hooklineandskillet

So I am really dialing in on the smoker at this point. This weekend I’m headed out to East Hampton to spend time with the family. We have nana & grandpa along with the Lentzes up from South Carolina. I am going to attempt both a Brisket and Pork Butt on Saturday. I am a little concerned about the Brisket but I think if I get an early start I should be able to pull it off. I swung by a classic East Village polish butcher shop to talk beef. They brought out the better part of a cow and lopped off the fatty part of the brisket (I guess you could call it the ‘second cut’ being that it isn’t the lean prime cut. It’s sure is thick but you can clearly see the marbling. The beef is a little over 7 lbs and was $8 per pound. Not bad considering it is the real-deal and was purchased in Manhattan.

I have also been working on a rub. I finally settled on equal parts paprika, chili powder, salt, pepper, and baked brown sugar. I was able to get the brown sugar dried out by baking it in the oven for 10 min @ 300. I then ground it up. It worked pretty well.

Here are a few i found on the internet:
salt
pepper
cumin
garlic powder
onion powder
chili powder
paprika
dry mustard
brown sugar

Or

salt, pepper
garlic
granulated onion
chili powder
paprika
cayane pepper
some dry mustard

I am working with the below. I have a good feeing about it and have had a sprinkling. Its good.

salt
pepper
chili powder
paprika
Baked* brown sugar

Back at the smoker. We had some trouble locating a good fatty brisket. Citerella in East Hampton only stocks 1st cut brisket. We found a butcher who had a nice 6 lb trimmed center cut ($55). I would have rather had it with the full fat cap on but I’ll take what I can get. I got the fire cranking around 1:45pm and the brisket on by 2:30pm. Mama magovs decided to join the party and seasoned up a rack of baby back. Those got top shelfed and we will see how they turn out after 3 hours.

Some reading to stay occupied.
http://mobile.seriouseats.com/2010/11/barbecue-book-review-barbecue-the-history-of.html

Ribs after an hour and a half.

Ribs coming off after 3hrs. Getting Carolina sauce and a little oven time.

Brisket after 3hrs. Long way to go for this guy.

Holy shit, ribs

Brisket is pretty much done. We took it off being that I have a big day tomorrow. Pic is below. It’s pretty darn tasty.

Two hours of resting did wonders….

Time/Temp Log:

1:45pm – Lit 4 logs + kindling.  Everything open.  while 4-6 logs create way too hot of a fire I have found that it is worth burning the extra wood down for a solid coal base that will keep the fire stable for the rest of the cook.

2:00pm – 350* Closed vents & added water tray

2:15pm – 250*

2:30pm – 200* Brisket & Ribs on.  Opened vents & flu a crack.

3:15pm – 250* Added Hickory (2)

4:00pm – 250* Added Hickory (1)

4:30pm – 250* Closed vents & Flu

5:45pm – 225* (Cooking surface 200*) Added Hickory (1), opened vents.

Ribs came off to be finished in the oven @300 with sauce.

6:00pm – 250* Closed vents.

6:45pm – 200* (Cooking surface 200*) Opened vents and added log.

8:00pm – 200* Added 3 logs.

8:45pm – 250* Closed vents.

9:00pm – 240*

9:30pm – Took brisket off after 7 hours on the smoker.  Internal temp of the meat was 185-190.  Very tasty, going to let sit of 2 hours.

11:30pm – Perfect.

In anticipation of my first real Lang smoker catering test this Christmas, I figured I should get some practice in. I hopped the 9:40am train from Penn Station to East Hampton. Upon arrival I was greeted by Karen and Bob. They knew the mission. We headed over to Iacano Farms; home if the upper crust of farm-raised free-range-organic-caviar-fed chickens. These chickens were so artisanal they had organized their own Smorgasbird market on Sundays. The farm has been around since 1948 and has the best chicken, duck, turkey and goose in the north east. We picked up two of the biggest chickens they had left (4lbs). When you order a chicken from iacano, you buy and get everything except the feathers. Instead of asking what parts you want (breast, wings, legs) they simply ask how you want it cut. Pretty incredible. Very old school. We took the two “split” chickens and headed east to the Lang ’48. I packed the firebox full of freshly delivered kiln dried hardwood (thanks LI Firewood). It soon became apparent that I was over zealous in my fire starting…standard. It took about two hours to convert the hardwood logs to red-hot embers smuldering just enough to keep the internal temp of the smoker around 275 (which is still 25 degrees above optimal). Once we hit 275 I figured we were ready to cook. Chicken got tossed on the Lang after a simple coat of olive oil, salt, & pepper. Two hours later and we were looking at THE BEST chicken I have ever made. Full journal log below. I can’t wait to set my sights on some beef and pork…

3pm – Built fire with cooking wood

4pm – Good base. Put on 1 oak log
275* – smokey
Vents fully open
Spikes to 400*
Vents closed to 1/4

4:30 – Added water pan, spread out wood (way too much)
Closed all vents/flu

4:40 – 275* put chicken on
Cracked vent/ flu closed
Wood is looking low
Temp dropped to 200* then climbed to 225*

5:10 – 200* new log added
Vents to halfway
Flu to fully open

5:40 – Added log.
Cooking surface temp 200*
Chamber temp 225*

6:15 – 250* closed vents/flu a bit.
Chicken looks fuckin awesome

6:50 – 220*
Chicken internal meat temp is 160*
Taking it off and putting it under a broiler for 3 min to crisp the skin

7pm – Success.

Wanted to check out the WordPress app. Looks pretty simple. We will see.

I will use this as an opportunity to post a picture of the ‘Wallace Mustard’ I whipped up the other day. Coming to a gift wrapped box near you this holiday season.

We met at at the zip care on 45th street. Sebastian, the mid-size sedan, was primed and ready for a road trip. after picking up Angad we headed out of the city to the north east corner of Connecticut. After scouting a local BBQ joint (Big W’s Roadside BBQ) to swing by on our way out of town we stopped at the tackle shop to gear up.

With our freshly tied flys, waders, and poles we hit a field for a quick ‘casting 101’ lesson. I got a pretty good handle on it and headed to the river. The first spot we hit was rather deep an fast moving. We were using a set up with double nymphs and a bobber. The strategies was to cast up stream and let the flys drift with the flow while retrieving line. I got pretty good at this being that it went on for a few hours. I wish I got to practice reeling in a fish. Master fly fisherman matt caught a rainbow trout and a small brown trout.

N