.
 
palmtreefrb said:
How is everyone measuring? is 50/50 SP volume or weight?
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1 cup kosher salt to 1 cup coarse black pepper. I make up a bunch at a time since I use it on so many things. Any other seasonings I want to add just go on the meat separately.
 
CarolinaQue said:
I know...it's farkin' crazy talk to think that a rival pitmaster of Aaron's would be spillin' the beans on how his brisket can't possibly be just an S&P rub and he couldn't possibly be fibbin'?!?!?!
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I've cooked with John Lewis and I doubt that he is lying. "Never cooked a S&P brisket" could mean that he subbed some of the salt for Lowrey's or that he used S&P + a small amount of another spice. Or because he may not consider it a true S&P brisket because he sprays the meat with watered down Worcestershire sauce or pickle juice or unicorn tears.
 
palmtreefrb said:
How is everyone measuring? is 50/50 SP volume or weight?
Click to expand...
I mix it and put it in a shaker bottle so I weigh it.
By weight 1 tbl of K salt & 1 Tbl of med grind Black pepper are not equal.
IIRC 1 tbl of K salt weighs 1 oz 4 tbl of the med grind black pepper weighs 1 oz
 
Cabin Fever said:
To each their own, but something about this Aaron Franklin character tells me he's not lying.

BTW, this might be a little off topic, but am I the only one who doesn't believe the BBQ joints on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives when they reveal their top secret/award winning rubs and sauces? I've noticed more than a few times that the rubs they actually end up putting on the meat are a completely different color than what they whipped up.
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I think Harrison Sapp at Southern Soul gave a pretty accurate description of his technique. One of the best episodes of DDD in my opinion.
 
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thirdeye said:
Or pressure cooking ribs. :biggrin1: One of my buddies, that is a pretty good cook pressures his ribs on occasion, and finishes them for about 40 minutes on a kettle. His family loves them.
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If there is something other than water in his pressure cooker (it is called braising/water is steaming which is way too close to boiling in my book) it is not a "bbq foul" if finishing on a charcoal unit.
 
luke duke said:
I've cooked with John Lewis and I doubt that he is lying. "Never cooked a S&P brisket" could mean that he subbed some of the salt for Lowrey's or that he used S&P + a small amount of another spice. Or because he may not consider it a true S&P brisket because he sprays the meat with watered down Worcestershire sauce or pickle juice or unicorn tears.
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Bingo! That's my point exactly. It's the small minute things that are conveniently being passed off as just s&p.
 
How critical is the grind on the pepper? I'd imagine that a finer grind would provide more net surface area actually touching the meat per oz of pepper.

I'm a total rookie with respect to the central TX style. Tried some beef ribs a few weeks ago and used 50/50 Diamond Crystals kosher salt to a fairly coarse fresh ground pepper. I see from the above posts that its likely that a big part of my error was in using volume not weight. Wondering if that alone was the cause of the excessively salty result.
 
Bob Loblaw said:
Essentially, he's doing more than just lightly placing s&p on a brisket. I understand the site admin saw him do a simple rub at a festival, as I'm sure he would in the public. I've done salt and pep a ton with great success. you'll never ruin a brisket w just salt and pepper.

I just don't buy his mantra of salt n pepper.
Click to expand...

I don't know. If he's winning awards against more than 100 other cooks by using sale and pepper, why would he feel the need to do much else in his restaurant? Maybe he used to use something different, maybe he still does. But if the people love a simple S&P rub, why would he do anything different?
 
Damn True said:
How critical is the grind on the pepper? I'd imagine that a finer grind would provide more net surface area actually touching the meat per oz of pepper.

I'm a total rookie with respect to the central TX style. Tried some beef ribs a few weeks ago and used 50/50 Diamond Crystals kosher salt to a fairly coarse fresh ground pepper. I see from the above posts that its likely that a big part of my error was in using volume not weight. Wondering if that alone was the cause of the excessively salty result.
Click to expand...

Don't know how "critical" it is, but from what I've gathered, 16 mesh pepper seems to be what's typically used as far as the grind is concerned.

Carl
 
damn true said:
how critical is the grind on the pepper? I'd imagine that a finer grind would provide more net surface area actually touching the meat per oz of pepper.

I'm a total rookie with respect to the central tx style. Tried some beef ribs a few weeks ago and used 50/50 diamond crystals kosher salt to a fairly coarse fresh ground pepper. i see from the above posts that its likely that a big part of my error was in using volume not weight. Wondering if that alone was the cause of the excessively salty result.
Click to expand...
yes!!
 
Bludawg said:
yes!!
Click to expand...

Thanks for this advice. I've been keeping tabs on this thread all week. So since changing my rub will be among the adjustments I plan on making for my second brisket, what is typically recommended, with respect to ratios, going by weight as opposed to volume?

Something like 2 parts kosher salt to 1 part course ground black pepper to 1 part granulated garlic? Or cut back on the salt and go 1:1:1?

I'll whip out the kitchen scale and apply the rub lightly, as others have suggested (as opposed to a thick coat like for a butt).
 
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