Brisket TD (pron) in Memory of Odie

[BevoBurn96]

Couldn't pass up a brisket throw-down and had a really nice packer stashed in the deep freeze from the last sale at Kroger. Thawed it out and tonight opened up the bag.

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This brisket was a real floppy one. Almost no trimming was required even though it was an untrimmed packer. I cut off a couple chunks of hard fat. Sometimes I separate the point from the flat to cut out some of the connecting fat, but that won't be necessary on this one.

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Applied Odie's rub and wrapped it up in plastic wrap and foil for overnight.

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While applying the rub, I realized that this will be the first brisket I've smoked since my friend and BBQ mentor, Odie, passed away.

[cheez59]

Looks like a good start. How do you plan to cook it?

[BevoBurn96]

Got up early for a Friday (6:30am) and started warming the pit.

I've loaded the firebox up with live oak splits and some hardwood charcoal to get things going.

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Waited until the pit got up to 300 which is where mine usually lines out and started adjusting dampers. Since I plan to smoke this one slowly (target 225 to 250F), I added 3 gallons of water into the water pan so it will go all day. I set the meat on the grate a good 3 feet from the firebox, so placed the fat side up with the point end toward the heat. When my pit is full and briskets are near the firebox, I put the fat side down on those.

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I then hooked up the Tappecue to monitor temps. One probe for the chamber and one for the brisket. I like to wrap my briskets around 160F. It speeds things along and after wrapping I don't have to watch the smoke quality as closely for the rest of the day.

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Sweet thin blue coming out the stack. The temp will work back down slowly to the target now that the dampers are set.

[cheez59]

Do you wrap with foil or butcher paper?

[daninnewjersey]

Odie cracked a cold one and is watching from above....just like my buddy and BBQ brother Tommy who passed a year and a half ago. They ARE watching....

And oddly enough....I have a bunch of Tommy's rub left over. He would never give anyone the recipe so we might take it to a lab for analysis

My wife and I use it SPARINGLY...but it's so damn good it's hard to use it lightly.

Odie would be proud, man....

[BevoBurn96]

I've tried both. I prefer the foil as it isn't as messy when it comes time to pull the meat off the pit. I sacrifice not having a crispy bark for doing so, but crispness has never been one of my brisket quality measures.

[BevoBurn96]

I hope so.

The only improvement I made to his recipe was to buy a better grade of paprika. He picked his up from Sam's club. I've started using La Dalia (sweet) and the extra flavor punch from quality Spanish paprika is amazing.

[BevoBurn96]

Odie and I worked at a local refinery providing engineering support for small-cap projects. When he heard that I had adopted smoking as a hobby, he decided to mentor me in the art.

Odie learned his skills at the local parish church in a GIANT pit smoking brisket by the hundreds for church fundraisers. The story goes that he was the fire assist for the parish pitmaster who *supposedly* had won the brisket competition at the Houston Livestock Show in years prior with his rub. Well, the pit master appropriately spent his time monitoring each cook by drinking beer and ultimately forgot to remove labels from all of his spice jar containers from time to time (they were stored in a closet near the pit). Over the years, Odie was able to piece together all of the spices that made up the rub and then he worked out the ratios to his liking to create Odie's rub.

Well, Odie provide me with a small jar of his rub. I tried it out on some chicken thighs and it was magic. No BBQ sauce required. The rub absorbed the chicken fat and was amazing. Same thing with the brisket and any other meat I applied it to. I knew I had to have the recipe. I offered to buy the recipe from him...no deal...so I settled for buying large jars of it from him at spice cost. I had then decided the same as you that I'd send a sample off for analysis somehow. I'd stop by and visit Odie each week to discuss the weekend adventures on the pit, always working to shift the conversation to the rub. It wasn't until much later that I ever realized that Odie was having the best time screwing with me on this subject. He would tell me what countries the components came from, how many spices were in the rub and I would go away and try and work it out much to Odie's delight. He was very proud of the fact that there is no sugar or salt in his rub and this was a real point of mystery for me because it tasted well seasoned.

This went on for years and I got closer and closer to at least figuring out the components. By this time I also had started doing larger cooks for my church and volunteering for feeding the homeless as part of church under the bridge project. Odie noticed because he was having to make up lots of jars of rub for me. About that time, Odie's health began to decline and I suspect due to the volunteer work, he promised me that he would share his secret before he retired. Christmas 2013, I received a Christmas card from Odie with the coveted recipe inside. At this point, was amazed at the simplicity of it all and quickly realized all the rabbit trails Odie had me chasing over the years.

Odie never retired, but he did go onto a better place this February. So, in memory of Odie. I'll join him in a beer after lunch today....

[BevoBurn96]

Had a hot fire today....took it a long while to calm down. The pit is now at 225F and the brisket internal is already pushing 130F (surprising). Must have done a good job thawing this one out. Will focus on slowing things down now to achieve a good smoke ring.

