Barbecue

[rbdoby]

Dennis,

Tried your barbecue recipe this past weekend. Easy and GOOOOOD! My wife really like it. Now I have to watch for sales on pork loins.

Rick Doby

[Bob Buchholz]

Uh...REAL Barbcue is cow not pig.

Find you a large (14-16) lb. untrimmed brisket (not one of those little 3 or 4 pound flats). I can only find them at wally-world noadays and for some reason the price has gone from 97 cents a pound up to 1.70 in the last year. Get one that you can pick up and fold over to touch the tip to the tail while it is still in it's cry-o-vac package.

Take it out and use a very sharp knife and cut cross-hatches about 2 inches apart throught the fat cap deep enough to almost touch the meat but not quite. Smear the whole thing with worchestershire (mustard is good too) the apply your very own secret rub, I'd tell you mine but then it wouldn't be secret. Wrap it all in saran wrap and put it back into the referigerator over night.

Get up at about 5:00 am and crank up the smoker. Get a mess of mesquite wood going until the neighbors are calling the fire department because of all the smoke then put on the meat (huge argument about fat side up or fat side down, but I'm a fat side up type). A little know fact (or wive's tale) is that meat absorbs the most smoke while it is still cold so make sure it is really smoking when you put the meat on.

Keep an eye or two on the temp. so that it never goes below 200 and never goes over 250 and keep it smoking for at least the first four hours. If you cook with wood this isn't a problem but if you use a gas or charcoal smoker keep it smoking.

Cook for AT LEAST one hour a pound and it is just about impossible to over-cook it as long as some of the fatcap is still on it. Don't worry if it develops a charcoal colored coating.

Take it off the smoker at least an hour before serving and wrap it in foil to rest. If the fatcap is still really heavy, trim it down as necessary but don't cut it all off. Cut into 1/4 inch slices across the grain (which runs every way possible in a brisket, so keep turning it so that you are always across the grain).

Sauce is optional. It doesn't need it, but some people like it for some reason. Make up a good tomato-based sauce and serve it warm on the side. Actually slices of brisket are always better served on a piece of white butcher paper with a piece of Texas toast for some reason.

If this is done properly, you will never need to harm another pig in your life (except for bacon). Actually, I do love pig-vinegarette, but to a Texas-born fellow it ain't bar-b-q.

[JackLeg]

Unlike cattle, hogs are hard to "herd." That's prob'ly why ya'll never got to experience REAL "Q" out there in the Lone Star state! Welcome to PIG country!

And, yep, I've eaten some of Texas' best in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Grapevine etc.