Noo Yawker trying to BBQ

[Notmuchlonger]

I learned to not even bother arguing with any parts of the country that do bbq the best. Just nod your head and go hmm hm yep.

 

[haha]

But the bottom line is - can a Northern gal be taught to make proper brisket?

It is easier if you have a brisket to make. What do they do with briskets in your area? Cure them all for corned beef?

Baked brisket is a big part of middle European cooking.

Ha

 

[HFWR]

Generally, low and slow works better for the tougher, fatty cuts, like brisket. I'd worry that low and slow for a sirloin would turn it to leather. Good idea to add moisture.

 

[Buddha44]

If you're lazy like me, there's always the Big Apple BBQ in June in NYC.

Big Apple BBQ

 

[jambo101]

Ok, folks. Hang onto yer hats....I'm ready to try a beef brisket.

I don't own a slow cooker except my tried and true cr**kpot.

The beef is boneless sirloin, about 3" thick and cut into a flat slab about 10" long by 6" wide. I can't get real brisket here.

I'm sure whatever it turns out to be will really taste good but it aint going to be anything like a brisket,i'm sure your local Price Chopper or if in Canada Loblaws will gladly cut you a real Beef Brisket if you ask them.You will never get that smokey flavor in a crock pot but you can cheat by using a product called Liquid Smoke its usually near the BBQ sauces in the super market.
Interesting site about meats..Beef Brisket and Foreshank Cuts

 

[kumquat]

Dumb Canuck here.

I saw a bit at the top about BBQ pork ribs and then it got into brisket. Great brisket help, but can anyone help with the ribs?

(Back when I was w*rking, my mega-corp had a Memphis office and I'd kill for some of that pork).

 

[HFWR]

Dumb Canuck here.

I saw a bit at the top about BBQ pork ribs and then it got into brisket. Great brisket help, but can anyone help with the ribs?

(Back when I was w*rking, my mega-corp had a Memphis office and I'd kill for some of that pork).

Dry rub such as this:

brown sugar
paprika
salt
ground black pepper
garlic powder
onion powder

Other possible ingredients include chili powder, cumin, and allspice.

Wet mop of, say, apple cider and apple cider vinegar. Remember, sugar will burn...

Cook low and slow, about 225F, for 3-4 hours, wet mopping often with a thin, non-sugary mop, or near the end with a thicker mop, like BBQ sauce.

 

[PX4sc40sw]

EDIT: Ooops HFWR beat me to it. But I'll leave this as extra reading
EDIT Redux: Ahaha, found it. This is where I stole my "secret" recipe.
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf955113.tip.html

kumquat,
the Memphis style BBQ is a variation of West Indian traditional jerked pork. My wife's heritage is Jamaican and her family moved to Memphis in 1840.


The ribs "must" be cooked in a smoker using white oak and hickory, else they are not Memphis enough.

There is no BBQ sauce on a Memphis pork rib, it's a mop sauce, different type thing.

Recipe I copied from the Internet:
Marinate over night in a rub of 1 tablespoon of each of salt, celery salt, black pepper,dry mustard, cumin, cayenne and 1/4 cup each of sweet or Hungarian paprika and brown sugar. Put dat all over the ribs after you cut off the membranes. Put in a bag overnight it in a fridge.

Use a mop sauce for the next day's cooking, use 2 cups cider vinegar and apple cider, add 2 bay leaves, few cloves minced garlic, 1/4 cup Tabasco, salt and add 1/2 cup of the rub mix above.


Put aluminum foil on the smoker grill, get the wood burning and steady at 250F and put the ribs on as is, after about 20-30 minutes, put mop sauce on and keep applying it every 20-30 minutes for about 1 week or 5-6 hours whichever comes first.

I have: "Scott's recipe" written after this in my notebook so it's probably on the web somewhere.

But this is "true" Memphis BBQ.

 

[PX4sc40sw]

I'm cooking wibs. About 1/3 of the way thru.
Picture one is the membrane removal procedure.
Picture two is the rub on said wibs.
Picture three is after 2 hours at 250F, bare minimum time.

 

[PX4sc40sw]

The results, pathetic by Texas standards but not bad for the BX.

 

[freebird5825]

Generally, low and slow works better for the tougher, fatty cuts, like brisket. I'd worry that low and slow for a sirloin would turn it to leather. Good idea to add moisture.

The injector was the secret for tenderness for the sirloin cut. I did that every hour, injecting just enough until it just barely came oozing out the pores.
I cooked that baby until it was fork tender. Sliced it up nice and thin and added a little water to the concentrated juices to make a nice au jus.
dh2b said I could make this anytime.
I need to check with my mom and pop store for real brisket. The grocery stores simply don't carry it here. Remember I'm in the middle of East Nowhere, NY. You get what you get.
Next project - find a smoker and get real.

