Kentucky Armory Club

something like this?

bought my first brisket today...

I've cooked multiple half a hogs, briskets, chickens, ribs, etc... on this old block and tin pit.

Best whole hog I ever had was cooked in a covered hole in the ground

I read this as "girls/smokers" and coulden't decide if it was hot chicks posing with BBQ smokers or cigarettes.

Nice grills anyway!

ssracer wrote:Best whole hog I ever had was cooked in a covered hole in the ground

Never did a whole hog that way but did do a good chunk of one on a deer hunting trip once. It was very tender but nothing beats that smokey flavor combined with the handed down "mop" recipe that we use out here. The ground will get it tender and you can spice it up a bit but the best part of the whole thing on one of these old cinder block pits is when you flip the hog after cooking it all night and pick around the edges. Those semi crunchy bits encrusted with the "mop" are delicious. You gotta put in the whole night of cooking, mopping and possibly drinking beer to get there though....not everyone makes it for the turn of the hog. Only the strong survive for the best part.

I did a bunch of research into back yard smoking...decided on the Brinkman Gourmet...still fiddling around with it but Im getting there...First effort was beer can chicken..meat was great but the skin was tough (didnt baste, was afraid to lift the hood too much) next was a stuffed pork loin ( stuffed with apples, bacon, onion, rosemary, and blue cheese crumbles) I still have sweet dreams of that effort...then I did a couple racks of ribs (okay, maybe i need to get used to dry rub ribs)

Its a great way to spend an afternoon.

brisket going on later today

Where did you find a whole, untrimmed brisket around here? I used to fix up brisket all the time when I lived in Houston, all the grocery stores carried them & they weren't nearly as stupidly expensive as the sorry looking, rare (as in hard to find) specimens I've seen here.

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Wyldman wrote:Where did you find a whole, untrimmed brisket around here? I used to fix up brisket all the time when I lived in Houston, all the grocery stores carried them & they weren't nearly as stupidly expensive as the sorry looking, rare (as in hard to find) specimens I've seen here.

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I would try Kingsley's over by Bowman Field...I'd call first to see..If not Im sure you can order one....
Im interested in working one this Spring but I just cant seem to find one with enough fat on it...

mine is just a trimmed one from Kroger

keeping the temp in the right spot is a PITA

That's the problem. Those trimmed briskets that show up at Kroger so infrequently are always trimmed way too close. I much prefer the whole brisket in the vac-pac so I can cook the whole thing and trim it so that it still gets the benefit & flavor from the fat. Not to mention how gawd-awful expensive they are. A brisket should be a cheap cut, not the premium that they charge for them.

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SSracer, do we know you well enough to ask your rub recipe?

Little salt, little garlic powder and a whole bunch of LaRue Tactical Dillo Dust

Then I mad a mp with water, Makers 46 and some more dillo dust

My first attempt. Its not perfect, had some issues with smoker temp because I was working on my car at the same time, and then my meat thermometer crapped out. Its not as tender as it should be, but it ain't bad.

Nice smoke ring, what temp did the meat get to?

It looks good! Can only wonder how it tastes. Did you save me some?

Wyldman on the go via Tapatalk

I don't remember. The temp got a little out of control right after it hit 170 and was staying there. Heat killed my thermometer. Wrapped it in foil to let it finish. Think it was about 200 when I checked it before pulling it off

mine is the Gourmet version....coals sit on a pan on the ground. and the smoker fits on top of it...Mine will fire right to 220 and park for hours with just kingsford and some chunks.

http://www.smoker-cooking.com/brinkman-smoker.html

good tips on modifications....kinda like a 10/22...good out of the box..can be much better with some trips to the hardware store.

that grill pict i posted is called a whole hog cooker by the guy who makes them, im going to have to try that some day for a kac meet and greet shoot. will have to start cooking real early on thaa tday i assume

I modded mine before I used it. Flipped the legs around and gave the fire bowl its own legs so I can lift the smoker off of it and drilled some vent holes in it



And I added a real thermometer and some vent holes in the lid

Guy I used to work for doing remodelling/home improvement stuff had a place near KY lake that they did a party every year with a whole hog. They'd fill the hole back in every time, but once you started digging it out you knew where the edges were beacause the ground was baked into clay...lol

This thread made me hungry.

Only thing I have right now is an Brinkman Electric smoker. Does an OK job, bu running that thing for 6-7hrs can get expensive.

I bought this Aussie on craigslist, the wood was in rough shape so I remade the whole frame with cedar. It looked awesome last year but cedar loses its color with age so it's not as pretty now.

Just bought this today, pick up next Tues. No more running out of propane halfway through cooking, been wanting a new one for 2 years.

http://www.napoleongrills.com/Gourmet-g ... becue.html

Next on my list is a decent smoker.

Mexican Kerry wrote:Just bought this today, pick up next Tues. No more running out of propane halfway through cooking, been wanting a new one for 2 years.

http://www.napoleongrills.com/Gourmet-g ... becue.html

Next on my list is a decent smoker.

Big spender!