So what do you put on your beef brisket before it hits the smoker? What's your wood for smoke?

Nothing beforehand but a mop of sauce liberally applied during the smoking process. Everyone's sauce is different but basically a minor tomato base w/ herbs of your choice, diced onions, garlic + keep adding the beer to the sauce (+the cook). In my smoker, I have a wall between the firebox + the low flue so that the smoke has to totally circulate the brisket before it can exit out of the flue. Having your firebox separate allows you to mantain constant temperature.

Oh, I'm sorry; usually Mesquite but I have found that peach + apple gives a nice sweeter taste.

Something (BBQ sauce, mustard, olive oil, etc.) to make the rub adhere to the brisket. Pepper, Salt, & Garlic, or any good available dry rub. Wrap in plastic and place in the refrigerator over night.

Pecan, if I have it. Oak if I don't. (I like mesquite because of my West Texas days, but I can't get it here.)

Ken, most stores carry mesquite lump, but I know that is not the same as dry mesquite. Dang stuff sure isn't much fun to hike through.

Watch out
I had my thread on steaks deleted irrationally without reason. I did not specify what kind of steaks and it was still deleted. If this is not about hunting and if you don’t mention hunting and if the same irrational rules are being applied, this thread may be gone. Quick! How did you hunt that brisket?!?!??

Brisket burnt ends... yummmm

https://youtu.be/vNtnBdtw3Tk

https://youtu.be/FVOh8430oCs

Kosher salt, Course pepper some fresh shopped garlic and onion,and a little celery seed! Life is what you make of it and I choose good drink, good people and what ever is on the smoker.

Mesquite is the only way to go. Oak can work if you strip the bark, but if you leave the bark it will make it bitter. My father would disown me if I used any BBQ sauce, either before or after cooking. Closest I've come is using mustard to marinade overnight, which does help the rub adhere. Agree with wrapping with plastic wrap overnight. Cheap French's mustard works as good as the expensive stuff.

We use red oak being from California where the Santa Maria cut become famous AKA Tri Tip. Red oak has thick bark that burns well and if you soak it overnight it will add smoke. we use the Santa Maria style BBQ as well.

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
Mesquite is the only way to go. Oak can work if you strip the bark, but if you leave the bark it will make it bitter. My father would disown me if I used any BBQ sauce, either before or after cooking. Closest I've come is using mustard to marinade overnight, which does help the rub adhere. Agree with wrapping with plastic wrap overnight. Cheap French's mustard works as good as the expensive stuff.

Big can of Jalapenos , use the juice in the can to mop the meat and lay Jalapenos on the meat, smoke over mesquite..or you can marinate the meat, salt and course ground black pepper, Garlic and cilantro to taste...

I like mesquite, but its strong so mix with apple or cook wrapped in aluminum foil for several hours the an hour or so of mesquite..Its different and has a slight bite. Drank several beers as you go, then several more while cutting it up..

To properly eat Bar B Que, with this recipe use black ends only, a splash of your favorite Bar B Que sauce (its all good) and a slice of Texas 10-15 onions, the best onion is existence. all on a butter bun..

Well, this is not BBQ but I have a corned beef + potatoes in the crockpot for tomorrow's St. Patty's day. I will put the cabbage in in the morning. The house is already smelling good.

Ray, you probably already know this but the 10-15 onion is called that because the A+M boys developed it on October 15th. You're right, it is a great onion.

I've tried a dry rub and it was okay but, normally, I run my brisket through a baste that I put together.
I don't pay any attention to the temp while I'm smoking my brisket as it seems not to matter.
My baste is 3 ltrs of Coca Cola, 3 lbs of brown sugar 1/4 cup of granulated garlic, 4 Tablespoons of Seasoning salt, 1/4 cup of black pepper, 1/2 cup of honey, 1/4 cup of vanilla, 1 bottle of liquid smoke.
I let the brisket smoke for 45 minutes before I start running the brisket through the baste every 30 minutes. I smoke it for 7 hours this way. After 7 hours, I take it off the smoker, triple wrap it in heavy duty aluminum foil and put it in the oven at 185-190 degrees for a gas oven, 205-210 for an electric oven. 8 hours for a gas oven and 9 - 9 1/2 hours for an electric oven. If the meat is good, you can't pick it up, just falls apart. Nobody spits my brisket out...........

Did a brisket Sunday low and slow with a Texas style rub, meat came out as tender as any I've ever had but lacked that great beef flavor. Thinking the next brisket will be injected with a brisket seasoning?

