HankB
is Blowin Smoke!
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2012
- Location
- Winfield...
After tasting the burnt ends from Steamboat at our mid-winter GTG I decided I really needed to up my brisket game. I picked up a 17 1/4 packer at Costco and got to work this morning.
I started by watching a couple Youtube videos on separating the point from the flat. I had already looked up some recipes and decided to go this route rather than smoke the packer and separate part way or after the smoke. [Need to run out and check my fire]
1000 - Empty cooker up to 275°F - meat on!
Back to prep. I cut more fat off this packer than I have ever done in the past. I really like the fat. I usually take some trimmings and smoke them along with the meat. My dirty secret. :wink:
(All images kindly hosted at https://postimages.org)
Then I made a rub. My first thought was to KISS, going with salt and pepper. Then I recalled that I like a little coriander in my rub. And I remember that Raichlen has a rub recipe that includes coffee and cocoa. I wound up putting the following in my spice grinder:
I'm not big on rubbing long in advance. I usually rub before I prepare the cooker. For cooking, I chose the 26" kettle. I think an 18" WSM would have worked too, but all of the meat is easily accessible on the 26. I use a couple firebrick to isolate the charcoals for a totally indirect cook. It looks like this.
I fired with KBB and some recently acquired hickory chunks. (You can literally find hickory by the side of the road near where my son lives in Michigan. We noticed a branch from a shagbark hickory that had broken and was hanging off the tree. We took his truck, a Ford F350 4x4, to pull it the rest of the way down. Ha! Broken hickory is still pretty strong. The branch was about 6" in diameter. This fall we saw that it had finally come down of its own accord so this last weekend when we were in the area to run a half marathon, we cut it up and retrieved it. But I digress. A lot. :blah
Once the cooker was going and read 275°F, I put the meat on and snapped a picture before closing it up.
The little bits in the middle should cook faster and I'll have them for lunch or maybe add them to the burnt ends.
My plan going forward is to smoke the burnt ends (with the brisket) until done - probe tender. Then I'll chop and put in a pan. All of the videos use aluminum pans but I'm a cast iron kind of guy so I might use that. Actually, I wrap my briskets in paper to finish so the point should go into some kind of container at that time.
I plan to make a sauce with the pan drippings, BBQ sauce and probably some sweetener. Honey? Maple syrup? I might add some rub too, but I'll have to be careful with that since my rubs are a little unconventional. My go-to sauce is Sweet Baby Ray's. They're a local business.
Feel free to add your suggestions and pointers to help me along. I plan to follow up with progress but that will be a while. I like to keep the cooker closed when I load it up. (If you're lookin' you're not cookin')
Thanks!
Edit: progress
1050 - cooker is reading 320°F (on the lid thermo) so I closed the lid vents to about 1/2. I'd prefer 250-300°F
I started by watching a couple Youtube videos on separating the point from the flat. I had already looked up some recipes and decided to go this route rather than smoke the packer and separate part way or after the smoke. [Need to run out and check my fire]
1000 - Empty cooker up to 275°F - meat on!
Back to prep. I cut more fat off this packer than I have ever done in the past. I really like the fat. I usually take some trimmings and smoke them along with the meat. My dirty secret. :wink:
(All images kindly hosted at https://postimages.org)
Then I made a rub. My first thought was to KISS, going with salt and pepper. Then I recalled that I like a little coriander in my rub. And I remember that Raichlen has a rub recipe that includes coffee and cocoa. I wound up putting the following in my spice grinder:
- 2 Tbsp coffee beans (Sumatra dark roast.)
- 2 Tbsp pepper corns
- 2 Tbsp whole coriander
I'm not big on rubbing long in advance. I usually rub before I prepare the cooker. For cooking, I chose the 26" kettle. I think an 18" WSM would have worked too, but all of the meat is easily accessible on the 26. I use a couple firebrick to isolate the charcoals for a totally indirect cook. It looks like this.
I fired with KBB and some recently acquired hickory chunks. (You can literally find hickory by the side of the road near where my son lives in Michigan. We noticed a branch from a shagbark hickory that had broken and was hanging off the tree. We took his truck, a Ford F350 4x4, to pull it the rest of the way down. Ha! Broken hickory is still pretty strong. The branch was about 6" in diameter. This fall we saw that it had finally come down of its own accord so this last weekend when we were in the area to run a half marathon, we cut it up and retrieved it. But I digress. A lot. :blah
Once the cooker was going and read 275°F, I put the meat on and snapped a picture before closing it up.
The little bits in the middle should cook faster and I'll have them for lunch or maybe add them to the burnt ends.
My plan going forward is to smoke the burnt ends (with the brisket) until done - probe tender. Then I'll chop and put in a pan. All of the videos use aluminum pans but I'm a cast iron kind of guy so I might use that. Actually, I wrap my briskets in paper to finish so the point should go into some kind of container at that time.
I plan to make a sauce with the pan drippings, BBQ sauce and probably some sweetener. Honey? Maple syrup? I might add some rub too, but I'll have to be careful with that since my rubs are a little unconventional. My go-to sauce is Sweet Baby Ray's. They're a local business.
Feel free to add your suggestions and pointers to help me along. I plan to follow up with progress but that will be a while. I like to keep the cooker closed when I load it up. (If you're lookin' you're not cookin')
Thanks!
Edit: progress
1050 - cooker is reading 320°F (on the lid thermo) so I closed the lid vents to about 1/2. I'd prefer 250-300°F
Last edited:
