My BBQ journey

[jbelson]

I've been going thru a turning point in my BBQ obsession so to speak. It started about 8 years ago when I bought a Traeger pellet grill. Started to smoke, even took some competition BBQ classes, and impressed my friends. During this time, I made some BBQ buddies.
One of my buddies who started smoking along with me really got into it. He started with a BGE, and took a bunch of trips to Austin. He became obsessed with Franklins, understandably, and ended up buy a pit from the same guy that made Franklin his first pit (big offset on a trailer). He then started cooking out of his yard and promoting thru instagram, and became the talk of the town. EaterLA even listed him as the best BBQ in Los Angeles. Pretty amazing for working out of his yard, even though L.A. isn't a BBQ town.
Well, we cooked together this weekend at my house (his pit is now in my driveway, I've adopted it), and I really learned a lot. He does Texas style, great for beef. I did mine with an injector marinade, sugar rub loaded with flavors, he simple salt and pepper.
When we did a side by side comparison, I was suprised (and a little depressed) at how much better his turned out. Same pit, same length of time on smoker, everything except seasoning. It was like everything I learned and read online wasn't up to snuff. The difference in his ribs and mine were also huge. His are always so much more tender and juicy than those that I cook with a sugary rub.
It's had me rethinking how I do things and how I've done ribs and pork for the last 8 years. I've added so much that I've complicated things too much, and the simple was way better. Adding my flavors up front seems to not work as well as doing it at the end I've been covering up the pork instead of enhancing it.
It was a tough pill to swallow when you think you've mastered something, only to learn that you weren't even close.
After cooking 10 briskets and 4 pork butt's and feeling exhausted, I felt compelled to cook even more to try out what I've learned. I haven't yet, I needed to sleep. But will now change how I do things going forward.
Just thought I'd share.

 

[CptKaos]

Cooking for that memorable first bite is way different than cooking for a meal, for a meal type cook simple almost always tastes better especially when washing it down with a brew or two. IMHO
Finishing up some beef ribs on the BGE, simple EVOO and Adkins SouthWest and a little home mixed SPOG rub, wife says they are the best to date. I like them to
Larry

 

[Saucy]

Wow man. That’s awesome. I hope you keep us all updated on your journey and what you find out about the different processes. I’m intrigued and ready to learn.

 

[dadsr4]

Me, I like the taste of meat, whether it's beef, pork, lamb, or chicken. If it doesn't taste good with basic seasonings, I don't cook it again. My time is worth something. It's quite rare that I spend more than 15 minutes prepping anything for the grill. Rarely brine, unless someone asks me to. Sauce is in the frig if someone wants it.

 

[rwalters]

Love it!! Thank you for taking us along the journey with you. Really hoping you continue to share as you learn so we can all benefit

 

[Bacchus2b]

I went through something similar for a period where I felt compelled to keep adding "stuff" to my rib recipe and never getting it where I liked it. One day I just went with Salt and Course Pepper on my spare's and they were amazing!

Even Johnny Trigg once said he would not cook his own competition ribs at home, as he prefers simple salt and pepper.

As a mainly backyard guy I think we all can get caught up in competition methods, especially the latest trends. Competition cooks have one bite to sell their product to the judges so it needs to be intense, but not what I want or crave at home in quantity.

 

[jbelson]

I feel like I have to unlearn what I've learned, which is hard to do as a middle aged man. We know everything already.
When I first ot the offset, I had some wood problems too which kind of set me back. I ordered a 1/4 cord of oak, but got something else, not sure what. The wood left a soot on the meat and everything turned out black. I thought it was my technique for a long time untill I bought new wood.
My BBQ looked gross, it had a bit of a soot taste to it, and I really wanted to give up on the offset.

 

[Rockinar]

A little salt, pepper, garlic is about all you need. Maybe a light glaze on the ribs. Thats about it.

Let the meat speak for itself.

 

[sudsandswine]

I've been going thru a turning point in my BBQ obsession so to speak. It started about 8 years ago when I bought a Traeger pellet grill. Started to smoke, even took some competition BBQ classes, and impressed my friends. During this time, I made some BBQ buddies.
One of my buddies who started smoking along with me really got into it. He started with a BGE, and took a bunch of trips to Austin. He became obsessed with Franklins, understandably, and ended up buy a pit from the same guy that made Franklin his first pit (big offset on a trailer). He then started cooking out of his yard and promoting thru instagram, and became the talk of the town. EaterLA even listed him as the best BBQ in Los Angeles. Pretty amazing for working out of his yard, even though L.A. isn't a BBQ town.
Well, we cooked together this weekend at my house (his pit is now in my driveway, I've adopted it), and I really learned a lot. He does Texas style, great for beef. I did mine with an injector marinade, sugar rub loaded with flavors, he simple salt and pepper.
When we did a side by side comparison, I was suprised (and a little depressed) at how much better his turned out. Same pit, same length of time on smoker, everything except seasoning. It was like everything I learned and read online wasn't up to snuff. The difference in his ribs and mine were also huge. His are always so much more tender and juicy than those that I cook with a sugary rub.
It's had me rethinking how I do things and how I've done ribs and pork for the last 8 years. I've added so much that I've complicated things too much, and the simple was way better. Adding my flavors up front seems to not work as well as doing it at the end I've been covering up the pork instead of enhancing it.
It was a tough pill to swallow when you think you've mastered something, only to learn that you weren't even close.
After cooking 10 briskets and 4 pork butt's and feeling exhausted, I felt compelled to cook even more to try out what I've learned. I haven't yet, I needed to sleep. But will now change how I do things going forward.
Just thought I'd share.

