OK...You've got a smoker - will it be Ribs? Or Brisket?

[Taverner]

Poll question: OK...You've got a smoker - will it be Ribs? Or Brisket?

You can only smoke these two things.

You may not smoke a sausage
You may not smoke a chicken breast
You may not smoke a bowl

[VelmaD]

1. Yes

:-)

[Sir Craig]

2. Ribs: Little effort and awesome flavor

Brisket is just too much of a hassle...

[GOPisEvil]

3. I prefer brisket myself.

Mmmmm...brisket...:9

[DemoTex]

4. I run a professional-style smoker almost every day.

I share knowledge and recipes, too.

[Ksec]

5. pork ribs . brisket is great ,but those ribs.. OMG Im hungry now.

[Ksec]

6. BTW brisket used to be considered trash meat. Like wings.

[DemoTex]

8. Beef brisket is trash meat. Only in Texas.

I never, ever cook beef brisket. It is to down-end dependent on the barbecue sauce. I prefer a pork or chicken, that gets mopped every 30 minutes, in a pit that is regulated at about 220-degrees F. The pork I will serve with a fiery vinegar/pepper sauce (central NC), the chick goes with a number of great sauces.

[texas1928]

9. You are cooking it wrong.

Brisket cooked slow and with a rub is a very tender and juicy piece of meat.

[DemoTex]

13. I never had a brisket I liked ... except at Otto's in Houston.

Unfortunately, Otto's is one of G.W.H. Bu$h's favorite restaurants.

[texas1928]

16. Go to Rudy's Bar-be-que in San Antonio.

Very moist and good flavor, Just make sure you have a good layer of fat when you cook it. Brisket can be a very dry meat if it does not have the fat to cook through it. Wrap it in tinfoil. cook it nice and slow. I do mine all day.

[Ksec]

24. I like to cook most large pork cuts at 225

Hams , ribs, any big slab of pork cooks so nice at low temps . I put semi boneless hams in the oven the night before and let them go all night at 200 to 225 . It cooks all the fat into a tender pull pork type of meat. Speaking of which, ever tried pull pork?

[DemoTex]

31. That's my specialty. Pulled-pork.

That's what I cook all day. Cook a 3-pound butt for eight hours, then cool it for an hour. Then strip the meat off the bone.

[texas1928]

7. But at thanksgiving smoke your turkey

it makes for an awesome bird.

[soothsayer]

27. Do you brine your bird first?

I haven't smoked a turkey or chicken yet because I hear you don't get crispy skin, and I love love love crispy skin, so I do beer can chickens (and yesterday a beer can duck, yum!)---cuz even the rotisserie doesn't crisp up the skin enuff for my taste.

My biggest problem is that I haven't tasted a freshly smoked turkey, so I'm not sure what I'm shooting for.

[greatauntoftriplets]

10. Question from a northerner who knows very little about smokers...

Yet I am intrigued by the smoker threads I read here.

How exactly does one use them? Charcoal? Wood? Gas?


I have a Weber kettle. And am able to use it competently.

Please tell me what is better about a smoker, why I should get one, and then how I would use it? As in light the damn thing?

Heading to bed soon, will read in the a.m. (Work tomorrow, dotcha know?)

Thanks all who respond!

[mourningdove92]

14. Wood...not gas...never gas.

On a Weber kettle, you could begin learning how to smoke meat. Use charcoal, make sure the charcoal is over to one side of the grill. After the charcoal is ready, top it with hickory or mesquite chunks. Place your meat (for learning purposes, use whatever kind of meat you like best). Put the meat on the OTHER side of the grill. Put the lid on and step away. You don't want your fire too hot, but that takes practice. Let the meat "smoke" until its done.

Thats a very brief, down and dirty, but should be enough to get you started.

[soothsayer]

29. Good point! I indirect grill with smoke wood all the time, too

but you will definitely want to think about getting the WSM (weber smokey mountain) to do any serious cuts of meat----like a pork butt on the top grate that's happily basting a brisket beneathe.

I'm so sorry the Forum section of that site is offline right now----that's the part that sold me on the smoker when I had one day stumbled on it, just from surfing around for weber stuff. The thought of a smoker had never crossed my mind before, but these folks are so gung ho and so ADORE their smokers that I absolutely had to have one, and it has been FANTASTIC. Best pulled pork, deliciously moist brisket, homemade bacon (yum!) and excellent ribs (tho I'm still perfecting the recipe).

