As some of you may remember, I picked up my new offset from TMG Pits back in mid-May. Due to schedules and life changes, I've only gotten to cook on it a couple of times. But I told everyone that this weekend I was smoking a brisket or 2 and they were all welcome to come, but it was going to happen with or without them. And besides, it's my wife's best friend's 60th birthday.
I had 2 choice whole briskets that I bought at Kroger. These were around 14 lbs. each...
Trimmed them and seasoned one the Aaron Franklin way and one with all purpose rub recipe from Malcolm Reed. Into the fridge overnight. Didn't weigh it, but I had a gallon bag full of fat/trimmings that I trimmed off the 2 briskets. That'll be saved for the upcoming deer season or whatever other need may come along.
Got up at 3am to fire up the smoker. White oak is the choice for today. Took about 1 1/2 hours to get up to temp and the smoke to get right. Briskets went on about 4:30. Now it's time to drink coffee and feed this beast. After a couple of hours and the sun starting to wake up the world, I got a good look at the smoke.
Enough coffee and sitting around, time to peel some potatoes for smoked cheesy scalloped potatoes.
- 10 lbs. of potatoes peeled and sliced about 1/8" thick on a mandolin
- Chopped up Vidalia onion
- Parmesan cheese, extra sharp cheddar, and gruyere mixed together. No real measuring, just use a bunch
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter
- 8 TBSP all purpose flour for each pan
- Quart of half & half for each pan
Melt the butter in the pans and layer in the potatoes and onions. Salt and pepper and sprinkle in flour and cheese mixture. Keep repeating in layers until everything in the pans. Pour in a quart of half & half in each pan. If necessary, add enough whole milk to almost cover the potatoes. I sprinkled some of the dry rub on the top. Ready for the smoker.
Into the smoker after the brisket has been in for 4 hours or so. I get to take a peek...
On to the next project which is poppers for an appetizer. I had a couple of smoked thighs from earlier this week so I pulled all the meat off of the bone and gave the skin to Lucy.
I made boats out of the peppers and stuffed them with cream cheese well seasoned with the dry rub. The smoked thigh meat went on top and then they were bacon wrapped and dusted with a KC style rub. The pan on the right has peppers stuffed with my wife's homemade pimento cheese. No chicken, just wrapped and dusted with the rub. No finished pics, they didn't last too long....
Another appetizer was Mexican street corn. Eaten with either Scoops or on soft taco shells. Most just ate it with the Scoops...
Made a tomato pie and smoked mac and cheese. I roasted a pan of fresh carrots, but no pic.
Brisket temp is running around 200℉, but probing tender, time to pull. After a brief rest, everyone is getting hungry, it's time to slice them. I separated the points from the flats and sliced each individually..
Everyone is starving so time to eat. Brisket, roasted carrots, smoked cheesy scalloped potatoes, and tomato pie....
The brisket was smoked with white oak for about 14 hours at 225℉-250℉ until probe tender. I wrapped the brisket in foil at about 170℉, around 9 hours in. It came out very moist and tender, but almost too tender. It wanted to shred when slicing. Internal temp was around 200℉. This was not my first brisket, but the first on my new offset. Just more evidence that brisket is done when it's done.
The potatoes took about 4 hours to get tender. I added more cheese on top and smoked for another 15 minutes or so until it melted.
The mac and cheese was smoked for about 1 1/2 hours until the cheese started to brown. Probably could've gone a little longer to get a little more brown or place it on the top rack in the smoker.
Overall, I'm happy with the outcome, but always room for improvement.
I had 2 choice whole briskets that I bought at Kroger. These were around 14 lbs. each...
Trimmed them and seasoned one the Aaron Franklin way and one with all purpose rub recipe from Malcolm Reed. Into the fridge overnight. Didn't weigh it, but I had a gallon bag full of fat/trimmings that I trimmed off the 2 briskets. That'll be saved for the upcoming deer season or whatever other need may come along.
Got up at 3am to fire up the smoker. White oak is the choice for today. Took about 1 1/2 hours to get up to temp and the smoke to get right. Briskets went on about 4:30. Now it's time to drink coffee and feed this beast. After a couple of hours and the sun starting to wake up the world, I got a good look at the smoke.
Enough coffee and sitting around, time to peel some potatoes for smoked cheesy scalloped potatoes.
- 10 lbs. of potatoes peeled and sliced about 1/8" thick on a mandolin
- Chopped up Vidalia onion
- Parmesan cheese, extra sharp cheddar, and gruyere mixed together. No real measuring, just use a bunch
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter
- 8 TBSP all purpose flour for each pan
- Quart of half & half for each pan
Melt the butter in the pans and layer in the potatoes and onions. Salt and pepper and sprinkle in flour and cheese mixture. Keep repeating in layers until everything in the pans. Pour in a quart of half & half in each pan. If necessary, add enough whole milk to almost cover the potatoes. I sprinkled some of the dry rub on the top. Ready for the smoker.
Into the smoker after the brisket has been in for 4 hours or so. I get to take a peek...
On to the next project which is poppers for an appetizer. I had a couple of smoked thighs from earlier this week so I pulled all the meat off of the bone and gave the skin to Lucy.
I made boats out of the peppers and stuffed them with cream cheese well seasoned with the dry rub. The smoked thigh meat went on top and then they were bacon wrapped and dusted with a KC style rub. The pan on the right has peppers stuffed with my wife's homemade pimento cheese. No chicken, just wrapped and dusted with the rub. No finished pics, they didn't last too long....
Another appetizer was Mexican street corn. Eaten with either Scoops or on soft taco shells. Most just ate it with the Scoops...
Made a tomato pie and smoked mac and cheese. I roasted a pan of fresh carrots, but no pic.
Brisket temp is running around 200℉, but probing tender, time to pull. After a brief rest, everyone is getting hungry, it's time to slice them. I separated the points from the flats and sliced each individually..
Everyone is starving so time to eat. Brisket, roasted carrots, smoked cheesy scalloped potatoes, and tomato pie....
The brisket was smoked with white oak for about 14 hours at 225℉-250℉ until probe tender. I wrapped the brisket in foil at about 170℉, around 9 hours in. It came out very moist and tender, but almost too tender. It wanted to shred when slicing. Internal temp was around 200℉. This was not my first brisket, but the first on my new offset. Just more evidence that brisket is done when it's done.
The potatoes took about 4 hours to get tender. I added more cheese on top and smoked for another 15 minutes or so until it melted.
The mac and cheese was smoked for about 1 1/2 hours until the cheese started to brown. Probably could've gone a little longer to get a little more brown or place it on the top rack in the smoker.
Overall, I'm happy with the outcome, but always room for improvement.
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