July 4th Cookout! Brisket, Sides, and Pies! Pics Galore!

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Misplaced Nebraskan

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Sep 20, 2018
1,072
1,103
Austin, TX
4th Of July Spread:

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I’m finally getting around to posting up this cook. This will probably be over a few posts due to the “few” pictures… haha. Let’s Get straight into it.



The Brisket:

Creekstone Farms Brisket – 16.2 pounds

Smoker: BGE XL with Pecan Chunks at 240°F

Salt and Pepper base with top dusting of On Point

Wrapped after I was happy with Barq and Color

Held in Alto Shaam at 155°F for 9 hours

I trimmed much less this go around. I did scalp a spot which drove me nuts later with pooling haha. The point was really small on this brisket. The exposed point was due to a small flap of meat I cut off. I ended up using that little shoulder for some amazing burnt ends.

Process Pics:

The Box

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Firing up the Egg



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Underway!


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Various Progress pics

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Ready to wrap!

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Into the Shaam


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Barq held up pretty good.



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Overall, I am still learning the egg. The brisket turned out really good, but the smoke flavor was pretty light (about what I get from my pellet rig) and there was little to no ring. I know it’s only visual, but still something I chase. Without using cures or anything else that is. I’ll learn it though. The Brisket was oh so tender after holding in the Alto Shamm. I was worried about moisture retention, but the cabinet had some slight condensation in it when I was adding food to it. Really happy with this purchase. I didn’t actually get any bend or sliced photos as I was just envisioning the end plated shot…



Onto the sides!
 
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These sides have become a go to in our house:

Dutch’s Wicked Beans, Bacon Mac & Cheese, Queso to snack on

The Queso:

4 oz each Velveeta, Cream Cheese, Smoked Gouda

1 pound Beef with half a pack of El Paso Taco Seasoning

1 Can Fire Roasted Rotel

1 can Hatch Green Chilies

Half Can Cream of Chicken

Heat to combine and enjoy!

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Dutch’s Wicked Beans:

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/dutchs-wicked-baked-beans.50945/

Bacon!

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Sautéing the Peppers and onions in the bacon with some reserved grease. Just a few mins, not fully softened.

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Fresh off the smoker. Smoked for a couple hours and stirred occasionally.


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Into the Shamm to join the Brisket


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Bacon Mac and Cheese



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Topped with toasted Panko and more bacon



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Covered and into the Shamm to join the rest of the food



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The beans… Always a success. Thanks again Dutch Dutch for the amazing recipe! The Mac and cheese we have tweaked over a few attempts to where it is now. And the Queso goes down fast every time.



Onto the pies!
 
For the pies, I have wanted to start playing around with Mini Pies. Well, smaller pies. That way I can try out more recipes more often without having to eat a full sized pie haha. I went and snagged some 5” pie plates and decided on Lemon Meringue and Peach Pie for this cook.



The Crust:

For the Crust I did a 1.5 Recipe of this recipe:



300g AP Flour

50g Sugar

Pinch Sea Salt

226g Unsalted Butter

3 Tbsp Ice Water (45 mL)

2 Tbsp Vodka (30 mL)

1 egg and splash of water for an egg wash



Four Pie Crusts ready to blind bake

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I did two of them par baked for the Peach Pie and two I cooked fully crisp for the Lemon Meringue pies.

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Peach Pie First:

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I used 3 good sized peaches for the filling, tossed in sugar, a pinch of salt, and nutmeg.

One tip I read that I liked was to set the peaches in a strainer over a pot for up to 30 mins to collect the juices.



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This was the accumulation





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I reduced this over Med-High Heat until thick and syrup like, and then cooled a bit before adding back to the peaches. This should help to alleviate any soggy bottom pie crust. And concentrated peach flavor!



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I dumped the rest of the flour and sugar into the peaches, mixed and added to the par baked crusts





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I rolled out some more of the dough and cut into various strips for the lattice top





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I brushed the tops with some cream and dusted with sugar





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These were baked at 450°F for 10 minutes, then the temp was lowered to 350°F for an additional 35-37 minutes until I thought they looked good.



