Barbecue

[WadePatton]

I don't have time to get into this morning, but here's the section for everything:

LOW and SLOW with SMOKE.

Meat, Fowl, Fish, Veggie, Fruit, etc-whatever you like done the LSS way. Wood chips, sticks, charcoal, vineyard trimmings, sugar cane, there must be smoke.

I use a smoker made in New Braunfels, TX some years ago-Bandera is the model name. It was actually the original basis of the BBQ Brethren website. They started that site as the "Bandera Brethren." It's a cult smoker. But they don't make 'em like that any more.

I feed it wood, 100% local cherry, oak, hickory, persimmon, etc. the wood must have a great aroma when a piece is freshly split open (and be a hardwood).

...to be contd.

[notoriousdjw]

I have 2 Boston Butts and a chicken in the smoker right now with Hickory as the smoke source. Temp is 210F with a cook time of maybe 15hrs for the pork and ??? for the Chicken. I've never done a Chicken in the smoker before so an instant-read thermometer will be used to look for 190F+. Rub is a bunch of spices with sugar/salt and 2 days of brining before smoking. What is your recipe Wade?

[giordana93]

haven't done it in a while, but 2 ducks placed in the top section of an ECB (aka el cheapo brinkman) yield some mighty fine eating that pairs well with any number of good wines, from chewy zins to bordeau, pinot noirs and even heartier chard's. will have to put that on the list for fall cooking. note that these are more properly barbecue, not smoked per se. too much smoke can overpower duck. just like with wines, if the only thing you can taste is the wood, there's something wrong (some people are into that though, just not me)

[WadePatton]

in shotgun order:

very little smoke can ruin the meat if it's done wrong.

i run chicken ~4 hours. 2 or 3 in the smoke and the wrapped for the last bit. butts go somewhere between 8-12, depends on conditions and when they say they're done. Times are always flexible, especially to the long side, and double especially if you wrap the meat on the end of the cook instead of the beginning.

I learned to bbq wrapping on the front end, but quickly changed once al gore invented the internet and i started reading around about it. Some folks don't wrap at all, but i don't love bark _that much_ and it's real easy to ruin a bunch of meat that way atwo.

Never brined, have rarely marinated, relying almost entirely on dry or wet rub and proper smoke. Sometimes I get the seasonings on the day before, sometime the hour before. I don't perceive a big diff. Also, wrt brine/marinade-if I was doing some flavorless wonder meat like commercial chicken breast, then i'd be more inclined to soak/inject flavors. Moisture is never an issue with end-wrap cooking.

My rubs: sometimes i use over the meat counter preparations, sometimes i roll my own, and mostly i use fairly simple seasoned salt mixes. One made locally is called "Butt Rub".

But the real deal for getting Q right is keeping the smoke right and maintaining moisture in the meat. The latter i accomplish with the foil wrap, the former is the most important thing!!!.

Thin Blue Smoke--TBS.

that's it.

that is the single simplest key to good bbq.

To accomplish such, i have different woods on hand, some more seasoned (dried out/longer since cutting) and some more green/fresher. I use the most seasoned wood to start the fire and attain smoking temps, then mix in the green-ish wood (a month or two split is fine) to get the color of smoke right. Really seasoned/old wood is useless as it won't produce enough smoke and may actually be musty. Really green wood will spit and sizzle sap and make white smoke.

NEVER do we want white smoke. It can happen, but should be rectified asap. NOR do we close the top vent. if you get stop the flow of hot air passing through the cooking chamber, it can stagnate, cool, and form CREOSOTE on your food!

It's fine to dump water on a too hot firebox, just give the steam plenty of room to escape and keep that top hatch open. I've done this many times. stick burning is always interesting, but over-cooked meat is _not_.

Of course all this can mostly be eliminated by running an electric smoker or a well-regulated charcoal box setup. But i'm the type who feeds sticks into the Bandera, and digs it that way.

