MisterChrister
Quintessential Chatty Farker
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2012
- Location
- Wis-con-sin
So I have heard great things about this Chris Lilly wet rub recipe and decided to try it on a small packer (9#) I picked up the other day. I can't really fit a brisket much larger than 10# on my 22.5" Performer without folding it so it sounded like a fun experiment. I decided to slightly modify a couple of things, so we shall see. Isn't that part of the fun of Q?
The meat - a 9.11# choice packer. It was fairly well trimmed, so all I did was do a little rinse, finish trimming, and pat dry.
I also opted to partially split the fat vein between the flat and point. I want to get some rub and smokey goodness in there. I just carefully slit into the middle of the fat vein, then removed some of the fat to leave about 1/8" on each side of the split, then scored the fat down to the meat (but not into the meat!) so when I put the rub paste on, it can make its way home!
The wet rub paste is pretty simple. 2 tablespoons each of brown sugar (I substituted raw turbinado sugar for less risk of sugar burn in HnF), kosher salt (PLEASE don't use table salt noobs!), paprika, & worcestershire sauce; 1 tablespoon each of mustard, onion powder, & black pepper, 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (I subbed chipotle that I had on hand and reduced to 1 teaspoon for my wife and kids), and 4 cloves of finely minced garlic (okay I'm busted, I upped that to 6 cloves, I'm a self-confessed garlicholic!). The rub is supposed to be applied before the meat goes on the cooker but I'm changing that up for two reasons. One, it's messier than all get-out and is easier applied when you're done hoisting the meat all over the place. Two (and I hypothesize most importantly, we SHALL see!), I think the paste consistency of this wet rub will block most of the smoke from penetrating the meat. I am going to give the meat a good hour to suck up the smoke TRULY "Bare Naked" before applying the rub.
The cooker set up - Ole' Trusty is my Green/Stainless Performer. While I DO adore the Performer for work space and the gas ignition, anyone with a kettle can do pretty much most of the 'Que you see on this forum. Butts, ribs, prime rib roasts, fatties, birds, fish, and who knows what else are very easy to do on a plain old Weber kettle. Sure, if I had deeper pockets I'd love to have an Egg, Jambo, WSM, Maverick, Thermapen etc., but don't be afraid to try any of the stuff you see on here just because "all I have is a kettle". You CAN do it!!! I did splurge for a $20 bag of Wicked Good lump. They could call it "Wicked HUGE", there are small logs in this bag! That's ok, it all burns! I opted for mesquite for smoke chunks (leave 'em dry guys!). I build a ring of unlit lump topped with some good sized smoke chunks, leaving enough space for a foil turkey roasting pan and also enough room for 1/3 chimney of lit coals on one end. I like to shield my unlit with some foil while using the gas ignition to keep from pre-igniting the unlit in the middle. Then I will fire my 1/3 chimney til red, move it out of the way, put the foil pan in (see how I bent up the edges to make it fit better?), dump in my chimney of lit, THEN carefully remove the foil pan without letting the coals fall down where it was, and rinse it out since it now has ash and small bits of coal etc. in it. I will be using the drippings and don't wanna eat that stuff!
I will be smoking the brisket naked for an hour at 325 before appling the rub. At that time it will get flipped.
The meat - a 9.11# choice packer. It was fairly well trimmed, so all I did was do a little rinse, finish trimming, and pat dry.
I also opted to partially split the fat vein between the flat and point. I want to get some rub and smokey goodness in there. I just carefully slit into the middle of the fat vein, then removed some of the fat to leave about 1/8" on each side of the split, then scored the fat down to the meat (but not into the meat!) so when I put the rub paste on, it can make its way home!
The wet rub paste is pretty simple. 2 tablespoons each of brown sugar (I substituted raw turbinado sugar for less risk of sugar burn in HnF), kosher salt (PLEASE don't use table salt noobs!), paprika, & worcestershire sauce; 1 tablespoon each of mustard, onion powder, & black pepper, 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (I subbed chipotle that I had on hand and reduced to 1 teaspoon for my wife and kids), and 4 cloves of finely minced garlic (okay I'm busted, I upped that to 6 cloves, I'm a self-confessed garlicholic!). The rub is supposed to be applied before the meat goes on the cooker but I'm changing that up for two reasons. One, it's messier than all get-out and is easier applied when you're done hoisting the meat all over the place. Two (and I hypothesize most importantly, we SHALL see!), I think the paste consistency of this wet rub will block most of the smoke from penetrating the meat. I am going to give the meat a good hour to suck up the smoke TRULY "Bare Naked" before applying the rub.
The cooker set up - Ole' Trusty is my Green/Stainless Performer. While I DO adore the Performer for work space and the gas ignition, anyone with a kettle can do pretty much most of the 'Que you see on this forum. Butts, ribs, prime rib roasts, fatties, birds, fish, and who knows what else are very easy to do on a plain old Weber kettle. Sure, if I had deeper pockets I'd love to have an Egg, Jambo, WSM, Maverick, Thermapen etc., but don't be afraid to try any of the stuff you see on here just because "all I have is a kettle". You CAN do it!!! I did splurge for a $20 bag of Wicked Good lump. They could call it "Wicked HUGE", there are small logs in this bag! That's ok, it all burns! I opted for mesquite for smoke chunks (leave 'em dry guys!). I build a ring of unlit lump topped with some good sized smoke chunks, leaving enough space for a foil turkey roasting pan and also enough room for 1/3 chimney of lit coals on one end. I like to shield my unlit with some foil while using the gas ignition to keep from pre-igniting the unlit in the middle. Then I will fire my 1/3 chimney til red, move it out of the way, put the foil pan in (see how I bent up the edges to make it fit better?), dump in my chimney of lit, THEN carefully remove the foil pan without letting the coals fall down where it was, and rinse it out since it now has ash and small bits of coal etc. in it. I will be using the drippings and don't wanna eat that stuff!
I will be smoking the brisket naked for an hour at 325 before appling the rub. At that time it will get flipped.
op2:
