2nd Annual 'Diary of a Memorial Day Barbecue'

[utexas_61]

i am doing a rain dance

 

[hornian]

Well the ribs are on the pit, put them on at about 6:45. It is kind of an adventure to get the dampers set so that the temperature will stay at the proper temperature, but I think I've got it down. I was hoping to have them on by 6, but the rain impacted those plans. Oh well, I'll have plenty of food even if the ribs aren't done right at noon.

Lets just hope this works.

 

[hornian]

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[utexas_61]

i said that then, but i am pretty sure i would have made it up for this. even if i didn't, i would still have enjoyed some good Q today, and not chicken pendi with rice

 

[hornian]

Well then I'm even more bummed you got shipped off again.

The rain has stopped, and it looks like there's nothing after it down to the South where it all came from according to the radar. I'll hope that it was a one time deal. Now I can say neither rain nor dark of night will keep me from barbecuing. Take that, postal service.

 

[hornian]

Looks like I spoke too soon about the rain. But hopefully after THIS cell we'll be done for the day.

 

[hornian]

I can see the finish line. The ribs are in the oven right now for step 2 of the 3-2-1 method, and the pork loin and sausage is on the smoker. Pictures below.

About 3 hours after you put the ribs on the pit, this is what you get.

Here's a better picture of one of the racks. You can see how the bones have started to show on one side. I wrapped each rack in foil, and put it the oven that had been heating the briskets at about 225 for the last 3 hours.

No on to the pork loin. That's a big piece of meat! (That's what she said)

Once again, Fiesta rub + Montreal Steak Seasoning. This time it was the Fiesta Pork Rub. Good stuff.

And after the rub has actually been rubbed onto the loin.

The fat side of the loin.

I rub it too.

And I put a temperature probe in the middle. Unlike the brisket and ribs, I watch the internal temp on the loin. When it gets to about 135 degrees, it's time to come off. And its easier to put it in before you put the meat on the pit.

And last but not least, 5 links of Alsatian-style venison sausage. This is from my hometown of Castroville, and I can guarantee you that you've never had anything like it. I love this stuff.

And finally it's all on the pit. A few more hours and I should have a ton of meat. I hope that the rain doesn't keep people away, because I'm not sure if I have room for a bunch of left overs.

Speaking of the rain, it looks like we're finally in the clear. Phew. Too bad it waited until this morning to rain, when the past 3 days have been relatively dry here. Oh well, that will just make the slip n slide a little more slippery.

 

[TexanByChoice]

Joanna just finished the guac.

We'll be there in 40.

Love you. Don't worry about leftovers, I will take it all home

 

[mayberryrfd]

Castroville...love that place. I wish we had a bakery here like the one they have there. I used to go at the end of the day and grab all the specials and those cream horns. By the time I made it back to SA, I was dealing with sugar induced high.

I believe there is a little steak house there as well that was really good. Not the one attached to the hotel (is that still closed?)

 

[WaywardHorn]

This thread makes me very angry but your work is top notch!

 

[MeaHorn]

hornian, really appreciate the pics and the time you took to share all that with us.

I've gotta go scramble to see what I can cook up!

 

[12thStudStan]

nice diary as always Hornian.

 

[hornian]

Holy crap, I'm beat. That was one hell of a Memorial Day barbecue. I think we had 60+ folks through here today. Wow.

I'll put the final pics up after work tomorrow. Right now I need to sleep.

 

[Campus Loop(y)]

The Guac was even delicious. Great day even if it did rain at times.

 

[CBT]

Great thread man. I'm jealous.

 

[Quadry]

Thanks for the invitation.

I cooked a 8 lb brisket and two racks of ribs. I cannot wait until lunch today!

 

[hornian]

Ok, done with work, the house is mostly clean, and I have some time to upload some pics to the interweb tubes.

I decided to slice one brisket before the guests arrived, and it turned out to be the only meat that I got a chance to take pictures of. Once the guests showed up I was cutting meat non stop for about 90 minutes, and I never had a chance to clean my hands and take more pictures. But you can still tell what was consumed yesterday.

A picture of the first brisket, after I had warmed it up in the oven for about 3 hours at around 220 or so. I also let it rest for about an hour before I sliced it.

I started by separating the point from the other part (can't think of what it's called right now).