I use Black Cherry, Black Walnut, Red Oak, Maple, Persimmon, Hickory and Pecan/Pear/Apple when available. I am cautious with the walnut and hickory on fish and veggies, but mix the others freely. A fresh split (by fresh i mean with in a few minutes of the splitting) of oak or cherry or hickory is something to experience. It's real eye-opener for someone who has wine training...has tasted thousands and judged hundreds and had all these wonderful conversations about the oenology of it all. Jam that smart wine-nose into a fresh split of red oak and tell me how those flavors got into that stick of wood--those flavors formerly attributed to the wizardry of the wine-maker and the alchemy of the yeast and the micro-climate and seasonal fluctuations of the vineyard. And i swear a fresh split of cherry has a very slight cosmetic-ish component. maybelline yo.

wait what? bbq, oh yeah.

Hey if you're a "chip" smoker and want a flat rate boxfull of oak/cherry/hickory. just holla.

hey agin, is dem sheek-an ready yet fo me to taste 'em yet hah? (Justin Wilson yo)

...and there's more to it than that, but i'm done for the eve.

[notoriousdjw]

giordana,

I smoke for about 7 or 8 hours and finsh in the oven. Mostly it's because I need to go to bed but the oven is better at temp control and removes the possibility of over-smoking. Also the house smells like bacon for a day or two after my bbq and that is heaven for any pork lover...

[WadePatton]

Nothing wrong with an oven finish once the smoke is in there proper...tha's the other great reason to smoke on the front. heck some ovens have timers and everything! i've not actually done it though.

Also convenient for the resting part as that's where i usually put mine to rest if not using coolers.

[notoriousdjw]

Thanks for the detailed info Wade! I'm in Northern VA which is considered the south only by people from New England. It's not like you can trade tips with the neighbors...

The Chicken turned out great after about 6 hrs and ~170 internal temp. The Pork stopped cooking a couple hours ago (16hrs) which is pretty normal for my method. How do you maintain temperature control with a wood fire? I have a propane smoker with chip box which is sacrilege but fits nicely on the deck. Chopping down trees to put in a real wood smoker would probably get me arrested :). Next time I may swap the brine for a foil wrap as you suggest but my wood choice is just hickory and apple wood from the bag I bought at Home Depot. I used mesquite for some time until realizing that the flavor/aroma reminds me of hot dogs and that thought ruined my BBQ enjoyment.

If you lived closer you could stop by for lunch.

[jitahs]

Wade, do you pre-burn you wood or feed it in green? How bout water or is it a dry smoke? What temp are you running for your box?

[WadePatton]

Yes, we had a discussion of the Mid-Atlantic area around NAHBS-Richmond time. Which-200 years ago _was_ the South, the capital even. But no one from here even begins to think of today's DC/MD/VA as Southern. But hillbillies live everywhere.

Sounds like you got it going on wrt the Q. I don't probe a lot, but I have to confirm my methods. That's the dealio with wood, you never can let your guard down. I'm doing good if I can keep it running 46 minutes to an hour w/o touching it. I open it up for adjustments, food additions/rotation/removal at least every two hours, sometimes on the hour. I make snacks and do short-term veggie/fruit stuff alongside the main cook. to wit:

Scheekan Leg Quarters!
First, are of the dark/flavorful meat of commercial fowl. second, are wicked cheap. third come with gobs of fat and hide still attached.
So I trim back the skin and fat*, saving them, rub the meat, and smoke for 2-3 hours plus 2-1 hours wrapped for 4-5 total. WHILE the quarters smoke, i cut up the trimmings and drop into iron skillet atop the fire box. They quickly render in to very fine scheekan chicharrones, which dragged back through a little rub salt is/are delicious. I share these with the dogs-who are extremely well-behaved on Q days. (they're all "yes sir", and "no sir" and "what can we do for you sir.") The liquefied fat can then be saved for future use or drizzled over the smoker (later when warm not hot) for a protective, rust-resistant coating. That's one of my snacks whilst Q'ing.

