First Brisket of 2023

Spring is trying hard to be sprung around here.

Yesterday had some crazy winds that cancelled my intended shake-the-rust off flight.  Gusts of up to 35 knots with a minimum direct crosswind factor of 30 knots in a plane rated for 17 knots was not my idea of a good time for pattern work.

So yesterday,  I instead got the brisket prepared with my homemade rub for smoking.

So today, among other things that needed to be done, I got the smoker cleaned up from it's winter of non-use, and got it ready to smoke.

I decided to use pecan wood for the brisket this time, for a change of pace.

After all day of being on the smoker, the brisket was ready for dinner tonight.

 

 Nice and tasty and served up with baked beans, and mac & cheese, it was announced by all to be a tasty success.

A Great BBQ Party

I had 17 people over yesterday, all friends from jitsu and some with their families.

The Brisket, after 14 hours in the smoker came out great.  The Weber Smokey Mountain 18 really makes temperature control easy and the large water bowl keeps the heat moderated perfectly.  It works so much better and more consistent than the Ol' Brinkmann that it's not even funny.

Better than last year, and the guests devoured it.  Tender as all get out and people were happy.

The ribs took six hours in the smoker and were ready by 3:30 with the guests coming at 4.  I had started them in the driving rain Sunday morning and they turned out to be worth the effort.

They similarly were devoured happily, some had them straight, and some added sauce first.

The rain continued on and off all day, which made holding the party inside necessary, but it all worked out.

I also made a double batch of macaroni and cheese which was a hit for the kids some of the friends brought along.  

The kids also played with Jett and he enjoyed that profusely everything from retrieving a ball to chasing each other around.  Jett was tolerant the whole time and had a ball. Jett slept real well last night.

Guests brought dishes to pass including some really good Texas Caviar. This was the first time I've heard of that or tried it. It was a perfect accompaniment to the BBQ.  I need to add that to future BBQs as it works.

Lots of good discussions had an people had a good time.

Great food and a great bunch of people over.

Of Smokers And Smoke Alarms

It's a do-stuff-around-the-house-day today.

First, I'm smoking a brisket for a party with friends tomorrow.

Its going to be a 12-hour cook, using pecan and hickory wood.

Tomorrow morning, I'm getting up early to smoke ribs to add to the party as well.

As for smoke alarms, did you now they don't last forever?  A couple of ours, both in the kids' bedrooms, died just about simultaneously, both with a weak electronic shriek and then nothing, and no change of batteries did a thing.

Turns out they were manufactured in 2007, and the average detector is good for 10 years, so we're a bit over life expectancy, and definitely got some decent use out of them. 

I switched them out today for combo carbon monoxide/smoke detectors with sealed 10-year batteries.  I then replaced the remaining battery change ones with a couple more sealed detectors.  No more biannual fire alarm battery changes now.

 

Of course, they had different mounting systems because no fire alarm manufacturer can coordinate on a standard mount. This gets annoying. 

Then, finding out the prior owners of the house, who installed the battery ones just before they sold the house to us did not use drywall anchors, but just screws added to the fun.   Well its done now, and these are now properly installed and anchored.

So that's done,  and its time to check on the smoker again and then to do a little work and some IFR studying for the written test as there's an absolute to understand, know how to apply, and retain.

Sunday Gardening And Smoking Corned Beef Day

Today was an all-outdoors day.

It was weeding the landscape time.  With the rain and sun there had been a  surge of weeds sprouting up and turning practically into weed-trees overnight.

Since we would be outside anyways, might as well smoke something for dinner.

 Since we had a flat of corned beef I was requested to make some smoked corn beef - otherwise known as Pastrami or Montreal Smoked Meat.

First I unpacked the brisket and let it soak in water for two hours changing the water every half hour to make it a tad less salty.

While it was soaking I prepared the smoker.

Hickory wood (found a box of hickory under the Pecan wood box which was great),  locally sourced of course.  I also filled the water bowl with boiling water and started the full chimney of charcoal. 

The brisket was covered in my brisket rub and placed on the grate.

 

 

Then the charcoal was added and the smoker closed up to do its thing.

Once the smoker was moving along, I began chopping weeds in the backyard. Many bags full of weeds were removed and the place looks much better now.

After 9 hours in the smoker, the brisket was ready for dinner.

To say it tasted great was an understatement.  The burnt ends tasted like candy. That's 2 for 2 in the Weber smoker so far.

New Smoker Run #1

Today was the day to give the new Weber smoker a go.

Pulled pork was on the menu as Tash had bought a 6 pounder.

So I first prepped it last night with some rub and put it in the fridge.

 

Then I fired up the smoker for the first time with lump charcoal and locally sourced Pecan wood.

 The Weber being larger than the ol' ECB takes more charcoal to get it up to temperature than the Brinkmann, and the water bowl is also larger, so a little trial and error occurred until it was just right at temp and smoking along merrily. 

