Any recommendations for BBQ in Chattanooga?

After reading some online reviews ended up going with Hickory Pit Bar-B-Que. Pretty damn good.

It's been so long since I played any kind of meaningful poker I had to look up post oak.

If there's anyone else that bought a terrible Brinkmann smoker, and wants to mod it up so it works like a WSM, I'd recommend this link.

http://home.comcast.net/~day_trippr/smoker_mods.htm

Made these adjustments, and it went from a worthless POS to something that i could easily regulate to 225 for 6+ hours.

Had some solid results.

I picked up an old hibachi grill from a garage sale and wanted to try it in my gas smoker. Turns out there isn't enough air flow to keep it going well, and it was putting out way too much white smoke so I just went back to the propane.

Did a brisket and a rack of ribs. I like using oak and I finally found a place that sells it: http://woodyardbbq.com/ I haven't tried their food, but my sister and her husband weren't impressed.

First, the ribs. Smoked for 3 hours, sauced and wrapped for one, unwrapped aand sauced again for another hour.




Smoked the brisket for 6 hours and wrapped and finished in the oven for another 3:




Side project:



While in Georgia a couple of weeks ago, Mom bought a jar of spicy pickled eggs and they were really good. I had to try to replicate them.

God I love this thread. That is all.

I have been stewing over whether or not to reply to this for almost a month, but the ass hole that sits on my left shoulder wouldn't let it go.

1. I recommended adding liquid to someone that has never cooked a brisket before in their life. If you don't know what you are doing and just slap one on a back yard smoker, there is a good chance you will end up with shoe leather.

2. Worcestershire sauce is about the worst thing you can put on BBQ in my humble opinion, but everyone's taste is different, so I will give you a pass here.

3. To wrap or not to wrap. If you are using nothing but wood for the 1st 6-7 hours of smoking, you have plenty of smoke flavor in the meat. Wrapping for the finish cook, if you wish, shouldn't affect the smoke flavor if you did it right up front.

4. 'If you live in Texas you should definitely be using post oak' I guess you have never been to west Texas where they have these trees called mesquite. Post oak is great when used in moderation, but a lot of cooks who use this wood do it over an open pit and burn much of the wood in a separate fire and just use the coals. Easy for a piece of meat to come out tasting like an ashtray here.
4a.) I use different kinds of wood to make different tasting BBQ. If using fruit woods doesn't make it Texas BBQ, then so be it. I will take my 'Native Texan' bumper sticker off of my truck.

Now to make nice . I totally agree that salt, pepper and smoke is all you need to make a great brisket, but it takes a while. Lets just say while honing my skills, my labrador retriever gained a few pounds.

/Rant

PS. My buddy and I are having a cook off with the next door neighbor on July 4th. Will try to remember a take a bunch of picks and post (non-TX) BBQ pron later.

Yeah the worcestershire part threw me as well.

Franklin BBQ in Austin, which has gotten a lot of praise and he's a judge on one of those dumb BBQ competition shows, spritz their briskets with dilluted worcestshire before wrapping.

Saying anything cooked on a smoker is "not BBQ" because of some arbitrary technique is just regional jingoism. There's a ton of styles of BBQ in this country and even beyond. The world is bigger than Texas even if texans would have you believe differently.

When I think of Texas BBQ, I think of mesquite, but I've also had great BBQ over Pecan and Black Walnut. Mesquite was something of a national craze in the 90s and seems to have crashed, but I assume it will be back -- it's just too good and too cheap.

Although its a fine line between jingoism and spirited regional pride. Wondering where the KC and Carolina crews are at?

Anything cooked without hardwood smoke is NOT BBQ.

To me BBQ is slow cooking to get the smoke flavor into the meat. Cooking fast and hot is grilling. Whatever techniques you use to get your desired results is all good.

