Meaty Monday: Smoked Beef Brisket

My Sunday lunch. Sunday supper. And [hopefully] Monday supper.

Holy cow, my Sunday meals were out of this park. Brisket for lunch. Brisket for supper and I will probably have brisket for Monday supper.

I scored a beef brisket at Dillon's on sale - it was originally $8.99/lb but I got it on sale for $5.97/lb so my total 3.4 pound brisket was $20. I'm pretty stoked about the sale on its own but add in the delicious factor of this meal and it's a full on win!

The Ninja is the meat-smoker in the family. I prefer to stick to grilling, frying, baking, broiling but smoking is his major forte. He got a smoker for Christmas in 2013 and hadn't gotten much use of it so it was time to fire that puppy up. But first, let's take a selfie the marinade.

We got this recipe and marinade from the Backyard BBQ: The Art of Smokology cookbook. We used the In Your Mouth recipe, the Brisket Rub II, and the Spiced Brisket Mop. While this recipe is not as simple as many of the others I post, it was scrumptious and juicy and absolutely delectable. I am hoping to have it for supper on Monday night as well. Trust me, take the plunge and do it!

"In Your Mouth" Brisket p. 142
- 1 beef brisket (ours was 3.4 lbs but this recipe will work for a 6-8 lb brisket)
- Brisket Rub II
- Spiced Brisket Mop

Brisket Rub II p. 114
- 3 tbsp. kosher salt
- 3 tbsp. black pepper
- 2 tbsp. paprika
- 1 1/2 tbsp. dry mustard
- 1 tbsp. thyme
- 1 tbsp. celery seed
- 1 tbsp. onion powder
- 1 tbsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tbsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 bay leaf

Spiced Brisket Mop p.190
- 3 cup beef stock
- 3/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp. Asian chili paste
- 1 tbsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. celery seed
- 2 tsp. seasoning salt
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. onion powder/salt

Combine the ingredients together in a nonreactive pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes and remove from heat to cool slight. When using as a mop, keep wamr. Heat flavor can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the chili paste.

Brisket prep instructions
Trim the brisket of any excess fat. Do not remove all the fat since it helps keep the brisket moist during cooking. Once the fat is trimmed, place the brisket in a large Ziploc bag or plastic container and pour Brisket Mop over the meat. Let marinate for six hours.

After the six hours is up, pat dry and put on the brisket rub. Rub well on both sides and then place brisket at room temp while your smoker comes to temperature.

Bring smoker to about 300 degrees. Place brisket in the smoker and smoke at 225F for 3 hours. Once the brisket has smoked for three hours and formed the bark, start to mop with the Spiced Brisket Mop. Mop the brisket every hour. Cook brisket until internal temp is 165F.* Wrap in foil and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 195F.*
 
*This part didn't take as long for our three-lb brisket. Regardless of the size your brisket, monitor the temp throughout to make sure you are on track.
 

Look at the beautiful crust on this meat masterpiece!

The finished product, hot out of the smoker.

I did a poor job of taking photos during this whole process but all anyone cares about for recipe photos is what the end product looks like, right?! I even included a video of the Ninja cutting the brisket.



It was juicy. Sensational. Delectable. Absolutely amazing.

 

I hope you have a wonderful Meaty Monday and a great week! This brisket helped fuel my 8 mile run today and will get me through my sore muscles on Monday! If you try it, please let me know if you like/loved it!

 

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

10 Gifts for A Carnivore or Meatatarian

I've seen a lot posts about gifts for farmers and ranchers, which is fabulous except I don't have a huge herd of cattle or sheep. I merely have three horses and some scruffy, lovable canines. However, what I do have is a hankering for meat and penchant for incorporating it into many aspects of my life. First, if you need a refresher of what a meatatarian is, read this post and come back. If you are familiar with this delicious and healthy dietary pattern, read on to find some cool gift ideas to buy for the resident meat lover in your family or circle of friends. These are my top 10 gift ideas for meat-loving folks and they run the gamut of Christmas gift types.

For the decorating meatatarian:

1. Beef Vintage Art Print

I would love to have this in my kitchen!