Is this the same guy that was in a video posted here recently about his "popup BBQ events" in LA? If so, that brisket did look pretty amazing. Wish I could find the link, but my searchfu is weak.

 

[jbelson]

Probably the same guy, he's been in a bunch of videos. It's pretty amazing the responce that he's had with his BBQ. His brisket is amaizing. He's been asked to cook at the next Wolfgang Puck chef series at the Bel Aire hotel in a month or so with a lot of his food hero's. He's blown away by it.
We cooked 10 briskets one day at my house that sold out real quick. he's been cooking 30 at a time on his other, big smoker.

 

[Czarbecue]

I did a 5 meat cook this weekend. Also tested 3 different rubs. Those that were critical enough didn’t like this Twisted Q maple/pecan pork rub that I used on one of the spares. Too salty and savory than the other sweet options. Even though it was just one rub, I did kind of kick myself for experimenting with a rub on an event. Those I usually leave for testing with the wife. She lays it on straight now that she knows I’m gearing up.

The crowd pleaser was the brisket. I did 2 parts pepper and 1 part salt with a table spoon of lemon pepper for some tang. That’s it. No slather or gimmicks.

Lesson is to experiment and tweak when you’re not on the stage. And learn from your experience.

 

[Mikhail]

Great post. Simple is good.

But jbelson? No need to feel down about it. You have been cooking bbq that your audience likes a lot. That's all that is required.

 

[BigThicket]

It's easy to get sidetracked with all of the techniques and trends floating around. I agree, though, that the simple methods usually yield the best results.

 

[jasonjax]

Competition BBQ is NOT mass BBQ is the simple lesson.

Competition BBQ is really cooking to a standard, whereas the public/friends/family who want to eat "good BBQ" will want something they can eat plenty of, enjoy, get full, come back another day and rinse and repeat.

 

[W.I.T.W.A.G?]

If you start by focusing on comp bbq it's tough to come out of it. You have ingrained in your brain that you have to inject everything and need multiple layers of flavor for it to be good. After years of comps I did a simple SPG brisket with no injection for myself and I absolutely loved it. I said to myself that I wasted so much time and money trying to get beef to taste more like beef that I actually forgot what REAL beef tasted like.
Now the only time I inject ANYTHING is for comps. Since I've realized how much I like non-comp bbq my scores have dropped because I try to blur the lines and make judges like "real" bbq. It doesnt work.
The journey is the fun part and you're not alone. Thanks for sharing.
Also: I wish I could get away with selling food out of my front/back yard!

 

[Stlsportster]

I have a buddy who just bought a Louisiana Pellet grill at Costco a few months ago. He is a Youtube guy...been watching hours of it before he tries a new meat. Then he calls me. Always goes the same.

Him: Ok, how do I inject, spritz, mop, rub, brine, foil, wrap, braise this thing.

Me: Rub 5 min before you put it on. Wrap it if you want to speed it up. Put it in cooler to let it rest. Eat.

Him (next day): Wow that was simple and awesome.

 

[rwalters]

I have a buddy who just bought a Louisiana Pellet grill at Costco a few months ago. He is a Youtube guy...been watching hours of it before he tries a new meat. Then he calls me. Always goes the same.

Him: Ok, how do I inject, spritz, mop, rub, brine, foil, wrap, braise this thing.

Me: Rub 5 min before you put it on. Wrap it if you want to speed it up. Put it in cooler to let it rest. Eat.

Him (next day): Wow that was simple and awesome.

LOL! So true

 

[BillN]

For mine and my families taste I was fortunate to learn early that we prefer SPOG on just about everything. I have not overly invested in a inventory of expensive rubs and happy for that. I do have a rub I do like but not my creation, one a friend shared with me after 10+ years of working on it but I use rarely use it. For my taste I like for the meat to shine.

 

[Bucknekked]

Finishing up some beef ribs on the BGE, simple EVOO and Adkins SouthWest and a little home mixed SPOG rub, wife says they are the best to date. I like them to
Larry

Larry
It does my heart good to see some love for the BGE. I'm a L BGE owner and I smile everytime I eat the stuff that comes out of there.

 

[Norm]

Don't get me wrong I think the egg is a great cooker. I use it for low and slow and rotiss chicken. My go to grill for most nights is a Weber 26.75" kettle. I bank the lump to one side and use the side without for bringing up the meat to almost the right temp and then put it directly over the coals for a sear.

Lots of options out there, good idea to ask questions before purchasing.