Barbecue Tricks

BBQ Tips and Tricks

Bill West

Recipes

Sweet Southern Brisket

That name may be a bit confusing… beef Brisket has always been a Texas thing. Mesquite, slow slow smoked, a tradition down there.

Here’s a Barbecue Tricks version of the brisket that tastes great with HICKORY smoke and a bit of sweet heat to give it a southern twist.

We used a Brinkmann Gourmet Electric smoker that keeps the smoker a low 225 degrees and also used a combination of chunk and chipped hickory for smoke.

Brisket is an all day affair… so using a true smoker (with a good drip pan) will really save you some peace of mind. Electric smokers are offensive to purists (no charcoal?!) but if you keep it smoking with pre-soaked wood chips (in a foil pouch) you can’t tell the difference.

Start the night/day before by separating the FLAT portion of the brisket from the tip. Trim away most of the excess fat (down to about 1/4 of an inch covering the flat). This will cut the cooking time way down and give you more smokey surface area. Continue by rinsing clean and rubbing a 5 to 10 pound brisket with a simple RUB. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until morning. It should “cure” 4-12 hours for best results.

Give yourself extra time for the smoker and restrain yourself from lifting the dome lid more than you absolutely have to. Lifting the dome lid will add at least a half hour to the entire process every time you release the already low heat. Hopefully the smoker has a side door to replenish chips and drip pan liquid.

Remove your meat, unwrap and allow to slowly come to room temperature (about an hour). Start your smoker and give it 40 minutes to heat up.

Place the meat – fat side up – over the drip pan to avoid messy drips.

After smoking 5 or 6 hours we enlisted our Barbecue Trick: sprinkle the brisket liberally with brown sugar and paprika. Place it upside down (fat side down) on aluminum foil and coat the other side. Check the internal temperature. Wrap tightly with foil and put back on the smoker.

The entire smoking process will vary but our Flat cut was finished (internal thermometer to 190 degrees ) in about eleven hours (opening the lid only once). The Point cut took an additional 2 hours to get to internal 190 degrees (the lid was often opened for testing).

One you remove from the smoker you STILL will want to wait another 40 minutes to allow the meat to rest and retain coveted juices. Remember YOU NEED TO ALLOW A LOT OF TIME for this entire process. Back time from meal time and make sure to include an hour for “heating up the smoker” and getting the chill off the meat. Plus another hour for the final “rest”.

It’s an all day affair. Our tested brisket started as a 10.5 lbs piece of meat but when the flay was separated it was two approximately 5 lbs. pieces. Flat took eleven hours on the smoker. The point was thicker and a bit bigger and took thirteen.

It’s also important to note that -IF YOU CAN WAIT- some say it’s best to refrigerate and re-heat the next day for the best results (good luck with that waiting!)

Recipes

Here’s The Rub

If you’re looking for a quick and easy all purpose rub this is it. It’s simple… and once you make it you’ll want to keep it on hand to sprinkle on everything from chicken to ribs. I even like the sweet heat on popcorn! It qualifies as a trick because of the super simple secret ingredient: Tony Chachere’s seasoning available in most grocery stores.

Barbecue Tricks “Anytime” Rub
  • 2 tablespoons Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning

  • 4 tablespoons dark brown sugar

  • 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper

  • 2 tablespoons sweet or smoked paprika

Mix thoughouly with fork and store any remaining rub in and airtight container or jar for up to one month.

Tricks

How To: Skin Tomatoes

A lot of barbecue masters will use skinned tomatoes for different sauces. This is a great trick to get the thin skinned fruit peeled without testing how thin YOUR skin is!
Why peel it? Some say the skins add a bitter flavor to recipes.
Start with a very clean tomato without any stem:
  1. Get a large bowl of ice water handy. Half ice – half water. Save for later.
  2. “Score” or lightly cut a cross or X on the end of the tomato (this will help peeling later)
  3. Boil a pot of water. (Not the ice water… that’s still set aside).
  4. Carefully submerge tomato in boiling water
  5. Use a slotted spoon o get it out once you can see the skin pulling off
  6. Drop it in the ice bath
  7. Let the tomato chill for about five and a half minutes
  8. NOW you’re ready to peel. Use a small knife to get under and grasp the edge of the skin at the X you made. And yes, after all this… it can still be tricky to get it totally skinned!

Recipes

Where There’s Smoke There’s Not Fire

Sometimes the simple things can make an ordinary recipe a “secret” recipe. I’ve discovered one “trick” that adds a special kick to all sorts of sauces and marinades. Liquid Smoke. It is hard to believe they can bottle the stuff… but it’s simply condensed smoke. Made almost like moon shine condensed from the smoke of all sorts of hardwoods but mainly hickory and mesquite. It’s filtered and then sold somewhere between the ketchup and hot sauce.

Many a pit master will swear they can taste liquid smoke loud and clear and think it’s a complete rule breaker. In my book it can serve you well as a time saver (try it in the crock pot with a brisket or butt – not the same as the real thing… but works for some) or as a secret ingredient.

Just remember it’s strong stuff. A little goes a long way.

My favorite use for liquid smoke is in a steak marinade. If you love “Dale’s” or “Moore’s” liquid marinade you’ll probably love this “not so secret” marinade that I first used for flank steak in fajitas and later found it great for London broil too. Add a dash of liquid smoke to your favorite light soy sauce (regular soy becomes too salty for thinner cuts like flank or skirt). A few sliced onions add additional flavor to the marinade.

