Barbecue Tricks

BBQ Tips and Tricks

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Tricks

Tricks and Tips For Picking Steaks

Tips For Picking Steaks
By John A. Brooks, Jr

As a third generation butcher at B&B Grocery, Meat & Deli, I’m often asked how to pick out a perfect steak. Here’s what I tell my customers.

Don’t just pick out any steak. That is one of the worst things you can do. All steaks are not the same. Therefore, take your time when picking out a steak. There are steaks that are better for grilling and some steaks are better to slow cook. Generally, if the steak has “chuck” or “round” in the name then it is better to marinate and slow cook. If the steak has “rib” or “loin” in the name it will be a lot more tender and better for grilling. Ask your butcher which types of steaks are best for the way you want to cook your steak.

The thicker the better. Steaks that are cut too thin are easy to over cook. Over cook a steak and you could end up with a dry, tough piece of “leather”. It is easy to tell how thick steaks are at an old-fashion butcher shop. In fact, most butchers will cut thicker steaks for customers who request them. Be careful when buying steaks in packs. It can be hard to see the thickness of all the steaks.

It is important to look for steaks with the most fat marbling and streaking. Steaks with the most fat marbling are generally more flavorful and tender. The most marbled cut is the rib-eye. It is cut from the same piece of meat as the prime rib.

Don’t cut the fat off! A lot of my customers want all the fat cut off the sides of their steaks. I don’t recommend this at all! I tell my customers to leave the fat on while they cook their steaks. Fat helps keep the steak juicy and enhances the steak’s flavor. You can cut all the fat off you want once the steak is cooked.

Knowing what to look for in a steak is as important as cooking a steak. Still not sure what to look for in a steak? Ask your neighborhood butcher. They always like to help ensure you get the best steak for your special occasion.

John Brooks is a 3rd generation butcher for B&B Grocery, Meat & Deli. A neighborhood grocery store that has been family owned and operated since 1922. You can learn more about John Brooks and B&B Grocery, Meat & Deli by visiting their web-site at http://www.bbgrocerymeatdeli.com/

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Recipes

4th Revision BBQ Rub – The Best Recipe

When you’re working on getting the PERFECT flavor for a BBQ competition recipes get tweaked and adjusted to perfection. Rubs are a little like the spelling of the word barbecue (try barbeque, B-B-Q, Bar-b-que, etc) there are a lot of ways to do it. This versatile barbecue rub has endured it’s fourth revision and it’s ready for the public.

A few special ingredients help for the “barbecue trick” here. The turbinado sugar (Sugar In the Raw is available with free shipping with Amazon Prime) may be tough to find but the large crystals don’t burn as easily on ribs and on other meats on the grill. The cumin is also something that adds a robust flavor that is this recipe’s secret.
4TH REVISION BBQ TRICK RUB

  • 4 Tablespoons Paprika

  • 1/2 Tablespoon Chili powder

  • 1/2 Tablespoon Cayenne (optional for heat)

  • 3 Tablespoons Tony Cachere’s Cajun Seasoning

  • 4 Tablespoons Sugar In The Raw
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Cumin
  • 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend thoroughly with forks, slotted spoons, or fingers (eliminating all lumps).

Featured

Almost Award Winning BBQ Sauce

This barbecue sauce recipe didn’t really come close to winning any awards with competition judges. Likely because of the strong kick of heat provided by a dose of chipotle and cayenne. It just crossed the line out of “mainstream” in the heat department. A few judges seemed to love it with high ranks for chicken and ribs and all of our B-B-Q Tricks home samplers were ready to take a bath in the stuff. It’s that good.

The best thing about this “Almost Award Wining Sauce” is that it’s a perfect sweet heat finishing sauce that will caramelize perfectly as the finishing touch to ribs and chicken. Feel free to temper the heat by dropping the cayenne or chipotle.

2 tbs. Vegetable Oil
1 large clove of Garlic (crushed/minced)
1 medium Onion minced
1 Chipotle Pepper (from can) minced
1 tsp. Chili Powder
1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
1 cup Ketchup (we use Heinz)
2 tbs. Dijon Mustard (Grey Poupon)
5 tbs. Dark Molasses
3 tbs Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp fresh ground Black Pepper
2 tsp. Hot Pepper Sauce (we use Texas Pete)

 

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Almost Award Winning BBQ Sauce

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 1 to two cups

Serving Size: 2 to 3 Tablespoons

Almost Award Winning BBQ Sauce

This is my Go-TO sauce for everything. Too spicy for a competition but it did win third in wings (no too shabby) but just right for my family. It has enough sugar to provide ribs and chicken with the perfect smoky char.

Ingredients

  • 2 tbs. Vegetable Oil
  • 1 large clove of Garlic (crushed/minced)
  • 1 medium Onion minced
  • 1 Chipotle Pepper (from can) minced
  • 1 tsp. Chili Powder
  • 1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
  • 1 cup Ketchup (we use Heinz)
  • 2 tbs. Dijon Mustard (Grey Poupon)
  • 5 tbs. Dark Molasses
  • 3 tbs Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ground Black Pepper
  • 2 tsp. Hot Pepper Sauce (we use Texas Pete)

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a deep sauce pan and then add garlic and onions until they soften.
  2. Next add all peppers and heat for 20 seconds before stirring in the remaining ingredients.
  3. Cook on low heat for 20 minutes until thickened to your liking.
  4. If desired: When cooled strain to remove chunks (garlic and onion).
  5. Stores air tight refrigerated for approx. 6 days.

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.