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I've been bored lately.

If BBQ talk makes you sleepy, then pass on what's below.

After 6 years of cooking briskets, pork ribs, and turkey, I decided to upgrade my stick burner. I've taken a few classes, and went all over Hill County last Fall to spend more time talking to the men that cooked, and not the "famous" guys that owned the BBQ restaurants. My best stop was to Snows BBQ, which had been ranked #1 several years ago. I left the hotel at 3 am, and got in Snow's line at 5:10. I got my food around 9 am where smoked turkey breasts was already sold out. I also went to Burnt Bean Co barbecue, which was #1 last year. Texas Monthly magazine does the rating BBQ restaurants, and our local Slaughters BBQ made the top 50. There are 4,327 BBQ restaurants in TX, so Dave was extremely excited. Only a few years ago, Dave was working out of a trailer and had to borrow water from a feed store parking lot. He's been a huge help for me, and here's what I learned.

If you're cooking by smoking specifically, a finished 12-15 pound brisket can take more than 10 hours at 275 degree. Most restaurants take 2, and even 3 days for the best brisket. Day one is prepping the brisket by trimming off unneeded fat, and wrapping the seasoned finished brisket in the refrigerator until the next day. Keeping the fat can get you nice smoked tallow to help the moisture during the 3rd day. The second day is when the brisket is cooked at near 300 degrees and cooked until its center, the flat and the point, hits 203-210, not 190-195.

The 3rd day would be wrapping the brisket and slowly let it cool down to 140, and keeping that level for health safety. Coolers with towels, ovens, or some type of hot box is all you need. Eat it until you can't eat any more.


This is just starting, and adding 2 more temperature gauges so that all 4 shelves get the correct temp. The bottom left is the coolest, and the top right is the hottest. The shelf on the bottom of the pic is just finished, and I'll add it later.



These are the arms and each will support a 6"X30" 3/8" flat plate. They're heavy, I mean they're really heavy. All 4 arms were rolled singularly, and that was a pain. Also where to add it to the doors. I decided to have the arms to be directly over center top, and that worked well. You'll see the small spring handles later, and one finger is all that's needed, not the full bar.




Here it is with the plates. It was a pain for sure.




The folding shelf is up on the left, and the small handles are on the doors. I think I'll renew the old wood rack too, and then we're done. That is unless I find a 500 gallon propane tank. Just sayin'.