BBQ USA

Hi all ,
This weekend I receved a Brinkmann smoker ( God the best darn thing i ever got ) fired it up Sunday Morning at 6 am , and I made Steves, Clay B's Red River Valley Brisket with the 9th revision BBQ Sauce page # 174-176 of the bbq usa book .I started the cooking at 7 am and around 12 pm i threw on a rack of super smoker sweet and smoky dry rub ribs page # 289-290. I made a batch of Memphis Mustard Slaw page #248-249 ,I took everything off the smoker at 4:30 pm .THEY WERE AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Brisket was to die for ,the ribs were ok ( I did not follow one of the steps which was after the ribs cured to take the excess rub off ) They were a bit salty but they were good .The Memphis Mustard Slaw was out of this world i never had any thing like it before, even my friend that does not like slaw had 2 servings LOL. Steve you are the man, Keep up the good work I am looking forward to your next Book ,Thanks a Million for your fine recipes .


I would like to know what are your favorite recipes from steves books ,I would love to hear your feed back .

I got this book a few days ago and can't put it down!! The recipes sound incredible and I can't wait to try a few them as soon as this spring snow storm leaves the area!!

I took a look at that brisket recpipe and I think I may have found my first dish to make!!

I've read this book cover-to-cover twice, and it's still one of my favorite BBQ books. The list of restaurants alone is incredible, but the recipes top everything!

BBQ USA is a must-have for BBQ fanatics- especially if it's a followup to How To Grill or The Barbecue Bible.

Thanks again, Steven!

The how to grill book is the best. There is nothing that compares to good ole full color pictures so that you/we can see what it is that we are shooting for in terms of the "end result". I bought the BBQ USA book so that I coudl follow along the BBQ U show on TV. I have the season pass for this show on my TIVO!!

BBQ USA was the first of Steven's books that I bought. I got it at BJ's, of all places. Tried the Super Smokers baby back ribs on my cheap Brinkmann water smoker and was absolutely blown away! So was my wife. My second batch she declared to be, "The absolutely best ribs I have ever eaten." Now we never go out for ribs any more. (short pause for insincere groan) This year I got myself a horizontal smoker and bought How to Grill. Made some ribs on that beast and gave a sample to a friend at work who caters some parties on the side. He wants a couple of slabs of ribs for 4th of July.

Yeah, I'm lovin' it. Thank you, Steven. You've turned me into a grilling monster.

irishfolker

which smoker did you get? is it easy to get the a constant temperature? I have only smoked/cooked with my weber kettles that maintain a contstant 350 (I know...too hot) but it seems to be a great compromise between the good smoked flavor, patience and my hunger.

I bought a Bar-B-Chef smoker form Barbecues Galore. 12-gauge rolled steel, cast iron grates, offset firebox, 767 square inches of cooking surface. Only $200 ($30 extra for the thermometer). I can usually maintain 200-215 degrees with lump charcoal, or go all the way up to whatever the limit is. It makes a great beer can chicken, I can tell you that. We use it almost every weekend and prepare the meat courses for the entire week. The folks at work hate us because we fill the office up with that great smoke aroma at lunch time.

irishfolker

the smoker you got does seem the most practical since you can also use it as a grill (or 2 grills), it has the "flat top" over the lower barrel, has wheels, etc, etc.

to maintain your ~200 degrees do you have to muck much wiith the vents(top, lower)?

I hear you on the 'preparing food for the week'...my wife loves it/me for this.

you mentioned "bear can chicken". Does the chicken fit upright in the barrel smoker?

thanks again!

The chicken just barely fits upright. I'm going to try to find some grates that are just a little bit narrower to make it a bit easier. I'm definitely going to be doing it again. I'm pretty sure I can fit 2 chickens in there at once.

To answer your first question, I really don't have to mess with the vents too often. There is a nice vent on the side of the firebox and a cover for the chimney. I set them both to barely open and it just sits there and chugs away. The grill just looks so pretty with smoke coming out. It reminds me of a locomotive sitting there. In fact, if I can get some heat-proof paint in white and/or gold, I may just improve the illusion a bit.

A good fire in the firebox, some cold beers, a few friends sitting around singing train songs.... oh, yeah, there's a hearty party.

irishfolker

when you said 'barely fits" you meant in the lower chamber right? How about the top barrel? do they fit nicely in there? I've also heard some people mention/complainn that the location nearer the opening in the top barrel (coming from the lower barrel) is hotter then the rest of the barrel..but that only seems logical. thanks for the responses again. (talk about "realtime" communication).

Actually, I meant in the main (large) chamber. This chamber has charcoal grates in the bottom and cooking grids also. I build a fire in the bottom, then split it for indirect grilling. The chicken went in the center over a drip pan. It did get a little more done on the left side, probably a factor of the airflow with the smokestack being on the right. I plan to compensate for that next time by putting a little less charcoal on that side. The chicken was the best I've ever had, though. I never eat the chicken skin, but I took a few bites this time, it was so tasty.

Hope this is helping you.

Irishfolker

I have several bbq books and BBQ USA is one of my favorites. Well written and great recipes.

I got the Barbecue Bible for Christmas a few years ago, then bought How To Grill the following year.....as was said earlier...gotta love the full color pictures. Got the Sauces, Rubs, & Marinades book for my birthday.....lots of good stuff!

Pretty funny story about how I stumbled on to the BBQ Bible. Christmas Eve, I was at my uncles house, and saw a copy of it on his coffee table. People were mingling and exchanging gifts, so I started flipping through the book. I could not believe the recipes in there, it just had me fascinated. On the drive home, I said to my girlfriend "I'm going to go out and buy this book, the Barbecue Bible, they have some amazing recipes in there." She said "That sounds like a good idea."

10 hours later, I'm opening my gifts, and what do I find? My own Barbecue Bible from her! So it's been about 3 weeks, and I've made about 10 different dishes. Now I'm going out to get "How to Grill" and BBQ USA.

Great books. Better than fiction.

Well, my first book was How to Grill. I saw so many people on this site talking about it and I'm such a fan of Steve's shows I had to ask for it for Christmas. I spent all of Christmas day reading it and fired up the grill a few days later. I've been grilling every other day since....I still haven't perfected my steak technique though...