Then I sliced the brisket up. Even after resting for an hour, the brisket was almost too tender to slice well, that's my they are so thick. I think I need a sharper knife, as well as figuring out something to do when cooking it to keep it from practically falling apart - it tastes great, but for my own sake when I'm cutting it I'd like it to stay together a bit better. That's the last of the brisket photos unfortunately. I made some chopped bbq with the parts that I couldn't cut well by chopping it all to hell and mixing with my homemade barbecue sauce, and it went over pretty well.

After I sliced the brisket, it was time to get the pork loin off the pit - the internal temp was at 133 when I took it off. I took it inside and wrapped it in foil, and let it rest for about an hour or so before I sliced it. Again, no pictures of the slicing, but it was probably the best pork loin that I've done yet. I think that was my personal favorite meat that I ate yesterday.

And then I moved the sausage over, and put the ribs back on the pit to firm up in the smoke for another hour. I wish I had a picture of the ribs after they were cut, because the smoke ring on those bad boys was pretty allsome for a smaller piece of meat like that.

So that's that. The barbecue itself was a big hit, I was afraid when I woke up at 5:30 to the pouring rain that no one would show up and I'd have almost 50 lbs of meat to eat by myself, but as you can tell by the last pictures it cleared up nicely. And instead of having a ton of leftovers, the meat was all gone by about 3:30 or 4:00.

Everything turned out great. I got tons of compliments on the brisket, the ribs were gone in under an hour, the sausage didn't last much longer, and the pork loin, like I mentioned above, was my personal favorite. Even the homemade barbecue sauce I made turned out surprisingly good, and it disappeared quickly. The only leftovers I have is a couple loafs of bread, I guess I overestimated the demand for sandwiches.

All in all, I fed over 60 people. I had the guests bring sides and beer, the weather cooperated, and everything turned out great. And the slip n' slide was a big hit, both with my 5 and 3 year-old nieces, and my 20-something year-old friends. The only bad part was the clean up because of the mud and the dogs, but even that wasn't horrible.

Thanks to everyone who posts on here who came out, it was a great Memorial Day. Now I'm headed back out to the lake to take advantage of a slightly calmer, and much more full, Lake Travis.

 

[GakFoo]

great posts. looks like everything turned out perfect.

where did you find a pork loin that big?

 

[fluff]

hornian,

thanks for the journal, you put in quite a bit of effort for that and it is much appreciated....glad it all turned out well.

 

[WFLIP]

This is exactly what I want to see when I come to this board. Pics and explanations to help us rookies.

And I definitely agree that this is just like porn, lol.

 

[hornian]

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[next2naus]

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[Brisketexan]

The two parts are the Point and the Flat. Point is the fattier, butt end, the flat is the leaner, flat end.

 

[hornian]

Hey Brisket, any tips or pointers to make the brisket easier to slice? Should I open the foil up for the last hour or something?

 

[UTEE]

I'm not sure how you "foil" folks would recommend it.

I'm a non-foiler and I usually let the brisket rest about a half-hour before slicing. I always get really tender brisket, but I've rarely had one that was so fall-apart that I couldn't cut it.

The most important suggestion I'd make would be to get a really good, long, sharp brisket cutting knife. They typically have a rounded end instead of a point, and the blade is straight with no curvature (aside from the rounded end, of course).

I typically hone the knife in between each brisket, and sometimes I even have to hone it once between the flat and the point.

 

[Brisketexan]

I have found that the most important thing to getting good slices is to let it rest out of the heat, with the foil opened up, for 20-30 minutes (30 is better). And a long sharp knife helps, too.

Also, sometimes I'll slice my flat in half, WITH the grain -- that way I can slice the two pieces against the grain, and the slices are nice, but half as long as they otherwise would be -- they end up being 4-5 inches instead of 8-10 inches long, which makes them more manageable on a plate, a sammich, etc.

 

[Sucklebuster]

That rocks man. I suspect the final picture is a bunch of folks passed out like beached whales from shear pleasure overload.

SuckleBuster

 

[Randy_Allen_Fan]

hornian, I couldn't help but notice that you own the Miracle Blade knives that dominate late night television. Are they any good? I've almost ordered that set probably a dozen times, but I'm afraid their cheap.

 

[hornian]

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[Sucklebuster]

hornian,

"it tastes great, but for my own sake when I'm cutting it I'd like it to stay together a bit better."

What temp do you pull your briskets and set them? Try knocking off 5 degrees at a time until you get the results you want. Somehwhere around 195 may work better for you...