Tri-tip Sliced Tri-tip One of 3 briskets Sliced Brisket Johnny Trig style baby back ribs. Smoked meat loaf. S’mores pie.

I just finished my big brisket smoke for the year. This year getting good briskets in my area was difficult. No prime and the choice were small. I did 4 briskets that equaled 52 pounds. I usually have 3 briskets that go close to 60 pounds before trimming.
I trim my briskets out so that most of the hard fat is removed and the fat cap is trimmed to ¼ to ½ inch. I pay attention to the end of the flat when I buy the brisket and when I trim out the brisket. I will trim a thin end off rather than end up with this part of the brisket getting burnt to the point you can’t use it. This is a good video by Franklin BBQ on trimming brisket: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaMgt1Altys .
I get my briskets rubbed at least 2 days before I put them in the smoker. I have used mustard or Worcestershire sauce to wet the surface of the briskets before I hit them with the dry rub but don’t do it this way any more. I will say that should you use the mustard or Worcestershire sauce use just enough to wet the surface You don’t want to end up with the brisket looking like it had been dunked in a vat of mustard. When I do my dry rub now I start with the fat cap down and hit the surfaces of the brisket that are exposed with a liberal coating of dry rub. I then go do something else for 20 or 30 minutes. This lets the salt in the rub work. The salt brings out the surface moisture in the brisket and this soaks into the rub and holds it in place when I turn the brisket fat cap up. I repeat the dry rub and wait on all of the new exposed surfaces and then put the brisket into large zip lock bags. They have 2 and 2 ½ gallon zip locks now. The bagged briskets now go back into the fridge until I am ready to smoke them.
I make the rub using a recipe from “Smoke and Spice” by Cheryl and Bill Jamison. I highly recommend this book. The rub is called Wild Willy’s Number One-derful Rub. This is good basic rub and can be easily modified to suit your taste. This is the recipe I use including notes and changes I have made over the years.
Wild Willy’s Number One-derful rub
¾ cup smoked paprika
¼ cup freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup course salt, either kosher or sea salt
¼ cup sugar (I use Turbanado, or brown sugar)
2 tbls. chili powder
2 tbls. garlic powder
2 tbls. Onion powder
2 tsp. Cayenne
2 tsp. Ground Rosemary
This is a great dry rub for steaks, ribs, brisket, and pork.
I have a CookShack SM066 smoker. I have been using these smokers for going on 20 years. I say this simply to make the point that the following is what works in my smoker and may not work the same way in whatever smoker you are using. These smokers were designed and built as Brisket ovens. They are wood stingy and cook very moist. I do 4 briskets using 8 to 10 oz. of wood. I use wood chunks and will do a mix of whatever I have on hand. Hickory or Pecan mixed with apple or cherry. I figure on a 24 hour smoke time and several hours extra to let the briskets “rest”. I do not worry about the stall and I do not wrap my briskets to get them over the stall. I start out with cold briskets and a cold smoker I want to get as much smoke on the briskets as I can before they hit 160 degrees internal temp. I do my briskets fat cap up. I use a leave in probe style thermometer and set the alarm temp for 190 degrees. I set the smoker temp at 175 degrees and come in the house. I will check the smoker several times over the next couple of hours and if the smoker is not producing good smoke after a couple of hours and I haven’t hit the 160 degrees internal temp I will add another chunk of wood and turn the smoker temp up to 225 degrees. I like my sleep so just before I go to bed I turn the smoker temp down to 195 degrees and go to bed. The next morning I turn the smoker temp back up to 225 degrees and wait for the thermometer alarm to go off. I do not cook brisket by time or internal temperature but by feel. When the alarm goes off I take a toothpick or skewer out to the smoker and probe the brisket. When the probe goes into the brisket and feels like you were probing a warm stick of butter the brisket is done. I have over the years had briskets that probed done at 190 degrees. Most of them probed done at 205 degrees and some big briskets went to 215 degrees before they were done. Since I am doing several briskets they usually get done at different times. I take them out as they get done and put them into disposable aluminum pans and cover them with foil. They then go into a warmed insulated cooler. I warm the cooler with hot water in a pan when I know the briskets are getting close. I will leave the briskets in the cooler for a minimum of 2 hours and they will stay hot up to 8 hours in the cooler. I can’t prove it by any scientific method but I think the time in the cooler actually makes the briskets better. Better flavor and more tender for sure and may enhance the moistness of the meat.

Thermoworks sent me a recipe for doing Corned beef. I didn’t have time to actually corn the beef like they did so I used a couple of store bought corned beef. My wife had picked up 2 of these from Costco. They were very well trimmed. I think they were actually too well trimmed as they didn’t have any fat on them. I put them in the smoker with hickory and cherry wood and set the smoker for 225 degrees. When they reached 160 degrees internal temp I pulled them out and put them in a pan with a little water and covered them with foil. They went back in the smoker until they hit 190 degrees internal temp. I really didn’t like the look of them, they sort of looked like 2 lumps of chocolate. I fired up the grill and when it was hot I did a reverse sear on them. They really turned out good with great texture and concentrated flavor.

