Smoking... the DELICIOUS type

Yesterday, Sunday, I smoked a few pieces of meat in the above pictured smoker. Smoking meat is a way of cooking which utilizes low temperatures and long cooking times. The product is a unique tasting meat. Some people do not like it, I think it is delicious. It is one of the things I am most excited about in Texas!

This is going to be my brief overview of smoking. I am by no means an expert at it. I have made my fair share of mistakes with it. I am also far from perfecting my technique. However, only the first time I smoked a piece of meat did it come out tasting poorly. This was due to an over seasoning. I was young dumb and made a whole rub receipt and put it on two small racks of ribs. There is need to say they were caked in rub.

Learning from the mistake I have been careful not to over due the rubs. This time I decided to try three different rubs. There were four separate pieces of meat which I smoked, a brisket and three sets of ribs. The first rub I made contained salt, pepper, peprika, and thyme. This was used on the brisket and one pair of the ribs. The second rub was salt, pepper, herbs di provence, and crushed red pepper. This was on a set of ribs. The final set of ribs just got a dusting of salt and pepper. I did this variety to get a feel for what turns out best on the smoker. I was surprised by which rub was the best.

Now that I had all my meat rubbed down..... They went on the smoker at 0900. The process of setting up the smoker is simple. The bottom is filled with charcoal. There is then a dish of water in the middle to help hold a temperature and put moisture into the air. There is a cooking surface right on top of the water dish. This can be viewed in the picture. With a second surface at the top.

The trick I have learned to smoking is to not panic about the temperature. I have yet to find the "ideal" temperature. I however feel that a temperature of about 160 Fahrenheit works fine. The goal is to keep a constant temperature. This is a lot easier said then done. You have to keep the coals burnings, but not to quickly and hot, or to low that they go out. I had one minor flair up of temperature. It was right after I added more coals and got the fire going better. It peak around 260. However, most of the day was 130 to 160.

The only tuning up to the smoker I did all day was to add coals, stoke the fire up when needed, and add a piece of Applewood every few hours. Around 1700 I could tell that the meat was about done. I did not take them off then cause we would not be eating for a while. Also when smoking meat it is hard to overcook. The greater fear is it being undercooked. This is why I put the meat on so early. At 1700 I decided to put some white wine in the water dish and a fresh piece of wood to put in some last flavor. Around 1730 the meat was taken off the smoker.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get any pictures of the meat. I will say it was very delicious and very little survived the dinner table. The meat was falling off of the ribs and the brisket was well worth the time and effort put in. Now about the best rub. The simple fact when you are smoking, you are trying to smoke in flavor. The rub does not play a factor in the taste. If I were to smoke more meat tomorrow, I would probably not put any rub on them. I would focus more on putting a mixture into the water dish. Next time I smoke meat this is the technique I plan to use.

Workout: I decided to put my vest to use. I did an 8 minute AMRAP of 10 sandbag push press, and 10 push ups. I did all this while wearing all 50 lb. of the vest. The push ups were a struggle. I was able to squeeze out 5 rounds and 2 push ups. The vest makes a big difference!

Inspirational Quote: "It's what you do right now that makes a difference" -Blackhawk Down