NOT SO SECRET STEAK MARINADE:
one – 15 oz. bottle of light soy sauce
one – half teaspoon hickory liquid smoke
one sliced whole onion

Recipes

SMOKED EGGS:

Gotta hand it to the Hogwild Barbecue Blog…

They came up with a cool idea for smoking an egg.

Whole. Un-cracked.

They smoked it extra low – about 160 degrees for about an hour.And even that they say may be a bit over done. The smoke really DOES penetrate the shell too.They say if you like hardboiled eggs you’re sure to dig this trick. Imagine THAT kicking up your deviled eggs!

Click HERE and see the steps they took.

Recipes

Sittin’ On Your BEER Chicken

Sittin’ On Your Beer Chicken… Funny name. Great Flavor.
No one here at Barbecue Tricks pretends to have created this crazy dish. It’s a technique that’s become very popular these days and there’s good reason. Once you’ve slow smoked a chicken with a can of beer in it’s butt you’re guaranteed to have some moist succulent chicken. It’s also cheap and easy.

Here’s How:

Start with a fresh whole chicken. Rinse thoroughly. Pat dry with paper towels. Grab two beers out of your refrigerator. Open. Pour half of beer number one in a cup and reserve.

Prepare the bird (You may want to say “This may hurt a bit”… or “brace yourself little buddy” but that’s not what we mean). Sprinkle the inside cavity with a good dose of salt and pepper or your favorite spice rub. You can now work your way under the skin of the bird and rub some additional spice rub UNDER THE SKIN to penetrate directly into the meat.

Keeping the beer can upright insert the can of beer into the chicken. In other words lower the chicken onto the can. You should be able to stand the bird upright on the can using the drumsticks to act as support. Beer can chicken has become so popular that you can even find can holders made specifically for grilling. Next brush or rub down the entire exterior of the chicken with a light coating of vegetable oil (Or spray down with some PAM cooking spray) and rub down with an additional tablespoon of barbecue rub. Go ahead and have some of the reserved beer… you’re almost done.

Place the entire contraption on an aluminum pie pan (or a good drip pan) on top of the grill .Prepare your grill to cook on indirect medium heat for about 90 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 180 degrees. Where did that other beer go?Let the chicken rest for five minutes and then CAREFULLY remove the can of HOT beer from it’s rear.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. BBQ Rub (or equal parts salt pepper and paprika)
1 Whole (4lbs.) Chicken
Cooking oil spray
2 cans of Beer (12 oz.)

Recipes

Vidalia Lollipops – Crazy Barbecue Side

Here’s a great side that’s guaranteed to entertain at your next cook out and it’s a BBQ Tricks original.
This is a great way to grill onions without worrying about losing the veggies between the grates. Simply skewer the onions and create what looks like an onion lollipop. It’s fun to serve, helps the cook, and taste great. The trick is to skewer the whole onion (kinda like a mohawk porcupine) BEFORE slicing. Soak the skewers first to keep them from burning on the grill. Space the skewers so that you’ll have a little less than one half an inch between the sticks. You’ll want thick slices to hold up to the heat.
Carefully slice the onion into pops by using the sticks as guides. Next marinate the raw pops with a combination of lite soy sauce and liquid smoke (or choose you favorite liquid marinade or bbq trick rub. When the grill is hot (medium to high heat) brush each pop on both sides liberally with oil and set them on the grate for about four minutes each side (rotate 90 degrees after three minutes for show-off grill marks). One final brush of oil and CAREFULLY remove with spatula and plate immediately (pops are fairly soft when cooked). For best results find the fattest sweet onions (Vidalias) available.

Cook

Hands Down The Best Thermometer

If you’re in the market for a new grill I highly recommend finding one with a built in thermometer on the front (usually a little round dial-type works nice — right in front above the handle). You can even buy them for cheap and install them even easier. Usually one little drill hole is all it takes. However, there is a good stand by if you’re roughing it without the thermometer.

Need to guess the campfire’s temperature? The answer is in the palm of your hand!

Here’s How: Hold your hand – palm side down – about five or six inches above the coals. Just over where the meat will be. How long can you hold it there? Don’t get crazy… but.. in general, the about of time you can stand it will tell the tale. If you can hold out about six seconds you’re probably at a good smoking temperature. 240 Degrees or so. If you can stand the heat on your palm for only three and a half seconds you can call it medium heat. About 375 Degrees. If you’re jumping back at just one or two seconds you’re at HIGH HEAT over 500 degrees.

Gadgets

Scrubbing Up In a Pinch

Ever find yourself with company coming over and you need to clean the grill but you’re left with out a grill brush?!

Here’s an easy trick: Grab a wad of all American aluminum foil. It’s the pit master’s duct tape!

Crunch it up in a ball and utilize a pair of long handled tongs. Voilà! Instant scrubber. It’s not quite as good as a wire brush but it is more disposable! Follow up the scrub by wiping down the grate with a folded and oil-soaked paper towel to remove any additional residue and to additionally season the grill.

Gadgets

Kabob Trick – Double It Up

Double Stuck

Double Stuck

Ever try flipping a shrimp on a skewer? Often times it will become a game of spin the prawn. Small, short, and round ingredients often are tough to control on a tiny stick. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a perfectly toasted marshmallow!

BBQ Tricks has a better way:

  • First, soak twice the usual amount of bamboo or wood skewers in water (this soak will get them nice and waterlogged and keep them from burning on the grill).
  • Next, simply double thread the ingredients with a PAIR of skewers.

The extra stick makes for easy flipping and doubles the odds your perfectly grilled morsels avoiding a drop through the grates!