Improving your barbecue through repetition


 
Chris Allingham

Chris Allingham

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It's been a long time since I've mused about anything, so today I wanted to share a thought about something I heard in a food podcast.

A cookbook author was talking about repetition and the importance of cooking something again and again in order to master it. As I listened, I was reminded that the same thing is true in barbecue. It's something that competitive barbecue teams employ as part of their strategy to win the big money, and it's something that we as backyard cooks can do to improve our barbecue, too.

Having said that, I know I'm guilty of not using repetition to improve my barbecue. Maybe I smoke a brisket and it doesn't turn out great, so I feel discouraged and fall back on other meats that are easier to cook and that I'm successful with, when in fact the problem is that I'm not cooking brisket frequently enough. I should be cooking a brisket every weekend for a month until I get the process dialed in.

Remember what they say, "Practice makes perfect." You can't learn to play the piano by practicing once every couple of months, and it's the same with brisket or any other barbecue meat. If you want to get good at cooking something, don't avoid cooking it! Cook it again and again until you master it.

What are your thoughts or experiences with using repetition (or not using it) to improve your barbecuing or grilling? And are you guilty of avoidance when you encounter a failure in the smoker?
 
I've been pretty lucky.
I've been using a kettle for almost 43 years few failures, nothing expensive ruined really.
Then I got lucky, I found this forum!
Lucky again, member connected with me so I could adopt his 18" WSM!
First smoke was a hit! Not perfection but excemment.
I have tried a few tings that "Should have been better" and not repeated them, not so much on the grill. Some I have tried a couple of times and finally abandoned the recipe but, only twice in all my time at this have I taken the plate from under my wife's chin and thrown it in the bin. But, they were serious failures!
The first great stroke of luck was finding my wife!
She understands my tail chasing in the kitchen and at grill or smoker.
I am truly blessed!
And, I know it!
Thanks Chris,
I need to do more brisket too, my first wasn't bad but, they can always be better, right?
 
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I just like to BBQ. If what I BBQ'd comes out good, then that's the icing on the cake. The pleasure of BBQing is what's most important for me. You're outside, got a cold drink in hand, got some tunes going in the background, that's what matters most for me
 
Chris: Good one. When I was in college my music teacher used to say: "Practice does not make perfect. "Perfect practice" makes perfect". FWIW, I got a B in piano, but I still can't read a lick of music. Don't tell anyone, but I cheated (faked reading music) by memorizing all my assignments for the final).

IMO, the only fails I've had was when I grilled ribs (1 time), but that was before I got my WSM. On the WSM I tried to make smoked cabbage...FAIL. To me it smelled almost like nail polish remover. My wife did her kitchen magic and saved it. I don't know what she did, but I don't, er, WON'T, smoke cabbage anymore.
 
Our downfalls involve two things. One is Barb and I love to try new recipes, sure we have our favorites that we do quite frequently and to your point we have those nailed because we do them a lot. We have five three inch wide binders full of grilling and BBQ recipes including sides. Plus all but one of the Weber books and numerous others. So most of the time we are doing something new.

The other is we have eight Weber grills and smokers. They all cook differently and some I only use once in a while. So user of all master of non comes into play.
But to us, yeah we fail once in a while but not to often. But the important part is we're having fun and lots of it.

One thing I think is important is to post your failures so others can learn and maybe help you not make a repeat of it. So many helpful folks on here so why not.
 
I like that "practice makes perfect" but it's not only on doing repetitive cooking on one item, but IMO more on learning how your WSM behaves in different weather conditions.
Brisket or butts in the summer are alot more predictable ( give or take) then doing em in the dead of winter. Whatever you did in the summer has to be adjusted for a cold weather cook and that's why I choose HH cooks .

Tim
 
Chris,

You make a good point. When grilling I do have it dialed in. I look at a steak and instinctively decide on the cook time - 4 minutes a side for this one, six a side for a thicker cut.

The issue with brisket is that there is so much meat there that eating what I cook every weekend becomes an impossibility. I must be blessed with good luck though, because I follow the guidance from this forum and use Walmart briskets and lately have always achieved terrific results.

Thanks for this musing.

Jim
 
JRPfeff said:
The issue with brisket is that there is so much meat there that eating what I cook every weekend becomes an impossibility.
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Yes, people that do repetitive cooking of large cuts like brisket or pork butt end up pushing leftovers onto family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, the mailman, babysitter, pastor, entire congregation, etc. :D Once when testing the prototype 22.5" WSM prior to release, I was cooking so much brisket and pork butt that I gave the leftovers to Loaves & Fishes, a charity group that gladly received it to feed the hungry. There's always someone willing to eat leftover barbecue!
 
Chris, that was a wonderful way to "test and share"; Stars in your crown for that bit of generosity!
Tim makes a very wise observation, it's not just about the food that you cook but, the equipment knowledge to make everything come together.
Using my kettle, I've become so proficient I have not had a failure in years, I've had some things that were not worth the effort but, those were more about recipe choices than real failures, technique is the skill to develop.
I'm reluctant to say "Master" as that term has come to be too easily awarded to some pretty lousy backyard burners.
Repetition is more critical in the preparation of smaller cuts where observation of how the piece is actually cooking is much more critical, a larger piece allows a lot more latitude in attention. Something which is done in eight minutes needs more critical care than a roast or smoke which will take ten to sixteen hours, the long cook can take care of itself for quite a while until the end is in sight.
The other point is there are rare occasions when there are side dishes which need to all need to come together at the same time (or close)! That is a huge hurdle for a lot of people, my Home Ec teacher in HS (Yep, I took three classes!) taught me to make a time schedule working backwards from presentation time. That lesson has come to serve me very well time and again.
I'm going to be doing another brisket soon, and if it turns out as well as the first one...I will be very happy indeed!
Every time I do something that has people gushing over the end product, I don't gloat (too much) anymore, I've spent a long time learning and, continue to learn from experience and reading about projects folks do here! A simple "Thank you" is mostly all barbecues smiling faces get anymore, I used to blow my own horn a lot and have guided at least ten people I know into the "Science of Webering"!
Good conversation starter Chris.
Doing some simple things this week.
T
 
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Chris;
This is a topic that is absolutely "On Point"! That does sometimes present a bit of a problem for us these days as there is only the two of us. Our kids are raised and live all over the country. However, we had our neighbors over last night for a Vortex chicken parts cook. It went extremely well, and one of the reasons is we do this cook often for ourselves.

Good post!

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
I agree with Robert "on point". I keep a log of each cook and that helps me repeat a success and avoid some pitfalls.
 
Lew Newby said:
I agree with Robert "on point". I keep a log of each cook and that helps me repeat a success and avoid some pitfalls.
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I have a smoking binder too, but nothing for the grill (not necessary).

I also save my step-by-step notes when brewing. I have my recipes in binders all the way back to the first one in 1994.
 
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