Spring Break '16

Last night, I prepped the 13 pound brisket and 3 split chicken breasts with a basic rub of salt, pepper and cayenne. I also made the mac and cheese (with jalapenos and without) and bourbon bbq sauce. I soaked some uncooked sausage in beer overnight as well. The fire started at 6:00 AM and the brisket came on at 6:45 AM. The internal temp stayed a little above 160 until I put the chicken on @ 11:00AM. A couple hours later, I wrapped the brisket in foil, covered the chicken and put on the mac and cheese and sausage. I took the brisket off at 4:00 and left the lid open for everything else to stop cooking for an hour. My new bluetooth thermometer worked perfectly and really help me regulate the fire's temperature. It showed in the brisket's tenderness.

Summer Get Together

I started early this time and rubbed the 13 pound brisket the night before. I also made my bourbon bbq sauce and tried something new: a junior mac and cheese and an adult mac and cheese containing jalapenos. The brisket went on at 7AM and the chicken (6lbs) and ribs (two racks of baby backs) went on at 11AM. The chicken had two different rubs (regular chicken rub and fajita rub) while the ribs had the chicken rub along with brown sugar. At 2:00 I wrapped the brisket and ribs. Before wrapping the ribs, I coated them with squeeze butter, chicken rub and brown sugar. Also, I placed some sausage on the grill. The mac and cheese come on at 4:00 and at 5:00, everything came off.

Spring Break 2014

I rubbed the 13 pound brisket with salt, pepper and cayenne and placed it on the grill at 7:45. 4 hours later, 3 split breast chickens (6 lbs) and 3 racks of baby back rubs for added. The chicken had basic chicken rub and the ribs got some Jamaican spices. I wrapped the the brisket and ribs at 2:00 and put the mac and cheese on at 4:30. The brisket and ribs came off to rest at 5:00 and everything else come off at 5:30.

End of Summer

I rubbed the 9 pound brisket with a 1, 2, 3 rub (1 part of cayenne pepper, 2 parts pepper and 3 parts salt) and put the meat on the grill at 7AM. At noon, I placed 3 split breast chicken on with one rubbed with fajita seasoning the the other two with a chicken rub. After 7 hours at 2PM, I wrapped the brisket in foil and moved it directly over the firebox. At 3PM, I put the mac and cheese on with some potatoes. I took the brisket off at 4PM to rest while everything else came off at 5PM.

 

Another Father's Day

The 8 lb brined turkey and 10 lbs of ribs got on the grill at 10:00 AM. I rubbed the turkey with a butter, sage and thyme mixture and rubbed with ribs with a basic rib rub and brown sugar. The grill quickly got up to 250 because of the wind. I had to put the turkey in the belly of the grill because the tin took up so much room on the grill. At noon, I put 6 split chicken breasts on seasoned with fajita seasoning, and at 2:00 I wrapped the ribs with foil after rubbing them with squeeze butter, brown sugar and the rib rub. I also put 8 sausage links on. The last thing I put on was two tins of mac and cheese at 3:00. Everything was ready to eat @ 4:00. Most of the day the temp ranged 250-300.

End of the Summer

Three racks of ribs (8.5 lbs.) were put on the smoker at 10:30. they had a basic rib rub with salt and pepper. Five split chickens halves with a fajita, salt and pepper rub were put on the grill at noon and the rack closet to the firebox was swapped with the one farthest from the box. At 2:00, the chicken got sprayed with some apple juice, sausage were placed on the grill and the ribs were wrapped in foil with some squeeze butter, brown sugar and more rib rub. The smoked mac and cheese got on the smoker at 4:00 while the wings were grilled. everything came off at 5PM.

Father's Day

The night before I soaked a 12 lb turkey in a brine consisting of a gallon of water, cup of salt, cup of sugar, some sage and thyme, a sliced onion, and some peppercorns and bay leaves in a turkey roaster bag. I put a 12 lb brisket with a rub of fajita seasoning, garlic salt and salt from the night before on the smoker at 7AM. Two racks (3.5 lbs each) of ribs with a basic rib rub and garlic salt from the night before were placed on the grill at 9AM. The turkey was placed on an hours later under the grate because it was too tall. At noon, I place the chicken (6 halves)rubbed with the brisket seasoning and garlic salt. At 2 PM, I placed a bunch of sausage on the grill and wrapped the ribs in foil after coating them with butter, brown sugar and rib rub. I also wrapped the brisket at that time. Every once in a while, I would spray the turkey and chicken with apple juice. I took the brisket off at 4 PM and everything else came off @ 5 PM.

