Whoa. That’s a long cook.
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Aaron keeps his offset smoker temp at 250…I was taught 220-225., I use butcher paper, I don’t want to use foil cuz it accelerates the cook time. Low & Slow wins the race! I wrap my beef when it hits 165… When my brisket hits an internal temp of 215*F I take it off the grill and re-wrap and let it rest in the warmer. If you don’t have a one, just let it rest at room temp for 30 minutes the brisket is at an optimum flavor for only a few hours…A proper rest is very important… Like I said I was taught Low and Slow! Let me put it another way…I actually live and die by the thermometer, so everything I do is temperature regulated. So yea. a large brisket is going to be about 15lbs at 1.5 hours per pound…do the math. Yea since I cook for 450 people 3x a day, I use the whole damn case…Obviously, a 5 lb brisket cut is going to be less…I keep the smoker at 220-225, first cook to 165, then wrap, toss back in a push it through to 205-210 at the thickest portion, then re-wrap for the rest. Perfect serving temp for brisket is 140. after the rest…The rest is HUGE!..All said to perfect your brisket Beef Tallow…Yea they always hold something back in the recipe. Aaron doesn’t want competition…they never divulge the “secret”
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what’s the process doing these on actual smoker rather than oven?
I’m typically 3 (smoke low heat), 2 (wrapped, higher heat), 1 open higher heat (with or without sauce if looking to glaze)
Pork Ribs or Brisket?
Full Pork Ribs on a smoker at 225* maybe 2 hours unwrapped, then second cook 1.5 hours wrapped. The issue is tending the fire. Not everyone has the time, nor patience and unless you are amazing, the cook is actually inconsistent. The oven will save you that. It still is a process, but I do mine overnite in the oven and I don’t worry about anything. Looking for that 195*-200* temp on ribs. The oven method, does NOT require a binder on your rub, The smoker ya gotta use a little Guldens to hold the rub in place. Try the wet method and let me know what you think…I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised
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Trim the fat cap to 1/4", trim off all the hard fat around the edge, and trim out most of the day from between the point and flat.
Google Joe’s Kansas City (or Oklahoma Joe’s) brisket recipe and make their rub.
Use Worcestershire sauce and rub it all over the brisket, then liberally apply the Joe’s KC rub to the entire brisket. Wrap and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
When it’s time to smoke, get your smoker to 225-250 degrees. I like Pecan or Cherry wood. I always get the brisket out at the same time as I start the smoker just to bring the temp up a little.
Place the brisket fat side down for direct heat smokers. I think you can do fat side up or down if you’re using an offset. Let it smoke for 4-6 hours at 225-250 until the inner temp is 155-160.
Wrap in foil and continue to cook until 195. Once it reaches 195 degrees, probe it regularly. Once the probe slides in with little resistance, the brisket is done.
Take it off the smoker and separate the point and the flat. Wrap the flat and let it rest for 1 hour.
Cube up the point and put the cubes in a foil pan. Toss the cubes in more rub and some of your BBQ sauce and throw it back on the smoker to get burnt ends. Let it go for 45-60 minutes.
Slice the flat across the grain and serve the sliced brisket and burnt ends to your hungry guests.
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Sounds good, I was just taught that foil on anything is a no no. It screws up the cooking process,heating up the outside faster than the inside because of its ability to conduct heat faster and more directly. That is food science 101, Now, one thing I did learn in my time in the PIT from Chicken George is that BBQ is very regional and there is no right or wrong, it’s what you like, Texas, Kansas City, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina…They are all great and appeal to different palates. George was a vagabond who traveled the south and brought his trade to his little restaurant in Mt. Ephraim, NJ where I met him and tended the pits. Also remember, Oklahoma Joe…he’s (like everyone else) is holding back a part of the process or an ingredient…he is NOT going to give up why he’s so good in KC. Then everyone would be opening up a joint and competing with him. I was also taught, simple is better. Like the secret to the Rub Recipe I posted. Read it and tell me what you think it is,?
