Super Bowl Barbecue & Brisket

I blame Mindy Obenhaus!

She talked about smoking meat and briskets and ribs and all kinds of delicious things a few years ago and I was determined to learn how to do this thing called "smoking meat."

Of course, you need a smoker!!!!

Now smokers are like deep fryers. Folks get 'em, then they realize they rarely use them and they sell them at bargain prices at garage sales. I think four of my last deep fryers were brand new, big ones from garage sales for under $20 each.

My $300 Masterbuilt Smoker was $45. Mandy (my beautiful niece who puts up with me all the time) found it and grabbed it, so I practiced a little over the summer and through the fall. I was no where near proficient, but I was gaining skills, let's put it that way... But my goal, the piece de resistance, the magnum opus, the pinnacle would be to do a great brisket. I'd done a half one (about 6 pounds) but it wasn't cooked long enough and it was still tough. Great flavor! But not what you'd get at Texas Bar B Q Joint if you know what I mean... (local barbecue with great brisket)

And then along comes Super Bowl... and a bunch of folks to feed.... and a 12 pound brisket from Walmart (great price, great brisket) and my urge to throw a barbecue feast!

We had the brisket, oven barbecued baby back ribs, Jambalaya, homemade mac-and-cheese, cornbread, deviled eggs, chicken wings, chocolate dipped pineapple and homemade rice pudding... and I broke the theme with Boston Cream Pie, too.

But even the most Louisiana of Louisianans would have liked this meal!

So let's start with my investment that really helped keep me calm through a 12 hour smoking/resting process!  I went online and bought this on Amazon: Two-Piece Wireless Meat Thermometer


It was a low-price model with great reviews and I LOVE IT. The smoker was on the porch, the transmitter was on the porch next to it with the probe in the thickest part of the brisket round, and the receiver was on the window ledge over the sink. This way I worked in the kitchen, edited a story, and watched the meat's internal temperature crawl from 45 degrees to 190 degrees... including the stall everyone talks about around the 165 degree point!

What a lifesaver this was, I didn't have to worry, I could add vinegar to the water pan as needed, not disturb the meat too often, and get other stuff done.  The thermometer was $26.99 (the $29.99 is a newer version, I probably bought the last of the old version!) and well worth the cost.

So now, to the business at hand because this wasn't hard... with the right stuff going on.

1 big brisket
Dry rub if desired (heck, yeah!)
Smoker
Wood chips (I used hickory because that's what I had on hand)
Vinegar for water pan (suggested on a website and I liked the effect)

I started on Friday afternoon for a Sunday meal. I split the brisket in half. One part is considerably thicker than the other (the round is thicker than the point) and I knew I'd have to put them on separate racks. My brisket was 12.5 pounds.

Trim the fat to 1/4 inch. (Vacuum packed brisket from Walmart was well-trimmed, I only had to trim a little from overhang and top side.)

Coat with dry rub (recipe below)

Put into pans, cover and let sit in refrigerator for a day or two.

And that was it. That was the sum total of effort.

It couldn't be that easy, right? I must have missed a crucial step!!!! But-- no. Let it rest. Then on cooking day, set some wood chips to soak for an hour or so while you do other things.
Bring the briskets out of fridge and let them warm up on counter/table for an hour or so. That gave me time to figure out the battery compartments on the two-piece timer!!! :) So eventually I got the second one open and put into place and they worked! They synced with one another. Another bonus!!!  And here's the bonus of being up early, this gorgeous sunrise!!!

I turned on the electric smoker when I pulled the meat out of the fridge around 4:00 AM. Put wood chips in the chip tray in smoker, add apple cider vinegar to the water pan and when smoker is hot, set brisket inside on the slightly grungy racks, insert the meat probe from the thermometer into thickest part and close the door.

And that was it. My smoker runs hot so I had to keep dialing it down to do a long, slow cook, and once I had to refill the chip tray and the vinegar tray, but that was it.

GETTING CLOSER!!!!!

At 3:30 my Therm-Pro measured 190 degrees! I brought the briskets in, wrapped them in aluminum foil, put them in a pan and covered that with aluminum foil and tucked them in my 200 degree upper oven to rest...

And they were fall apart tender and amazing! The flavor.... to die for.

Texture?

Wonderful!

And the Super Bowl folks who stopped by?

So happy!

DRY RUB (I used a version inspired on the Masterbuilt website) but then tweaked it into my own:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Paprika
4 TBSP Kosher salt
4 TBSP coarse ground pepper
3 TBSP Granulated garlic
4 TBSP Cumin
3 Teaspoons Cajun Seasoning

Mix together, coat meat, put into pans, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in fridge for 12 to 48 hours. Honestly, every website has a different time, but I figured a day-and-a-half was way more than enough... and I think the cooking/timing/monitoring is the most important part of this process. I bet you could salt and pepper this baby and if you cooked it right, nice and slow, it would still be wonderful! In fact, some pros only use coarse salt and coarse black pepper.... It's all optional!

We packed a big tray of food to send to a nearby family who couldn't be with us, we had an amazing bunch of nice people hanging around and watching a great game and I survived, nay...

Triumphed! :)

My first real brisket.

And we were so busy eating later that I didn't get one pic of the sliced meat, but let your imagination be your guide....

And Andy Reid got to bring home the Lombardi Trophy to KC after fifty years, so that made me happy, too!  What a comeback!

Next week we'll play with the chocolate-dipped pineapple, a new crowd-pleasing favorite!

Bestselling author Ruth Logan Herne loves to play in the kitchen on her terms, which means it could be a riotous success or an epic failure which is why she fits in well over here... because she's okay to own it in public! Her newest book "A Hopeful Harvest" is on shelves now and that makes her very happy...and she loves to talk to readers. Friend her on facebook, follow her on Twitter, visit her website ruthloganherne.com or email Ruthy at loganherne@gmail.com. She'd love to hear from you!