The mighty smoked meats sandwich

 

sampled 6/28/21

So while I had smoked burgers, Kreuz jalapeno cheddar sausage, and fresh smoked choice brisket available, I thought I would concoct a sandwich.  After toasting a big hamburger bun with some butter, I added some mayo, swiss cheese, and all 3 meats.  They made a heck of a smoked meat sandwich!  Yummy.  I just needed some rib meat to make it complete.  Next time.

Brisket smoke 6/27/21

 

Several weeks ago choice briskets were on sale for $1.79/lb with a special coupon.  My wife's nephew had offered some spare freezer space so we bought three briskets.  This is the first one.  

After a couple of days in the fridge it still had not thawed out.  We put it in a cooler with the lid open and left it out overnight. I flipped it over about 6 am.  That did the trick.  I did the usual trimming down of the fat and fat cap to about 1/4 inch.  I trimmed and saved the meaty flaps that Aaron Franklin calls the "snacky bits".  The brisket was cut in half to fit our little bullet smoker and dusted liberally with North Main All N 1 seasoning.  The flat went on the bottom rack and the point and snacky bits went on the top.  

To the coals we added oak and pecan from our yard and the meat went on the smoke about 11:30 am.  Now for the low and slow part.  I figure if we get 6 or 7 good hours of smoke we should be good to finish it off in the oven this evening.  

We took it off the smoker about 6:30 pm and this is what we found.

I wolfed down one of the snacky bits and it was delicious, but still a bit chewy.  The other snacky bit  escaped and the dog benefitted.  He was a happy dog.

The point and flat went into heavy foil and into a 250 degree oven for another 5 hours.

We pulled from the oven around 11:30 pm and popped it into a towel lined cooler overnight.  The next morning the brisket was still warm and sliced like butter.

I sliced a few pieces for snacking but mostly cut it into chunks small enough to fit in some tupperware.  I find that if you keep it larger chunks and slice cold before warming, it retains more moisture.  

My Mrs opined "that is as good as Black's, maybe better."  We definitely have some good eatin' for a few days.

Interstellar BBQ, Austin 6/23/21

 

https://www.theinterstellarbbq.com/

Sampled 6/23/21

We made a short trip to Austin to visit friends and hear some music.  My buddy Dave suggested we try this joint in Northwest Austin and it was a good choice.  

Interstellar is located in a small shopping center with their main pit outside in the parking lot.  Inside we had a short wait and I ordered the usual trinity of brisket, ribs, and sausage.  I also added some intriguing sounding smoked scalloped potatoes.  I received brisket from the flat and there was very little fat.  The brisket pulled apart easily and was moist and tender with just a hint of smoke flavor.  The spare ribs were tender and moist and left a nice bite mark.  The rub was peppery and reminded me a bit of Louie Mueller's.  The sausage was supposed to be jalapeno cheddar.  While there was plenty of cheese, there was no discernable jalapeno and none of the spicy heat I expect with jalapeno sausage.   The smoked scalloped potatoes had good smoke flavor.  A bit of shredded cheese on top and some smoked onion would have made them even better.

A good joint that I would definitely visit again.  Thanks Dave!