Monday, July 14, 2008

Smoke ring; I've got it!

There is a big long explanation of why slow cooked smoked meats have this nice pink ring but I'm not going into that here. Just take it from me, it's delicious. This is my latest from the smoker, a whole brisket. I had a little more success with this try but I still have a difficult time keeping the smoker hot enough. I've found out it's because I have the cheap one and I'll deal with it for now. I've been watching Craig's List and hopefully one will surface.

I've been reading lots of bbq blogs lately and next time a smoke a brisket I will try wrapping it in foil mid-way through the cooking. I believe mine dried out a bit for my taste though everyone that had eaten it said it was great. I'm going for a moister texture to the meat. I'll get there. I do think the smoking takes place in the first four or five hours so there shouldn't be a problem with the foil wrap.

What I did come up with was a great rub and I not only used it for the brisket but a few steaks I threw on the grill the other night. Mix this up to have on hand much better than the rubs you buy at the store. Those seem to be too salty for my taste.

Moon Rub
2 tablespoons course cracked pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon powdered onion
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon powered ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons Spanish Paprika
3 teaspoons powdered garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Mix this together and store in an airtight container. Rub this into your meat before you bbq. The longer it sets on the meat the better it is. If it's more than a few minutes, rub and wrap it in plastic and keep refrigerated until you are ready to cook it.

Now you can fuss with this to suit you tastes and though I didn't think I'd like the sugar on the steaks it really gave them a nice crust.

Pork ribs are next!

6 comments:

maltese parakeet said...

omg, i'm drooling.

maltese parakeet said...

p.s., you need to have the handy man rig up some kind of smoker insulating blanket accessory.

barb said...

they must sell some kind of insulating blanket.

Now you should have this down pat by the time we get there.

sylvie1950 said...

Brisket is the hardest meat to perfect. Foiling when the meat temp hits about 165 plus some even add a little beef broth to the foiled meat for moisture. I've also seen some smoke it at 225 for nearly 18 hours and still maintain the moisture. Note that in competitions, we use the whole brisket which has a flat and point. The briskets sold at Costco generally are just the flats.

Deborah Eley De Bono said...

Sylvie, thanks, I was wondering when to wrap. I got this one and Smart and Final, it was a whole brisket. I cut it in half and had the flat cut on the top rack. It came to temp quicker than the point cut that was lower.

I'm still having fun experimenting with all this, so many variables.

Anonymous said...

I just moved from the South to the East Coast and I'm missing BBQ more than ever these days. Wonderful rub, it has all the yummy ingredients you'd want in a tasty brisket like that! We would love to feature your recipe on our blog and possibly digital cookbook. Please email sophiekiblogger@gmail.com if you're interested :). Have a great day!