I know, this isn’t chili because it doesn’t have beef and/or it has beans. None the less this is a good way to use leftover turkey/chicken and although I haven’t tried it yet I think the spices would work well with pork.

Timothy’s White Chili

Serving Size: 8

1 lb. Dried white beans
6 cups Chicken broth
2 Cloves garlic
2 Medium onions, chopped
1 Tbs Oil
9 oz Canned green chilies
2 tsp. Ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. Oregano
1/4 tsp. Ground cloves
1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper
4 cups Diced cooked chicken breast
3 cups Grated Monterey jack cheese
Salsa
Sour cream

1. Combine beans, broth, garlic & 1/2 the onions in a large pot. Bring to a
   boil, reduce & simmer till beans are soft - 2 hrs or more - adding broth if
   necessary.

2. Sauté remaining onions in oil till tender. Add chilies & seasonings &
   mix thoroughly. Add to bean mixture. Add chicken & simmer 1hr.

3. Serve topped with grated cheese, salsa & sour cream.

bocephus We do dressing. This is basically stuffing cooked in a pan. The good thing is that you get more dressing than what you can cram into a turkey. I fill the turkey cavity with fresh herbs, onions, celery, and apples or oranges. This is one I did with a rosemary, thym, and sage compound butter. Some of the butter went under the skin and some went over the skin. !

Smoked Meat Loaf.
3 lbs mild Italian Sausage (loose, extracted sausage from casings)
3 lbs ground beef-93% lean (lean cause of sausage)
1 large red onion (coarsely chopped)
2 Tbsp garlic powder
4 eggs
2 Tbsp Canadian Steak seasoning I am sure that any steak seasoning you like will work for this.
4 oz ketchup
4 Tbsp Memphis rub (This is a dry rub, any good dry rub you like should work)
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
8 oz Italian 4 cheese mix
4 oz Big Bob Gibson’s Red Sauce (This is BBQ sauce. Use what you like).

Mix all of the ingredients except the BBQ sauce) thoroughly, form into 2 loaves, and place them on a single broiler/cookie type sheet (Pam or such is a good idea here) with holes in it so the smoke can get to the underside of the meatloaf and fat drippings can escape.
Throw the sheets with the loaves into a 210* preheated smoker (2 oz hickory, 2 oz white oak or your choice) until internal temp hits 150*.
Let the meat loaf rest for 20 minutes and coat the top/sides of the meat loaves with Big Bob Gibson’s Red (or sauce of your choice).
Then throw them into a 250* preheated smoker for apprx. 20 minutes to set the outside of the meatloaves. Let them rest for 10 minutes and slice.

Jonathon Jon: Just some advice from someone that has been there and done that. Please find a shooting range with good instructors and different firearms that they will either let the students shoot or rent for your wife. This will let your wife learn to shoot from people that are able to see and quickly identify problems and correct them before they become habits. Your wife will also get to shoot a number of different firearms in different configurations. That little Glock 43 might turn into something completely different by the end of the class.

My Loving and long suffering wife and my 2 daughters are shooters. My Eldest was the Women’s National Collegiate air pistol champion and a 2 time All American in women’s air pistol and a 2 time All American in Women’s Sport Pistol. Her name is the first to appear on the Melaragno Trophy https://competitions.nra.org/media/8193/tro-170-melaragno.pdf . I did not teach any of the 3 to shoot. I found instructors for them.

I spatchcock and dry brine the turkey and then smoke it. They turn out really good.

First, a little background on tri tip. It’s primarily a West Coast thing but can be found back east. Tri tip is a wonderful cut of meat, very good flavor and tender. People have described the flavor as bold as “rib eye” but fortunately it’s much cheaper. The Virtual Webber Bullet does a good job of explaining this cut. It is also called “bottom sirloin roast” or “triangle roast”.
I’ve heard Trader Joe carries it back east. So, if you’re near one, go over and see if they have it. If so, buy it. Get on the internet and Google “Santa Maria Tri Tip”. Delicious.

The night before Mother’s day I rubbed and sprinkled the meat with Santa Maria rub. It’s a tasty rub and can be used on other cuts of meat. Here’s the recipe I used:
Santa Maria Rub
1 tablespoon black pepper, fresh-ground
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon salt

I used some multiple of this to have some for future use.

Now, Santa Maria Tri Tip is primarily grilled, but what the heck, I own a Cookshack. So I smoked the meat first then grilled to finish. I let the meat rest on the counter for 30 minutes then placed it into a 200* preheated smoker until it hit an internal of 95*, roughly an hour. Oak is typically used for Santa Maria but I used mesquite since I didn’t have oak. The meat was 45* when I placed it into the smoker.

Since the meat was going to be on the grill for a shorter length of time, I thought I’d mop it for better bark (nice grill flareups). I used the typical Santa Maria mop.
Santa Maria mop:
1/2 cup of red wine vinegar (I us a combination of red wine and balsamic)
1/4 cup of garlic infused vegetable oil (I use olive oil, and add crushed garlic to the recipe)
1 ½ teaspoons of mustard (I use grey poupon)
1 teaspoon of crushed rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste.
Pulled the meat at 127*.

