proper southern style BBQ / smoke cooking tips
Discussion
I know we have a couple of hardcore BBQ-ers on here so was hoping I could get any tips you may be able to offer before I take the plunge with my first smoke this weekend. I've just taken delivery of a 57cm Weber Smokey Mountain cooker and proudly assembled it yesterday in readiness. I went to a traditional butcher in Shropshire this afternoon and bought both a whole flat beef brisket and a 13lb pork shoulder boned. I also picked up a couple of fresh chickens.
I need to get the ingredients for some rubs, BBQ sauce, etc. tonight in the supermarket, I have some online recipies but if anyone has any personal favourites please share.
So tonight I'll be preparing all the meat with rubs and leaving overnight in the fridge. I'll then get up early (0600), re-rub, leave at room temperature and fire the WSM.
I hope to have all the meat on the smoker by 0700 with a view to serving the chickens at lunchtime and pulling the beef and pork off at about 1600 after 8-10 hours of smoking. They'll get left for an hour or so to settle.
The pork I was going to pull and serve in buns.
So to anyone who has done this before am I being slightly too ambitious with my first smoke, or is it really just the case that you can't really go wrong with this stuff as long as you give the big joints a proper decent smoke time and keep temperatures as stable as possible?
Naturally, pics will follow.
I need to get the ingredients for some rubs, BBQ sauce, etc. tonight in the supermarket, I have some online recipies but if anyone has any personal favourites please share.
So tonight I'll be preparing all the meat with rubs and leaving overnight in the fridge. I'll then get up early (0600), re-rub, leave at room temperature and fire the WSM.
I hope to have all the meat on the smoker by 0700 with a view to serving the chickens at lunchtime and pulling the beef and pork off at about 1600 after 8-10 hours of smoking. They'll get left for an hour or so to settle.
The pork I was going to pull and serve in buns.
So to anyone who has done this before am I being slightly too ambitious with my first smoke, or is it really just the case that you can't really go wrong with this stuff as long as you give the big joints a proper decent smoke time and keep temperatures as stable as possible?
Naturally, pics will follow.
I think your times may be a bit low for the shoulder - only reason i say is that i did a whole shoulder of pork (admitedly bone in) not too long ago- got up at 4am to start it off and it wasnt ready to pull until 20:00 in the evening, so 16hrs (temp was well maintained throughout) I'm definately not an authority on it though.
Thanks Pete I will re-consider the timings - I can always pull the brisket off and leave the pork going until late into the night. It's not like we're going to be short on food without it.
Did you miz an off the shelf BBQ sauce into yours once pulled, or have/make something more elaborate?
Did you miz an off the shelf BBQ sauce into yours once pulled, or have/make something more elaborate?
Sainsbury's has a 2 for 1 deal on this marinade - http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk:80/sainsburys-price...
No idea how it tastes, didn't have any in the local store we were in last night.
No idea how it tastes, didn't have any in the local store we were in last night.
Well I always make my own sauce when smoking. You don't need a smoke tasting sauce as the meat has its own smokeynes. I use large squirt of tomato ketchup (2 cup ish), about 1/3 as much HP sauce about 1/2 cup cider vinager, 3 tbsp brown sugar. 2 tsp garlic salt, 2 tsp cumin, 2 tsp corriander, paprika and chilli powder to taste. It will taste totally different to how it tastes in the pot once basted on the meat. And you can water it down a bit with more vinager and water to taste and heat it up for serving with the meat once pulled (cooking the sauce will mellow the favours).
Also worth spritzing your meat every two hours or so with a fruit juice (i use Apple) and vinager mix as that will give it a nice crust (bark)
Also worth spritzing your meat every two hours or so with a fruit juice (i use Apple) and vinager mix as that will give it a nice crust (bark)
10-12 hours should be fine for that I'd reckon, going by my (almost weekly) efforts to rid the world of unsmoked pork shoulders.
Tips - once it's in there, leave it alone. That being said, make a really basic mop sauce and baste it every few hours for ultimate tenderness. I use Cider Vinegar, a few splashes of tabasco, a few splashes of worcestershire and some of the spice rub. Give it a stir, baste the meat with it every few hours.
The type of wood you use also makes a big difference. I use a variety which I've hand chipped and mixed, and stored in bags (enough for a years worth of smoking), mesquite, cedar, cherry, oak, and applewood, and some bits of sherry cask.
