BBQ Poetry

A follower of the site sent in some barbecue poetry. Noting figurative, but actual poetry. Take it away David:

BBQ Is My Religion
by David W. Roberts

BBQ is my religion
And the pit is my church.

Standing around the fire
Of charcoal and wood,
But never gas,
Talking with a friend
About this or that,
Surrounded by smoky incense
While the almighty himself
Enjoys the aroma
Reminiscent of an Old Testament-style sacrifice.

Beer is the sacramental beverage
Consumed in copious or moderate quantities,
As those who partake commune
In a spiritual bond
With pit masters
Past, present, and future,
From every corner of the world.

Sauce is an afterthought
If it is present at all
As a freshly sharpened knife
Is wielded by a skilled hand,
Slicing into a mound of smoky deliciousness.

Soon after,
Incomprehensible utterances abound
From all who share
In this moment of transcendence
Between heaven and earth.

With a slice of pie
Or a scoop of ice cream,
The service comes to a close
And the meeting adjourns,
With some going their separate ways
As others unite once again
To imbibe the sacred drink.

The dew gathers upon the ground
And the smoke dissipates,
As heaven and earth disengage,
Promising to reunite once again
Around the hallowed flame.

David describes himself as a "BBQ fanatic and self-proclaimed connoisseur". I think this poem proves it. Thanks for sharing.

- BBQ Snob

Reader's BBQ

Tim Wagner and Doug Zedler smoked something more exotic than your average brisket. One the menu was a goat shoulder, goat ribs and venison sausage all smoked over lump charcoal and spanish oak in an offset smoker.

Goat Shoulder


Goat Ribs


Venison Sausage


Dana in Culleoka decided to try her hand at smoking eggs, and they look...interesting.



Brad Shaw, owner of Big Racks BBQ in Grapvine sends these pics of his team's entry into the Cops 4 Kids BBQ Cookoff in Fort Worth last month. These entries earned them first in brisket and second in ribs.





And finally, Jack shares the mouthwatering pics of his pork butt that was smoked for 11 hours over hickory in a Brinkmann barrel smoker.





- BBQ Snob

Slagle and the Clod

A friend and coworker of mine invited a group over to share in his smoked meat festivities. There was pulled pork, ribs and sausage, but Scott Slagle had promised a brisket, which he failed to deliver. Instead we were treated to one of the most incredible cuts of smoked beef I've had the pleasure to enjoy. It was a shoulder clod doused in hickory smoke.



Coming in 14-20 lb hunks, this cut isn't carried at your normal supermarket, so Slagle had to order his through his friends at Good 2 Go Taco in Dallas. What is a shoulder clod, you ask? If you're familiar with the big boys in Lockhart, then you've probably sunk your teeth into some clod. Both Smitty's and Kreuz Market offer lean beef and fatty (or moist) beef. The moist beef is brisket while the lean beef is shoulder clod. This cut is from the beef shoulder (you'd normally purchase a portion of it as blade steaks, like the flatiron, or chuck roast), and much like a pork shoulder, it's loaded with intramuscular fat that renders out slowly while it smokes. Also like a pork shoulder, it's pretty much bullet proof in the smoker.



Brisket's place in the BBQ lexicon is fairly recent. Most joints in Central Texas were smoking shoulder clods for a large part of their history, probably because it's a fairly common cut for European butchers. Black's in Lockhart claims to be the first joint in Texas to serve brisket exclusively, and while they may have been smoking briskets since their opening in 1931, the brisket didn't gain widespread popularity in BBQ joints across the state until the fifties and sixties.



As I enjoyed this piece of history, I noticed a few distinct differences between this cut and a brisket. First, the fat cap is much more uniform on the clod, and this even coverage of the surface keeps it moist while allowing for more of a sugar cookie flavor over the whole surface. Second, the intramuscular fat keeps the meat moist, but it's nowhere near the silky tenderness of a brisket point. Lastly, the clod is such a compact and thick muscle, it's much harder for the smoke flavor to penetrate this meat like a brisket. While brisket will probably remain my favorite for its shear moisture and smokiness, a clod will certainly find it's way on to my smoker it home after this experience. Thanks Slagle.

- BBQ Snob

Reader's BBQ

A few weeks back I asked if there were any readers that wanted too share their smoked meat photos. I got a few takers, and they're highlighted here.

Andrew from 3rd Degree Berns shared some mouthwatering photos of his whole brisket. He had to pack and and move from Georgia to Manhattan, so he fired up his Brinkmann Cimarron offset smoker with some pecan, apple, cherry and oak, and threw on this whole brisket to celebrate.



After 20 hours at 220 degrees, the brisket was finally done, and it certainly looks like it was worth the wait.



Rusty sent a photo of his mobile smoking rig just to make me jealous. The photos of the meat below actually came out of his Lyfe Tyme smoker at home.



Rusty smoked a whole brisket with mesquite and hickory, and it looks like he got a nice crust and smokering.



He also added a few racks of ribs that are looking mighty tasty.



Thanks to Rusty and Andrew for sending the photos, and I'm always glad to find new ways to stay hungry for BBQ. Fell free to send in your photos too, and I'll get them up on the site.

- BBQ Snob

Memorial Day With Robb Walsh

You may have already read Robb Walsh's account of his Memorial Day BBQ with his slightly tongue-in-cheek title. Robb's lengthy smoking experience assured there would be no crisis on this federal holiday.

The so-called crisis was caused because a whole Kobe flank was mistaken for a brisket (seeing these similarly shaped cuts side by side helped me understand why), and was only discovered several hours after it was placed on the smoker. Robb quickly scrambled to the nearest HEB so he could make good on his invitation to let me have some of his smoked brisket. By lunchtime, it was all ready to eat.

First up was the Kobe flank. After smoking and braising, this cut was infinitely tender. The layer of fat was perfectly rendered, and as evidenced by the smokering, the smoke flavor was evident deep into this cut.



Robb chose to leave the brisket untrimmed, so the nicely smoked fat cap was there for the enjoying. Next to the Kobe beef, this cut wasn't as silky tender, but after trying fourteen different briskets in the past few days in and around Houston, this one ranked right up at the top. I'm glad I was lucky enough to be there to enjoy it.



All of this deliciousness came from the heavily used offset smoker sitting on the back deck. This bad boy has definitely churned out a heap of smoke in its time.



Luckily I was able to share these photos with you. After forgetting my camera at the Walsh house, Robb's wife was nice enough to bring the camera up to Dallas during a business trip, so it's my own stupid fault that I had to wait until now to post these great pics. Thanks to Robb and his family for taking us in for an afternoon and treating us like part of the family. The food wasn't half bad either. I can't wait until the next invitation.

- BBQ Snob