Back Ribs, Brisket, Brats, Steak, Chicken

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damnthatsgood

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Sep 5, 2013
153
22
Just East of San Antonio
Okay, I have done you all a disservice by not getting a thread up of last weekend's smoke.  But I'll get on it!

For this weekend, I have a quick question about BBQ sauce.  I'm doing the beef back ribs 3-2-1, and basically getting them up to brisket temps.  I'll pull the membrane tonight, and get the rub on them.  I'm going to throw a light coating of bbq sauce on them at some point during the smoke.  Which sauce should I use??  I have three of them.  Help me choose:


Thanks guys.  And if you have a totally different suggestion, I'm all ears.  I'll start the smoke tomorrow morning about 6:30 AM  Central time.
 
Out of the 3 you have I would go with the Stubb's for sure 
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Out of the 3 you have I would go with the Stubb's for sure 
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Thank you.  I was leaning that direction.  I have two racks, so I think I'll just put some sauce on one of them.

Here is what is going on tomorrow.  I'll smoke the ribs, brats, and brisket, and grill the steak, and boneless thighs.  The apple will be for when I foil the ribs.  Not sure what's going on with the onions, but it isn't cooking without them.

I'll get pics up tomorrow when I start to prepare the meat.




 
Stubbs is some solid sauce, I'm a fan for sure. While I'm a BIG jack daniels fan, the jack bbq sauce I've used in the past is decent at best (although I haven't used the jack honey sauce, but I've put down multiple 5ths of jack honey liquor and it's a great shot when pounding beer and bbqing). That last sauce I've seen but haven't ever used. I'm curious so let us know if you use it.

Good luck with that smoke. Looks like you'll be eating like a king on a Monday, and that's a great start to the week if you ask me!
 
 
I'll definitely be back for this smoke 
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Hope I don't disappoint!
Stubbs is some solid sauce, I'm a fan for sure. While I'm a BIG jack daniels fan, the jack bbq sauce I've used in the past is decent at best (although I haven't used the jack honey sauce, but I've put down multiple 5ths of jack honey liquor and it's a great shot when pounding beer and bbqing). That last sauce I've seen but haven't ever used. I'm curious so let us know if you use it.

Good luck with that smoke. Looks like you'll be eating like a king on a Monday, and that's a great start to the week if you ask me!
I think I may use the obscure brand then.  We all know the Stubbs will be good.  I don't know, maybe one kind of sauce on each rack.
 
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Here we go!  Time to start putting stuff on the smoker.

Started with the brisket and ribs.  I trimmed the fat down on the brisket some, and rubbed them both with an average rub consisting of:

paprika, brown sugar, pepper, salt, garlic powder, celery seeds, cayenne pepper, onion powder

As you can see, they saw me coming a mile away this time on brisket prices.  They'll come down soon.


Choice brisket is what I normally get my hands on at Wal Mart or HEB.


Here's the ribs.


Select meat.


I pulled the membrane off both racks.  Very easy by using the "run it under hot water" method.


Here's the start of my snake.  Have a thread up about how to get smoke right when cooking at such low temps with wood.  I'm going to try the advice given of burying the wood.

Now you see it:


Now you don't:


That much smoke, or even less is what I shoot for.


And here's the first batch on the grill.  I'll give it a few hours, and then throw some brats and chicken on there for lunch!!



I'll check back in in a few hours guys.  Enjoy!!
 
I had to rearrange some stuff, because the upper grate was just too hot for the ribs IMHO.  So i swapped the brats up top and the ribs down below.




Okay, this is at the three-hour mark:



I have them laying on apples, and have apples on top of them.  I dumped a little bit of pineapple-orange juice on them, since it's all I had.


 
I pulled these off a few hours ago.  Very tasty for lunch!  They cooked a bit faster than I expected....again.  But they were still so juicy!  Can you even mess these things up?????




Brisket is through the stall, and sitting pretty at 160*.  Time for foil.




The second leg of the rib marathon is over.  Time to pull out of the foil, and put a thin layer of sauce on.



I chose to do one rack with each kind.


Judging by how they look, do you think the one on the left is already done?  I seriously need to do some tuning plates.
 
Here's the ribs.  I did 3-2-1.  After sticking my finger in the two types of BBQ sauce, the Stubb's was better.  But on the ribs, WOW!!  That other stuff was waaaay better than the Stubb's brand!





Here is the next set of brats going on.  Once they're almost done, I'll start on chicken and steak.


 
Okay, the smoke/grill is over with.  Hard to believe the brisket cooked so fast!  And I accidentally found out how bad I need tuning plates.  I had both probes from my therm about three inches away from each other front to back, but they were both the same distance from the firebox.  They were reading 26* off!!!  So I put them about a quarter of an inch apart, and they were reading dead on.  I think one of them was right in the middle of the draft, and the other wasn't.  I'll have to address that.  Also, the point was closest to the firebox, and it hit 200* when the flat was still at 185*.  So I spun it around and brought the flat to 200*.  Whatever I did caused the point to be OMFG tender and juicy, while the flat was kind of "meh", and a bit dry.  So to sum it up, the point was at 200* waaaay longer than the flat, and it came out so good.  But the flat was at 200* for about ten minutes and it was nowhere near as good.  And kind of dry.  So what happened?  I rested it for two hours.  Do I need to keep the flat at 200* even longer?  Or does the flat just naturally not come out as good?  This is my first brisket where they were so "night and day".  Usually they are real close in tenderness and moisture.  This time around, the point was out of this world, and the flat just kind of sucked?

Anyways, here's Q-view!!!!

I don't know why, but these skinless/boneless thighs steal the show every time!  Wow!  They are so good, I'll never eat another chicken breast.  Chicken breasts are for peasants!!!

I did use the Thermapen to tell doneness, and ended up pulling them waaay before I normally would have.  Holy crap, were they tender and juicy!!  Way to go Thermoworks!!!  :)



Here's some shots of the steaks.  I wanted to pull them at 125-130*.  When I checked them, they were about 121*.  I went in the house to get a plate, and by the time I got back outside (and i hurried), they were at 140*!!  They were still good, though.



A shot of the second batch of sausages.  I was more careful to watch the IT on them this time.  I pulled them at around 165*


Drumroll please!!!   ------------BRISKET--------------




Smoke penetration was weird this time, but still pretty good.




Just lap it up.  That point was so juicy.




I'm trying to get in close, but a camera just doesn't do it justice.








Here's a couple shots of the steak after it had been sitting on the counter for about twenty minutes.



Hope you guys enjoyed the Q !!

I'm starting to get kind of sick of brisket.  Can someone suggest a different way to cook it?

I think I might do fish for my next smoke.

Thanks for tuning in!!!
 
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Good to know about that sauce. I'll have to try it.

Also who smoke looked great! Good job!
 
Good to know about that sauce. I'll have to try it.

Also who smoke looked great! Good job!
Thanks!
 
Looks great. What a meal. Leftover brisket is great for tacos or in chili.
My wife uses it to make stew.  But I think it's going in chili next time...awesome idea!

Sorry for not replying sooner.  And thanks for the replies!
 
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