 

[freebird5825]

I'm cooking wibs. About 1/3 of the way thru.
Picture one is the membrane removal procedure.
Picture two is the rub on said wibs.
Picture three is after 2 hours at 250F, bare minimum time.

Oooooooo, I wuuuuu-uuuuuv wibs.

I can get wibs easily, in any store.
Pork - regular, baby back, and thicker country style cut.
I marinate them in a sweet Chinese style marinade and do them up on the grill.
Beef - only the Fred Frinstone ones and not so often. I cook these really slow in the oven with BBQ sauce.

Here's a simple recipe you can try at home. Buy a boneless beef roast and slice it as thin as you can,
keeping slices as wide (size of your hand) as possible. Partially freezing the beef will make slicing it easier.
Soak the beef in Chinese marinade (blend of soy sauce, ginger, honey, sesame or peanut oil, garlic, etc) overnight.
Take long pieces of fresh green scallions and wrap the beef around the onions, using a rolling technique.
Fasten with toothpicks. Grill over medium heat with constant basting. Cook until just done.

 

[Leonidas]

Next project - find a smoker and get real.

Come to Texas, we'll fix you up with some lessons.

Re: Barbecue sauce - I've come to view it as sacrilege. Something like putting ketchup on steak.

 

[REWahoo]

Re: Barbecue sauce - I've come to view it as sacrilege. Something like putting ketchup on steak.

Yep. If the meat is so bad you have to cover it with sauce, you don't want to eat it...

 

[freebird5825]

Come to Texas, we'll fix you up with some lessons.

Re: Barbecue sauce - I've come to view it as sacrilege. Something like putting ketchup on steak.

Well, that's the 2nd invitation I've gotten to come to TX for real BBQ. Thank you kindly!
One of these days I just may come visit your beautiful state again. I've been to San Antonio before and drove to somewhere where an agricultural school is located, on the way to Austin. I remember seeing a sizable emu (or was it ostrich?) farm on the way. LH and I were visited a HS friend of his, doing his PhD in biology. I remember the bluebonnets (wild lupines? tall flower spikes with lots of almond sized blue flowers) were in full bloom and were just breathtaking.
I'm looking at doing some travel next year after paying for our big cruise this summer. I am FIREd after all.

 

[Leonidas]

I've been to San Antonio before and drove to somewhere where an agricultural school is located, on the way to Austin

You passed some excellent bbq, just a short jog off the freeway (short by Texas standards) down in Lockhart. Either Smitty's or Kreuz's are well worth the detour.

Note the rules at Kreuz's:

I remember the bluebonnets (wild lupines? tall flower spikes with lots of almond sized blue flowers) were in full bloom and were just breathtaking.

They are lupines, several different species grow wild, including one that grows naturally only in Texas - all together they are the official state flower. Depending on what part of the state you are traveling through, you can see any combination of about two or three dozen different flowers. The ones I see most commonly are Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush and some yellow ones (either Sunflowers or Black-Eyed Susans).

 

[freebird5825]

I've been to San Antonio before and drove to somewhere where an agricultural school is located, on the way to Austin. I remember seeing a sizable emu (or was it ostrich?) farm on the way. LH and I were visited a HS friend of his, doing his PhD in biology.

I just did a Google maps search to see if the town names would jog my memory. I distinctly remember News Braufels because a big German food festival was being advertised on billboards along the highway.
I believe we were headed for either College Station or Bryan TX. I know we did not drive into Austin proper. So the HS friend may have been attending Texas A&M unless there another school nearby. I remember the HS friend talking about Aggies.
I do remember the emu (ostrich?) farm because we pulled over and I checked them out, right up close and personal but keeping my hands on the right side of the tall wire fence. They were some very serious size birds.
This trip was a long time ago, and if nothing else was a good memory test for me. The ol' noggin is still w*rking...

 

[REWahoo]

Freebird, in the event you do make it down this way again for a visit, and I sincerely hope you do, I'd be careful in implying Bryan/College Station (Texas A&M) is located "between San Antonio and Austin" (University of Texas) - check the map. The only folks around around here who would appreciate your geographical viewpoint would likely be the folks up in Lubbock (Texas Tech).

 

[Leonidas]

If you saw military cadets and maroon everywhere, it was A&M. They produce more commissioned officers for the military than any institution other than the military academies. And as for maroon, they love that color, and they go to extremes to make things maroon - including agricultural products like carrots. There is even a maroon "bluebonnet" out there somewhere.

