Yesterday was a gloomy, rainy day here in the DC area.  So what better way to shake the blues than to fire up the GOSM.  Today’s lunch menu included ABTs and stuffed smoked burgers.

The jalapenos were giant so I decided to go boat style.  Sliced them up, filled them cream cheese (chive & onion), grated cheddar, then wrapped in bacon.  They spent about 2.5 hours in the smoker at 250 degrees until the bacon crisped up.

Smoked burgers are fantastic.  Stuffed smoked burgers are even more fantasticer!  The stuffing was onions, mushrooms, 1/2 jalapeno, and a slice of bacon sauteed in butter and dry sherry.  Thin burgers patties were loaded with the sauteed goodness and some cheese then closed with another thin burger patty.  These were smoked for almost 2 hours to 160 degrees.

Did you know that when a corned beef brisket is smoked it becomes pastrami?  I didn’t!   DOH!

I looked in the refrigerator yesterday and found two corned beef briskets.  I’ve smoked plenty of briskets but I wondered what would happen if you smoked a corned beef brisket.  After getting permission from my wife to experiment on one of them it was off to the internet for some research.

Just when I think I’m starting to become knowledgeable about meat and smoking… WHAM… I realize that I actually have a lot to learn!  What I learned was that if you take a brisket and pickle it you get corned beef brisket and if pastrami rub is added then smoked you get pastrami.  So of course I had to try it!

Here’s the procedure I followed…

A. Soaked the corned beef brisket to remove some of the salt.

B. Put on a thin coating of yellow mustard and rub it with a mix of black pepper (lots), ground coriander, brown sugar, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Let it rest overnight in the fridge.

C. Smoked with a mix of hickory and mesquite at 225-250 degrees until it hit 160.

D. Foiled with a little of my kid’s wild cherry juice box (no apple juice was in the house) until 190.

E. Let it rest for an hour or so in the foil.

F. Tasted a sample to see how it came out.  I liked it and my wife declared it tastes like pastrami to her.

F. Put in the fridge to cut and eat the next day.

I just kind of winged this whole deal… no measurements on the rub and guessed at the cook temps… but it seems to have worked out.

I’ll update this post after dinner Friday night.  Stay tuned…

I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for Carolina Mustard Sauce that I found on SmokingMeatForums.com for a while now.  I was cooking the boneless ribs and thought it would go good with them.  I call this “First Attempt” because although the sauce was very good (“Tasty, that’s really Tasty!”  according to Mark K.) I think I could have done better and plan to try again.

Here’s the ingredients…

Yellow Mustard
Red Wine Vinegar
etc.

The finished product was very tasty but a lot thicker than I expected.  Maybe I boiled it too long.

I stopped by to see what Mark K. was up to and I hit the jackpot.  He had gotten some new rubs from TexasBBQRubs.com and gave me some to test.

As luck would have it my wife had just picked up a Pork Loin Country Style Ribs Boneless Value Pack.  Check out the directions… it made me cringe!

Please DO NOT Ever Boil Ribs!

When I first started using a smoker one of my biggest questions was “How long should I smoke this brisket, turkey, butt, etc.?”.

It turns out that I was asking the wrong question.  I should have been asking what temperature should I smoke too?

To turn out consistently good BBQ you must cook to a temperature.

First, cooking to a temperature is first a matter of safety.  How many times have you pulled a burger or chicken off the grill and when you bite into it it is still bloody red inside?

Some min/ sample temps

And second, cooking to a temperature gives you the consistency you need to turn out good BBQ every time you cook.

When planning your cook time there are some rules of thumb you can use.

Brisket 1.5 hours/lb
Turkey
Pork Butt

But every piece of meat will cook differently so be sure to leave some extra time in your schedule.

So if you’re not cooking by time what temps should you cook to?

Once again here are some rules of thumb…

Brisket 1.5 hours/lb
Turkey
Pork Butt

But every person has their own preferred doneness for meat.  We suggest keeping a log and tracking you preference for your finished temps.

How do you measure temp?  Cheapie, thermapen, probe  put some pics

Be sure to insert your probe or thermometer into the thickest part of the meat.

Here at bbqnuts.com we are in the process of launching our competition BBQ team.

None of us have ever competed in a sanctioned contest so we are doing our best to learn all that we can before our first competition.

One tip we have repeatedly read is to take the KCBS Certified BBQ Judging class.  From this you can learn the inside scoop on what the judges are looking for with respect to presentation, taste, and tenderness when judging competitions.

So we have taken the plunge and myself and Mark K have signed up for the April 8th, 2011 class at Meadow Creek BBQ in New Holland, PA.  Which is my daughter Zoe’s birthday and she has already forgiven me for missing the big day (it was either because she really likes my Q or perhaps it was the bigger present bribe I may have mentioned ).

We’ll report back in April with what we’ve learned and if you’re gonna be there be sure to let us know so we can say hi.

For a complete list of KCBS Judging Classes visit www.kcbs.us/classes.php

Welcome to BBQNuts.com!

Who knows what this site will end up being?  Not us, that’s for sure.  Our goal is to educate, enlighten, and entertain all level of BBQers.

We do know that bbqnuts.com is a website created by a bunch of backyard BBQ nuts who love to grill and smoke.  We love to research and talk about grilling and smoking.  We get excited by trying new recipes, new rubs, the latest gadgets and anything BBQ related.

We also know that we are starting a competition BBQ team called – guess what – that’s right – BBQ NUTS.

So thanks for stopping by and let’s have some fun.