Just got married, just got honeymooned, just got back to work… Time for some food!
17 lbs brisket, $61, 6 lbs salmon $9 per pound. Using the same recipe as usual.
2120: Brisket went on the smoker. 4.5 Tbsp salt, 4.5 Tbsp pepper, 2.25 Tbsp garlic powder.
2200: Fish is brining.
0530: Brisket at 165 and 166. Crutched it, and turned temperature up to 250. Also, moved fish to drying.
… Read more »Well, there’s the possibility that the brisket I did last weekend won’t be enough meat… And there’s the fact that I can get another one done in time… So I’m making another brisket! We’ll just try for a repeat performance…
14.1 lbs of brisket at $3.99 a pound…
1045, 21 Jul: Brisket went on, fat cap up, 225℉. I should check the temperature after 8 hours, at 0645.
0900, 22 Jul: The flat passed 166℉ a couple hours ago, but the point was only at 162℉. Now, the flat is at about 175℉, while the point is at 165℉… I wrapped it and increased the smoker temperature to 250℉. This step took a little longer than last time, but then I was doing to finish up further ahead of the party than I wanted anyway, so the timing should be ok. After wrapping I kept the fat cap on top.
… Read more »It’s time to make the brisket for our Maryland wedding party! I’m pumped. Goals this time - turn up the temperature to 250℉ earlier, or put it in the oven for a long time. I don’t want to go more than 24 hours, I can’t go for nearly that long… Cut off less fat than last time. Keep the fat cap on top…
The slab of meat I got was a full brisket, point and flat, 14.6 lbs and $3.99 a pound. Brisket has gone up in price, maybe it’s the season. When I first did this last winter, it was at about $2 a pound, now it’s double that. I guess I can’t wait to smoke a brisket in winter again.
… Read more »Time to try some ribs! I’ll use this recipe with the Memphis Dust dry rub I used on the pork butts. Also - we’re out of Salmon. I’m going to do a double batch of the usual. I’ll just do 6 pounds for four hours, then do 6 more for 4 more hours.
I bought what I thought were 3 racks of ribs - 3 large vacuum-packed things of ribs from Costco. About 30 lbs total. What I didn’t realize is that each vacuum packed bag contains 3 racks of ribs… So I’m going to do 9 racks of ribs. This is stupid and I almost certainly don’t have enough room in the smoker, but it’ll all work out :-)
… Read more »It’s a Saturday and I don’t have a ton of stuff to do, and we’re out of Salmon! A terrible problem with one clear solution. It’s time to smoke more meat. We’ve eaten almost all of the chicken and pork now, so I can feel good doing another brisket.
Actually, I’ve been excited for the last two weeks to do another brisket. Ok, I’ve been excited since the last time I did one, but in the last two weeks the excitement has come to a head. It’s time to make more brisket sandwiches, more brisket dinners. More brisket snacks. Brisket in eggs.
… Read more »Alright! Time to BBQ for some other people. We’re throwing a baby shower for some friends of ours, and one of the I’m going to bust out the pork butt recipe I used last time, and do it the same.
I got a 15 lbs butt from Costco again - it looks beautiful. There’s a bunch of dry rub from last time leftover in the cabinet.
24 Feb 2018, 1420: Began trimming the pork (took out chunks, left layers of fat about 1/8" thick - leaving a little more fat than last time), and then salting it. 1/2 tsp per pound meat, so 2.5 Tbsp. I cut the pork into three large pieces.
… Read more »Here’s today’s recipe! Based on a couple things:
1. The recipe my mom sent me called Amway Grand Plaza Grilled Chicken Midwest - in my Google Docs Recipes folder
2. [https://ohsweetbasil.com/how-to-smoke-chicken/](https://ohsweetbasil.com/how-to-smoke-chicken/)
Other great info and ideas at these links - at some point I’d like to try the brine/minimal method:
1. [http://www.smokegrillbbq.com/brine-smoked-chicken-recipe.html](http://www.smokegrillbbq.com/brine-smoked-chicken-recipe.html)
2. [https://www.traegergrills.com/recipes/poultry/whole-smoked-chicken](https://www.traegergrills.com/recipes/poultry/whole-smoked-chicken)
Anyway - here’s the plan today. Make a marinade of the ingredients below, divide this among four butterflied (spatchcocked? silly name) chickens in plastic bags, marinade overnight. Then, smoke for four hours at 220℉, with the goal of getting internal temp on the breasts to 160℉-165℉. Let the chicken rest, then carve it up.
… Read more »I began prep on Sunday night with 16 lbs of pork butt split into three parts, and 5.5 pounds of salmon. I used the typical salmon recipe, this time I did one quart of brine and still separated things into 4 bags. I used this pulled pork recipe, and this dry rub recipe per Ben’s recommendation. The pulled pork recipe looked to be a reasonable beginner’s complexity, too… I considered this pork butt set to be just three of the one used in the recipe, so I had 1 cup of dry rub that I used on the three.
… Read more »Some notes from the second time I busted-out the smoker - I made brisket and salmon.
The brisket recipe is based on https://heygrillhey.com/recipe/texas-style-smoked-beef-brisket/, and the salmon recipe is the one I normally make.
I used a 16.5 lbs brisket from Costco, $2.99 per pound. Turned on the smoker to 225, added hickory wood chips. Trimmed 1-2 lbs fat off, took just over half an hour to trim. Sliced it in half so it would fit in the smoker. Took out two smoker racks to help it fit.
… Read more »Some notes from the first time I used the smoker - I made smoked salmon. The result was awesome - I’ve made it a couple times since then, and am just dropping this here for future note.
Recipe: https://honest-food.net/how-to-smoke-salmon-recipe/
I really just followed the instructions. I used Diamond Crystal Kosher salt, as he recommends - which, BTW, is probably going to become my goto salt. I used Costco salmon without the skin on - it worked perfectly. I brined in Ziploc bags - no problem. The whole thing came out perfectly. I think I only brined for a few hours, then dried for a few hours. Since then, I’ve brined and dried for longer, but this first batch of fish really needed no improvement.
… Read more »