My first brisket was cooked entirely in the smoker and although it had a good flavor, it was very tough. My most recent one was wrapped in foil and finished in the oven and had a better flavor and was very tender. I don't care which method is more "pure", I'm going with what gets it done.

my buddy is having a pool party and cooking carne asada so I fired up the smoker for some apps

ABT's - jalapenos halved and stuffed with chive/onion cream cheese and a little smokie and then wrapped in bacon and smoked

mild/hot italian sausage

both smoked for approx 2 hours at 225-235 on a combo of hickory/cherry wood

delicious



a few of the bacon slices came unwrapped but whatever

man, that plate looks so tasty...damn you.

this gave me the inspiration to make something similar yesterday. I halved the jalapenos and added cream cheese to them. Then I topped with buffalo chicken that was cooked not quite til completion in a pan and wrapped in very very lightly done bacon. I then stuck them on a baking tray and put them in the oven (grill was cooking ribs) on 400 for 20 minutes until the bacon was crisp. Were a pretty big hit and even the people that didn't like spicy food said they were good though a little too hot to eat many.

From 4th of July Party and BBQ Cook Off between my Buddy Randy and his next door neighbor Don. Since all I did was buy a lot of the meat, start the fire in our smoker and then come back the next day and help slice and serve, I will take no credit.

Also, there is a reason I am not a wedding photographer. Might get pics of 10% of the people in attendance and not get a shot of the wedding cake. No difference here, but I will post what I got.


Venue was my lake house that is conveniently located 1 block from where fireworks would be shot off later. I would estimate 50-60,000 people show up at different locations around the lake to watch. We didn't have quite that many people at the party, but the boys in blue closed our street for the win.





No good BBQ doesn't have decent libations.

1 part Deep Eddy Ruby Red Red Grapefruit Vodka
1 part Sierra Mist (or any other lime soda)
Ice


Some decent beers. Could only afford the 60 min IPA after buying the meat.


But I am a simple man and on a daily basis, I am more like this guy.



The contestants:

My buddy Randy. [BRAG] That is my boat in the background.


Next door neighbor Don.



Shot of Don's homemade jalapeno venison sausage wrapped in soaked corn husks and smoked. Ribs on the side.

Served with chipotle/pineapple sauce. YUM!




Randy's entry was boudin sausage straight from the cajuns in Louisiana.

No sauce needed here.




The Briskets. Don in front - Randy in back.



Don.


Randy. Should have let it rest a bit longer, but people were hungry!




This is where the beer began to kick in, plus I was cutting and serving, so just some random picks from here on. Can't believe I didn't get one rib pic. (Oh wait, there may be one rib pic at the very end!)

Randy's pulled pork. Phenomenal!!!


Beef ribs. Just smoked in a little apple juice and still a little tough, but cut them up and throw them in a crock pot with some potatoes, onions and carrots, then cover with beef broth, you have yourself one tasty Sunday dinner.


We didn't do any yard bird, but the neighbors have a chicken coup, and we had the best fresh deviled eggs ever.


The aftermath. Pro Tip: Get people you invited to the party to clean up.



We are having fun here, no?



Happy Independence Day!!



The Grand Finale!!!



Results of Cook Off, as if anyone cares.

Don blew away Randy in the Brisket category. He cooks his backwards in my opinion, but it was tender and delicious with a beautiful smoke ring. He wraps 1st and cooks on high heat 350-375 degrees for several hours, then takes it out and goes low and slow 220ish from there on out. His bark was the best.

Brisket: Don in a landslide.
Sausage: Tied - The last piece you had in your mouth was the best
Ribs: Randy - Don admitted he need about another hour on his, a little chewy.
Pulled Pork - Randy by 1 vote. Both were excellent.
Beans - Don by 1 vote. Strong opinions both was here as who was best.


I promised BBQ pron and a pic of the ribs, so here you degens go....




Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday!!!

lol impressive, the bra flash is hot

Let's just say I got a little younger at that position. Your stuff always looks amazing as well.

Looks good, but look up how to properly slice a brisket. You have to separate it, not just slice against the grain.

You know what I did instead. I looked for posts/pics of your BBQ in this thread, but couldn't find any. I am old and am not all that interweb savy, so maybe you could nudge me in the right direction and pinpoint the correct way to cook BBQ and cut it properly in your previous posts with pics so I don't get confused anymore. Sorry, I suck at the search function, and cutting meat.

Damn this thread to hell

did a pork butt last night



put on around 1am



pulled off around 1pm

foiled and stuck in cooler with towels for ~3hrs







served with cowboy beans and jalapeno corn muffins

YUM! BBQ vagina. I would definitely eat that labia.

What is in the cowboy beans. Looks yummy as well. Nice job!!