Last year I bought a Brinkman Smoker for mah birthday after reading a discussion thread here about it… I spent so damn much money on meat last year and once you let someone try it, they want you to make more for them…
Well, all winter long I’ve been looking at that smoker sitting forlorn in my garage and saying…“soon, soooooon…”
I was very tempted to pull it out of storage this week, given the good weather but the last couple of days of rain chainged my mind.
Maybe next week…
Last year I did pork shoulder sandwiches for my family’s easter get-together, but it was considerably warmer this time last year…
I might use mine on Sunday. When I go to the trouble, I try and smoke three different things, beef, pork and usually chicken or some links. Last fall I smoked a rabbit which came out pretty good.
It takes skill though to get it right. I have come over to the smoking for a few hours, then wrapping it in foil and putting it back in for a few more technique. I also use the dry rubs, well in advance. I can’t remember the title (I’m here at “work”), but I got a great book on smoking meats last year that has a ton of useful advice, including the variances for different types of smokers.
The biggest problem with my Brinkmann is keeping the heat high enough. I really have to monitor it, keep the ashes clear and such. I have the Sportsman and its an imperfect design. I would like to get it up higher off the ground and I wish it had the kind of vent that Weber kettles have on the bottom (the propeller style) so I could clear the ash easier. I would also like an easier way to keep the water level up, like a side spout or something. I don’t weld, but if I did, I would modify it.
I have a giant apple tree, so I used apple wood for all my smoking. Works great.
Y’know, I’ve had the same temperature problems with mine, and I’ve been very tempted to attempt a propeller-type vent install on mine, or at least something akin to it; maybe something like a tab on the bottom that I can pull and expose extra vent holes or something…
If I was careful I could let a little air in with the little side-door thing and raise the temp a bit.
Another modification I’d like to attempt this year is replacing that worthless thermostat
I got really heavy into the dry rubs last year; I’ve still got an entire section of our pantry that I’ve taken over just for my personal collection of spices and whotnot
Lots of history, recipies, stories and stuff. Found it to be much more interesting than mere recepie books.
I probably won’t pull out the smoker until April; it’s still in the low 30s and raining . Tough to keep the temperature where it needs to be when the weather’s so cold
My folks have an apple tree that I’ve been able to get wood from. I offered to prune it for them before the winter in exchange for being able to keep the wood
Been drying the wood all winter long, so we’ll see how it does when it warms up a bit.
I’ve got some cherry I’d like to try also.
I also dabbled with making my own coals out of waste hunks of alder from a furniture manufacturer around here. They just give me the stuff, because they have to pay to either have it burned or hauled away.
Before that I was using Cowboy brand hardwood charcoal. Makes the taste a little better than using compressed brickettes
It’s funny, though Bud, because people have smoked meats for ever. It’s a way of preserving meats that would otherwise go bad. It started when a caveman held a piece of game over a fire on a stick after rubbing it with salt.
It cooked real slow, not fast because it had so little fat that it would just turn to leather…
Thank you, sir. This is a huge source of consternation to Carolinians. Using
the word as a verb we can let slide, using an animal besides the pig is pushing
it… but just grilling and slapping on some sauce? That’s too much. Ah’s feelin’
a might faint.
Misuse of the word barbecue referring to the action of grilling has gotten to me over the last year, too.
It’s not barbecue, people, it’s grill
Anywys…
I tell ya what, though, Famous Daves sure got a lot of my money over the winter…
Just keep chanting "That’s not barbeque! “That’s not barbeque! etc.”
P.S. This is barbeque (the shredded pig to the right of the plate)
The hushpuppies and slaw are also traditional. (Do people know what
hushpuppies are? Is that a regional thing?) The potato salad is optional.
Sweet (iced) Tea is also required.
Eastern-NC-Style barbecue is my favorite and the Western-NC Style, AKA “Lexington” Style isn’t too bad either.
Most of the people who bbq here use a covered, outdoor “open pit” cooker, either dug or made out of a big barrel and they use hickory ashes to cook, sometimes using chips of other woods tossed on the ashes such as mesquite.
It has been over 2 years since I have been to a pig pulling.
Some of us know from hush puppies, and love them well. You used to be able to get an approximation of them at Dead Lobster, but that changed to corn fritters, and now it’s some sort of cheesy-breadball-thing. Not that I’d know firsthand; I stopped going there years back, but this is one thing I think I can trust my TV on.
That’s franchise operations for you.
Hereabouts, depending on your demographics, barbecue generally tends to be equated with ribs, first, and usually accompanied by cole slaw (creamy or not, depending). Any other sides - sweet corn, potato salad, baked beans, fries (make mine jojos, please), what have you - are details particular to your barbecue artisan.
Then you get into pulled pork, and sometimes beef. That gets called “barbecued pork” or “barbecued beef”, or sometimes just “barbecue”. Generally, barbecue gets served on a bun. Ribs are “ribs”. “Barbecued ribs” is a bit redundant unless you like to braise 'em with taters and sauerkraut regularly enough so that a distinction probably ought to be made, but no one around here is going to wonder if the local Ribfest is going to about anything other than barbecue. It’s unthinkable.
I’ve got a small gas grill ( I don’t like the chacoal mess or taste)and I’ve been cooking meats on the top rack and put rosemary and sage on the bottom grill. It gives the meat a good smokey- herb flavor
and once you let someone try it, they want you to make more for them… 
. Tough to keep the temperature where it needs to be when the weather’s so cold
( I don’t like the chacoal mess or taste)and I’ve been cooking meats on the top rack and put rosemary and sage on the bottom grill. It gives the meat a good smokey- herb flavor 
Lexington BBQ is made from pig shoulders.