- Oct 21, 2018
- 6
- 0
Each year, my college buddies get together for a foot ball game. The only bad news is that it's in my hometown, Buffalo NY, and the team we watch is the Bills. This year, it will be extra rough, as we're doing the Monday night game against the Patriots... There will be drinking and crying.
Though I grew up in Buffalo, I've lived in Austin for the past 20 years, and can turn out a respectable brisket on big and small pits alike. Once a year, my teammates and I compete in an IBCA cookoff in our neighborhood, occasionally taking home a top 3 finish.
Here's my problem. I bought a prime brisket and I want to bring some Central Texas goodness to the boys up North who don't know the difference between grilling and smoking. I've got the prime brisket resting in the fridge, I know how I'm gonna prep it, and the only big variable is my buddy's cooking setup. He has a small offset that he's only used once, and I've never cooked on it. I have experience cooking on my Johnson 20" reverse flow T-smoker, and I've done tons of briskets using a Smokenator on a Weber kettle.
I was planning on taking the uncooked brisket and smoking it at his place, but some of my searching and reading this morning has recommended actually smoking the brisket at home, freezing it and flying with it frozen, and then reheating it at your destination. I just can't image the bark will stand up well with all the vibration and banging around. I've also never had a reheated brisket that tasted anywhere near as good as a freshly-rested one.
I'd love to hear from folks who have either flown commerical with an uncooked refrigerated brisket, or who have cooked it first, frozen it, and then reheated it at their destination.
Surely someone here has some experience on this. If not, I'll take a few educated opinions.
Thanks Guys -
Though I grew up in Buffalo, I've lived in Austin for the past 20 years, and can turn out a respectable brisket on big and small pits alike. Once a year, my teammates and I compete in an IBCA cookoff in our neighborhood, occasionally taking home a top 3 finish.
Here's my problem. I bought a prime brisket and I want to bring some Central Texas goodness to the boys up North who don't know the difference between grilling and smoking. I've got the prime brisket resting in the fridge, I know how I'm gonna prep it, and the only big variable is my buddy's cooking setup. He has a small offset that he's only used once, and I've never cooked on it. I have experience cooking on my Johnson 20" reverse flow T-smoker, and I've done tons of briskets using a Smokenator on a Weber kettle.
I was planning on taking the uncooked brisket and smoking it at his place, but some of my searching and reading this morning has recommended actually smoking the brisket at home, freezing it and flying with it frozen, and then reheating it at your destination. I just can't image the bark will stand up well with all the vibration and banging around. I've also never had a reheated brisket that tasted anywhere near as good as a freshly-rested one.
I'd love to hear from folks who have either flown commerical with an uncooked refrigerated brisket, or who have cooked it first, frozen it, and then reheated it at their destination.
Surely someone here has some experience on this. If not, I'll take a few educated opinions.
Thanks Guys -