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"Now Smoke It"

3 slabs pork spareribs

1 beef tender

10 lb. wagyu brisket

Carcass of a 4-month-old baby goat, quartered

1 Boston butt pork roast

Heavy-duty foil

Yeti cooler

1 cup strong coffee

Potato rolls

Butt Rub

4 Tbsp. paprika

2 Tbsp. salt

2 Tbsp. chili powder

2 Tbsp. cumin

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. oregano

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. black pepper

1 Tbsp. white pepper

2 tsp cayenne pepper

Cabrito Rub

1/2 cup Atkins fajita seasoning (mesquite)

1/2 cup Atkins fajita seasoning (fajita)

¼ cup cumin

Mustard Sauce

1 cup cider vinegar

6 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp maple syrup

4 tsp. Worcestershire

1 tsp. Tabasco

1 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

Cola Sauce

2 cups ketchup

1 can coke

¼ cup Worcestershire

3 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. yellow mustard

1 tsp. Tabasco

Mustard Sauce.  Mix all the ingredients together.

Cola Sauce.  Combine all the Cola Sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed.  

Daniel's Green Egg Brisket.  Start with the right equipment: a Green Egg, 10 lbs. OAK wood chips, The Eggstender(so you can lift the meat/grill/water tray/smoke baffle out of the Egg to add wood chips) and the FlameBoss temperature control.  Buy a wagyu brisket at The Meat Shop on Lovers.  Trim the excess fat (… ¼” thick across top … big triangular fat out of side of “point” … flip and cut big off the side of “point”). Liberally salt (kosher) and pepper (coarse) the brisket.  Seal meat in a large oven-proof plastic bag (bigger and stronger than most plastic bags) and refrigerate overnight.  Remove meat from the refrigerator 2 hours prior to cooking to stand at room temperature. Start cooking around midnight for tomorrow's dinner.  Start the fire using charcoal.  Sprinkle a few wood chips on top.  Put the meat on.  Use the FlameBoss to smoke meat at 185 degrees for 30 minutes.  Open up the Egg, remove the meat (using the EggStender) and add a few more wood chips.  Repeat this process every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours (you should have used about 10 lbs. of OAK wood chips through the first 2 hours).  Now fill the water tray.  Continue smoking at 185 degrees until the internal temperature of the brisket reaches 165 degrees (this is when I try to grab about 6 hours of sleep).  Wrap the brisket with pink butcher paper.   Return the wrapped brisket to the smoker set at 185 degrees.  Any time after the brisket is wrapped you can turn up the temperature to 225 degrees using the FlameBoss and finish the brisket.    Leave the wrapped brisket in the 225-degree smoker until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees (it will take about two hours to increase the internal temperature from 165 to 190 at 225 degrees ... so I like to increase the temperature about 3 hours before I plan to eat ... it holds nicely when it is wrapped at 185 degrees if you have some time to kill ... it also holds nicely in a cooler if you want to go ahead and finish it early), at which point you should wrap foil around the butcher paper (to seal in all the juices) and the foil-and-paper-wrapped brisket should go straight into a cooler.  Leave the wrapped brisket in the cooler for as little as an hour or up to 12 hours.  Careful to capture all the juices when you unwrap the meat.  Add all the pan juices to the Cola Sauce; the combination makes the best BBQ sauce I know.

Pork Ribs.  Massage a generous amount of the Seth Kelly Rub into the pork ribs.  Seal meat in a large oven-proof plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.  Remove meat from the refrigerator 1 hour prior to cooking to stand at room temperature. Smoke meat at 225 degrees.  Remove the ribs after two hours.  As the meat comes out of the smoker, immediately wrap the ribs with Cola Sauce and honey in foil to seal completely.  The wrapped ribs should go straight into a cooler.  Bake the foil-wrapped ribs in a 200-degree oven for 2 hours prior to serving.

Beef Tender.  Massage a generous amount of the Butt Rub into the beef tender.  Seal meat in a large oven-proof plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.  Remove meat from the refrigerator 1 hour prior to cooking to stand at room temperature. Smoke meat at 225 degrees.  Remove the beef tender after 1 hour.  As the meat comes out of the smoker, immediately wrap it with foil to seal completely.  The wrapped beef tender should go straight into a cooler.  The beef tender is ready to eat.  If you want it hot, reheat the foil-wrapped beef tender in a 200-degree oven for up to 30 minutes, careful not to overcook (don’t let the internal temperature exceed 120 degrees).

Prime Rib.  Massage a generous amount of the Butt Rub into the prime rib.  Seal meat in a large oven-proof plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.  Remove meat from the refrigerator 1 hour prior to cooking to stand at room temperature. Smoke meat at 225 degrees.  Remove the beef after 2 hours.  As the meat comes out of the smoker, immediately wrap it with foil to seal completely.  The wrapped beef tender should go straight into a cooler.  Two hours before you want to eat, remove the foil and put the brisket (and all juices) in a big roaster.  The prime rib needs to go into a 200-degree oven for another 2 hours.

Boston Butt.  Massage a generous amount of the Butt Rub into the Boston Butt.  Seal meat in a large oven-proof plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.  Remove meat from the refrigerator 1 hour prior to cooking to stand at room temperature. Smoke meat at 225 degrees.  Remove the Boston Butt after four hours.  As the meat comes out of the smoker, immediately wrap it with foil to seal completely.  The wrapped Boston Butt can go straight into a 200-degree oven for 8 to 20 hours (put it in a roasting pan to capture any juice that escapes).  Remove from oven and put the foil-wrapped roast in a cooler until cool enough to handle (at least 1 hour).  Reserve any pan drippings to add to the meat later. When the meat is cool enough to handle, put it in a large bowl and tear/chop it into thin strips.  Stir in the reserved pan drippings.  Add Mustard Sauce to taste and toss.  Serve on hot, grilled potato rolls lots of sauce.

Cabrito.  Massage a generous amount of the Cabrito Rub into the cabrito.  Seal meat in a large oven-proof plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.  Remove meat from the refrigerator 1 hour prior to cooking to stand at room temperature. Smoke meat at 225 degrees.  Remove the cabrito after four hours.  As the meat comes out of the smoker, immediately wrap it with foil to seal completely.  The wrapped cabrito can go straight into a 200-degree oven for 8 to 20 hours (put it in a roasting pan to capture any juice that escapes).  The cabrito is ready to eat.  You can hold it wrapped in foil in the cooler if you want. Pull the meat from the bones and serve fajita-style with tortillas, pico de gallo and guacamole.  

Our comments:  “Cooler cooking” is great if you need to travel.  All you need at your destination is an oven to reheat the meat.  All the work can be done in advance.

I have been working on smoked brisket for decades.  I have known decades of failure and frustration.  You have no idea ... the overwhelming sense of inadequacy.  Then came Daniel Beltzman.  This New York transplant comes to Dallas to get away from COVID.  He asks me how to smoke a brisket.  He has no clue.  I tell him what I know ... including that my recipe kinda sucks.  Then Daniel starts doing his homework.  Then he starts doing his magic ... and ends up with this brisket recipe ... and it works!  Now he is the master and I am the student ... I am so happy!  Daniel Beltzman is my hero.  

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