I smoked a brisket awhile back for a family at my church and as a thank-you they gave me a package of CSRs. Having never smoked them before, and reading lots of good success stories on the forums here, I thought I would try a little experiment combining two of the best things things around - pork, and good kentucky bourbon.
I started by taking my CSRs and putting them in a brine.
The brine consisted of probably a half cup each of salt and sugar, plus apple cider vinegar and a good dose of bourbon, then water til it covered the csr.
it sat in the fridge for about three hours in the brine.
Next, i applied a good coating of dry rub, using a little extra brown sugar to hopefully highlight the sweet bourbon flavor i am looking for.
I left a few lumps of brown sugar unbroken, mostly due to not wanting to mess with it.
One great thing about being single - you can just leave your bbq station out on the counter and no one will come around whining about it! By the way, if you can ever get to Pendery's in Fort Worth Texas, it is just about the best spice and dry ingredient shop I have ever seen. I think they must have over 40 different types of chili powder alone.
Now, onto the good part - the cookin! I set the CSRs up on two racks to go into my SmokinTex, and underneath put a little pan of water and (you guessed it) a dash of bourbon. I must highly recommend taking a look at SmokinTex if you are even thinking about an electric. It's built like an armored car and the temperature gauge is spot on.
I used some cherry and apple wood, and a bit of pecan for some depth. You will also see a charcoal briquet in there - I use a charcoal briquet from the grill in my woodbox to get a better smoke ring. When you have an electric smoker like me, a charcoal briquet along with your tinder will give you that nice ring you usually don't get from the electric.
Well, it's in the smoker now, and the best i can do at this point is sit, wait, smell that beautiful smoke smell, and wonder if my neighbors (I live in an apartment with a little patio) either love me or hate me for the sweet wisps of apple, pecan and cherry rolling gently around the building.
More to come as the smoke progresses. Any advice is more than welcome!
I started by taking my CSRs and putting them in a brine.
The brine consisted of probably a half cup each of salt and sugar, plus apple cider vinegar and a good dose of bourbon, then water til it covered the csr.
it sat in the fridge for about three hours in the brine.
Next, i applied a good coating of dry rub, using a little extra brown sugar to hopefully highlight the sweet bourbon flavor i am looking for.
I left a few lumps of brown sugar unbroken, mostly due to not wanting to mess with it.
One great thing about being single - you can just leave your bbq station out on the counter and no one will come around whining about it! By the way, if you can ever get to Pendery's in Fort Worth Texas, it is just about the best spice and dry ingredient shop I have ever seen. I think they must have over 40 different types of chili powder alone.
Now, onto the good part - the cookin! I set the CSRs up on two racks to go into my SmokinTex, and underneath put a little pan of water and (you guessed it) a dash of bourbon. I must highly recommend taking a look at SmokinTex if you are even thinking about an electric. It's built like an armored car and the temperature gauge is spot on.
I used some cherry and apple wood, and a bit of pecan for some depth. You will also see a charcoal briquet in there - I use a charcoal briquet from the grill in my woodbox to get a better smoke ring. When you have an electric smoker like me, a charcoal briquet along with your tinder will give you that nice ring you usually don't get from the electric.
Well, it's in the smoker now, and the best i can do at this point is sit, wait, smell that beautiful smoke smell, and wonder if my neighbors (I live in an apartment with a little patio) either love me or hate me for the sweet wisps of apple, pecan and cherry rolling gently around the building.
More to come as the smoke progresses. Any advice is more than welcome!