OT - Sort of rant- Bland Brisket when eating out

BGEChicago

Were kind of lucky in Chicagoland, we have a fairly decent BBQ chain (small chain)  http://www.realurbanbbq.com/ it respectable, Arron Franklin? well not close, but it's solid... Clean, nice smoke and great sides... Then again were known for out pizza. If your ever here in this great city and I know I'm harping, but it has to be  http://vitoandnicks.com/index.php a pie a minute in the busy time... Watch the Diners, Drive and Dives video, they throw the peel 20 feet as a regular thing...

The Cen-Tex Smoker

BGEChicago said:

Were kind of lucky in Chicagoland, we have a fairly decent BBQ chain (small chain)  http://www.realurbanbbq.com/ it respectable, Arron Franklin? well not close, but it's solid... Clean, nice smoke and great sides... Then again were known for out pizza. If your ever here in this great city and I know I'm harping, but it has to be  http://vitoandnicks.com/index.php a pie a minute in the busy time... Watch the Diners, Drive and Dives video, they throw the peel 20 feet as a regular thing...

Green street meats in Chicago  is world class bbq and on on par with anything I have ever had. Including franklin. Go there ASAP. 

http://greenstreetmeats.com/

MNEggerandStuff

dang, a buddy needed 650 miles to make platinum last year, this would have been the perfect day trip.  Like $150 round day trip with a great mean in between. It's like a 50 minute flight each way from here....

lousubcap

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

MNEggerandStuff said:

Okay, so asking for real here,,,,is a Costco prime packer a top shelf piece of meat?

Their king crabs legs where stellar

  No

I will offer that their prime cut used (key word) to be quite good for the $$ and would produce a solid brisket, exceeding that which you could find in this area Q stops.  However, within the past year plus I have seen their "prime" grade brisket quality degrade (quality of butchering, excessive hard fat (age of steer?)) to the point where I go there expecting to not find one I would buy.  Sometimes I get lucky if looking to just "scratch the itch." 

I guess the most telling comment was made a few weeks ago from SWMBO (she loves Costco and her run-time there dwarfs mine)  who is well-trained on picking briskets, floppiness going in and then the phone call.  She remarked "I'm not picking briskets anymore, too hard to find a good one."

Hopefully only a localized issue.  FWIW-

jtcBoynton

MNEggerandStuff said:

SonVolt said:

To directly answer your question - most of the BBQ joints that server bland brisket are using electric smokers. Some are ok, some are good and some are great, but they're never going to blow your mind like a joint smoking over true burning wood.  Same reason brisket on the Egg is good but not great. 

Hmm. never realized Egg brisket couldn't be great brisket...Is this the common consensus?

Not sure it is the common consensus. The issue is that it is hard to get a great tasting smoke profile in an egg.  Eggs are so efficient at retaining heat that the size of the fire is small and smoke is being produced at temps less than what is optimal for flavor.  

Philly35

The the problem with brisket around here in NW Iowa is that no restaurants know how to cook it! The places that smoke their own keep it in a roaster or something to keep it warm, and 99% of the time, it tastes just like a pot roast. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

jtcBoynton said:

MNEggerandStuff said:

SonVolt said:

To directly answer your question - most of the BBQ joints that server bland brisket are using electric smokers. Some are ok, some are good and some are great, but they're never going to blow your mind like a joint smoking over true burning wood.  Same reason brisket on the Egg is good but not great. 

Hmm. never realized Egg brisket couldn't be great brisket...Is this the common consensus?

Not sure it is the common consensus. The issue is that it is hard to get a great tasting smoke profile in an egg.  Eggs are so efficient at retaining heat that the size of the fire is small and smoke is being produced at temps less than what is optimal for flavor.  

I would agree 100%. Fully ignited wood tastes much better than smoldering chips/chunks. I can tell the difference in one bite (or one sniff) but I’m not sure most people can. I’m not sure most people care. Take that and add the “set it and forget it” nature of the bge vs. the finicky nature of a stick burner and I would say the BGE is a better fit for 90% of us. You can produce the best brisket most people have ever had on a bge, but you can definitely make better brisket with a stick burner if you know what you are doing. This goes for anything low and btw- it’s even more pronounced with ribs. I will not make ribs on a bge anymore. I use the stick burner or cook something else. 

BGEChicago

@The Cen-Tex Smoker Christ on a bicycle I'll say it a million times, "learn something new every visit" I have next week off! I'll go there and report back. Thanks you kind sir! 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

BGEChicago said:

@The Cen-Tex Smoker Christ on a bicycle I'll say it a million times, "learn something new every visit" I have next week off! I'll go there and report back. Thanks you kind sir! 

Didn’t know he could ride but I think you will enjoy your visit  I know I did. Let me know what you think. 

caliking

I'm no expert, but would consider myself at least a half-aassed "connoisseur". 

