Sunday, June 12, 2011

Updates continue

So it's a couple of weeks past the BBQ but I promised to finish this. 

So back to Saturday evening.  Fatties are done and now it's time to rub the brisket.  Nothing too fancy, just a dry rub and it will sit in the fridge for a few hours to absorb the flavors.  This year I got a 14 lb brisket and trimmed it down to almost 11.  A nice untrimmed brisket will have a thick part to it.  This is mostly fat and should be trimmed down to leave about 1/2" all the way over.  This will even out the thickness of the meat as well, allowing for more even cooking.  After doing some research, I also decided to score the meat diagonally.  THis is to allow the rub to get to the meat on the fatty side as well as letting some smoke in.....As a spoiler alert...I didn't see any difference in the flavor, smoke distribution or moisture of the meat due to the scoring.   I did decide to toss a beer into the bag with the brisket....beer always makes it better. 



About now the pork is almost done.  I take it out of the smoker and wrap it in foil.  I put it in a pan with a little coke.  This catches all the  juices which I later pour on top of the pork after it's pulled.  Unfortunately I realized that I didn't take any pics of the pork after it was done.  I was quite delirious at this point and was having trouble remembering anything.  It really is a site to see though.. this huge pile of deliciously smoked meat...good stuff.  This year I refrigerated the pork and reheated it the next day.  It saved me a TON of time when things would otherwise be very busy.  After this I passed out and set my alarm for 3 am.

At 3 am I wake up and begin to check the temp on the smoker.  It has absolutely no insulation, so it has to be adjusted based on the changed in outside temp....ex: night vs day.  I was also amazed this year at how much I had to mess with the temp when I put cool meat in.  It really screwed me.  Once I am happy with the temp, I get the wood going and put the brisket in.  I need to see smoke before it goes in to ensure that the meat properly absorbs it.  Otherwise the pores close and it doesn't get deep into the meat as I would like.  I used more mesquite on the brisket...really more than anything else.  Mesquite is a "hard" smoke and can become acrid if overused.   The meat goes in...and I set my alarm for 5 am.  


5 am rolls around and I check the meat.  More wood, more water and a little mop.  I used beer, onions, apple cider vinegar and a mix of some other stuff.  Back to sleep until 7 am.