2. Meat. Yes, It's Meat.

I have purchased this for a family member but no one has bought it for me yet- c'mon folks!

For the grill master in your household:

3. K-State steak branding iron


My stepdad has this but I need one too!

4. A giftbox of Kansas City strip steaks from the Kansas City Steak Company.

Perfect for a Christmas Eve meal!

Of course, you can't forget about the style-conscious meat lover in your home:

5. Steak t-shirt

Yum!

6. Meatatarian: A Personal Choice t-shirt

This is by far my favorite!

 And let us not forget the lovers of bacon. Isn't that everyone?!

7. "Bacon is Meat Candy" - Bacon of the Month Club

Bacon every month?! Yes, please!

8. Two words. Bacon Vodka. You can purchase it in most states (sorry, Ohio and Kansas!).

And these last two are great for any meat eater - I am actually hoping to get a really nice meat thermometer myself!

9. The Healthy Beef Cookbook

 

 10. A reliable meat thermometer and remember to use it! See here for recommended cooking temperatures per the USDA.

Don't fire up the grill without it!

Do you have other ideas? Please feel free to leave them in the comments below!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Grillin ain't BBQ'in

It's summertime (at least it is in the States) and that means two things: hot weather and cooking outdoors. I've been jealous of the countless facebook statuses I've read that have been talking about BBQ'ing with friends, going fishing and having a good time. But did you know that most people are falsely claiming to be BBQ'ing? Yep, that's right - they're lying. Sort of.

The terms BBQ and grilling out are used synonymously to describe cooking food on a grill. However,  BBQ and grilling aren't the same thing. Technically, (according to this article by Troy Black, Big Book of BBQ) "BBQ'ing is long, low, and slow. The low temperature and the resulting length of time the meat is cooked allows for the food to soak up the smoke and rub flavors, and to become very tender and moist. Think ribs, pork shoulder, and brisket as barbecue."

BBQ'ing

My Uncle Jere, Aunt Daisy and their BBQ team, UFR Smoke, make a mean brisket. They slow BBQ'd the brisket and pork for our wedding and I think we got more compliments on the food than we did congrats on our big day! 
Grilling, on the other hand, is the method with which most people are familiar. Being able to cook a variety of food such as burgers, chicken, steaks, veggies, and seafood, hot and fast is what draws many people to the grilling arena.

More commonly practiced, grilling.

Regardless of what you're cooking this summer remember to observe proper cooking temps and have a meat thermometer handy! Burgers should be 'Safe and Savory at 160', steaks and pork chops should be cooked to 145 and chicken should be heated to a toasty 180 (all temperatures in Fahrenheit).

What are some of your favorite grilling or BBQ dishes? I'm pretty partial to Uncle Jere's brisket - it's hard to beat!

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

Getting to know your BEEF

Did you know that ground beef and hamburger aren't the same product? I didn't either until recently, while on Twitter, social media friend iTweetMeat brought up that point.  Upon further investigation I discovered the main difference between the two similar products.

 Beef fat may be added to hamburger, but not ground beef.  Regardless of this addition, neither hamburger or ground beef may contain more than 30% fat.  So, when shopping for a lean product just check the label - for example 80/20 indicates 80% lean-20% fat and 93/7 indicates 93% lean-7% fat.

Additional facts about ground beef and hamburger that you may not have known:

1.  All meat transported and sold in interstate commerce is federally inspected according to the Federal Meat Inspection Act.
2.  Ground beef and hamburger are made from the less tender cuts of meat on the animal - grinding tenderizes the meat and the fat reduces the dryness and adds flavor.
3.  When cooking ground beef or hamburger - always remember "Safe and Savory at 160" - cook these products to 160 degrees to ensure a meal that is free of harmful bacteria.
4.  When choosing a product at the store, select a package that feels cold and is not torn.  Once you have the product at home, store it at 40 degrees or below or freeze it.

For more information of wholesome, safe and nutritious beef visit the USDA Meat Prep site or Beef: It's What's for Dinner . Happy eating!

Until next time,
~Buzzard~