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These were absolutely amazing with some Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream. I will be doing these again!



One more post! On to the lemon meringue pie!
 
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Lemon Meringue Pie:



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Fully cooked crust from above



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Fresh Lemon Juice





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Lemon Juice, zest, sugar, cornstarch, and sugar added to a pan and heated until thickened nicely.



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Added in some butter



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Scooped into the crusts



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Italian Meringue time!



Whipped egg whites, cream of tartar, and sugar to soft peaks



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Water and sugar boiled to 240°F, then added to the egg whites





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Load up the pies!





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Toasted with a torch





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Extra meringue became cookies for snacking…





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These had some flaws. There was too much cornstarch so they were thicccc. And man oh man were they tart and sour! Almost too much. I will be tweaking some ratios next time on this one. But the crusts were wonderful and crisp and that meringue… I could eat that for days on end!
 
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Final Thoughts:



This was all done over two days; From baking crusts and making fillings, smoking briskets, prepping sides and more. The Alto Shaam was a life saver as the day of I was able to focus on one thing at a time and just toss them into the cabinet relatively worry free. Everything held great and was perfect temp for serving. I learned a LOT going through all these recipes and techniques and look forward to the next meal! Probably smaller scale, but still haha.



Links to recipes used where applicable:

Dutch’s Beans

Pie Crust

Peach Pie Filling

Peach Pie Technique

Lemon Meringue Pie

Meringue Cookies

Mac and Cheese (can’t find my post from before… will locate…)
 
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OMG WOW! that all looks SO GOOD! nice work

Thanks! This was a real fun couple days!


Dammit man.....you had me at the first pic. Everything looks delicious and nice camera work.

Thanks! definitely slows the process haha. But documentation helps me remember for future projects.
 
Good grief Zach, everything looks to be absolutely perfect, big Like! That's a true labor of love, dangerously close to resembling work, all very well executed. RAY


Thanks Ray! It was a great way to spend a couple days. I assure you that no "work" was performed IAW weekend standards :emoji_laughing:
 
That's a LOT of work, Zach, even spread over 2 days. But I'd say it was more a labor of love, rather than work.
Looks like a fantastic feast!!! Everything looks beautifully done. I'd eat that any week straight.
The pies look like a couple pieces of art. Funny thing about pies though. My favorite part of any fruit pie is the crust on the second day, when it's deliciously soggy. :emoji_wink::emoji_wink: But......rest assured the lack of a soggy crust wouldn't have slowed me down any. :emoji_laughing:
Big POINT for this one.
Gary
 
  • Like
Reactions: Misplaced Nebraskan
WOW! Everything looks fantastic. Amazing camera work too. You are an artist. Thanks for sharing.

Mike

Thanks Mike! If only I could convince the wife to take pics as I work it would go a lot faster haha.

Dang Zach, was wondering why it took so long for you to post it.....now I know.

Fantastic job on the celebration.

Do I get an invite for next year? :emoji_laughing:

GREAT BIG LIKE!

John

Thanks John!

Had to pre type it up with placeholders for all the pics :emoji_laughing: I'm sure I forgot some stuff. I'm Still trying to find the limits of photos per page now lol. I figured one big thread instead of multiple small ones would be easier to track.

Doors and gates are always open for celebrations. This was just for 4 people this year...
 
  • Like
Reactions: MJB05615
That's a LOT of work, Zach, even spread over 2 days. But I'd say it was more a labor of love, rather than work.
Looks like a fantastic feast!!! Everything looks beautifully done. I'd eat that any week straight.
The pies look like a couple pieces of art. Funny thing about pies though. My favorite part of any fruit pie is the crust on the second day, when it's deliciously soggy. :emoji_wink::emoji_wink: But......rest assured the lack of a soggy crust wouldn't have slowed me down any. :emoji_laughing:
Big POINT for this one.
Gary

Thanks Gary! I'd love to make this every weekend if I could! I hear ya on the second day pie. some things take on another role the next day which is great! I actually eat some of the beans cold with chips as "dip" on the following days... great snack!


DAAAAAMN!! Fantastic spread ! Big big like!

Thanks Steve! This was a fun cook.
 
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