Probably in another 30 minutes, I'll go add on some mesquite chunks for flavor and will then restock the firebox with pecan wood.

[daninnewjersey]

Originally Posted by BevoBurn96

Odie and I worked at a local refinery providing engineering support for small-cap projects. When he heard that I had adopted smoking as a hobby, he decided to mentor me in the art.

Odie learned his skills at the local parish church in a GIANT pit smoking brisket by the hundreds for church fundraisers. The story goes that he was the fire assist for the parish pitmaster who *supposedly* had won the brisket competition at the Houston Livestock Show in years prior with his rub. Well, the pit master appropriately spent his time monitoring each cook by drinking beer and ultimately forgot to remove labels from all of his spice jar containers from time to time (they were stored in a closet near the pit). Over the years, Odie was able to piece together all of the spices that made up the rub and then he worked out the ratios to his liking to create Odie's rub.

Well, Odie provide me with a small jar of his rub. I tried it out on some chicken thighs and it was magic. No BBQ sauce required. The rub absorbed the chicken fat and was amazing. Same thing with the brisket and any other meat I applied it to. I knew I had to have the recipe. I offered to buy the recipe from him...no deal...so I settled for buying large jars of it from him at spice cost. I had then decided the same as you that I'd send a sample off for analysis somehow. I'd stop by and visit Odie each week to discuss the weekend adventures on the pit, always working to shift the conversation to the rub. It wasn't until much later that I ever realized that Odie was having the best time screwing with me on this subject. He would tell me what countries the components came from, how many spices were in the rub and I would go away and try and work it out much to Odie's delight. He was very proud of the fact that there is no sugar or salt in his rub and this was a real point of mystery for me because it tasted well seasoned.

This went on for years and I got closer and closer to at least figuring out the components. By this time I also had started doing larger cooks for my church and volunteering for feeding the homeless as part of church under the bridge project. Odie noticed because he was having to make up lots of jars of rub for me. About that time, Odie's health began to decline and I suspect due to the volunteer work, he promised me that he would share his secret before he retired. Christmas 2013, I received a Christmas card from Odie with the coveted recipe inside. At this point, was amazed at the simplicity of it all and quickly realized all the rabbit trails Odie had me chasing over the years.

Odie never retired, but he did go onto a better place this February. So, in memory of Odie. I'll join him in a beer after lunch today....

Thanks for sharing that man....sounds like he was a great guy.

I met Tommy when I got on the local fire dept. Tommy was a big scary looking Irish guy that looked like he would crush your skull if you said the wrong thing to him. Turns out, he was one of the nicest and most caring people I've ever met.

I got into BBQ not long after starting at the fire dept and quickly learned that Tommy was really a good cook. He also had this killer rub which I would literally put on EVERYTHING....even tried it on cereal. We started doing a couple cooks together, sharing tips, "secrets", etc. Tommy was also a cop in our town so when he worked midnights he would swing by like 2-3AM when I was prepping for a weekend cook and would hang out for a bit. Some of the best memories I have are of him coming out of the darkness and scaring the sh*t out of me.

We then decided to start entering comps...and wouldn't you know we actually did pretty well. He was awesome at chicken...and actually didn't mind the skin scraping so chicken was all his We had some really good times staying up all night hanging out, drinking some beers, and hoping we would at least beat one team

One day Tommy was riding his Harley and some lady pulled out in front of him. Docs said he most likely didn't feel a thing. Our whole town cried when we heard the news. We had a funeral for him the likes of which I've never seen and hope to never see again. The procession had to be over a mile long between all the fire and police dept vehicles from all over the state...and some from surrounding states. I was lucky enough to be part of the honor guard and got to stand next to my friend's casket several times during that day.

Funny story though....typical Tommy story...after Hurricane Sandy I got a call from Tommy. People were throwing out all sorts of crap...knowing insurance would pay for new stuff. Tommy calls me and says stop what you're doing and get to 28th Ave. Someone is tossing a perfectly good Weber kettle. Tommy was policing or he would have got it for me. That's the kind of guy Tommy was....always looking out...to help his buddies....or anyone for that matter.

I still use that Kettle to this day.....

[landarc]

What s great story, and the brisket looks great so far.

My mentor used SPOG, so no great story

[jwtseng]

I loved reading such personal stories of your bbq mentors. Thank you both for sharing! The cook's sure to be tasty and looking good already!

[BevoBurn96]

Alright, meat is now 170F and decided to wrap now. Here's the brisket at mid-cook prior to wrap.

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[BevoBurn96]

Well, 12 hours have passed overall and the brisket has now rested for an hour.

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First slice (didn't last long)

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Had to fend the family off with a stick to get a TD photo

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I'm quite pleased with how this one turned out. Very tender, moist, smoke ring, and flavor packed bark.

[Bigr314]

Nice looking brisket. I think I can smell it! Well I wish I could.