4 Briskets 6 Racks of Ribs & 2 Chickens

[Texana]

Well my 3rd cook and my largest yet was a success.

Because of the size of my pit I had to do the Briskets first. I started Friday night about 11:30pm and sit up all night like an old hen on her eggs. The end result was a beautiful sight. I had about 1/4" smoke ring that was absolutely a thing to behold.

The ribs were almost great but not there yet. Thanks to my poor timing and an almost mob like crowd I pulled the ribs off 1/2 hour earlier than I wanted to. They had a nice small smoke ring and when they were hot the meat pulled off the bone pretty well. As they cooled down they were a little tougher. The funny thing was no one complained but me.

We had a dozen people over for this little affair and everyone ate until they were stuffed. I have never had so many compliments in my life concerning my cooking. I had made the BBQ Sauce that was in the tried and true receipes and it was a hit also. What I noticed about the sauce eaters, was none of them were from Texas. All of the Texans sampled the sauce and said it was good if you like sauce, but went sans sauce when it came to putting the grub away.

A couple of the rib eaters carried on and on about the rub. A lot of the people didn't know the rub made any difference. Of course I gave all the rub credit to TexasBBQRub. I pulled a package out and passed it around. I also had a little left in a container and passed it around so everyone could smell and touch. Everyone got a rub lesson. There was even friend there that has been at this for years and swears only by his own rub. I am not sure he is a convert, but he said next time I ordered to slip him a bag.

The question is this. While the compliments were great, do you ever reach a point where you know your doing the best you can do. Or do you continue to make each cook better than the last?

My friend the semi pro suggested the Brisket should have been left on another hour and the ribs at least 30 minutes if not an hour. But he also understood the mob mentality. Sometimes you have to just feed em to keep em happy. Next time I will start just a little earlier.

Send me your thoughts and ideas about trying to excell in smoking.

Until next time. Keep on smokin.

Texana


PS.....hehehe forgot the Chicken was perfect. The people I cooked it for are not big beef or pork eaters. No one ate the Chiken !!!!

[texasbill]

Texana:
Only your third cook and it sounds like it was really a success. I wish I had done so well on my third outing. That was like 31 years ago so I can't even remember that .

Listen, every time you fire up the smoker you are going to want to do better than the time before. There is not one time I fire up the pit and say well I am really good at this and therefore it is not going to get any better than last time. You will want to continue to learn out of each of your cooks. You may change the times a bit or learn how to place things on the pit together so they will compliment each other as you cook them. But you will always want to get better.

Just like you are saying, it all went well except the brisket could have gone maybe an hour longer and the ribs a half hour longer. These are the small things you will work at so you know pretty much what is going to happen every time you cook. You will always learn and keep and open mind on the idea of always learning from your small mistakes. Just another thought, you will also learn as you cook more and more that not every time out there is the temperature of the pit as good as it was the last time, the wood may be a little wet this time out versus last time, it could be raining, could be cold. You will need to adjust to all of those different things happening. And you will. Experience is a great learning tool.

As for the hungry mob, you will also learn to be the boss. You are the darn BBQ cook and what you can do are two things I use. First, have some simple appetizer ready for them. Sausage is good and simple and you can pull it off the pit in 30 minutes and cut it up so they start to taste the wood smoke and really get lathered up for more BBQ. You can do some chicken poppers or something easy but sausage is always the easiest. The next thing you have to do is take control of the situation. Listen BBQ is never an exact science when it comes to knowing exactly when it will be ready. So start earlier and brisket will not be hurt a bit by cooking longer is your pit is at 200 degrees. You can cook those damn things forever at 200 and they just get better. Ribs, I make the same mistake on and you just have to start earlier. If you get them done before time to serve just wrap them in aluminum and put in the oven at 150 degrees and they will be fine.

And last but not least. You need to tell them you are the BBQ cook and the food will be ready when you say it is ready. If it takes another 30 minutes so be it. Everyone will live thru it and it just gets better.

