I have a new toy, sorry important piece of barbecue kit. It’s a Weber Smoky Mountain.
Its burns charcoal and produces a long, low temperature cooking environment that is enhanced by the smoke produced by the addition of hickory chunks.
I’ve been fascinated by US style BBQ for some time and this gives me a chance to give it a go for myself. So far I’ve cooked brisket, pork ribs and pork shoulder with varying degrees of success. I think my downfall thus far has been not cooking the chunkier meats long enough.
Anyway, here are a couple of pics of the brisket I tried first up.
The brisket recipe comes from Heat and Smoke, by Bob Hart. If you are looking for a book to get you into BBQin’, I think this would be it. Basically the brisket is rubbed with a spice mix prior to cooking, mopped with a sauce every hour while cooking and then served with BBQ sauce on rolls with coleslaw. The BBQ sauce in particular is very good. It is a mixture of:
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup water (though I left out)
a splash of liquid smoke (yes, I brought some of this back from the US)
and 2 tbsp of the BBQ rub
also added a dash of bourbon as recommended
The ribs I smoked turned out quite well. I didn’t get any pics but served them with coleslaw and jalopeno cornbread, both recipes coming from Al Brown’s Stoked, another worthy BBQin’ cookbook. The cornbread served us for the rest of the week. To make jalopeno cornbread saute 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion and 1/4 cup canned jalopenos in 1/3 cup olive oil until onion is transparent and soft. Place in a large mixing bowl with 4 cups of roughly chopped corn kernals, 3 cups of polenta, 250ml of buttermilk, 2 1/2 cups of grated cheddar cheese and 2 tsp of salt. Gently fold 9 egg yolks that have been whisked until creamy into 9 egg whites that have been whisked to soft peaks. Fold egg mixture into the corn and onion mix and pour into 2 lined bread tins or a ovenproof frying pan. I used a cast iron frying pan. Cook in a 160C oven for 45 mins until golden and firm.
Slice as you need and brown up on a grill to serve.
Below is the turned out cornbread and also a few friands that I have been cooking quite a few of lately.
Yep, that’s a serious piece of kit, Dave! All looks very nice, but I bet the ribs were amazing. Clearly they were eaten too fast for anyone to get a photo..
They were good but there is room for improvement
Yum! I agree with Celia, that is one amazing BBQ!
Hi David, I have only been to one commercial BBQ in the US and it was in Arizona. I remember the meet being very tender, If not stringy… and a distinct hickory flavour.. I bet the larger roasted meats would be delicious
Hi Alison, I hope to get to that standard but it will take a bit of practise