Food

Someone asked for my brisket recipie -- may as well stick it up here so that everyone can have a shot at it...

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Well, I don't exactly have a recipe, but here goes:

1) Get a nice brisket. A whole brisket has two parts, 'point' and 'flat'.
You'll have to go to a butcher to get a whole one, which has more fat/flavor
and is pretty big (20 lbs or so.) The one I sent over was just a flat, which
is what you'll get at Klein's, etc.

2) Get it out the night before and give it a good dry rub, then cover it and
let that soak in overnight. I'm always experimenting, and used leftovers
from another project that particular day. I'm pretty sure it was this
recipe, but w/o the MSG.

There are a million rub recipes on the web, this just happens to be the one I
think I used. Feel free to substitute one that looks good to you. Don't
feel like you have to get it all on there -- rubs always seem to have
leftovers. Put on more than a sprinkling and less than 'heavy'. It's just
something you have to figure out on your own.

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Non-Iodized Table Salt
½ Cup Brown Sugar (Dried out lightly by exposing on cookie sheet room temp.
several hours, or slightly warmed)
5 Tablespoons + 1 Teaspoons Chili Powder
2 Tablespoons + 2 Teaspoons Ground Cumin
4 Teaspoons MSG (Accent)
4 Teaspoons Cayenne Pepper
4 Teaspoons Black Pepper freshly ground (important)
4 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
4 Teaspoons Onion Powder

3) Cook that baby for a long time over low heat (225 degrees). You'll need
1 1/2 to 2 hours per pound. I smoked it over charcoal, with fist-sized
chunks of hickory for flavor. I'm sure the oven would do a fine job too, and
be a whole lot less to deal with.

4) When the internal temp is around 170, wrap it tightly in heavy-duty foil.

5) When the internal temp is around 190, take it out of the oven / smoker.

6) Wrap it in an old towel, (in case it leaks) and stick it a small cooler for
at least an hour. This is the real 'trick', I think. It lets the juice back
into the meat and really finishes it nicely.

7) When you open it up, it will still be very, very hot, so be careful. Save
the juice from the foil.

8) Brisket has a strong grain to it. Slice across the grain and pour the foil
juice back over the meat.

9) If you like, wet the meat down with a BBQ sauce of your choice. I like
sweet more than hot. My personal favorite is Sweet Baby Ray's, which should
be easy to find.

Please let me know how it turns out.

Folks, I made the best ribs of my entire life this weekend. I've been barbequein' for a hobby for almost a year now, and am finally starting to get it down. This weekend's batch was a combination of recipies and techniques that I'm adopting and mangling into something of my own.

Rub: Alton Brown's base, with some extra Old Bay (we were at the beach you know...)

Foiled: Yes

Marinade: 3:2:1 OJ/Oil/Vinegar

Whoo-daddy! Were these ever some good ribs... Add some green beans and some good local corn, and that's just about as good as a meal could possibly be.