I just got a tiny offset smoker. Almost impossible to manage temperatures. Stayed up most of the night, made a million mistakes. Cooked too hot, a bit too smoky sometimes. Took it off too early thinking it was going to keep cooking during the hot hold until lunch. Had to reheat it to get it going again. Turned out AMAZING. The only real mistake was trying to sear the fat cap to get it to tighten back up a bit. The fat dripped onto the fire and made it smoky in a bad way. I took it off right away, no major damage except some of the fat stuck to the grill lol! Plus I almost dropped it trying to pull off this maneuver!
Everyone was raving about it and I’ve learned a lot for next time!
I love me a good smoked Texas brisket, but god damn, acquiring and then babysitting a smoker for an entire night, all to land at “really quite decent” is my definition of diminishing returns.
If I ever accidentally acquire a raw brisket, I’ll turn in my Texas card (no great loss these days) and put that fucker in the oven with some foil and liquid smoke. Meantime, I’ll stop by the HEB sometimes, or a better place when we have out of town guests.
liquid smoke???
You’re not entirely wrong, but that’s specifically why I’m not diving down this particular rabbit hole. I’m sure I could make something safe and edible, proper smoker or all the cheats, but I ain’t looking for a calling here, just a meal, so that much raw beef potential would be wasted on me.
Yeah I put way too much effort into my meals when it’s my nights to cook dinner, but like it’s also one of my favorite hobbies.