Cornbeef + cabbage went over excellent. Daughter in law baked a loaf of Guinness beer bread. Nice meal.

Did you watch the videos I posted?

quote:

Originally posted by buckey:
Did a brisket Sunday low and slow with a Texas style rub, meat came out as tender as any I've ever had but lacked that great beef flavor. Thinking the next brisket will be injected with a brisket seasoning?

Randy, I did corned beef and cabbage as well. I only mess with it once a year on St. Patrick's, but always look forward to it.
I did buy some pink curing salt to try corning my own one of these days.

Boom Stick ,Yes I watched both. At .99 cents a pound I've done a ton of chicken legs and have worked out the kinks to where now they get cleaned up fast! Still kinda new at Beef and like every thing I try I'll toss the kitchen sink at it till it ether is beat or I am.At $50.00 a pop brisket schooling may take awhile.

Like you, I like to master an ingredient. Eggplant is one of the hardest to master. Every cut of meat has its own character and ads a newness and challenge. The best brisket I ever had was a wagyu brisket by Mustards grill in Napa. First taste and I was floored that such a cut of meat could be so amazing and was inspired to chase that dragon ever since. I get more opportunity to perfect Tri Tip because of its popularity at my work but they are not too dissimilar. Now I can make a Tri Tip that will make you slap your momma. Pork ribs? Usually people say it is the best they ever had. It gives such satisfaction to perfect a dish. Right now, I am working on beef short ribs. Enjoy the journey.

Boomie, talk to us about tri-tip please.

Boom Stick, You Sir have my undivided attention!

Boom Stick, You Sir have cost me a whole day of taking on and off naps. I've spent that valuable time watching you tube on how to smoke tri tips and am now torn between doing another brisket next week or giving Tri Tip a shot. You Sir are a enabler!

Tri Tip...
The more premium the beef, the better the flavor and texture. Prime maybe too much for some but there are some ways to make your average choice grade Tri Tip sing. We use a Santa Maria style BBQ pit (Santa Maria CA is where the popularity came from). Traditionally, we use red oak to cook with. I like to let the meat come out two hours early to get room temp while covered before cooking. Trim the fat cap to 1/4-1/2” depending onprefference then cross cut the fat into 1” squares like a pork roast. When you cook the meat with the fat cap on top it will render down and self baste the Tri Tip. If I want to add some smoke flavor, I soak the oak bark in water the day before and add to the coals with the meat. I like to make a spice paste with a high smoke point oil like Avocado or peanut oil. I usually use Pappy’s seasoning as a base but if I don’t, I add a lot more sea salt as well as some of the other spices and Tajin seasoning. Add lots of chili powder, a bit of cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne powder or chili flakes or a purée of some other hot pepper that you can tolerate the heat from (I like some heat but not too much). I usually mix up the spices a bit adding whatever inspires me at the moment. The spice and oil paste needs the right consistency to spread and stick to the meat. When it has the consistency of wet cement, you are there. The oil transfers flavor quite well. You can get more spice to stick using the oil paste. Rub the paste all over the cut of meat generously. Using a thermometer to achieve the level of done-ness is critical. Technique is king! If you can’t grill right, it won’t taste right.
Place the the meat on the BBQ once the coals are ready and let the meat brown to sear it and then do an indirect heat to cook it slow for about an hour. when it is about 10 degrees before done, get it close to the heat and do a second sear. let rest for at least 20 min but a half hour is better because you slice thin, about 3/16 of an inch cross the grain of the meat. If you cut too soon, all the juices run out. Do not cover when you rest the meat or you lose the crunchy texture of the outside. My side dishes are ridiculously delicious too. My specialty beans that will shorten but enrich your life and cast iron baked mashed potatoes with sautéed garlic cloves and melting cheese cubes with a crust on top sides and bottom. cole slaw is a given. I wish I could invite you over to see me cook and to taste it. All I hear are groans of delight mixed with cuss words/compliments and silence till it’s all gone.

Thank You,

Good stuff boom stick, love me some tri tip. I'm not as polished as you are, but a guy can still turn out superb tri tip with a pretty basic method First of all I actually remove the fat cap entirely since my final temp of 130* won't render the fat anyway. After removing the cap, I will dry brine with a pink Himalayan salt, then put it in the 'fridge for at least 6 hours, or overnight. I use Susie Q's Santa Rosa rub and apply it to the tri tip about an hour before I plan to throw it on the smoker. I will smoke with a combo of hickory, apple, and maple to an internal temp of 115-120*, then throw it on a scalding hot cast iron griddle and sear both sides until I get an internal temp of 130*, a perfect medium rare. I let it rest for about 20 minutes (like bommstick said), and enjoy. This reverse sear method is really foolproof, as it allows you to finish the meat at the exact temp you desire.