More Ribs and Chicken

I put 3 racks of ribs (8.5 lbs) on @ 11:30 with my regular rub. The 3 chickens (6 halves) and 6 thigh fryers went on at 2:30. After putting the chicken on, I swapped the first and last rack and rotated all three to ensure even cooking. I also used some foils to baffle the heat coming out of the firebox. About 2 hours before pulling everything off the grill, I mopped the ribs with my bbq sauce. The ribs fell off the bone and the chicken was nice and moist. I kept the temp around 250. I was very happy with the results.

Ribs and Chicken

The 3lbs of baby back ribs and thigh chicken fryers were placed on the smoker @ 10:30 AM. I used a basic rib rub combined with bown sugar and salt on both. The fryer came off @ 1:30 for lunch and were replaced with 3 chicken halves with fajita rub and salt and pepper. At 3:30, I put some homeade barbeque sauce on the ribs and sprinkled them with the rib rub. I kept the tempurature 240-260 and took everything off @ 6:30. The ribs cooked for 8 hours and the chicken for 5. The barbeque sauce was a little over-cooked so next time I need to place it on two hours before taking off the ribs.

Father's Day

I decided to work extra hard and smoke for Father's Day. I got the brisket on @ 7AM. It was 9 lbs and rubbed with a Fajita Seasoning and salt. I put the 4 lbs of ribs on @ 10AM with a basic rib rub and brown sugar along with a link of sausage. I put 2 chicken fryers on as an experiment: one had the fajita rub while the other had the rib rub with brown sugar. After two hours I took the sausage and fryers. The brown sugar one was great. Two hours is the perfect length for fryers and sausage. While taking lunch off, I put some flank steak jerky on the top rack and 9 split chicken breasts wrapped in foil on. The jerky marinated overnight in a Teriaki mixture and the chicken only had the fajita rub on it. The plan was to take the jerky and chicken off after 4 hours, but I could get my heat up. I could barely get it to 250, but it wouldn't stay. I normally use one 18 lb bag of charcoal but used two. I'm not sure what my problem was. It was frustrating. Because the heat was low, I didn't want to lose more by removing the jerky and chicken, AND I was nervous that it would not be done. I learned my lesson, the jerky was charred and chicken was on the dry side when I took it off @ 5:30 with the brisket. The brisket was even overdone. I tried branding it but was unsuccessful because of the charred exterior. Next time the jerky and chicken only stays on for 4 hours. The ribs came off an hour later which were a little over done as well. I'm not sure what went wrong with the heat. Was my thermometer in the wrong place or reading incorrectly? Why was the meat over cooked yet I didn't have the heat up? I think something has to do with my air flow through my firebox. The brisket was okay along with the chicken and ribs. The chopped bbq was the best I ever made. The smoked chicken salad was excellent the next day as well.

Ribs

The coals got going @ 8:30, and I threw a 9 lb fajita seasoning & salt rubbed brisket on 30 minutes later. Some store brand sausage were on for about 2.5 hours and were a great lunch. Sausage is super easy. Six split chickens and the ribs were added @ 1:00 wrapped in foil. I rubbed the chickens with the same rub as the brisket but used a basic rub seasoning for the 3.5 lbs of ribs. Since this is my first time for ribs, I decided to go easy and get the butcher trimmed beef ribs. I also made some jerky that is basically two flanks steaks cut into strips and marinated over night in a Teriyaki concoction. They were placed also @ 1:00 on the top shelf that was covered with foil. I removed the foil from the ribs after an hour and the chicken after 3 hours. The jerky was great at 5:00 although those closest to the firebox were much drier but still good. I took the chicken off after 5 hours. I totally forgot to mop the ribs so when I took the brisket off @ 7:00 (10 hours) and rested them on the cooler, the ribs got a quick coat of sauce and stayed on until 8:00 (7 hours). I was able to keep the temperature above 250 and am happy to say that it was closer to 275 most of the time. Everything turned out great. I've learned that meat further from the fire box cooks at a much lower temperature so I'll continue cooking the chicken on the far side of the grill. The next day I took a bunch of the chicken and made smoked chicken salad. It was fantastic.

Take Two

I started the coals @ 8:00 AM and threw the 11.5 lb brisket on an hour later. I put some uncooked sausage and chicken on @ 10:00 and used the HEB fajita seasoning and salt on both the brisket and chicken. I marinated a one pound flank steak cut in strips in a homemade Teriyaki marinade over night and draped the strips through the grates @ 11:00. The sausage was great @ 12:30 for lunch. I used a wireless thermometer and think the factory gauge is about 25 degrees cooler than what it reads. My problem with the lack of heat last time was that the grate the coals rest on in the firebox was upside down. I kept the heat about 200-215 degrees. The jerky came off after 6 hours and the chicken 8. Both were a little dry and should be taken off sooner. The brisket came off @ 8:00 (11 hours). It was still tough so next time I'll try running it @ 250 degrees.