I put a recipe / method up in the big BBQ thread, follow that and you're in smoked pork heaven. It's wonderful. For a big shoulder you'll need a few bottles of cider vinegar - at least one for the BBQ sauce and one for the mop sauce. Don't be sparing with either BTW.
As for the BBQ sauce, mine's a secret but use this one, it's pretty damn good. http://bbq.about.com/od/barbecuesaucerecipes/r/blb... Nothing comes close to vinegar based sauces IMO. For a bit more smokey sweetness, you can also add a slug of regular store bought BBQ sauce after you've shredded it, but that's cheating. Tastes great though.
Brisket I have a totally different technique for, which basically results in it becoming either salt beef, or pastrami after weeks of effort.
Tips - once it's in there, leave it alone. That being said, make a really basic mop sauce and baste it every few hours for ultimate tenderness. I use Cider Vinegar, a few splashes of tabasco, a few splashes of worcestershire and some of the spice rub. Give it a stir, baste the meat with it every few hours.
The type of wood you use also makes a big difference. I use a variety which I've hand chipped and mixed, and stored in bags (enough for a years worth of smoking), mesquite, cedar, cherry, oak, and applewood, and some bits of sherry cask.
I put a recipe / method up in the big BBQ thread, follow that and you're in smoked pork heaven. It's wonderful. For a big shoulder you'll need a few bottles of cider vinegar - at least one for the BBQ sauce and one for the mop sauce. Don't be sparing with either BTW.
As for the BBQ sauce, mine's a secret but use this one, it's pretty damn good. http://bbq.about.com/od/barbecuesaucerecipes/r/blb... Nothing comes close to vinegar based sauces IMO. For a bit more smokey sweetness, you can also add a slug of regular store bought BBQ sauce after you've shredded it, but that's cheating. Tastes great though.
Brisket I have a totally different technique for, which basically results in it becoming either salt beef, or pastrami after weeks of effort.
Edited by Stu R on Friday 2nd September 23:33
thanks guys. Well I'm sat out in the garden with the smoker on the go right now. I rubbed the meat earlier this evening but decided I'd start early and go for an overnight smoke - ambitious I know - but I'll be checking on it regularly and I have a wireless digi thermometer so I can keep a close eye on it in my sleep 
For the rub, I found so many different recipies and lacking any US measurements at home I just threw together a load of sea salt, demerara sugar, paprika, cumin, black pepper, cayenne pepper, ground garlic and a few other things as well, in what seemed like reasonable proportions. I put a coating of dijon mustard on the pork before applying the rub.
I also bought apple juice and cider vinegar along with a basting mop and a couple of squirty bottles so I'll be keeping them well juiced throughout the night
For wood, I was really after oak and apple as I understand these go well with beef, pork and poultry (I'm puting some chickens on in the morning too...), however my shop had sold out of everything except mesquite so I'm having to use that instead. I understand it's milder and more suited to poultry/fish.
Will keep you posted - it's exciting !!
For the rub, I found so many different recipies and lacking any US measurements at home I just threw together a load of sea salt, demerara sugar, paprika, cumin, black pepper, cayenne pepper, ground garlic and a few other things as well, in what seemed like reasonable proportions. I put a coating of dijon mustard on the pork before applying the rub.
I also bought apple juice and cider vinegar along with a basting mop and a couple of squirty bottles so I'll be keeping them well juiced throughout the night
For wood, I was really after oak and apple as I understand these go well with beef, pork and poultry (I'm puting some chickens on in the morning too...), however my shop had sold out of everything except mesquite so I'm having to use that instead. I understand it's milder and more suited to poultry/fish.
Will keep you posted - it's exciting !!
Edited by theboss on Friday 2nd September 23:49
Here's a few pics
Beef brisket on the left and pork shoulder (butt) on the right. The pork has been smothered in Dijon mustard and then both have been rubbed with my own improvised spice mix.
Preparing the smokey mountain for lighting.
Joints now loaded on.
A view inside the WSM showing the pork butt in all its mustardy glory.
Get a load of that for a beef curtain.
Beef brisket on the left and pork shoulder (butt) on the right. The pork has been smothered in Dijon mustard and then both have been rubbed with my own improvised spice mix.
Preparing the smokey mountain for lighting.
Joints now loaded on.
A view inside the WSM showing the pork butt in all its mustardy glory.
Get a load of that for a beef curtain.
Ha - well guys - it's been a blinding success so far. No uncontrolled fires fortunately. I pulled the brisket off at 10am after nearly 10 hours of smoking and foil wrapped it to rest for a couple of hours. I also put 2 x beer can chickens on at 8am and pulled them off at 12 so we had a lunch consisting of beef and chicken.
