Experienced the most heavenly brisket last night, and asked the guy his secret.
Expected a short commentary, what I got was a very lengthy and fascinating conversation of the joys of cooking with cast iron.
He slow smoked it in a dutch oven with wood and coals, and it was just incredibly delicious....so I layered his chopped brisket with his regular bottled sauce that he added the juice from the brisket to (ohhhhh yummmmmmmm) on a bun and topped it with my oil and vinegar based Amish slaw, slapped the top bun on and groaned in culinary ecstasy.
I usually bake and just grill meat/steaks on my grill, but this inspired me to run to the store and get a brisket, get out my dutch oven and fire up a burner on one side of my grill to the lowest setting, set the brisket on the other side, and it has been happily roasting for 3 hours now....
The dutch oven I have has a glass lid
(been meaning to get one with the iron lid...) and it probably would have worked, but I am using a skillet that fits perfectly instead, until I find a lid, or get another oven w/ lid.....
He adds beer later in the process, so I figure by the time the brisket is ready for a beer, I will too!!!
Only trouble is, the slaw needs at LEAST 24 hours to marinate properly, so the sandwich will have to wait til tomorrow!!
We ordered a 1/2 beef back in January. Just got it this week. It had been aging for the passed 5 weeks.
Going to cook a couple t bones tonight on the smoker at 500 degrees to medium along with some baked potatoes and corn on the cob from the garden.
Corn on the cob recipe:
Soak the ears for about 30 mins in warm water
Peel back the shucks and remove the silk
Liberaly apply mayo or miracle whip, chili powder and parmesan cheese
Re-wrap the shucks over the cob and stick on the grille
about 20 mins
If anybody processes their own birds let's get some talk going about your favorite ways to prepare and BBQ your own home raised fowl. Chicken/Turkey/Quail/ Misc.
Smoking interests me.....but I only have the 3 burner gas grill.
But I think it can be done, probably not as well, but all I got is what I got!
Yesterday I used one of those little cast iron pellet containers and used those pellet thingies, but I don't see why real wood couldn't be used....
I'm just totally clueless on the process....when I get home from work today I think I'll google smoking, but any tips or ideas you guys have would be appreciated......
We smoked a brisket yesterday for about 4 or 5 hours, today we are going to do a turkey breast - actually 2 breasts one is a gift for a friend of ours 75th birthday. We figured what can you get somebody that has everything? But it's pretty much a given he has never had one, home grown, home processed, home smoked.
The key to smoking meat is take your time. I remember way back when my grandfather had a working smoke house. Us kids would go in and take pieces of sausage or cut pieces off the hams, it made "pappy" very happy
Using different wood will also add flavor to the meat. oak, hickory are common, fruit woods - apple etc give a very nice flavor. don't use pine etc unless you want your meat to taste like turpentine.
There's alot of good info and tips on this thread.
Steve Hit the nail on the head, taking your time also adds to the pleasure of BBQing, so many folks get caught up in the whole time factor, you just need to plan for that when smoking a piece of meat.