 

[freebird5825]

Freebird, in the event you do make it down this way again for a visit, and I sincerely hope you do, I'd be careful in implying Bryan/College Station (Texas A&M) is located "between San Antonio and Austin" (University of Texas) - check the map. The only folks around around here who would appreciate your geographical viewpoint would likely be the folks up in Lubbock (Texas Tech).

There is no hope for the directionally challenged.

My recollections are based on road signs, since I was the passenger and map reader. I do remember getting off the main highway and driving for quite a while down a secondary road. That's where the emu farm was.

Is there a major TX school rivalry I'm detecting in your cautions?

 

[freebird5825]

If you saw military cadets and maroon everywhere, it was A&M. They produce more commissioned officers for the military than any institution other than the military academies. And as for maroon, they love that color, and they go to extremes to make things maroon - including agricultural products like carrots. There is even a maroon "bluebonnet" out there somewhere.

We never went on campus, just to the guy's house, so the maroon color memory trigger didn't help.
This is kinda like playing 20 Questions. Good for the brain.

 

[freebird5825]

Rustic23 gave me a recommendation on a good smoker to use.
Is this the right one?
Amazon.com: SMOKER SMOKE N GRILL: Electronics

PS - logging off to go do lunch. will check back later.

 

[Rustic23]

If it is the electric model, I would not use it. (OK, a little purest coming out) My son uses one and does a good brisket.

Rivalry? Well yes. there is Texas vs Texas A&M, TCU vs vs Texas A&M, Baylor vs Texas A&M, Texas Tech vs vs Texas A&M, Rice vs vs Texas A&M, Oklahoma vs vs Texas A&M, SMU vs Texas A&M, Lamar High School vs Texas A&M.

There are most likely a few more.

 

[REWahoo]

Is there a major TX school rivalry I'm detecting in your cautions?

Your rivalry detector is working much better than your compass!

To give you a hint of how strong the rivalry is between the Aggies of Texas A&M and the Longhorns of The University of Texas, here are the lyrics to the A&M school song. How many Universities have beating their rival (UT Longhorns = Varsity) as the central theme of their school song?

Hullabaloo, Caneck, Caneck
Hullabaloo, Caneck, Caneck
All hail to dear old Texas A&M
Rally around Maroon and White
Good luck to dear old Texas Aggies
They are the boys who show the real old fight
That good old Aggie Spirit thrills us
And makes us yell and yell and yell
So let's fight for dear old Texas A&M
We're gonna beat you all to Chigaroogarem
Chigaroogarem
Rough, Tough, real stuff Texas A&M
Good bye to texas university
So long to the orange and the white
Good luck to dear old Texas Aggies
They are the boys who show the real old fight
'the eyes of Texas are upon you'
That is the song they sing so well
Sounds Like Hell
So good bye to texas university
We're gonna beat you all to Chigaroogarem
Chigaroogarem
Rough, Tough, Real stuff, Texas A&M

Saw varsity's horns off
Saw varsity's horns off
Saw varsity's horns off
Short! A!
Varsity's horns are sawed off
Varsity's horns are sawed off
Varsity's horns are sawed off
Short! A!

 

[Leonidas]

Rustic23 gave me a recommendation on a good smoker to use.
Is this the right one?
Amazon.com: SMOKER SMOKE N GRILL: Electronics

I had one of those, charcoal version, and I trashed it. It wasn't very good as a grill and totally stank as a smoker. The major problem was regulating the air flow through it.

I bought this on sale at Bass Pro Shop:

Masterbuilt Electric Smokehouse Smoker

My price was a little better (end of season sale), but $199 is the best I have seen them anywhere recently and much better price than you'll get on Amazon. You can also buy them at Lowe's and Home Depot.

What do you get (that you really want) for the extra money?

Much better ventilation control for starters. It seals up on the side with a latch and then you use the vent on the top to control the ventilation.

Size: It's not that much bigger than that Brinkman, but it has multiple racks so you get much more surface to work with. Each of those racks is actually a littler bigger than the single one on the Brinkman. I smoked a huge brisket for Memorial day and it fit on one rack - it was a tight fit but I don't think you could close the lid on the Brinkman with a piece of meat that big.

It has a "loading device" on the side that allows you to add wood easily and without opening the door.

Temperature control and timer - The timer is not that important, but I really liked the temperature control feature.

Grease drip pan in the back that catches the runoff. Keeps your patio or deck clean and makes the interior of the smoker easier to clean.

You can try the Brinkman for the price, and the electric one may work better than that piece of junk charcoal version I had, but the lack of ventilation control and temperature control are going to mean a lot of trial and error while you figure out what works best.