We had Kaiser rolls dipped in au jus and made tri tip sandwiches. That’s why I sliced it thinner than normal. Some sides. Some merlot. Absolutely delicious. Tender, moist, smokey, grilled flavor.

There are only two tri tips per cow. So the two I cooked represented the product from one cow–not much there. My only concern is if this cut becomes as popular in the rest of the country as it is out west, then the cost of tri tip will soar.

I let it sit under loose foil for 30 minutes then sliced the meat. It was so juicy my cutting board trough overflowed.

We had Kaiser rolls dipped in au jus and made tri tip sandwiches. That’s why I sliced it thinner than normal. Some sides. Some merlot. Absolutely delicious. Tender, moist, smokey, grilled flavor.

There are only two tri tips per cow. So the two I cooked represented the product from one cow–not much there. My only concern is if this cut becomes as popular in the rest of the country as it is out west, then the cost of tri tip will soar.

Jonathon You should be giving Riggins a treat. He noticed that you needed a new fishing rod and arranged for that to happen in the best way he knew how. Good boy Riggins.

Jonathon Riggins sounds a lot like my Deutsch-Drahthaar (German Wire Haired Pointer). I was given first pick of a very large litter, I think there were 13 or 14 pups. The only one that acted birdy was the runt of the litter. I named him Goose. He refused to answer to Goose, so I changed it to Dux. Dux is going on 5 years old now. The runt is now right at 110 pounds and is a hard headed, hard charging dog. He ran into me going full tilt and broke my leg. He growls, He growls if you are doing something he doesn’t like. He growls if you are doing something he like. He growls when you stop doing what he likes. This is the 6th of this breed of dog I have owned, and by far is the strangest of them. I took him to a professional dog trainer that works with hunting dogs. He called about a week in and said that Dux is the strangest dog he had ever worked with. I guess we make a good pair.

Jonathon You should be giving Riggins a treat. He noticed that you needed a new fishing rod and arranged for that to happen in the best way he knew how. Good boy Riggins.

Dave in AZ: I do not have any experience with the Walton 10 in slicer but I have gone through the search for a slicer thing. I started out with a small 8" plastic slicer. That was before I started doing bacon. I quickly decided that I needed to upgrade. The largest slicer I could get to fit on my kitchen counters was a 10" slicer. I was not familiar with Walton’s at the time. I hate to buy things sight unseen so I went to Cabela’s and bought one of their “Commercial” grade 10" slicers. The carriage travel just wasn’t long enough to do whole slabs of bacon. I had to bend the slabs and tie them to get a whole slice. I looked at the Cabela’s 12 in slicer and the carriage travel was not much longer than the 10". Someone on another f***m told me to start looking for a used Hobart or Berkel 12" slicer. I found a used Hobart locally for $175.00. I made sure that it ran and the blade didn’t wobble before I bought it. I found a place that had a blade sharpener and they did a tune up on the slicer. This took the total cost to $500.00. Since this slicer is to heavy for me to pickup and move around I bought a stainless steel cart with wheels. This slicer is simply a beast when it comes to slicing bacon and it will cut up to 7/8" thick. Just a thought.

calldoctoday We must be close to the same age. I never worried about going belly down on the creek bank to get a good long drink of cool water.

Thanks Dave. The recipe I had years ago used salt, brown sugar, and some other spices. I really liked it. I had it saved on my computer but have changed computers a number of times since then and it didn’t get transferred over during one of the changes.

Just depends on how fancy you want to go and where you live. I get blocks of Tillamook cheese here in Idaho as well as some Idaho "craft cheese. I can get the blooks at the local grocery store. Walmart and Costco usually have it as well. If you are looking for specialty cheese Costco has some in store and more can be ordered. If you need to have it mailed to you, you can try this place: https://delidirect.com/wisconsin-specialty-cheeses/. I have not used them simply because I can get most anything I want locally, and they seem to be a little pricy to me.

My kids caught a bunch of trout in the 12" range. They want them smoked. Do any of you have a good recipe for smoked trout?

My Wife picked out her Mother’s day and Birthday present. She collects turquoise jewelry so she picked this out to go with it. This is a Kimber Micro 9 Bel Air 9mm. That is my paw holding it.

Jonathon Jon: Just some advice from someone that has been there and done that. Please find a shooting range with good instructors and different firearms that they will either let the students shoot or rent for your wife. This will let your wife learn to shoot from people that are able to see and quickly identify problems and correct them before they become habits. Your wife will also get to shoot a number of different firearms in different configurations. That little Glock 43 might turn into something completely different by the end of the class.

My Loving and long suffering wife and my 2 daughters are shooters. My Eldest was the Women’s National Collegiate air pistol champion and a 2 time All American in women’s air pistol and a 2 time All American in Women’s Sport Pistol. Her name is the first to appear on the Melaragno Trophy https://competitions.nra.org/media/8193/tro-170-melaragno.pdf . I did not teach any of the 3 to shoot. I found instructors for them.

I really want one in .300 Black Out or .350 legend.