Anyone for Smoked Meats?

[shaley]

I can understand the disappointment with BBQ in Williamsburg. We don't have much experience with beef around here. Pork, chicken, and seafood. I've never had beef brisket but it sure does sound good.
I'm going to be flying through DFW tomorrow en route to Tucson for a vacation. Do you know of any Texas style BBQ places in Tucson or is it a waste of time.

 

[Bird]

Steve, the only time we've been to Tucson was when we spent the month of January 1990 there in the Voyager RV Resort. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there, visited a ski lodge on Mt. Lemon for lunch one day, visited Davis-Monthan AFB, the International Wildlife Museum, the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, the Pima Air & Space Museum, Old Tucson which has since burned, then been rebuilt. The dinner and show at the Triple C Chuck Wagon Ranch Supper with the Sons of the Pioneers was both a fine show and a good meal.

If you get the impression we liked Tucson, you're right. But as to your question, I don't know.

But right now, I have a beef brisket in the smoker, and just for experimental purposes, there's also a little turkey breast roast and a small pork loin in there, too.

 

[shaley]

Thanks for the Tucson tips, it is my first time.
If you're having Collard greens with that we can take a cab over on Sat afternoon, no need to pick us up. You know Collards are the VA state flower.

I maybe off the computer for the week so I hope your smoker works well. I'm thinking of getting one myself.
Y'all take care

 

[BB_TX]

If you are a fan of old western movies, especially John Wayne, you might consider Old Tucson. You may well recognize some of the movie sets.

Edit: Oops. I missed that in Bird's post.

 

[jinman]

I'm going to be flying through DFW tomorrow en route to Tucson for a vacation. Do you know of any Texas style BBQ places in Tucson or is it a waste of time.

Well, Tucson and DFW Airport are a long way apart, but if you were to take a cab to the north side of the airport, there is a town named Grapevine that has a pretty darn good BBQ place called Bartley's. It's in a little strip shopping center at the corner of Business 114 and Dooley street. It's "no-frills" so don't come dressed up. Their brisket is pretty darn good and their ribs are okay most of the time (sometimes great and sometimes so-so). It's one of those places with a serving line where you choose your meat and then help yourself to to a couple of about 10 different kinds of side dishes. They used to be on the main street of Grapevine, but the city wanted their location for a new city hall, so they had to move.

There's lots more in Grapevine, but I'll just mention that the Gaylord Texan hotel and convention center is a place to visit also. If you had half a day to kill, you could do it there very easily...or down the road at the BassPro shop.

 

[Bird]

Bird: Please post some pics of the assembled smoker and a review of how well it works

OK, the first picture is assembled and ready to use. The next one is loaded and already starting to smoke when I opened it to make the picture, and the third one is closer look at the meat.

Today is the first experimental day. That's just a big untrimmed cheap beef brisket, one of the 3# turkey breast roasts, and a very small pork loin. After looking at lots of recipes, I just took those ingredients that seemed to be a part of nearly each of them and made up a dry rub last night, sprinkled it on the meat, patted and rubbed it in, and put it in the refrigerator overnight. I used:

3 parts non-iodized salt
1 part cumin
2 parts garlic powder
2 parts paprika
2 parts red pepper (cayenne)
2 parts brown sugar

I have already taken the turkey and pork loin off and tried them, and it just doesn't get any better. No sauce needed. The brisket will go awhile longer.

 

[DieselPower]

Ummmmm, that's lookin prety tasty. What time did you say dinner was tonight. I just might have to get one of those.

 

[Bird]

Dinner will be about 6:30 p.m.; at least that's when our daughter and son-in-law said they'd be here. The brisket got done and the flavor is very good, but it's just a little bit tough to suit me. It's possible that cooking it slower might help, but I think I'll have to either (1) use the trimmed, more expensive briskets, or (2) smoke them awhile, then finish them in the oven.

 

[rlk]

Bird, what is in the bottom tray with the tinfoil? Is that some kind of wood that creates the smoke flavor?

Bob

 

[LMTC]

Bird,
Oven brisket can of course be very good, but smoked...well.... I have smoked whole briskets (10-15#) and moderately trimmed flats (4-7#). Even the flat alone seems to want 12+ hours on the smoker to be tender. The whole brisket takes 15-18 hours. I have found that wrapping the brisket loosely in foil after app. 3 hours (don't want to wrap until it's taken in a good bit of smoke) for about 2-3 hours lets me finish one in 8-10 hours and it still seems tender (3 hours smoke, 2-3 in foil, 2-4 to finish). I've only done two like this, so I can't say it will be consistent, but I intend to try more like that this year. 18 hours on the smoker interferes with my snooze time on one end or the other.