Cooking Cheap

[Updated 7/24/04 with Pictures]

I’ve read the words. I’ve seen the drawings and pictures but the way to figure out meat is have a big hunk of it in front of you and your knives and half a vague idea of what you want to do. I have attacked my brisket and it’s mostly the flat cut (as I thought). What part of the point still left is so thin I’ll probably throw it away tomorrow after the smoke. As expected from a “market trimmed” brisket, there’s not much fat on either side. Then again, there’s not much waste but time will tell. I can’t tell you why, but I decided to go with a paste instead of a rub or marinade and I throttled down on the spice. The recipe was for one full brisket, I went for roughly a third recipe of paste, even though I have the better half of a full brisket. I’ll start the fire around 11:00 AM Thursday. Dinner at 8:00PM or a few hours, give or take.

I decided to smoke the brisket flat tomorrow (Thursday). My thinking is if I did it on Friday, I might not go to the BBQ competition on Saturday. Over lunch, Vern tried to talk me into entering the competition. No, no, this is a scouting year. I’ve seen what happens on Food TV but like cutting meat, I need to see and learn. Then I’ll think about competition after I smoke a brisket and a pork butt and find the rub(s) I like. Probably not even then. If I’m really on top of my game Saturday, I’ll take the digital camera. I have no idea how big this event is but it is sanctioned by the KC BBQ Society and the winners get to compete in regional cook offs. Sadly, they chose to call the event “Thrill Of The Grill” but it’s not grilling, it’s Q, low and slow. I sure hope I remember to bring the camera. It is possible that my brisket is going to be good and that the event is attended by more that a half dozen commercial outfits. Might be nice to talk to other hobbyists.

The brisket flat is in the fridge for the night. It’s 9:00 PM and darkness approaches. What better time to go out front and pull weeds? They finally offended me enough. Oh there’s still more to do. There can never be an end to weeds, But I did spruce up the front, a lot. I mowed the lawn after lunch. It’s was a very happy lawn. This year I’ve managed to get the fertilizer on it as needed. Still looks like crap because the fall leaf kill if you inspect it up close. Looks just fine from the road if you don’t stand over it. Kind of like politics, you don’t want to look too close or ask too many questions.

[7/22/04]
It’s now 7.5 hours into the brisket smoke and the meat temp is 170F. I don’t know I’ve I got enough fuel or daylight to get to 185. That’s why we have foil and and oven or a flashlight and more charcoal. The smoker was running between 225 and 235 all the time but for 3 hours the brisket was stuck at 160 internally. I’ve read that happens often. You have to go beyond well done to overdone. The good news? It looks like it should look at this point (I think). It’s not completely black but it will I just added some unlit charcoal. That might get me two more hours. I’m still learning. That’s good a good thing.

It’s nine hours now. I’m deliberately running the smoker around 240-245. Internal meat temp is 187. In theory I really want 205F. I know I said 185 but you can read both things and since I’m experimenting, I’m going to let it go. Thank god I put a bratwurst in the smoker for an hour and half back around 2:00PM.

I pulled it out of the WSM at 192F. It was getting too late. Here’s what it looks like resting on the cutting board with the essential BBQ tool.

And here’s a picture after resting and slicing some of it. What was left of the point and fat was removed, and I dutifully cut of the burnt ends (down in the lower right). If you really want to see the full size picture you can click on the image below.

It may look moist enough in the picture but it was a little dry once it was on the plate. Tasted just fine and the texture was just fine so I’m going to call it a success. The lack of moisture doesn’t surprise me since I did everything to prevent it. There was no fat cap. I’d didn’t baste or mop it. I didn’t foil it or wrap it. I cooked it long past some recommendations. It passes that stretch test though and boy does it taste like beef.

[Update: 7/11/04, 19:00]
It’s pepperoni! Or close enough. I doubt if you could cut it wafer thin like the supermarket slices for pizza and its much leaner than supermarket pepperoni. I used 15% ground beef and a lot of the fat drained away during smoking and I’m fine with that. Texture is a little more mealy than supermarket, probably a fat issue or the grind of the meat. Doesn’t matter, it’s good eats and worth your time and expense trying it on the smoker or in the oven.

The beef ribs were just OK on my scale. They could have used another hour in the smoker but then there wasn’t enough meat on them to be worth any effort. The baked beans were awesome. As I suspected the flavor depends a lot on the BBQ sauce and this time I used my own hearty sauce. I also used mix of red kidney beans and pinto beans instead of white/navy beans. Kick ass beans.

I do have pictures. Maybe I’ll get around to posting them. Or not. Try the Pepperoni. I’m thinking a two day cure wouldn’t hurt anything. What will I do the mealy pepperoni? If I don’t eat eat it all out of my hand, it would make a nice pasta. Maybe a Rosa sauce. Some store bought marinara, half moons of home made pepperoni and some amount of half and half. Muy Delicisio! Or chopped in a Calzone. Or all of the above. Or anywhere near the above.

[7/10/4 ]

“It’s been a week since my last BBQ, Father”

“Then you must BBQ and tell everybody about it”

I can do that! And learn something. In an uncommon burst of energy, I’ve prepped and rubbed down some beef ribs (3 ribs, single serving) for Sunday dinner, I’ve got beans soaking overnight and I’ve got a batch of pepperoni curing overnight. I’m really curious about the pepperoni. I sure hope it’s good because Fennel seeds and Anise seeds do not come cheap. At least they are seeds and not powders so they should keep a long time. It doesn’t have to be pepperoni it only has to taste good and that seems likely based on last years experiment with smoked meat loaf.

I have no idea how long it’s going to take to smoke it all. It’s 1.75 lbs of beef ribs and one pound of the ground beef mixture so it’s not a lot of mass. I’m guessing 3.5 hours, maybe 4. Or Five. I think I’ll shoot for four hours at 210F. 17 or 18 lit briquettes. So many variables and untested recipes. It’s all about public service at the CCDL Rancho.

Speaking of public service, I learned how to keep radishes in the fridge. When you get them home from the market, trim the green leaves as close to the bulb as you can. You can probably do that without a knife. Wash the dirt off and place them in your air tight plastic container of choice, cover with water (they float, so go figure) and put the lid on and store in the refrigerator. I just tried one that’s been in the water for a week and it’s still crisp and flavorful. I left the tail root on. I got this tip from a checker at the Albertsons. She claimed they’ll hold for two weeks. It may be a mega mart but they all call me Cecil.