Need Rub And Bbq Sause Recipes

[Horsefly]

Jason,you'd be a good one to start this off,unless you don't want to give up any secrets.Anything any of ya'll know about smoking meats,I sure would like to hear.Jerry

[roscoedoh]

Jerry,

 

I have no secret recipes. All I ever do to the meat when I smoke a brisket is smoke it over an oak fire. I don't use charcoal, hickory, or mesquite wood, I just use oak. I use oak because they're all over the place down in my area and that's what I have available. I tried adding a little spice this year and the brisket turned out pretty good. I rubbed the meat down with Lawry's seasoning salt and then smoked it for ten hours. Pretty good vittles!

 

All I put on steaks and hamburgers is worcestershire sauce, lemon pepper, and Lawry's. But that's not a BBQ recipe so I won't dig too deeply into that one. All I'll comment on this is that it works and its simple.

 

There you go sir, you now know all my secrets. Need some help breaking in that new smoker in?

 

-Jason

[Jimro]

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_11125,00.html

 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_23019,00.html

 

Alton Brown is a darn good cook.

 

Jimro

[Emul8]

Horsefly --

 

I just got into smoking meats when I moved here last year...bought this little, bitty smoker that barely accomodates a full beef brisket...but I STILL use that thing like nobody's business! It's just me and a roomie here for the most part, so there's usually no need to fire up some monstrosity for a little brisket, or some chicken.

 

The meat I smoke most is definitely brisket though, and I made up a recipe for a rub that is very good...incredibly flavorful and combined with the hickory smoke I prefer is an excellent compliment to the meat. This rub recipe is approximate in measurements, adjust to your own taste:

 

3/4 cup of light brown sugar

3 Tablespoons of kosher salt

1 Tablespoon of freshly ground black pepper ( I use tellicherry)

1 teaspoon of paprika (smoked paprika would be best, but regular is fine too)

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of onion powder

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

1/2 teaspoon of chili powder

1/4 teaspoon of allspice

 

I rinse and paper towel-dry a brisket about an hour before cooking time, put the rub on generously and massage it into the meat, letting it rest until I put it into the smoker.

 

I start the smoker with lump charcoal in a chimney without using lighter fluid. Earlier this year I removed a Russian olive tree and I heavily pruned some fruit trees here on my property, thereby having a lot of fruitwood to use for smoking meat as well. I purchase bags of hickory chunks at Walmart, and I stick with hickory for the most part because it reminds me of the barbecue I used to get back in Oklahoma. My smoker is so small that it would be pretty labor-intensive to chop chunks out of a stack of oak firewood, so the use of bagged hickory, while a tad more expensive is worth it to me at this point.

 

Anyway, once I have the temperature in the smoker at around 275 degrees, I put the meat on, fat side up since over the long smoking time the fat cap will melt into the meat, keeping it juicy and artery-clogging! I then go about my business, doing various odd-jobs around the house or what have you, checking on the meat and basting it with a mop sauce about every hour.

 

I make my mop sauce from just about anything and everything. I use whatever fruit juice I have on hand, squirt in a little spicy mustard, some balsamic vinegar...actually just about ANY vinegar, and fresh chopped garlic, and take it out and slather it on when I am checking the fire.

 

This whole thing smoking business goes on for about 8 hours, then I commit an act of sacrilege and take the brisket inside to an oven preheated to around 225 degrees to cook, wrapped in foil, for another 4 hours or so.

 

Here's the deal though, I have yet to have anyone be able to tell that I didn't smoke the brisket, from start to finish, on that smoker. I tell the truth about it too. There's a beautiful 'smoke' ring in the meat, the flavor is fantastic, it's tender and juicy...it's just a little more convenient to finish it up in the oven. Though, if you're a purist you can do it ALL on the smoker. I tried that the first few times I smoked meat and frankly, it isn't worth it to me.

 

There just aren't a lot of mistakes you can make in smoking meat...well, except don't over-smoke chicken in strong wood smoke, like hickory or mequite...it makes the chicken taste so strong as to be unpalatable! Also, if you have a live fire going in the smoker, don't use too much sugar-based anything on the meat...if it burns it'll taste nasty too!

 

As sauces in general go, it's all a definite matter of taste there too...some folks like the sticky, sweet sauces that are tomato-based, or really thick and sugary. Other people like a fruit juice/vinegar-base to their sauces, a little zippier and tangier than what most people associate with barbecue sauce. I like a combination of the two...I like a sweet, tangy sauce, very sparingly used after the meat is off the smoke/out of the oven. Sometimes I don't use a sauce afterwards at all. Generally, the combination of rub, mop sauce and a good smoking is sufficient to flavor my meat adequately.

 

I hope that you can glean some ideas from my experiences with my smoker...I'm far from being expert with the device at this point, but I can turn out some pretty gosh-darned good eats myself! Alton Brown might even be impressed!

 

[Horsefly]

Thanks Emmy! I got it copied and will be the first recipe I try.I'll have to leave the chili powder out though.My wife absolutly can't stand the taste of chili powder and can detect it in anything I've ever put it in.You'd be surprized how many briskets are finished in the oven.I've smoked a lot on one of the,what I call trash can cookers that have the pan of water under the meat,and a fire that last 8 hrs. was hard to maintain,so we always took ours in the house and finished in the oven.It was the only way I could be sure it'd be tender.I cook a lot of ribs on the Weber grill.I build a hot fire out of mesquite or pecan wood,and brown the ribs real good all over,then rap them up in foil and cook them in the oven about 4 hrs.They turn out great,but I just can't get the rub or sause I want.Sounds like yours may be the ticket.That's very much for it.Jerry

 

Oh ya,how's New Mexico working out for you?