DIYEats How to; Live Deliciously

Archive for the ‘Grilling/Smoking’ Category

Okay, now I know that it’s now the month of October, but we are still experiencing some really super nice fall weather and it’s my opinion that anything smoked is good, just about any time of the year. And meat of any kind should be served at nearly every meal……right?

Now I smoked this brisket actually over Labor Day weekend, but with this weather I would be more than happy to do it all over again just because this stuff is just so darn good. The combination of the smokey flavors blended with the spices and such are just out of this world. When I say smoked brisket, or any other type of meat, the family is sure to be here to partake – they just love it.

The motto to tender, falling off the bone smoked meat is “keep it low and slow”. The smoker should be kept at a steady temperature between 200 and 225, keeping the heat low gives the meat time to cook but to better hold it’s moisture, and cooking for a long time makes it more tender.

I have a standard go to for my meats, whether it’s brisket, chicken or ribs, this is what I use. I do plan to play with some different things next summer, but for now this is really good too.

I start with a brisket, the thing to remember with brisket is that it needs to cook in the smoker with the fatty layer on top. This one weighed about 7 pounds, and I figure about 1 hour and 15 minutes cooking time for each pound of meat – kind of sort of like cooking turkey. (that was random).

I put my rub all over it….have fun, it’s entertaining to get your hands all goopy, don’t forget to put the rub on both sides.

One the meat has been in the smoker for about 1 1/2 hours, I put my first coat of mop on it with a brush. And I do this about every hour thereafter, it’s important to add some moisture, otherwise you might end up with a nice hard, black little slab of something that you won’t be able to recognize.

So about 2 hours before this slab of wonderful is done, I wrap it in foil and let everything settle in the smoker once more for about and hour and a half. Then I take it out of the foil and brush one side with barbeque sauce and allow to smoke for about 20 – 30 minutes, then I repeat brushing barbeque sauce on the other side and allow to sit in the smoker for another 20 minutes. Once it’s all sauced up, remove it from the smoker and allow to sit (if you can stand the wait) for another 30 minutes and serve, slice thinly against the grain of the meat.

Rub

Ingredients:
1/4 C brown sugar
1/8 C kosher salt
1/4 C paprika
1 Tbsp black pepper
2 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix together well, store left over rub for future uses.

Mop

Ingredients:
1 tsp liquid smoke
3 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 beer or 16 chicken broth
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Stir ingredients together and brush onto meat about once every hour

Barbeque Sauce

Ingredients:
2 C katsup
1 C water
1/4 C light brown sugar
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 C cider vinegar
2 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp rub

Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients above in a medium sauce pan and simmer on the stove for about an hour and a half. When ready to use on the brisket, in a separate bowl, combine 1 C barbeque sauce, 3/4 C beer, 3 to 4 drops liquid smoke and 4 to 5 cloves of fresh chopped garlic. Brush on each side, allowing to cook for about 20 minutes on each side.

We discovered these burgers last summer, and they’ve been one of the family favorites since. So I just have to put these together several times through the summer. Now get me wrong, we love just plain old BBQ burgers too, but there is a lot to be said for the mild onions and that wonderful burst of flavor that the jalapenos give these burgers.

Mmmmmm, doesn’t that just look so tasty? Now to add the burger…..

 Jalapeno Burgers

  Ingredients:

 1 lb. lean ground beef

 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds and spines removed (unless you want to turn the heat up a little – you can do that)

 1/4 C finely chopped white onion

 5 slices pepper jack cheese

 Directions:

Combine jalapeno peppers, white onion and ground beef with hands until everything is incorporated well, form into patties and grill on a low heat until juices run clear, place cheese on top of the patties and allow to melt for about 2 – 3 minutes. Serve and enjo