Brisket! In the Smoker!

Go to Texas and ask for BBQ, you'll get brisket. This chest muscle from the cow is cooked low and slow for hours. Done right it practically melts in your mouth. This is my version.

I started with a seven pound flat cut. I cut off a small piece to cook separately so it could go in the baked beans later. Along with bacon. But that's another post.

The morning after.

The night before, I trimmed most of the fat off and applied my rub. This was based on Amazing Ribs' Big Bad Beef Rub, but I add freshly toasted and ground coriander. And maybe one or two other things. Then several injections of low sodium beef stock and the brisket was ready to be wrapped and refrigerated for the night. I also put some hickory, mesquite, and pecan wood chunks in water to soak for the next day.

Meatzapalooza 2012

This Memorial Day weekend we hosted what I called Meatzapalooza 2012. On the menu was some of what you expect, hamburgers and hot dogs, and some of what you don't expect, the infamous bacon explosion and a traditional low country boil. I think some veggies made a token appearance but, really, who cares? It's all about the meat.

I had a couple of other items planned but we got so busy I put them off. Don't worry, you'll read about them soon enough.

Speaking of busy, the only picture I got was of the smoker cooking the bacon explosion. Yes, that is the same smoker as the one in my blog header. I recently sanded and repainted it, and restained the wood handles and shelf slats. Looks pretty good, doesn't it?

I've written about how I made my first bacon explosion, so I won't go into the details again. I will say I used a bit too much Italian sausage (just a bit, really!) and the bacon weave wouldn't quite cover the sausage roll. So I had to slap some more slices of bacon over the gaps to make it complete. Think of it as bacon spackle. I assembled the bacon explosion several hours ahead of time. Everything had time to set up and so it all held together when I put it in the smoker. Besides, how bad can be it be if you have to add more bacon? To anything?

The low country boil was pretty basic. Baby red potatoes, corn, smoked sausage, and shrimp in a pot with Old Bay seasoning and Zatarian's Crab Boil. Basic, but great flavors.

Both the bacon explosion and the low country boil were hits this year. I bet they will be again next year.

Poll: How Many Grills and/or Smokers do you have?

I just added a new poll to the sidebar on the right. Tell us how many grills and or smokers you have. Leave a comment with the details on this post!

Poll closes at 1:00 PM on March 20th.

My Equipment

I have several outdoor cookers: a New Braunfels Silver Smoker, two Weber charcoal grills,  and a Char-Broil Commercial Series four burner gas grill. New Branfels (the smoker company, not the town in Texas) was acquired by Char-Broil and they still sell the Silver Smoker. It's an introductory smoker and requires modifications for good results. I'll detail what I did to mine in the future.

My main charcoal grill is a 22.5" Weber kettle. I also have an 18.5" Weber kettle I won in BBQ Sauce Reviews' Mad, Mad Giveaway, which also included a selection of Mad Dog BBQ Sauces. The little Weber is handy for cooking sides like grilled vegetables

For weekday grilling I use the gas grill. It's convenient, fast, and easy to clean. Perfect for quick grills during the week after a long day at work.

This is an "infrared" grill, which means there's a perforated steel sheet between the grates and and burners. It helps even out the cooking and eliminates flare ups.

It doesn't matter whether it's gas or charcoal, when I'm grilling I'm using a variety of wood chips to add some smoke to everything. I like hickory and mesquite for beef. Mesquite, apple wood, and cherry for pork and poultry.