I have been cooking barbecue since 1970 and have lived all over the US. When I moved to Birmingham in 84, my neighbour taught me a few things about cooking that I had never tried, and because I could smell his barbecue cooking every Friday Night, I made it a point to learn some of his methods. You can use this or not but it just makes your barbecue taste better when it is served.
1. Smoke is very important when you first start cooking and a non issue after 20 minutes. Make sure your smoke is coming from wet or green wood. The first 20 minutes use a very low heat. 250 or higher is too hot.
2. Make sure your meat is not wet. You need your seasoning to be a dry rub combination. (This makes your personal style) I always dry my meat with paper towels before I season it. You can also smoke the meat without any seasoning then take it off the grill then do your seasoning. It will make a difference.
3. Sear the meat on all sides at about 400+ degrees for no more than 5 minutes per side.
4. Now you can slow cook your meat for 8 hours to 20 hours at about 220. (8 hours for Boston butt and 18 hours for brisket)
5 The wood you smoke with is important. My favourite wood is in the following order. Pecan, Mesquite, Oak, Cherry, Apple, Hickory. Most folks use hickory but too much hickory wood causes some folks to have heart burn. We have found that Pecan, or Mesquite is one of the favourite flavors.
6. After you get a crust bark on your meat you want to wrap it with double foil until you are ready to serve. Usually it takes from 4 to 8 hours of cooking on low heat to get the crust that you want.
I just cooked a ham yesterday that turned out perfect. It cooked from 11:00 am until 6:00 pm.
1. Smoke is very important when you first start cooking and a non issue after 20 minutes. Make sure your smoke is coming from wet or green wood. The first 20 minutes use a very low heat. 250 or higher is too hot.
2. Make sure your meat is not wet. You need your seasoning to be a dry rub combination. (This makes your personal style) I always dry my meat with paper towels before I season it. You can also smoke the meat without any seasoning then take it off the grill then do your seasoning. It will make a difference.
3. Sear the meat on all sides at about 400+ degrees for no more than 5 minutes per side.
4. Now you can slow cook your meat for 8 hours to 20 hours at about 220. (8 hours for Boston butt and 18 hours for brisket)
5 The wood you smoke with is important. My favourite wood is in the following order. Pecan, Mesquite, Oak, Cherry, Apple, Hickory. Most folks use hickory but too much hickory wood causes some folks to have heart burn. We have found that Pecan, or Mesquite is one of the favourite flavors.
6. After you get a crust bark on your meat you want to wrap it with double foil until you are ready to serve. Usually it takes from 4 to 8 hours of cooking on low heat to get the crust that you want.
I just cooked a ham yesterday that turned out perfect. It cooked from 11:00 am until 6:00 pm.