 A serious improvement of the Weber over the Brinkmann are the adjustable vents at the top and bottom of the smoker and a functional thermometer gauge.  The vents made adjusting and controlling the temperature a snap.  Serious improvement over the Brinkmann as a result - only disadvantage is the barrel body lacks handles for lifting it off the base which is good to have when you're refueling it with more charcoal, but there is a lip near the top that serves that function nicely.

Nine hours later and after replenishing the water bowl once and the charcoal and wood twice it was done.

I then pulled it and it was awesome and did not require any BBQ sauce, but BBQ sauce was available for taste.

It was pronounced to be my best effort so far and was declared to be amazing.  

Even so, at six pounds, lots of leftovers remain.

The first run of the Weber is a success.

Farewell To ECB

ECB being the El Cheapo Brinkmann smoker.

After years of good service, first arriving here in 2013,  the bottom tray and the base itself has rusted through.  This makes temperature control difficult and raises the issue of hot coals dropping out the bottom.  No bueno.

Sadly, Brinkmann has gone out of business and replacement parts are hard to find.   Quite a few parts for the electric models are floating around Ebay, but none of the bases nor charcoal trays there match my model, and the prices are pretty darn high almost as much for those two parts as for what I paid for the while thing to start with.

In short no way to repair it and time for it to go.  

But fear not, there is another.

So today I received and assembled its successor and its rather an upgrade.

The Weber Smokey Mountain 18 inch smoker.

It's bigger than the ECB so more food will fit, as well as a larger water bowl.  It has multiple adjustable vents for heat control and has a nice firebox arrangement that should make cleanup and maintenance a lot easier.  The door is larger and easy to get more wood and charcoal into the firebox. The smoking grates have nice handles for ease of removal which will be appreciated when using it.

Assembly wasn't terrible, but note the instructions are in the back of the manual with the parts schematic up front, which leads one to think the only instructions are the schematic which was kinda sketchy.

Assembly was pretty quick and easy with only one - actually three cuts from the sharp sheet metal (ouch!) and the pain of getting the thermometer pass-through installed.

Will break it in shortly, and will begin this smoking season with a nice new smoker.

Smoking Beef Ribs For Dinner

Not just any Beef ribs, but Glatt Kosher Beef Ribs.

A friend of mine had a goodly amount of meat and knowing I do smoking gave me the ribs.

I got them covered in my homemade rub.

Then using locally sourced hickory wood I got the fire going and started smoking the ribs,

The hickory burned a little hotter than anticipated, and while I had started at 220 and the temp stayed there for awhile, the temp in the smoker at around 45 minutes in suddenly climbed to 400, necessitating some action on my part to get the temperature back down.

But, even with that, they came out looking great and tasting awesome.

Didn't need any BBQ sauce either, the rub gave some nice flavor to the beef.

Smoked Trout - It's What's For Dinner

One of the benefits of working from home is you can keep half an eye on the smoker as you work.

Today the request was for smoked fish, and yesterday Tash had picked up some whole trout.

My first time smoking whole fish. I brinned them overnight in a water, salt, and brown sugar mixture.

I then took the out of the brine today around 4:30, drained and padded them dry, then broke a chopstick in parts and used it to prop the cavity each of the fish open.

Then I built the smoker fire using locally sourced mulberry wood. and some lump charcoal, which I found lights easier, burns better, and gives an overall better result than the Kingsford briquets.

This was my first time using mulberry wood alone for smoking. It gave off a rather delicate and sweet scent for smoking - quite perfect for the fish.

After two and a half hours on the smoker at 220, the fish was ready.

Really nice subtle smoke flavor and seriously good eating.

Quite a bony fish so serving it got a tad messy. The bones didn't want to separate and it took some effort to get it ready to eat.

Still, it was delicious and both kids liked it which was amazing. Especially so as Leah before the fish were smoked had declared the eyes on the fish kept following her and it was creeping her out, and she wouldn't eat it. Once the fish had been beheaded and she got to sample some she then dug in with gusto, separating the bones from the meat and enjoying it.

For a first attempt it turned out great, and I'd definitely make it again on the smoker.

Success: Smoked Brisket For Dinner

Total Cook Time: 10 hours, 4 minutes, including an annoying stall that required the use of the Texas Crutch (ye olde aluminum foil) to get through. Thence, 1 hour to rest.

After the rest, some slices were made and served and it came out great.

Pronounced perfectly tender, flavorful with excellent but not overwhelming smokiness, and served with some asparagus, and mac & cheese.

Did not require any BBQ sauce but it could be added if desired.

Now, I may need to make some social-distancing-approved meat-packs for some friends and neighbors.

Working From Home, So Might As Well Getting My Smoking On For Dinner

Since I'm working from home, I might as well do some food smoking since I can be here to give it the attention that it requires.

This one will require quite a bit of attention. Luckily, I can see the smoker from my home office.

Today's smoking item: Brisket. Or as they called it in Texas - BBQ.

I got a nice packer brisket from Costco yesterday and seasoned it last night with my homemade brisket rub.

It then sat out this morning for a couple hours to come up to temperature before having it ready to be placed in the smoker.

I then got the fire built and placed some locally sourced apple and hickory wood in the smoker.

And she's off and the cook has begun. We will see how this goes.