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Ha, I was guessing my foil process might get a comment from you. I learned to BBQ by watching competition shows on TV, and they all did it so I started doing it. I like it precisely because it speeds up the cooking process. I also live in Iowa so not exactly a BBQ mecca. I have won 1st place brisket at a work competition we did, and I’ve gotten a 2nd and a 1st at the same competition for spare ribs. I’ve also made pulled pork for a couple grad parties and 1 wedding…nothing big but people do seem to like what I do. 
That said, I actually stopped doing foil for ribs because I felts like it made them too tender. I like fall off the bone, but definitely not mush.
Your rub recipe sounds awesome. Will have to give that a whirl. I also need to try BBQ next time I’m in the Carolinas. I’ve eaten BBQ in KC and Texas, but I still have a gaping hole for BBQ in Memphis and the Carolinas.
It’s really cool that you got that experience working with a old school pitmaster. That would be fun.
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Have you ever tried butcher paper?
I need to cook some more butts on my traeger… I’ve had some issues with it stopping on long cooks (which really frustrated me) but I’ve cleaned it recently, so it should be good to go…
I’m also contemplating doing a long sous vide cook, and then finishing it on the grill to get it to the final
Temp and add some smoke flavor.
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Sous Vide …now I’ve never contemplated that…that sounds interesting. I’ve never used pellets, it’s definitely the way to go today and is winning several competitions. It does take the “skill” out of tending your box…that is a imperative going old school, but they do make wifi thermometers that set off an alarm and you can run out and stoke or douse. The oven method I use allows u to do other things, my neighbor got an electric smoker last year and used it on deer meat and had great results. He did wrap his ribs though and used bacon drippings that allows for more moisture so they weren’t like chomping on jerky. I exclusively use butcher paper, it’s the best method of wrapping, it breathes…but helps with the last parts of the process. Has anyone ever tried Alabama Sauce to glaze your ribs? I like it as a change up and it’s really good
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I’ve tried butcher paper and it’s not for me. Doesn’t really speed up the cooking process, which is really the only reason to wrap in my experience (assuming you’re not trying to perfectly nail color for a competition).
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Yeah, I’ve been an advocate of sous vide for many years now… it’s not always the right tool for the job, but when it works, it works… I’ve done some amazing pastrami that was finished on the grill…
I’m thinking if I do it correctly, I’ll get super tender meat where all the connective tissue breaks down without losing all the moisture… then the smoker can add a nice bark and smoke flavor.
I’ll give it a run and report back… I haven’t tried Alabama white sauce… my current goal is to figure out South Carolina mustard sauce. My wife is from there and loves it, but I’ve never had the real thing…
Ok, time to go play golf!
I struggle with butcher paper, too. I don’t know if I’m over wrapping or under wrapping or what, but it never really seems to do what I want it to. I know aluminum foil is the “Texas crutch” but I use it for a few things and does the trick. Never run into a situation where meat is dried out or overdone on the outside and under on the inside.
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Sous Que… my new journey… picked up a 4 lbs chuck roast at Costco today… it’s currently vacuum sealed with salt, pepper, some pink salt, mustard seed and bay leaf… mostly just salt and pepper, though…
It’s going to go in a 155 water bath for 36 (!!! that’s a long cook, but what Kenji recommneds) and then cooled and left in the fridge for less than a week… Then I’ll fire up the pellet grill at around 250 and finish it off, getting it back to temp and hopefully getting a nice bark on it. We will see how it goes!
Brother in law did a nice brisket on traeger
8 hours on traeger then butchers paper soaked in the beef fat
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Sounds like yall are already onto this but this was the inspiration for his method this weekend
I don’t know about that. I was taught this 38 years ago. We used to use a mix of 75% Beef Tallow and 25% rendered hickory smoked bacon fat.
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@Bigdadenergy just for grins based on the other thread…
Anyone done turkey legs or whole turkey? I want to do the cured smoked Disney style turkey legs but haven’t put in the effort to source turkey legs.
I’ve done a whole turkey twice. The first one was dry trash. The second one everyone loved. Thankfully that was the one for Thanksgiving. I’m not a fan of turkey, so I took their word for it. I did 24 hour wet brines on both. I’ll try to find the process, brine, and rub I used for the good one and post it here.
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Sounds good… I’m not huge on turkey, I just like the idea of the big turkey drumsticks.