So you can do overnight cooks using the so called "Minion method" that I described in my other post (named after one of the virtualweberbullet members who is on the professional bbq circuit) with nary a need to tend the thing----especially if for peace of mind you get a wireless remote thermometer. The Maverick ET-73 has two probes---one to monitor the grate temp, one for the meat, and you can set the temp ranges to alert you if the temp gets too high or falls too low, and if your meat reaches your desired temp. Then you can sleep in peace knowing that the et-73 is doing its job. Or.....you can just set your cooker up and let it do its thing. Weber didn't include a thermo in the unit, so maybe it doesn't even need one, but the real serious folks (who compete) like alot of control over exactly how their meat cooks.

You can also buy a gadget called a BBQ Guru that you attach to your smoker and it does all the work. YOu just set the temp you want and it does its thing, controlling airflow (and thus temp) with its little fan. But...purists think that is cheating. Plus it's pricey.

My family and friends LOVE my new smoker. Coming up soon---jerky in the WSM!

Read the reviews in Amazon, too. People adore the thing.

[soothsayer]

22. Check out the Weber Smokey Mountain charcoal smoker

It's fantastic and soooooo easy to use. Visit the virtualweberbullet site (www.virtualweberbullet.com) to learn about this great smoker (especially when the great forum is back online----you cannot believe how much these people love their smokers and how willing they are to share every helpful hint they have).

I LOVE mine---adore it! And my weber kettles, too.

So....you can fill this thing up with unlit coals, and put a chimney full of lit coals on top, and that sucker will hold its temp steady for 13 hours or so! It's a very, very low maintenance smoker. Embarassingly easy as it does not require constant fussing, once you get the hang of it.

You should check it out.

[greatauntoftriplets]

25. Thanks for the info, soothsayer and mourning dove...

I already use a chimney to start the coals. I like the idea of low maintenance and embarrassingly easy and no fussing.

[supernova]

11. Ribs. Brisket

is overrated. :P

And you forgot salmon. Or any fish really. Smoked salmon is terrific.

[Taverner]

12. Nope no salmon

No smoked fish
No smoked chicken
No smoked pork tenderloins

Just Brisket. Brisket and Ribs. :P

[supernova]

15. You meanie

:P

Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Ribs.

[TreasonousBastard]

33. Don't listen to Taverner...

because he asked the wrong question.

Properly smoked fish is food of the gods. Beats hell out of critters with legs. Trout, cod, mullet, stripers... are pretty common around here, as is salmon, but smoked tuna is incredible and unforgettable.

Probably got some smoked fish in a can and thought that was the way it's supposed to be.

[rucky]

17. You can eat off the brisket for days

the ribs would last a few minutes.

[Mr. McD]

18. Pork shoulder

Pulled pork with vinegar BBQ sauce.:)

[supernova]

19. Taverner is in the west

and as a westerner, he's not in a position to judge good BBQ anyway. We'll just let him keep thinking *cough* Brisket *cough* is really good. :D ;-)

[TexasMexican]

20. Brisket > Ribs

bones just get in the way.

[flamingyouth]

21. Ribs

And I smoked some awesome salmon in mine once. YUM!

[soothsayer]

23. Brisket rocks! Easy as pie to smoke, and tender and juicy and tasty

If you have any leftovers, you can make it into green chili, or fabulous enchiladas.

Definitely get a whole untrimmed brisket if you can find one, with a big fat cap, apply a nice rub, smoke her up for about 1 1/2 hours per pound, and you will NOT be disappointed!

[tsakshaug]

26. Bought 4 pork sholders last night

Pulled pork to make on Saturday.
up at 4am to start.
nothing like a cold beer at 6am to help the process.

What beer helps you smoke meat?

[mosin]

28. Ribs

Ribs, definitely ribs.

Or brisket. Brisket is good.

But no, ribs.

[demnan]

30. Other

I like pork smoked best so what I usually smoke is a pork shoulder with a dry rub until it is tender falling from the bone then I pull the meat and make a nice North Carolina barbeque with it.

Yummmmmm!

[SarahB]

32. Ribs

I'm pretty much ok with most meats though. Although tonight was a tofu night anyway. :hi:

[leftofthedial]

34. baby back ribs

tough choice. I love bofum.

But choose one? Gotta go with the pork, bay-bee.

[bearfan454]

35. Both are darn good on the smoker.

Brisket is my favorite, but I can smoke a darn good rack of rib or two. The ribs are hardly ever on sale.