It's Smoker Season!

Ever since the weather broke, and it really really did finally break, I've been dying to get out my smoker. You may recall that last time I smoked a few times. I did a pork shoulder and ribs. This year I was determined to do a beef brisket. Well that day was finally here on Memorial Day, just this past Monday. I bought a small brisket (about 4 and a quarter pounds) because it was only going to be Nick and I.



I decided to dry rub it and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Unfortunately I cannot be too precise for you with my dry rub because I started with a base that was already mixed for me. It was a pepper kind of seasoning blend that a friend gave me in a bag so I don't know the name of it. At any rate, I started with that, added about 1/4 cup of brown sugar, and then just eyeballed the rest of the things I threw in (probably about 2 Tablespoons each). I added cumin, dry mustard (smaller amount of that), kosher salt, paprika and garlic powder.


I rubbed it all over the brisket, front and back and then put it in the fridge, covered, overnight.



I had read online that brisket takes about an hour per pound on a smoker. I probably will up that figure to an hour and a half per pound. I kept it on for a little over four hours.





When we lift that lid off the smoker, every time it's like a glorious revelation. I always hope to hear a chorus of "ahhh!" from the heavens. The aroma is insane. The meat looks beautiful. And we can't ever wait to get it in the house and dig in. This time was no exception.




The bark on the outside was nice and dark. I let it set for about 15 minutes. 15 minutes of torture mind you, as we circled that brisket like we'd never eaten before in our lives. And when I started slicing it, we couldn't keep out hands off it! Nick even said, "we're just going to end up eating it all before we even sit down at this rate." So we calmed down, I started to slice it on the diagonal and plated it up.





I served it with a pretty standard macaroni salad I make and some baked beans (that I didn't make).






It was juicy, tender and delicious. But I did think it needed a longer cooking time. I put it in a low oven the next day for 2 hours and it was even better!

Have I Mentioned How Much I Love My Smoker?

I think I have. In fact I know I have. It's the greatest thing ever. I got the smoker kind of on a whim really. I have been doing Harris Polls online for years and years. I never win anything, but for every survey you complete, you get points. The points accumulate and you can trade them in for merchandise. Well I was at the highest number of points to trade in so I figured I'd go for it. My choices weren't all that great really. A shop vac (Nick wanted that, he wanted it bad!), the smoker, a watch, an Ipod docking station and a few other things. The smoker kept calling my name...Kathy, Kathy... chose me! So I did.

It's a process so you really have to make sure you don't have any plans. You need to prep the meat the night before. This time I was doing ribs so I didn't have much to do. Just clean them up a little, remove the membrane. I decided not to put a dry rub on this time.

In the morning I got my fire going. I use regular Kingsford charcoal and hickory chips. Let the charcoal burn for about 20-30 minutes. While the coals are doing their thing, soak the wood chips in water. Once the fire is ready, put the wood chips on top of the coals and then work fast!! Since my smoker is what's called a bullet smoker, I have a water pan that MUST have water in it. So... coals, wood, water pan, low rack, high rack. The ribs (with nothing but salt and pepper on them) went on the high rack. Then close the lid. To ensure not too much smoke will escape, I wrap between the lid and the smoker in foil. Once that lid is on and the foil is in place, the end! DO NOT OPEN THAT LID! You really have to trust that it's doing what it should be doing. It's hard, but the more you open the lid, the more smoke escapes and you won't get the flavor you want.

After 4 hours, we opened the lid to flip the meat. It was looking good, but was clear it needed more time. So we closed it back up (making sure the water level was still ok), packed the foil in it and left it alone for another 3 hours.

The ribs were done. They were perfect! SO incredibly delicious and tender. I had sauce but I never even used it. They didn't need it. The smoky flavor was enough to make these the best ribs I've had all summer. Look at all that color. That is all just from the smoker. No rub, no sauce.






And once again, that smoke ring that is so desired when you smoke something was present. If you enlarge this picture, you can see just how succulent and juicy these ribs are. Go, go now while they are probably on sale and get yourself a smoker! You won't regret it!

First Time Smoker!

Ahh smoking. It seems like such a guy thing. But this girl has been wanting to try it for a long time and when I acquired a smoker, I just had to find my nerve. What's the worst that could happen? The planets were aligning... the smoker was ready, charcoal was bought, wood chips were ready and pork shoulder was $1.09 a lb at BJ's. I'm in!




The first thing to do is make a spice rub. I've watched enough BBQ shows on Food Network to know the basics of making a spice rub so I just winged it. Here is my recipe:

1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup paprika
1/8 cup cumin
1/8 cup garlic powder
1/8 cup dry mustard
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup salt (you can go half a cup with the salt if you want)
and a touch of cayenne




Rub it all over the meat. Do not leave a spot unrubbed! Believe me, the pork is so happy to have this massage of flavor it almost just sighs into the dish.




Cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight.

Get an early start the next day because this is an all day affair. The work is minimal, but the process is long. Follow your smoker's instructions (and then, if you're anything like me, call your brother in law who has a similar smoker and ask him what the hell you're supposed to do!) Start your charcoal in the bottom. It needs to burn for about 20 minutes before you do anything else. While that is getting read, soak your wood. I went with hickory. You need to soak the wood chips for about 20-30 minutes.

Once the fire is ready, drain your wood chips and then put them on top of the coals. If your smoker has a water pan, make sure it is filled. And then, place your beautiful hunk of pig on the grill.




Put the lid on and then DO NOT REMOVE IT. My lid is a little off kilter so we wrapped foil around it to keep in the heat and smoke as best we could. After about 3 hours, add a few more coals to the fire and then a little after that, add more soaked wood chips. Check your water pan. You do not want it to dry up. Add water if needed.

I let my pork cook for about 7 hours. The hardest part was not lifting the lid off, but I didn't. Not even once!




It was absolutely delicious! It wasn't fall apart soft like you often see pulled pork in TV, but it was amazingly good. I think another 2 hours would give it that fall apart texture but neither Nick nor I complained about this juicy tender pork. The rub gave it a very nice crust with a bit of a kick. I'm not sure what it was from, the black pepper, the dry mustard or the cayenne. Maybe a combination of them since I used such a scant amount of cayenne.



For my first time, I'm very pleased with the result. You can even see the pink smoke ring around the top under the crust!