*The BBQ Trinity is: Fat, Bones, Skin. Q can be made in their absence, but not _good_ Q. Butts and Brisket don't usually have the hide on, but make up for it in fat content, and a bone-in butt is always better than boneless. Ribs otoh are all bones and fat--try removing either and then cooking 'em. See what i mean... Fish and Fowl definitely need their skins and bones to make good Q as they don't have the fat content of red meats.

And this takes us to another reason for the end-wrap. The "drippings"! There may be a culinary term here that I don't know as i learned my cooking outside of the classroom, but I'm talking about all the liquid captured inside the foil at the end of the cook.

If wrapped at the start, this fluid will be much more voluminous as much higher in fat content, and nearly un-smoked. It takes more work to capture it and there'll be much more to discard. Wrapping on the end of the smoke yields give much less fat and a smoked product AS WELL AS protects the meat from drying if heat control isn't absolute (mine never is). TAKE THIS product, let it cool, skim off the fat (use the fat if you like) and use the jelly-ish product (of the marrow) left to flavor whatever you like. Does wonders for beans or rice. BBQ stock? Freeze if keeping for more than a few days.

As to wood, I heat with it. I cut/split my own. Have land with trees, and trees fall over all the time. I have two big hickories, a large cherry, and maple down right now (felled by nature), and just got some red oak from a neighbor's storm-killed yard tree.

that's how a bill becomes a law

[Dorman]

Sounds like you guys are all pretty much doing what I am. I mix up some spices for a dry rub for the pork shoulders and throw them in the vertical vertical section. I run a combination of lump charcoal and wood chunks. I typically use apple because that's the way I roll. I usually run them about 8 hours in the smoker at an average of 210 degrees. I find the larger the smoker the better it holds heat steady. This one is a 20 inch diameter and I can hold it pretty steady +/- 20 degrees F. I have a 16 inch unit up north and that one needs a little more fussing around with as it just isn't as big of a heat sink. I will keep the surface of the meat lubricated with an hourly spritzing of Seven-Up and apple cider vinegar mix. After 8 hours into a big roaster it goes with the remainder of the liquid spritzer mix and covered tightly with tin foil at 200 degrees for about another 3 hours. Then pull away.

[WadePatton]

Wade, do you pre-burn you wood or feed it in green? How bout water or is it a dry smoke? What temp are you running for your box?

Sometimes I pile on some wood at the end of a session wet it down/close it up to make charred coals to start next session. But it's not necessary. I use seasoned and greenish wood split small and added frequently and mixed according to smoke/heat requirements.

I lost the original water pan, use a broiler pan filled--mainly as a heat deflector/stabilizer. If the water sizzles, it's getting too hot. The pan also catches drippings. I probably refill the pan a little on 12-hour sessions, but I don't think it's necessary.

I run the temp _onmybox_ around 210-220, but probe locations/calibrations vary greatly. I learned on a huge smoker where 200 was the magic number. I tried that when I got mine and found it too cool to get anything done.

gotta run

[WadePatton]

illustrations yo:

[WadePatton]

Hey Chris, thanks for sharing your technique. I have some 55 gallon drums to play with...need to make a cold smoker for sausage, bacon, cheese, etc. but i'm not into that project yet.

I've got the firebox and bottom of my smoke section lined with a bunch of cast iron and firebrick. I rob discarded wood stoves.

[Dorman]

Wade, the horizontal/vertical is great as it will also act as a direct or indirect grill as well depending on where you place stuff. After 8 hours on that baby you better be feeding the chef along the way to balance out the liquid intake, or he's likely to not be able to get the hog off the 'que at the end of the day.

I've got an uncle that get's all Alton Brown with his cold smoker. Seriously, it's an old steel tackle box (for the firebox) with a 3 inch 12v. fan blowing into flexible dryer duct about 2 feet to a modified cooler (meat receptacle) and does all of his venison summer sausage in here. You should see the chicken plucking machine he came up with in the '70's (120v. electric motor to V belt to 18 inch diameter drum with a bunch of 3 inch rubber fingers sticking out of it). It really didn't work very well, but what else are you going to do in your free time when you are an electrical engineer?