So don't stand still. It just will keep getting better as you learn from each outing. We all can improve on our Q'ing. It is a fine line, you have the basics now and now you are just fine tuning.

I love stories like these. We all can relate to how Texana felt out there as the guests told him how good it was. Big Smile to You Texana. Way to go!

Bill
Texas BBQ Rub

[Texana]

Bill:

Thanks for the kind words.

I will figure out this being the boss thing before long. The idea of sausage to hold 'em over sounds easiest. I will also pay more attention to the clock next time.

Just an update. I sent two briskets and a rack of ribs home with friends. One of the friends is a Vet and she took her brisket to her animal clinic to share with her employees. Three of the employees have called saying they would like a brisket next time. One of the friends is from Fulshear and said they did not how the local BBQ place stayed in business. They thought it was pretty good until they tried one of my "low and slow" briskets. Now I have a standing order for a brisket anytime I am cooking!

So you can imagine by now I am kinda feeling pretty good. I cant help but wonder how good it will all taste once I get the kinks worked out. One thing you said is starting to ring true. If I get a larger pit, I will have no lack of friends wanting something from it.

Just do me one favor. Do "NOT" run out of rub. While I can take credit for the cooking I know without TexasBBQRub it just would not give me the same quality.

Texana

[texasbill]

Texana:
OK you are starting to get one of those reputations. And it is a good reputation to have. Standing orders when you cook is always cool. They are putting their trust in you and you will deliver.

We will not run out of rub, you guys and girls that keep ordering it and sending us so many nice comments keep us going. Just spread the good word and keep on smoking.

One of these cooks I hope you invite me over so I can partake in some good BBQ too. You are in Houston so give me a call and I will try to get there.

Bill-Texas BBQ Rub

[Texana]

Bill:

Up above in your post you mentioned chicken poppers. Care to share your receipe. I have scoured the internet and have had no luck.

Texana

[texasbill]

OK Texana:
Let me give you my chicken poppers recipe. I start with bonesless, skinless chicken breast, jalapenos, bacon, and then there are some options you can add like cream cheese, kolby jack cheese, shrimp, etc etc.

But the basics are this.

Cut the chiken breast (across the breast) into 1 inch strips. If the breasts are really thick you can even split the strips to make them a bit thinner. Cut your fresh jalapenos in half and if you want to take out some of the fire in the jalapenos take out the seeds. Take any of the stuffing you would like to or just leave it out if you prefer to and fill the cavity of the jalapeno. I personally like mine with a mix of cream cheese, shrimp, Texas BBQ Rub, and fresh green onions. Lay the chiken strip out and place the jalapeno in the strip and roll the strip around the jalapeno. Next take a slice or usually a half of slice will do of bacon and wrap that around the chicken, stick a couple of tooth picks thru the bacon chicken and jap and place in a pan. I then put on worchertershire sauce on the wraps and sprinkle some Texas BBQ Rub over the top. You can let them sit for a bit or just throw those puppies on the smoker or on a grill. If you throw them on a grill then watch them closely as there will be flare ups from the grease off of the bacon. I personally like them smoked. Seems to take a couple of hours to get them right. If you smoke them you can set them in the smoker with the bottom of the jalapeno facing your cooking grate and perserve some of the stuffing that way.

OK that is the way I do them. They are great for getting every one cranked up for the real BBQ coming behind these, but it will keep them from being hungry and driving you crazy with that same old question "When is the BBQ going to be Done"

So enjoy these. You can leave out the cream cheese and just lay a nice fresh shrimp in the jalapeno and man this stuff is good.

Bill-Texas BBQ Rub

[txbbqcarrie]

This is by far one of my favorites by Texas Bill...everyone should try this recipe out!!! YUM YUM!

[Texana]

Bill:

I will try the chicken poppers soon. They sound absolutely wonderful.

Thanks for the receipe.

Texana

[texasbill]

Texana:
You are welcome. Cook up some soon, I know you will enjoy them.

Bill-Texas BBQ Rub