Surprise Retirement Party — Brisket — Smoked Duck, Rabbit and Andouille Gumbo

Money_Hillbilly

After hosting a Super Bowl party for 60 people last weekend and still recovering, we planned a surprise retirement party for a good friend’s wife.  Took 2 days to pull this cook off smoking the ducks, making the stock, etc.  I smoked the ducks with cherry in the egg. Put the brisket on the KBQ at 4AM running with hickory sticks.  Brisket was a 10, the gumbo an 11.  Still waiting for my new outdoor fireplace to cure so I can use it.  May have missed winter it will be 87 here next week.

Jstroke

Two weekends in a row of killer grub. Amen, cheers for the win.

Wolfpack

Food looks outstanding and I’m sure your friend was very appreciative of your efforts. Fireplace looks amazing- hopefully we get another cold spell for you to use it. 

lousubcap

Back-to back exceptional cooks.  I'm quite sure the surprise party was much appreciated.  The guests were treated to a true banquet right there.

BTW- Fireplace looks awesome.

Canugghead

Wow, super jealous of your friends. You're only one cook away for an epic hat trick weekender!

Ozzie_Isaac

Wow! Back to back epic cooks!  Fireplace is gorgeous too.

ColbyLang

Awesome eats. Awesome fireplace too, we love our outdoor one. Light it more than the inside one

JohnInCarolina

Love the smoke ring on the brisket.  The KBQ delivers that time and again in my experience.  Amazing meal!

Money_Hillbilly

@JohnInCarolina The KBQ struggled with temps when I started smoking with it 33 degrees outside and that mass of cold meat. I couldn’t get it above 230 no matter how hard I tried.  Finally as the ambient temp outside and the brisket got warmer it finally got to 275.  I haven’t smoked a brisket on my Lang yet but I didn’t want to worry about fire management in the cold and dark.  I also didn’t want to risk a failure for such an important event.

JohnInCarolina

@Money_Hillbilly - that is the weakness of the KBQ for sure.  Colder outside temps are kind of its kryptonite.  

Foghorn

Great cook and post.  Thanks for sharing.

Dyal_SC

Awesome post!

Ozzie_Isaac

JohnInCarolina said:

@Money_Hillbilly - that is the weakness of the KBQ for sure.  Colder outside temps are kind of its kryptonite.  

I used to wrap my Weber Smokey Mountain in a blanket and built a wind break.

WeberWho

Money_Hillbilly said:

@JohnInCarolina The KBQ struggled with temps when I started smoking with it 33 degrees outside and that mass of cold meat. I couldn’t get it above 230 no matter how hard I tried.  Finally as the ambient temp outside and the brisket got warmer it finally got to 275.  I haven’t smoked a brisket on my Lang yet but I didn’t want to worry about fire management in the cold and dark.  I also didn’t want to risk a failure for such an important event.

Everything looks awesome!

It might be a wash in the end between the KBQ and Lang with time and temp. The KBQ might not get above 230° right away but your Lang is going to take an hour plus to heat up all that steel and get a stable temperature before throwing any food on it. The KBQ and the fans will probably be the quicker cook even while fighting the overall temp at the beginning. The Lang will hold its own once everything comes up to temp and becomes stable.

My KBQ is tucked away for the winter here in MN so I'll be firing up my offset sometime this AM. I plan on it taking an hour or two just for the temp to settle in as it will be about 15° out. That brisket of yours will most likely be 1-1.5 hours ahead in time before mine gets done tomorrow. 

caliking

Dude... so much to love in your post. Beautiful spot in your backyard with that fireplace. 

Could you share deets about the duck gumbo? Sounds like it turned out.

Money_Hillbilly

@caliking This process was much more involved than my normal gumbo process and took 2 full days.  I pricked the ducks and dry brined them overnight in the fridge (wild mallards) then smoked on the egg with cherry 275-300.  Pan fried the rabbits on cast iron on the egg. Removed duck breasts, placed carcasses in stock pot with rabbit, chicken thighs, onions carrots, onions, celery, garlic, basil and thyme.  Removed meats when falling off the bone, simmered stock longer then strained stock and refrigerated everything.  Day 2 assembled the gumbo. Brought stock to a boil, added som previously homemade chicken stock, sautéed onions and celery until translucent, browned sausage , added 1/3 to stock pot, sautéed garlic in sausage pan with a few tablespoons of tomato paste (secret flavor enhancer).  Added roux, in my old age I now cheat and use jarred roux, continued to simmer for an hour or so, added meats to pot about 30 minutes before serving.  And that’s how I did it.  This was a 20 quart pot full.  My guests were raving about it. One lady used to own a restaurant and ate 3 bowls. 

caliking

Thanks @Money_Hillbilly ! Sounds even more delicious after reading the recipe.