Benefit Of Working From Home - Smoked Ribs For Dinner

Since I was working from home today anyways, I decided to multitask.

Might as well prepare dinner while doing the work.

So I put together my special rub from its component spices and got things together.

I used locally sourced wood as usual, apple this time.

Started up the smoker and put the ribs on:

Get the smoker started and back to work. Just come back on occasion to add more wood and water to the mix.

4 hours on the smoker and the ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender.

Tasted great, and I'm well on my way to getting my quarantine 15.

After dinner, a nice long walk with the dog, and after I finish my taxes, the week will come to an end.

Sunday Smoke Day!

Today was a home game of spring cleaning.

I spent the day cleaning the car's interior after a long winter, washing the mats and getting all the salt and grime out. Then it was cleaning the garage, and getting all the winter's dust and dirt out of there, and reorganizing and making it less of a mess.

While that was going on, I prepared two racks of ribs for dinner.

I made my own rub with salt, brown sugar, paprika, ancho chili pepper, pepper, garli,c and cumin and rubbed it on the ribs.

Then I got the smoker fired up with Leah helping light the charcoal - because, Fire!

Then when the charcoal was hot I combined it with locally-sourced apple and hickory wood for a sweet smokey smell.

After five hours on the smoker, low and slow at a nice steady 200 degrees, they were done and looked like this:

The ribs were fall-off-the-bone good. Didn't need any sauce either, the rub turned out to be just right and the ribs were excellently smoked with plenty of tasty smoke flavor.

The first smoking of spring.

Smoking Salmon In The Rain

On Sunday, Tash noted that I should smoke something.

Since she desired some fresh smoked salmon, some fresh smoked salmon she would have.

I bought a salmon fillet and after curting it in half as it was rather large, and washing it off covered it in a mix of 1 cup salt and 3 cups brown sugar, covered over the tray with saran wrap and left it in the fridge overnight. By morning there was a syrup-consistency and colored fluid all about it in the tray as the salt and sugar did their work to draw the moisture from the salmon. I drained it, flipped it and went to work.

Coming home from work last night I removed it from the tray and there was even more liquid, briefly rinsed it off, patted it dry and started the smoker.

It was rainy and cold and I found that peanut oil really helps get the coals going when you soak the newspaper in it.

I added boiling water to the smoking bowl and placed the locally-sourced apple wood in the smoker in the base and waited for the charcoal to be ready.

Then I took the fillet and placed it on the smoker.

Then I added the burning charcoal, placed the smoker top over the base and let it smoke away. It was hard to get it up to temp as it was cold and wet out but after 2 and a half hours of smoking it was ready.

It tasted great when served with some freshly mashed potatoes and all concerned, including the dog, were quite happy with the way the salmon came out.

Yes, the Salmon was most agreeable, I must say.

Smoking Ribs - It's What's For Dinner

Today was a beautifully nice and sunny day here in Southeastern Michigan. Since we hadn't done any smoking in awhile, I was requested to do so and the weather promised to be good for it.

I picked up some ribs last night and prepared them for smoking, rinsing them off, drying and then applying some yellow mustard and spices. The mustard makes the spices stick.

So today after some errands I started the smoker, getitng the charcoal going and using some locally-sourced hickory wood as the smoking wood of choice for the ribs.

Smoked to perfection for hours, and they smell and more importantly taste great.

Smoking Salmon On Mother's Day

In addition to other Mother's Day festivities, I also smoked a nice filet of Salmon.

First I cured on Saturday it with half a cup of salt and half a cup of white sugar and a full cup of brown sugar, with the greater portio of more brown sugar to make for a less salty finished product. I then wrapped it and let it sit overnight in the fridge on a tray, draining the liquid as required.

Then, once I was back from my flying lesson I took it out of the fridge, washed off the cure and patted it dry and let it sit out to dry a few hours.

The salmon had acquired a slightly rough and dry external textureperfect for smoke to stick to it and do its work.

Then striking up the smoker with some locally-sourced apple wood (the very same wood on display in the linked blog no less), and got the smoker up to temperature.

Fillet curt in two to fit in the smoker covered and the apple wood did its work.

An hour and a half later it was done.

Perfect smokey flavor, nice and properly cooked fish but still moist and not dry and not overly salty. It was hard to not eat it all as a post-dinner snack.

Today's A Smoking Day: Brisket

The day started out raining.

I prepped a nice 8 pound Brisket last night, giving it a nice scoring and application of a good spice rub, then into the fridge it went.

Then I fired up the smoker this morning, in the rain, using the hickory wood from Eaton Rapids Joe for the first time.

Once it was going nicely I added, the brisket and closed it up to smoke, and the fresh-cut hickory smoke smelled great.

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After a few hours I checked and added more water to the pan, more charcoal and more of that great hickory wood, here''s how it looked before more was added:

Checking the brisket during the refueling shows it's enjoying the smoke quite a bit. It already smells great, but it's hours away from being done.

This brisket is on its way to coming out nicely. We'll see how it does for dinner tonight.

And it came out great, tender with a nice smoky flavor.