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Meat Porn (Brisket) Slow Cooking Rules!
- Thread starter BONESTOCK
- Start date
Out of state for work....maybe I'll buy some cooked on the company dime, cause my smoker is homeI’m thinking Monday
KBCraig
NES Member
There's nothing magic about an open flame. Smoking (any meat, not just brisket) is about getting the smoke into it first, followed by enough time and temp to let the meat do its thing.
Can't say it better myself
Awesome. Reminds me I need to bust out my electric smoker. Haven’t used it since last summer.
I’m still learning but the few ribs I did last year came out decent.
What’s your recipe? I’m thinking the 3-2-1 method is “okay” but not great
Agnotology
NES Member
So... uh.... I've never had smoked meat. I can't stand meat cooked over charcoal, but I am willing to chalk that up to people starting to cook over bricks before the lighter fluid has worn off. What is the draw?
Would still eat your meat, but pouring sugar on perfectly good meat is not something I even contemplate.
Agnotology
NES Member
I've always used propane. I don't like char on my meat. I like a good sear, and I make steaks using a cast-iron skillet all the time, but the idea of burning the outside so much that it blackened doesn't appeal to me. I feel like I'd be the a**h*** cutting the edges off the meat like a 5 years insisted the crust gets cut off their sandwiches.
peterk123
NES Member
It's not burned. That is a bark that gets created from the rub he put on it. I'm guessing the OP slow cooked this at about 250 degrees using indirect heat.
That's burnt sugar, man!!!
In a month or so I will post pics of my first attempt at smoking meat for NES ridicule... Will NOT be putting any form of sauce on the meat though
I can see where you're coming from. Whether you use charcoal or gas for grilling, in my view, a perfectly grilled steak has great browning like you get with a cast iron steak, and as much as possible, grill marks being the only real "charring" going on. However, due to poor technique or equipment, it's very common to have a well-marbled steak like a Porterhouse render enough fat and ignite a grease fire right underneath the steak, which ruins it. You get acrid bitterness on each bite, and as you've described, absolutely torched edges that are more or less inedible. It's a lot harder to get it right on an inexpensive charcoal grill, but easier on something like a charcoal-fired BGE or Kamado Joe.
When it comes to low and slow barbecue, the point is to envelop normally tough meat in quality wood smoke while maintaining a fairly low temperature. This can be achieved in many ways, be it an electric/gas smoker that uses wood chips, a pellet grill/smoker, a charcoal smoker, a Kamado cooker, a wood fired smoker, or any number of permutations of the aforementioned. The risk of burning barbecue and getting that acrid flavor is exceedingly low, especially if you're following best practices for the cooker you're using, since few smokers actually expose meat to direct flame or ignition sources.
I highly recommend getting good BBQ somewhere, if anything, just to try it to see how time, temperature, knowhow, and patience can transform tough cuts of meat into buttery, smoky goodness. Great BBQ is harder to find in Massachusetts for sure. I've heard B.T.'s Smokehouse in Sturbridge is pretty solid, and that might be somewhat convenient to where you are.
Bark on @ brisket and bark off @ tree are different woofs.That's burnt sugar, man!!!
In a month or so I will post pics of my first attempt at smoking meat for NES ridicule... Will NOT be putting any form of sauce on the meat though
KBCraig
NES Member
Sauce the beans, not the brisket.
KBCraig
NES Member
I can see some responses here don't understand the difference between bark from smoking, and the Maillard reaction that makes seared meat so tasty.
Then again, this is a region that still thinking cooking hot dogs and burgers on a grill is "barbecuing".
Then again, this is a region that still thinking cooking hot dogs and burgers on a grill is "barbecuing".
Mesatchornug
NES Member
I think you misspelled "something." I still love you.
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neum69
NES Member
KBCraig
NES Member
*garsh*!
I get it. I won brisket contests in Texas using an offset stick-burner. Staying up all night tending the fire and drinking beer was fun, 20+ years ago, but now I'm happy to set my pellet smoker and go to bed trusting it to do its thing.
KBCraig
NES Member
Bark isn't burnt, but done wrong it can definitely be nasty.
Cold meat plus too much smoke means creosote. Nasty, bitter stuff that you don't want.
No matter how you fuel your smoker, there should never be more than a light wisp of white smoke out of the chimney. Definitely no heavy smoke pouring out.
Cold meat plus too much smoke means creosote. Nasty, bitter stuff that you don't want.
No matter how you fuel your smoker, there should never be more than a light wisp of white smoke out of the chimney. Definitely no heavy smoke pouring out.