In the past 10 days or so, I have partaken of a fair bit of 'cue. Ate at  Michael Symon's Mabel's BBQ in Cleveland, and thought it was decent, but was surprised at how there was practically no smoke flavor to any of the meats we ate. Fast forward to a quick trip to Austin this weekend, where we ate at Salt Lick, and then at Micklethwaite 20hrs later. Brisket was better at Micklethwaite, sausage was just as good at both, but the sides at Salt Lick won. For some reason, the whole plate came together better at Salt Lick. It was close. And no, we had no desire to go to Franklin's. Because I'm not waiting that long for food. Unless it comes with sexual favors. 

Anyways, the point of mentioning this was that being schooled in the TX bbq tradition/culture does seem to matter. Wood smoke is where its at. And no, a brisket cooked over anything but the smoke of an all wood fire will never be at the pinnacle of brisket excellence. Others may be good, even the best that many have eaten, but not the absolute best.  

The Cen-Tex Smoker

caliking said:

I'm no expert, but would consider myself at least a half-aassed "connoisseur". 

In the past 10 days or so, I have partaken of a fair bit of 'cue. Ate at  Michael Symon's Mabel's BBQ in Cleveland, and thought it was decent, but was surprised at how there was practically no smoke flavor to any of the meats we ate. Fast forward to a quick trip to Austin this weekend, where we ate at Salt Lick, and then at Micklethwaite 20hrs later. Brisket was better at Micklethwaite, sausage was just as good at both, but the sides at Salt Lick won. For some reason, the whole plate came together better at Salt Lick. It was close. And no, we had no desire to go to Franklin's. Because I'm not waiting that long for food. Unless it comes with sexual favors. 

Anyways, the point of mentioning this was that being schooled in the TX bbq tradition/culture does seem to matter. Wood smoke is where its at. And no, a brisket cooked over anything but the smoke of an all wood fire will never be at the pinnacle of brisket excellence. Others may be good, even the best that many have eaten, but not the absolute best.  

Was good to see you! I’m still full from Salt Lick. That was yesterday. 

lousubcap

@caliking thanks for the following as it helps reinforce my next road-trip:

"Anyways, the point of mentioning this was that being schooled in the TX bbq tradition/culture does seem to matter. Wood smoke is where its at. And no, a brisket cooked over anything but the smoke of an all wood fire will never be at the pinnacle of brisket excellence. Others may be good, even the best that many have eaten, but not the absolute best."

Gotta a few hurdles to clear in the near-term but I will be there sometime Spring 2019 and I am more than ready to inhale and enjoy CT brisket. (And I will again do the Franklin wait...)

The Cen-Tex Smoker

lousubcap said:

@caliking thanks for the following as it helps reinforce my next road-trip:

"Anyways, the point of mentioning this was that being schooled in the TX bbq tradition/culture does seem to matter. Wood smoke is where its at. And no, a brisket cooked over anything but the smoke of an all wood fire will never be at the pinnacle of brisket excellence. Others may be good, even the best that many have eaten, but not the absolute best."

Gotta a few hurdles to clear in the near-term but I will be there sometime Spring 2019 and I am more than ready to inhale and enjoy CT brisket. (And I will again do the Franklin wait...)

Come on down. Hope to get an opportunity to show you around. I’m sure Cali will come up from H-Town and we have a good local crew here as well. 

caliking

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Come on down. Hope to get an opportunity to show you around. I’m sure Cali will come up from H-Town and we have a good local crew here as well. 

Oh man. Don't twist my arm . Please.  

@lousubcap -  I'm a glutton for punishment and can likely be easily convinced to go on (another) Austin bbq bender...

MNEggerandStuff

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

lousubcap said:

@caliking thanks for the following as it helps reinforce my next road-trip:

"Anyways, the point of mentioning this was that being schooled in the TX bbq tradition/culture does seem to matter. Wood smoke is where its at. And no, a brisket cooked over anything but the smoke of an all wood fire will never be at the pinnacle of brisket excellence. Others may be good, even the best that many have eaten, but not the absolute best."

Gotta a few hurdles to clear in the near-term but I will be there sometime Spring 2019 and I am more than ready to inhale and enjoy CT brisket. (And I will again do the Franklin wait...)

Come on down. Hope to get an opportunity to show you around. I’m sure Cali will come up from H-Town and we have a good local crew here as well. 

Did you take him to Loro?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

MNEggerandStuff said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

lousubcap said:

@caliking thanks for the following as it helps reinforce my next road-trip:

"Anyways, the point of mentioning this was that being schooled in the TX bbq tradition/culture does seem to matter. Wood smoke is where its at. And no, a brisket cooked over anything but the smoke of an all wood fire will never be at the pinnacle of brisket excellence. Others may be good, even the best that many have eaten, but not the absolute best."

Gotta a few hurdles to clear in the near-term but I will be there sometime Spring 2019 and I am more than ready to inhale and enjoy CT brisket. (And I will again do the Franklin wait...)

Come on down. Hope to get an opportunity to show you around. I’m sure Cali will come up from H-Town and we have a good local crew here as well. 

Did you take him to Loro?

Not yet since he’s coming in a few months . I will though