South Texas Brisket Slab


 
Lory Harrison

Lory Harrison

TVWBB Member
Well my Halfa Weber got banged around some in our last storm and flooding so I had to bring my other smoker out to do the brisket slab.

I don't know nothing about temps or therms, I don't use any. My smoker has one in the hood that it came with but I don't check my surface or meat temps. I've read about stalls and I don't know if that's happened to me or not and I don't wrap in tinfoil, we wrap in butcher paper here. We never wrap in foil. It doesn't let the meat breathe. I don't know a good slab house that does wrap in foil.

This slab was smoked on south Texas mesquite cut down from a friend's ranch and the fire started with Mexican lump charcoal.

This slab was 9 lbs. Smoked for 10 hrs, adding a log every hour and rotating the slab but never turning it over.

There she is all yellered up

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The fat trimmed was a pound.

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The slab gets rubbed with the garlic rub, it's strong peppery and very garlicky. It sits for 2 days in the fridge like this, with the mustard and the dry rub. Then it sits outside for 40 mins before going onto the grate. Then after the second hour the slab gets drizzled with the hard cider and rotated with the BBQ sauce whenever I add logs.

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This is after two hours. It was 97 degrees today. There is a pan full of water under the slab.

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The fresh cut mesquite

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The smoke

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It was 10 at night when I pulled it off and wrapped it in butcher papers so I don't have a night shot, just a kitchen shot of her coming outta the wrap

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And here's the slab cut, I don't know a lot of BBQ terms other than this is how I've always made it here in South Texas.

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If it helps anyone the smoker thermometer always read between 225-320 but I only noticed it when I'd pull the lid, otherwise, I just don't mess with thermometers, probes, or any big city gadgetry.

Here's my Halfa Weber before she went down in the storm, I smoked outfront because the rain was so bad that day. This was the day I was supposed to smoke the rabbits but the storms were too wicked to get them.

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Beef rib tips, some plancha peppers and chicken were all I could manage when we flooded Memorial Day weekend!!

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Thank all of you for looking !!
 
For someone who dose not know much you sure seem to know enough to make us want some. Very nice cook and hope you fair well thought nasty flood weather.
I use to live in Universal City a few life times ago very nice country.
 
Beautiful cooks. When I cook with my offset and logs my temps are all over the place too. The end result still turns out pretty good. It makes you wonder how much a lot of the temp control stuff matters. Ultimately I'm a nerd and I'm going to probe anyway but if you learned before we had all this digital stuff you probably don't need it.
 
Thank you everyone for all your kind comments, they mean a lot.

Here's some day after fridge cold brisket, I just put in a frying pan to wake up. No need for oils, brisket releases all that.

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And after just a couple tosses, they go right to some brisket tacos for dinner. The wood really comes thru on this slab and that boozy apple bath is like a wicked sauna and it tastes great. I'm happy with this slab. I'm making a large packer next week and that smoke will be 16 hours or a bit more I'm guessing.

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Dustin Dorsey said:
Beautiful cooks. When I cook with my offset and logs my temps are all over the place too. The end result still turns out pretty good. It makes you wonder how much a lot of the temp control stuff matters. Ultimately I'm a nerd and I'm going to probe anyway but if you learned before we had all this digital stuff you probably don't need it.
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Offsets are made to be all over the place. It means nothing. There are hot spots, they're cold spots but if you ignore all this you'll render a good slab or other foods.

I did learn before all the technology and I have to say I really don't want to know what's going on inside my grill much less my slabs! I'd never focus on a movie that way!! I can barely work my phone let alone some machinery that looks like a heart monitor blood pressure thing, too complicated.

I'm no one to give advice but let it ride. Build a fire, coals or wood and let it burn, put your hand over it and see how hot is hot. Put your meats on next to it and close the lid. If it's a long smoke like 10 hrs, check 1hr 1/2 later, add wood, let it burn w the lid open, drizzle ur booze or sauce and turn the meat around so the smoke hits it somewhere else. And just keep doing that until it smells good, until you don't feel it bounce back with your tongs.

That's it. That's all I do. It's all I ever done. Getting that perfect smoke temp and surface temp and chimney temp and meat temp and then those who factor the weather, well, then what kind of show are u Runnin? :D. I'd never the house!! I've gone to sleep with my smoker on.

At some point you have to trust your own ability to control fire. In an offset, it's a long way smoke has to travel so fire it up hot, it's not as hot as you think in the cooking area even if it says so. And sealing up your smoke leaks I don't quite get either. What leaks, lets in. You need ambient air. You need humidity or dryness or whatever is going on outside. That's the whole point of smokin outside. Why seal it out. Smoke leaks may ruin the "efficiency" of smokers but the meat don't know the difference, they'll thank you for a little breeze.

That's my friendly input, there's no nothin in it other than that. I'd tell you like I tell anyone who comes to my house. Build a fire hot, let it burn, put your meat next to it. Offsets are great. I am fixin to get a Lyfetyme made here in Uvalde, they're over a grand so that's a big ticket for me. I don't like vertical smokin but I'd love one of their offsets. Send me a pic of yours if you don't mind and thank you for the compliment.
 
Kevin L (NKY) said:
For someone who dose not know much you sure seem to know enough to make us want some. Very nice cook and hope you fair well thought nasty flood weather.
I use to live in Universal City a few life times ago very nice country.
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Universal is a fair way from me, more East, I live in Hill Country right near Bulverde on the edge of mankind. This flooding is something else. I had a lot of repair work done today to my house, there was a leak in the garage and water trickling in with this almost everyday rain. I can't complain, it waters the poor deer, the raccoons and other animals and we need it here but since we're all rock it just sits on our lawn veneers and floods us.

Thank you for your compliment, I wish everyone could try it !!
 
Glad to hear you are well and not washed away.
you next day tacos look great also. I want to learn to use the offset someday your cook makes me want start learning today.
 
Hope your weather improves. I've read a lot of newspapers stories up here about the bad time you folks are having. I think it's really cool that you are dialed in and know your craft. Thanks for the great post.
 
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