First step to making barbecue like a Texan would be to spell the word correctly. It is brisket, brisquit is some fru-fru French way of saying it...Vegas boy.

By forcing the hot smoky air to enter the cook box from below and exit from above, you get a more uniform temperature thoughout the cook box.

You should see the barbeque my dad built years ago. Roughly an 8' by 8' by 8' cube. We would do 300 to 400 pounds of meat every July 4th, for the family, cousins, aunts and uncles, etc. Pork ribs, pork loin, brisket, sausage, rabbit, quail, baloney (yes, baloney) and many other meats. The fire (hickory, of course) would be started the night before and tended through the night. About noon on the fourth, it would all be ready.

We used a five gallon sprayer to baste the meat.

Then there were the cobblers for dessert.....

JR

STOP! I need a 12 step program to curb my cobbler addiction. :D

Mine is a K40 from Pacific Gas Specialties. We added the auxillary burner to the left side instead of the shelf. It's small, but adequate. We'll probably go to a larger one mounted into masonry next time.

JR,

You live in the same town that makes one of the best BBQ/smokers made, the Hasty Bake. Grew up eating out of one of these and one of the first things that I bought when I moved back to the states was a Hasty Bake.

Hell he lives next door to me and I can smell it cooking!

Hey Moses it is better to buy one of the better rigs than to build one in the Backyard...simply if U move, U can take it with you. Also the attention to detail... those little features that make a BBQ unit more user friendly are incorporated.

I am a little ticked at David Klose at the moment though...When I ordered my unit I wanted a Gas burner in the firebox to help light the Wood/Charcoals. Klose said he didn't do that because of safety reasons, now a year and half later he is offering an option of having a gas burner in the Firebox. I think that not only would that be usefull in starting a fire, but also after a prolonged cooking session (10 hours or longer) it would make it easier to finish cooking, as you wouldn't have to constantly tend the fire. Briskit is usually wrapped in Tin Foil after the first 4 to 5 hours of cooking, as the smoke flavor has allready been imparted.

Where do you guys get your wood? I would like to try a variety.
Usually do: chicken or steak
Most unusual: pizza
Did a 20lb turkey for T.G. last year. Best ever.

Here in LV there is a place on Nellis Blvd that sells BBQ wood and firewood. One of their biggest clients in the RIO Hotel Casino. They buy 2 Cords aweek of Olive wood. They charge $12 a Bag for 40 lb of Mesquite Hardwood Charcoal and $4.00 for 2 cubic ft bag of BBQ Hardwood Logs. They do give a volume discount.

There has no doubt been more heated discussions over BBQ than any other food.

I'm from Eastern NC, ground zero of the pork BBQ where the whole pig is cooked and chopped. The gold standard is Parker's in Wilson, but I will say that is personal opinion and arguments for a dozen other eatings places claiming gold standard status could be made. This BBQ in Eastern NC is unique and available in about a 100 mile radius of Wilson.

It is not difficult to cook a whole pig and it is done with wood typically although some use gas. It is not smoked but cooked over coals. 80# pig takes 60/80 lbs charcoal. Cook open side down over indirect heat for about 7 hours @ 150 to 170*F. Turn the pig over when the shank and ham bones are loose. Then baste with the sauce which is simply apple cider vinegar, crushed red pepper and salt.

When I lived for years in So. Ca. I had it air freighted in on dry ice and usually kept some in the freezer with the slaw and corn sticks as well.

There ice tea is even a special blend and I kept that on hand also. Since I lived so far away they gave me the name of their supplier and I purchased my tea direct from the source.

Good stuff.

Here is a link showing pictures from the tea to the vinegar - you have to have it all at once for the full experience.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=2131


Worth mentioning - late last year I discovered a place on I 95 at the Fl / Ga line - the last exit in Ga. - Blue's BBQ. Blue is an ex Ga Bulldog football player turned BBQ entrepreneur and his stuff is incredible. Here is a picture of his place and you can see his cooker on the side showing the fire box. That cooker is 30 feet long and runs 24-7. Blue sells a lot more Q than what he pushes through that one window. You get it at the one window and eat in your car or at one table provided - like a Tasty Freeze.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1171765573.jpg

I will say this also - it's not the arrow - it's the Indian. A good cook doesn't need a fancy grill.

I just love this statement...Yes if it weren't for the fancy rig I'm usein I would be a lousy BBQer...U happy now...

I've used a $4 Hibache for so long the metal crumbled, I've used the same Weber fo over 25 years, I've used a Brinkman Water Smoker...it was just a pain in the A$$ to use, I turned out some great Q for a decade on a 35 Gallon Drum BBQ that I got way down Century Blvd in LA that was bought for me by a Bro... I've used a New Braufel Vertical unit, a Big Green Egg and now finally a David Klose Texas style oil Pipe BBQ.

What makes the Klose a good BBQ is the thickness of the metal..1/4 inch on the Chamber and 1/2 inch on the Fire Box...it maintains a consistant temp without wild variation and isn't constantly in need of more fuel to maintain that temp.

So I say buy a good unit to begin with and skip the BS. Thats not to say every unit has its own learning curve to get the optimum outa it.

Boo-yeah.

i have a friend that supplies me with scrap cherry wood from the stickley furniture factory. sometimes the pieces he brings me are actually too nice to burn.

Having been to many eastern NC style "pig pickins" back during my college daze (ECU), I hear ya! Obviously, Tab's knows what he's doing, but a I've seen more than a few "old timers" that would turn up their noses at these 'fancy rigs' and their results speak for themselves. Thanks for the tip on "Blues BBQ"...I'll have to check it out...is it the very last exit heading south on I-95 (i.e. right before the St. Mary's river/state line)?

Blue's is in Kingland Ga - exit 1. It's on the east side of 95 and is beside a convenient mart in the same parking lot. Going east from 95 it is on the right about 1/4 mile form the exit. It is not eastern NC Q but it is very good as is the potato salad. In the picture you can see the end of his cooker and the firebox. He smokes boston butts. Should be against the law but he also cooks beef in the same cooker at the same time, if you can believe it! After I tasted the pork I forgave him and promised not to call the authorities. I think you can see his phone number in the picture.

I have no doubt eaten my weight in BBQ cooked in a 250 gallon heating oil tank cut in half at the equator, hinged and put on wheels with a trailer hitch (always wondered if it was actually used for heating oil or started life as a new unused tank). Probably eaten more cooked on a make shift cooker consisting of cinder blocks stacked up about 3 high with pieces of 1" electrical conduit or rebar across the top and the pig laying on top of a piece of concrete reinforcing wire mat. Used a 55 gal drum with rebar across about 1/2 way up to burn wood and turn it into coals. Had a hole cut in the bottom for shovel access to get the coals. Add a cooler of beer, get the slaw and corn sticks from Parkers and the whole rig works good in the front yard, especially if you have a couple of old couches or upholstered recliners close by to sit on while it's cooking. Better stop - getting to close to my roots.

ECU here as well - '66

Sorry tabs I know this is your thread on smoked pork.

It's all about the HP.