It’s soo hot up here right now, not even sure if the mail is moving !!!
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Kind of, it was like a smoked Bratwurst, a success and to be done again, maybe with some Kase Krainers and curry, as starters… 
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I was in Germany in 1984. One of my absolute favorite things to eat was the street food. And (I think) it was knockwurst. Sausages that are a pale color, almost white, served with a crusty roll and mustard. Oh I could put those away!
I’ve bought similar at grocers in the US over the years and cooked them at home, but nothing ever is the same.
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Alright, the Money Muscle is now gone. The wife liked it, but said steak worked better in her opinion…
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Is that tzatziki?
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No but that is a great idea. Had to toss some sour cream on to help temper the jalapenos.
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Woke up determined to smoke a brisket. Weirdly I had to hunt for one. Ended up getting a Choice grade from Walmart. Not a good looking packer but hey, I gotta do it.
First I figured let’s introduce some moisture. I made an injection and shot it full.
Then made a rub of kosher salt, coarse black pepper and cayenne powder.
Got it on the Bronco now. Using hickory and oak. We’ll see.
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Oh and if there’s any doubt that it at least smells tasty, well Ares says…
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Nice and curved, with plenty of coarse BP. 
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You’ll have to let me know how you mixed up your injection @SthrnMixer. I’ve done a lot of chicken and pork, but never the MM.
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Certainly -
INJECTION MADE WITH 2 CUPS BEEF BROTH, 2 TBSP BETTER THAN BOUILLON, 2 TBSP WORCESTERSHIRE, 1-1/2 TBSP SOY SAUCE. RUB WITH SALT, PEPPER, GARLIC AND CAYENNE
Saucepan on medium heat. Just till all is dissolved. Used one of these to inject the shit out of it -
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MZY97RX/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_2FK696GQHGC7JTXTTASH
I think I used approx 2/3 of it. If you’ve never injected brisket, fair warning. The injection will shoot out of the brisket in places, mostly the sides, so if you can keep it down in the sink while doing this it will mitigate the wife chasing you about with her favorite cast iron skillet.
Oh, and I started keeping a spreadsheet on my cooks. Literally, just started. My hope is to discover the techniques which produce the best results on my smokers and to minimize any repeated failures. For example, my notes from this cook -
SO THIS WAS OBVIOUSLY INCORRECTLY LABELED. THERE’S NO WAY THIS WAS A CHOICE GRADE BRISKET. I THINK IT WOULD BARELY QUALIFY AS SELECT. VERY LITTLE INTRAMUSCULAR FAT, EVEN IN THE POINT. THE FAT CAP WAS NORMAL. AT 201F INTERNAL, THIS WAS VERY SOFT WITH A BAMBOO SKEWER, BUT I KNEW IT WOULDN’T BE SUPER TENDER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, SO I PULLED IT AND LET REST IN A COOLER FOR 4-1/2 HRS. THE FLAT, WHILE DELICIOUS, IS RELATIVELY DRY. VERY NICE SMOKE RING (IN THE SMOKE FOR 9 HRS) BUT OVERALL A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. THE ONLY THING TO LEARN FROM THIS COOK IS TO AVOID SOURCING BRISKET FROM WALMART AGAIN UNLESS IT LOOKS TO BE OF DECENT QUALITY. BURNT ENDS ARE REALLY GOOD, JUST NOT ALL THAT FATTY
Tell you what, I’m pretty stoked about the spreadsheet. If I had this for the past few years I think it would be a wealth of knowledge rather than how it’s been catalogued to this point…all in my head. Not much room left in that melon anymore.
My categories are Date, Type of meat, Smoker / Method used, Fuel/Wood used, Cook temp, Wrap or no?, Seasoning, Glaze, Weather, Total cook time, and notes.
I’ve always had a plan before starting any cook, but never really put that to pen and paper. I recommend this to anyone wanting to hone their BBQ craft.
