home bbq

[xdcx]

Yesterday I did a big cook for some friends and decided to do a little more for some co workers.

I cook on this:

It's a custom made pit by Gator Pits out of Houston.

I did 2 chickens, a pork shoulder and 2 briskets.

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One of the briskets I took the flat and turned it into burnt ends.

start to finish about 19 hours but completely worth it.

[thistle]

That's a serious looking smoker/grill-does it use charcoal or wood? I think I see some probes, do you use an electronic monitor?

I have a Weber Smoky Mt (22.5) & a Weber kettle, as well as gas CampChef stoves & an electric smoker, but I've yet to master the art of using more than one at a time, fortunately, the WSM holds a lot of meat. Your brisket looks great, I think that's the most difficult meat to get right...Uty

[xdcx]

That's a serious looking smoker/grill-does it use charcoal or wood? I think I see some probes, do you use an electronic monitor?

I have a Weber Smoky Mt (22.5) & a Weber kettle, as well as gas CampChef stoves & an electric smoker, but I've yet to master the art of using more than one at a time, fortunately, the WSM holds a lot of meat. Your brisket looks great, I think that's the most difficult meat to get right...Uty

I can burn both, but I only really use charcoal to get it starting. About a year ago I bought a cord of hickory/cherry/apple so I've been trying to get through it and doing a decent job at it.

yeah. I have a Maverick ET-732. It's not perfect but it does the job. When you say electronic monitor, you mean a fan controlled by a computer? If so, no. They work really well for UDS and WSM style but not offsets like I have. I have to feed the beast about every hour or so.

Brisket for me is the easiest/most consistent. I think it's just a matter of getting the technique down, paying attention the meat and for the most part ignore the thermometer.

[thistle]

I got an Auman temp controller, but I haven't hooked it up yet. That's what I like about the WSM, it can hold temp for a long time, w/out adding extra coals. The easiest meat for me is pork shoulder, throw it on, cook it as long as you can, then pull & add some NC vinegar BBQ sauce-pretty hard to screw it up. It seems to me that there's more of a 'sweet spot' for brisket, not too long (dry) & not too short (tough). I have made pretty good chili, out of leftover brisket that I wasn't real happy with-I just didn't grow up eating brisket, so I don't feel that I'm a good judge. Your burnt ends look scrumptious....

[xdcx]

I got an Auman temp controller, but I haven't hooked it up yet. That's what I like about the WSM, it can hold temp for a long time, w/out adding extra coals. The easiest meat for me is pork shoulder, throw it on, cook it as long as you can, then pull & add some NC vinegar BBQ sauce-pretty hard to screw it up. It seems to me that there's more of a 'sweet spot' for brisket, not too long (dry) & not too short (tough). I have made pretty good chili, out of leftover brisket that I wasn't real happy with-I just didn't grow up eating brisket, so I don't feel that I'm a good judge. Your burnt ends look scrumptious....

The trick is to not buy just the flat. Most of the ones that are in grocery stores are pre trimmed and don't have enough fat to render down on a long cook. Once it gets to 190 internal probe it periodically. When it goes in and out easily, it's done. Wrap it in foil and park it in an ice chest for an hour or 2 to rest. Then slice it up. If you're going to do burnt ends, separate the flat from the point, wrap the flap and chop up the point. Season the point, put it in a pan and put it back on the pit for a couple of hours. The pics were from before that second cook. Now they're a lot darker and crunchy.

[plunk]

That is a seriously impressive set up. Way to go.

Like Thistle, I use a WSM (but I think I have the smaller one). I used to be hyper-paranoid about the cooker’s temp: I used a double probe Maverick and seriously thought about upgrading to one of those bbq guru dealies. I’ve since relaxed a bit (bbq is not about stressing out), and no longer care about the temp. In fact, two of my lower vents are rusted shut. The thing still turns out some pretty good bbq.