Texas BBQ

All of you are idiots.

 

Making Beef ribs and Brisket is easy. Most people are just misinformed and do stupid things like making brisket based on time. I would say making a whole pig is most difficult. It's a lot of labor and keeping heat even in the smoker would difficult.

 

I plan on getting moist and lean, ribs, and sausage...maybe pulled pork just because.

 

Please elaborate.

 

His favorite BBQ joint is spring creek.

 

You are a gentleman and a scholar, Dr of Dunk. I love reading your reports on your BBQ experiences. Kudos! (and keep it up!)

 

On a lark, I had the processor give me the whole ham/haunch on a 175 pound or so pig that I put my buddy on at our ranch in coleman. Normally I'm that guy that says don't eat a wild hog over 125 pounds or so but this fella has been spotted on the cams since October, completely by himself and living on corn. I'm experienced cooking on large and small pits for myself and a cookoff team but have never attempted a cook like this on a wild hog. Thinking of wrapping the cut with bacon and finishing foil wrapped with a good amount of mop to braise it.

 

Top plate ribs? Yes--easy peasy. But Brisket is infinitely more challenging than any pork cook on average--at least in my experience. Have you cooked before? I don't ask sarcastically, just curious if you have much time on a pit. I don't have as much time and skins on the wall as many others but I have learned to respect the brisket and embrace the pig. Cooking a brisket perfectly is like that one, sweet swing per 18 holes that makes you think for a moment that you can actually enjoy golf and might be decent some day....

 

Yes, I make about 10-20 briskets a year, and I've been told by many that they are equal to all the top BBQ joints in the Austin area.

 

For comparisons sake, I estimate I have only cooked 20 in the last 3-4 years total and consistency is always the number one problem--variables. Kudos to you then as it still challenges me and I've been at it to one degree another for 10 years. The best brisket to me is always one that I didn't have to F with for 10-12 hours and just show up and eat--patiently waiting for your invite to the next Q-party

 

Nice reviews. Sounds like a fun trip.

Gus' fried chicken (can only speak to the Austin location) is very good and so is Louie Mueller's in Taylor.

 

The trick to brisket is picking the right brisket and knowing when it is ready. Temperature and time are not important. I've done briskets anywhere from 200-400 degrees and they have all turned out well. You just need to know when to pull it off.

 

Some of the best bbq places in the state use prime brisket... for example, places like Franklin and Killen's use the prime brisket from these guys : http://www.creekstonefarms.com/ . Franklin was, and probably still is, big on trying to get "all natural" beef.

 

The irony is the only time I made a bad brisket in the last 10 years was the first time I cooked a prime. The thing got too moist and ended up with the consistency of a pot roast. I obviously didn't know when to pull it off the smoker. Now, I only cook prime briskets. Mostly because they are the only ones Costco sells in Austin.

 

I was going to pick up a brisket at Costco in Cedar Park yesterday but.... they had their prime beef tenderloins on sale for $14.99 a LB with a $20 instant rebate at the register. I bought a $65 tenderloin for $45 and plan on smoking it this weekend.

 

Thats a crazy deal! I need to go do that today.

 

Never smoked a tenderloin. I usually sous vide it.

 

That sounds interesting. I'm not crazy about the flavor of tenderloin, but smoking could give it an interesting dimension. Do you plan on searing it after?

 

Yeah I plan on smoking it at 200-225 to an internal temp of around 115 degrees then pulling it off and raising the temp on my egg to about 600 and searing it off for about 2 mins per side. From what I've read this should get me to a perfect medium rare.

 

Lockhart tomorrow. Smittys or blacks? Been 2 years since my last trip. Will be with a group of about 10.