I like a pre and post sear...
the high temp of the pre and post sear helps render the fat to something delicious and flavorful. The cross scoring the fat is essential for that and holds some of that spice paste. The browned crunchy outside with a perfect juicy tender pink center is a symphony of delicious in the mouth.

quote:

Originally posted by JGRaider:
Good stuff boom stick, love me some tri tip. I'm not as polished as you are, but a guy can still turn out superb tri tip with a pretty basic method First of all I actually remove the fat cap entirely since my final temp of 130* won't render the fat anyway. After removing the cap, I will dry brine with a pink Himalayan salt, then put it in the 'fridge for at least 6 hours, or overnight. I use Susie Q's Santa Rosa rub and apply it to the tri tip about an hour before I plan to throw it on the smoker. I will smoke with a combo of hickory, apple, and maple to an internal temp of 115-120*, then throw it on a scalding hot cast iron griddle and sear both sides until I get an internal temp of 130*, a perfect medium rare. I let it rest for about 20 minutes (like bommstick said), and enjoy. This reverse sear method is really foolproof, as it allows you to finish the meat at the exact temp you desire.

The only problem for me is that some of the family like their meat more on the medium side so how does Tri Tip handle the 145 to 150 temps?

Pre AND post sear.......I'm gonna try that. Thanks for the tip.

quote:

Originally posted by JGRaider:
Pre AND post sear.......I'm gonna try that. Thanks for the tip.

If you have a layer of fat and do the slow and low method the double sear is needed to render the fat along with the cross cutting the fat layer to aid in the rendering.

Not my pic but this is what I am talking about with the cutting the fat.

That certainly looks good!

That is a ham
Only used as a visual to show hot to trim the Tri Tip and cut that way to help rendering.

I thought it was a ham. Is the glazing on the top pineapple?

quote:

Originally posted by NormanConquest:
I thought it was a ham. Is the glazing on the top pineapple?

I just found that pic in the internets
Was not my ham.

It does look good though, doesn't it?

Ive never eaten a tri tip that I didn't like, including in camp just salt and peppered and cooked over mesquite fast or slow, but my kids think Im a coyote..Love menudo, and estomaca ( gut, liver, kindneys, chili, tomatoes, etc cooked in the stomach buried in hot coals..then there is my favorite, carne saco, or Sangre de frito. Carne Saco is jerky soaked and cooked over coals topped with pico and in hot tortilla, Sangre de frito is fried blood from goat,pig or beef with pico your choice. If Mexico ever gifted us with anything is was great food and music served outdoors..The Peranda. Then their is bar b Q Spanish goat, or fried goat meat cut in cubes and fried in cornmeal..We invented that one, when at a bar b q at the ranch with neighbors we ran out of catfish,so we killed 5 goats, cubed them up and fried them in a big kettle with left over cornmeal, never has catfish again, always goat. goes good with lots of beer..

https://youtu.be/sMIlyzRFUjU

This guy makes the best brisket
Worth watching if you don’t know Franklin.

I use a black pepper and sea salt, that's it.

I spray the brisket with white vinegar and allow it to dry for about 15-20 minutes then shake a good thick layer of rub on it.

It sits out for about an hour and absorbs the rub, then I put it in the smoker at 275 for 8-10 hours. If it drys out I wrap it in butcher paper and keep smoking.

I use post oak.

There are two books that I think are worth owning if you have a smoker; Myron Mixon's book and Aaron Franklin's book.

They aren't really a recipe book, but they will help you understand the process better. Both have won a lot of awards.

My crutch has become Montreal Steak Seasoning from McCormick. Liberal application 1 - 2 hours before hitting the smoker.

When it comes to wrapping - If I am using a Cookshack, then no wrapping. If I am trying to cook hot and fast(er) then I will paper wrap after 4 - 5 hours but only if I was pushing the cooking time and temps. I tell everyone to just shut up and wait, but there are times when the clock is against me.

But I like bark, so I will generally trade wrapping for lower temps and longer cooking time. If I spritz, then it is a 50/50 mix of apple cider vinegar and water.

Can't wait till us old retire people can afford to buy packer briskets again.