The pork is still cooking... I can't seem to get the interior temp up above 175F and the fire is beginning to die now, so with 15 hours of smoking I've decided I'm going to pull it off shortly and leave it to rest until pulling at about 6. My brother who is joining me lived in Kentucky for 2 years so I'm giving him the honour of pulling it.
Here's some pics of the brisket and chickens:
Beer can chickens on this morning. Any excuse to have a pint at 8am.
And here are my boys, after 4 hours of smoking.
Nicely carved. They fell apart at the bones and were literally pouring with juices.
Here's the brisket in its finished state.
As you can see a nice prominent pink smoke ring and a really nicely finished bark which had a real spicy kick to it. Slightly drier than I would have liked, but most importantly the knife went through it like butter and it literally melts in your mouth. The only other beef I've ever had like this was twenty years ago, in Texas.
The finished brisket.
Phase One in its entirety.
The pork is still cooking... I can't seem to get the interior temp up above 175F and the fire is beginning to die now, so with 15 hours of smoking I've decided I'm going to pull it off shortly and leave it to rest until pulling at about 6. My brother who is joining me lived in Kentucky for 2 years so I'm giving him the honour of pulling it.
Here's some pics of the brisket and chickens:
Beer can chickens on this morning. Any excuse to have a pint at 8am.
And here are my boys, after 4 hours of smoking.
Nicely carved. They fell apart at the bones and were literally pouring with juices.
Here's the brisket in its finished state.
As you can see a nice prominent pink smoke ring and a really nicely finished bark which had a real spicy kick to it. Slightly drier than I would have liked, but most importantly the knife went through it like butter and it literally melts in your mouth. The only other beef I've ever had like this was twenty years ago, in Texas.
The finished brisket.
Phase One in its entirety.
That looks like a really great effort for a first time attempt at real BBQ. Obviously, your hooked now 
Just a few things that I do.....
First, get one of these Charcoal Lighter Thingys.
That way, you can fire up more charcoal briquettes and add them without spoiling the flavour if you find that you need to extend your cooking times.
Regarding the Brisket, I never BBQ it flat as it does tend to dry out.
My preferred technique is to get the butcher to supply you with a nice big couple of bits of beef fat.
Flatten the fat out by t
tting with a rolling pin and after the overnight marinade, place the fat on top and underneath the brisket and roll it up, tying it with string like a roasting joint.
The part that ends up on the inside doesn't need to be as big as the outer but this will basically melt throughout the cooking process and keep the brisket moist.
Fat is where the flavour is at. You can throw away what's left or serve it up. Your choice when you cut the string and unroll it.
Leaving the Brisket after the cooking is good as the juices redistribute but I wrap mine (double) in foil, then in and old towel and then dump it in a cool box for 30 minutes (ish), usually the time I'm doing burgers etc on the grill.
This will keep the Brisket cooking very slowly and it won't be dry.
I have one of these big buggers and if I'm home on a weekend, it gets fired up
Just a few things that I do.....
First, get one of these Charcoal Lighter Thingys.
That way, you can fire up more charcoal briquettes and add them without spoiling the flavour if you find that you need to extend your cooking times.
Regarding the Brisket, I never BBQ it flat as it does tend to dry out.
My preferred technique is to get the butcher to supply you with a nice big couple of bits of beef fat.
Flatten the fat out by t
tting with a rolling pin and after the overnight marinade, place the fat on top and underneath the brisket and roll it up, tying it with string like a roasting joint.The part that ends up on the inside doesn't need to be as big as the outer but this will basically melt throughout the cooking process and keep the brisket moist.
Fat is where the flavour is at. You can throw away what's left or serve it up. Your choice when you cut the string and unroll it.
Leaving the Brisket after the cooking is good as the juices redistribute but I wrap mine (double) in foil, then in and old towel and then dump it in a cool box for 30 minutes (ish), usually the time I'm doing burgers etc on the grill.
This will keep the Brisket cooking very slowly and it won't be dry.
I have one of these big buggers and if I'm home on a weekend, it gets fired up
SammyW said:
I'm attempting pulled pork shoulder at the weekend, but cooking in an electric fan oven. Anyone done this successfully? Any tips for time/temperature etc? Really don't want to cock it up!
As Stu says it all depends on the size of the shoulder - mine was about 13lb before I trimmed some fat and skin off - and that was smoked for circa 15 hours at 220-240F. Have you got a meat thermometer?Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff