It's that time of year when you might have a crazy amount of leftover brisket in your fridge after celebrating the Jewish New Year. Brisket can be super tasty, but too much brisket is... well, just TOO MUCH BRISKET. Following is a recipe for a beef brisket chili that I've come up with to get through the massive amounts of leftover brisket I have after barbecue competitions. I usually don't add additional spices to that chili because the smoked brisket is already jam-packed with seasonings and smoke... but a typical Rosh Hashanah brisket is not overly seasoned. So I have included my standby chili spices. Interetsed? Read on for the recipe. 

Read the rest of this post »

My second KCBS barbecue competition is in the books after competing in the Harvard Fall Festival BBQ State Championship. 60 teams showed up for this one (note to self: stop entering "State Championships!"), and the competition was serious. Some of these teams are 10 people deep, with decades of experience among them. At most I have a decade of backyard grilling under my belt, so these comps are as much about learning as they are about competing. Read on for a little tour of the weekend.

Read the rest of this post »

I've been smoking ribs for years over charcoal and wood. But before I had a pair of smokers and a pair of charcoal grills, I had a gas grill. I've grilled hundreds of meals on that gas grill and to this day I love that it provides immediate grilling access with zero grill preparation. But could it be possible to smoke ribs, low and slow, on the old blue flamer? Many commercial pits are gas fired with wood added for flavor (Ole Hickory, Souther Pride, etc) and they can turn out some pretty killer 'cue (Blue Smoke, 17th Street Barbecue, Fette Sau, for example).... so I figured it was worth an honest effort. Read on for the results! 

Read the rest of this post »

4 hrs of sleep and I feel reasonably stable. Better yet, the brisket and pork shoulders are humming along beautifully. "WSM 1" smoker is at 235, brisket and pork are both at 175. A new chimney is lit, and 6 slabs of ribs are ready to go on "WSM 2." All told it's been a good night... Lots more barbecue to come!

I'm mastering the art of cramming barbecue gear into the pickup. I'm all packed up, and tonight it only took an hour and half (woohoo!). By this time tomorrow the brisket will be on the smoker with the pork shoulder following close behind at the Harvard Fall Festival BBQ Comp in Harvard, Mass. Weather report is for clear skies, but there is a frost warning in effect. Ouch. I know frost kills tomato plants, but I have not been able to find any preparedness actions for barbecuing. Lazy meteorologists! I'm especially excited to get the pork shoulder going as it's from Kinderhook Farm's first season of hogs. The ribs are from Sir William Berkshire farm, upstate as well, and the chicken is from PA. I had to draw the line at ultra local and amazing (-ly expensive) meat purchases there though, with the brisket just coming from Fairway. But three out of four ain't bad! Also excited to barbecue with a new team mate, Steve Hubert. I worked with Steve for years at Domani Studios, and we talked food, BBQ, and beer frequently. Hopefully I won't get Huberted all night long (the guy has a way of tossing zingers unlike anyone). Should be another great weekend of camping in smoke and barbecue rub. If you are in central Mass, come on out and have a beer with us on Saturday night.

Go, Go, BBQ!

My next KCBS barbecue competition is coming up this weekend, and the past few weeks have been filled with numerous ribs and chicken tests. It's hard to think of many things better than barbecue testing: You deal with zero stress, you have all the comforts of home, the backyard smells of delicious smoke and meat, and you simply concoct, adjust, fiddle, rearrange, and otherwise tweak until you can tweak no more. It's akin to my old days of being a graphic designer, but so much better because it involves fire, smoke, and meat!

Mmmmm Riiiibbbbbbbss:

After trying a few local farms out, I've settled on using The Meathook in Williamsburg as my ribs supplier for this competition. I have to find out which pig farm my last round of slabs came from, but regardless they were outstanding. Balanced fat levels, nice uniform st louis cut (good job Sara the butcher!), and a wonderfully rich meaty flavor. I've recently switched to wild cherry wood for smoking ribs, and I'm loving the taste. Super mellow yet distinct. A really nice combination with the richness of spare ribs. I'm still on the fence about going with my favorite vinegar-heavy sauce or using my latest sweet/tomato sauce. I'm guessing the judges will like the sweeter one better... so thinking it's worth a shot.

Test That Chicken:

I've spent a lot of time on chicken variations. Too much time really. I've brined. I've braised in butter. I've removed skin, scraped all the fat off then stuck it back on. I've deboned. I've rubbed under skin and on skin. I've used cherry wood. I've used apple wood. I've used oak. What have I learned? A shitload, most notably that barbecued chicken rocks. But here's my final takeaway: I plan to trim uniformly, remove skins, brine, scrape fat from skins, keep meat on the bone, season under skin, wrap skin back on, season on top of skin, pierce a few holes in skin, indirect grill on the kettle with drip pans and cherry wood, crisp skin-side down at the very end, and sauce off the grill. Woohoo!