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So experimentation continues. I’ve never really been the baby back type. But I figured let’s do it. Got a 3 pack from Costco. Dry brined with kosher salt for 2 hrs. Then coarse black pepper. 1 rack I added my own rub, one added Malcom Reed’s jerk seasoning and one just sticking with the salt and pepper. I have them hanging on racks in my drum smoker at 235F and smoking with hickory and apple. The plan is to not wrap. Hoping for good things.
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Wow, that’s actually a great idea. I don’t think I’ve ever S&P’d ribs. Shit, now I want to do an A/B comparison !!!
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My take away was that the S&P was hardly distinguishable from the other two racks. Reason? I suspect it’s the time spent in the smoke. My notes from this cook -
MY DRY RUB- 2 TBSP PAPRIKA, 2 TSP BLACK PEPPER, 1 TSP CHIPOTLE POWDER, 1 TSP GROUND MUSTARD, 2 TBSP TURBINADO SUGAR. RECIPE CREATED ON THE FLY. THIS COOK IS MORE EXPERIMENTAL THAN ANYTHING. STARTED CHECKING FOR TENDERNESS AT 4 HRS. CHECKED EVERY 30 MINS AND FINALLY PULLED THE RACKS AFTER 6 HRS. RIBS TURNED OUT GREAT. SEEMS LIKE THE COOK WAS TOO LONG, AND CLEARLY A LONG TIME IN THE SMOKE. NEXT TIME WILL COOK AT 275F FOR LESS TIME. TARGET 4.5 - 5 HRS.
Not sure when the next time will be for me and the baby backs. It’s not my favorite but I’ll fall back on this experience whenever that day does come. My thought is that due to the length of the cook and not wrapping at all, the smoke ended up dominating the flavor. And I’m quite certain of this as the Jerk seasoning is usually quite prominent, but was almost indistinguishable from the other two racks…and the same applies to them as well. I do like this approach though, cooking without wrapping. And I also think the dry brine helped with retaining some of the juiciness that would likely have otherwise cooked out over six hours. So I think next time I’ll end up with even juicier ribs that will have a better balance of smoke, rub and pork flavors.
FYI - I also decided that from here on, if I’m going to glaze ribs I’ll just do salt and pepper instead of another rub. But honestly, salt and pepper without glaze was killer too. Try it.
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Going to try out @SthrnMixer’s trick, with ribs, some rubbed, some S&P, one wrapped, one not. Always toss in thighs, and some booster smoke.
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I hope it turns out yummy. I also want to give that another go. If you remember, my issue was over-smoked meat on the unwrapped ribs. They got a full 6 hours exposure to the smoke. So for that particular cook I learned the following:
- On the drum smoker, using charcoal and wood chunks, need to raise the heat and shorten the cook time. Next attempt set smoker temp to 275F for a target cook time of 4-5 hours.
- That much exposure to the smoke essentially masks the flavor of rub. Could hardly notice a difference between the racks of S&P, homemade rub and jerk rub.
- Salt and Pepper only would probably be a great idea anytime a glaze will be applied. For that matter, as a seasoning for dry ribs it would be great, but on glazed ribs it will allow the flavor of the glaze to not be sullied by the flavor of the rub.
I think the temp on the pellet smoker - 275F for unwrapped ribs would probably be useful too, but I also think the 225F wouldn’t create nearly the same over-smoked flavor as the drum. Wood chunks on charcoal actually produces some fairly intense smoke volume.
Let me know how this all turns out!!
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Would that be the booster?
That would be what I’d dip to moisten for delayed and a bit more smoke.
Then again we all have our ways of doing things so no stress.
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I like where your head’s at, but check it out. Folks who live in particularly humid climates often complain of not being able to get their pellets in the smoke tubes to stay lit. And by lit, I mean no flame, just smoldering. You can find a lot of information from people who use various methods to dry out the pellets such as putting them on a baking sheet in the oven for a while (I’ve done that) and even placing a bowl full into the microwave. Just like oil and water, pellets and water don’t mix.
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