The Mighty Smoked Meats Sandwich, part 3

 

Same as yesterday, only the toasted bun held everything together better.  Yum!

The Mighty Smoked Meats Sandwich, part 2

 

As promised earlier, I enjoyed mixing our smoked burgers with other smoked meats and wanted to see what other combinations I could come up with.  This concoction included brisket, rib meat, and beef rib from Pecan Lodge (leftovers from our Trough on Thursday), smoked burger, and jalapeno cheddar sausage from Kreuz.  They all went on a bun with one slice of swiss cheese and a little mayo.  My only mistake was not toasting the buns.  I shall improve on that tomorrow, but not bad today!

Pecan Lodge, The Trough, Dallas

 

sampled 7/15/21

We had our friend John visiting from San Angelo this week.  Next week is his birthday so we filled him up with good BBQ before sending him home.  Yesterday we hit Heim BBQ on Magnolia in Fort Worth and had a fine meal.  Today we headed over to Pecan Lodge for their famous The Trough, a sampler with beef  rib, pork ribs, brisket, sausage, and pulled pork.  I was very surprised when we walked up just after 11 am and there was not a line outside.  Inside we found about 30 people in line ahead of us and the express line was closed.  I guess that's understandable when they don't have a lot of folks waiting.  They called ticket number one to pick up just as we came in and our number was 19.  Usually you get 3 sausages and 3 ribs, but we found ourselves with 4 of each.  Not a problem.

The beef rib was the standout, as usual, but the ribs were excellent, too.  The jalepeno sausage had a nice spice to it and a good snappy casing.  The brisket was a tad overcooked and fell apart when I tried to pick up a slice with a fork.  Not a hint of smoke flavor in anything.  We chowed down about half of The Trough and got a to-go box for the rest.  I also got another half pound of brisket and another beef rib to take home.  

The price for The Trough is now up to $89. I remember it as $79.  Maybe that accounts for the extra sausage and rib.  Their register said Credit Card Only.

I don't know if Terry Black's down the street has cut into their business but I was very surprised how short the line has become.  I remember well when the line was out the door and around the corner and the express line was a must.  Maybe it's a combination of higher BBQ prices and competition down the street.  We drove past Black's on our way home and they had a decent crowd inside, too.  Scott has been raving about their food so I will have to check them out soon.  However the $30/lb they charge for brisket seems steep to me, even for Deep Ellum.

MMMM, brisket nachos

 

sampled 7/11/21

The best end for a great smoked brisket.

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!