When folks want to take their smoked brisket to the next level they start using injections.  This article will cover:

• Why you want to inject
• Provide two great homemade recipes
• Introduce you to several commercial products
• Show you the techniques used by two World Championship winning Pitmasters, Dave Bouska and Myron Mixon.

Why Inject a Brisket?

Injections help with two common problems encountered when smoking briskets.

• The long cooking process can often result in a dry brisket.
• The inside of a brisket can be bland in comparison to the highly seasoned bark on the surface.

The problem of dry briskets can be partially solved by using Prime or Kobe beef but that solution is too expensive for many home cooks.  The problem of a bland interior is extremely prevalent among cooks using pellet cookers or electric smokers where the smoke profile is not particularly strong.

Using an injection keeps the brisket moist and flavorful.

Homemade Beef Brisket Injection Recipes

Here are two of the best injection recipes you can make at home.  These formulations are simple but powerful.

Injection Recipe #1

• 2 cups water
• 2 beef bullion cubes
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon beef base concentrate (Minor’s Au Jus or Better Than Bullion)
• 1/2 teaspoon Liquid Smoke (optional but recommended for pellet cookers and electric smokers)

While this recipe looks pretty simple the bullion cubes bring a lot of ingredients to the party.  The cubes typically contain salt, MSG, disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate and beef extract that work together to provide an enhanced beef flavor.  The cubes also contain hydrolyzed soy protein which provides some depth to the flavor profile.

Injection Recipe #2

Here is the injection recipe that is part of Myron Mixon’s brisket technique.

• 1 quart water
• 3 tablespoons beef base (Minor’s brand)
• 3 tablespoons au jus concentrate (Minor’s brand)

Competition Brisket Injections That Win Championships

While the two recipes above are excellent starting points most people who are serious about injections eventually switch over to commercial competition grade products.  The two biggest differences between the commercial injections and the homemade recipes is the amount of hydrolyzed vegetable proteins and the use of phosphates.

Hydrolyzed vegetable proteins are used to bring out latent taste characteristics, and generally round off and improve the flavor foods.  Phosphates serve many complex functions in injections and they are not all well understood.  Phosphates are used in many food products as an emulsifier to prevent the separation of fats. Phosphates are also used to greatly increase moisture retention.

Here are some of the most successful competition brisket injections used on the KCBS circuit.  All of these commercial injections are great.  I can’t tell you which one is best because that will really depend upon your cooking style and the flavor profiles you are shooting for with your rub and sauce.

Kosmos Q

The folks at Kosmos Q are World Championship Barbecue Winners (2015) and are sharing their award winning products with the public.  Kosmos offers three different brisket injections that have slight variations in flavor profiles:

• Original
• Smoke House (Original + Mesquite Smoke Flavor)
• Reserve Blend (Original + Beef Concentrate Flavor)

Butcher’s BBQ

The folks at Butcher’s BBQ are World Championship Barbecue Winners (2012) and have been in the meat business for over 30 years.  To the best of my knowledge, more competition teams use the Butcher’s BBQ injection than any other product.

Butcher’s BBQ offers three injections:

• Original
• Prime (Original + Beef Concentrate Flavor)
• Liquid (Easy to use and MSG Free)

Out of the three products the Prime is the most popular.

Here is a great video from Pitmaster Harry Soo doing a Side by Side comparison of six of the most popular commercial beef injection products.  The video is absolutely worth watching and will introduce you to some nice products.

How to Inject a Brisket

You will want to shoot the injection into the brisket every few inches in a checkerboard pattern.  You need to use as much injection as the brisket will take. If you are cooking a full packer brisket plan on using 16 ounces for the flat and 16 ounces for the point.

After injecting, pat the excess moisture from the surface and let the brisket rest for at least an hour before putting it on the pit.  The resting period will give the injection time to evenly distribute throughout the brisket and allow the phosphates a little extra time to work their magic.

There are many debates in the world of cooking briskets like:

• Should you cook them fat side up or down?
• What is the best wood for smoking brisket?
• Should you wrap a brisket?
• What is the best brisket rub?

Another debate is whether you should inject the brisket WITH or AGAINST the grain of the meat.

David Bouska is the owner of Butcher BBQ and makes one of the most popular commercial injections.  David is also a two time World Champion so it is fair to say he knows what he is talking about. 

Here is a nice video by Pitmaster David Bouska that shows you how to inject AGAINST the grain.

On the other side of the coin is the winningest man in barbecue, Myron Mixon.  Here is a video with Myron telling you that you should inject briskets WITH the grain to minimize streaking.

Both of these guys are brisket masters and I don’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to telling you who has the better method.

If you are trying to decide whether to get a ribeye or a porterhouse steak then I suggest going with the ribeye.  While both of these steaks are excellent the ribeye has better flavor, a more consistent texture and is easier to cook.

The only real advantage that a porterhouse has over the ribeye is the size and presentation.  If you are going for a visual “wow” effect then the porterhouse is a consideration.  Of course, there is one special ribeye steak, the Tomahawk, that blows the porterhouse out of the water on all fronts.

Porterhouse vs Ribeye: What Are the Differences?

Below is a picture of a ribeye (on the left) and a porterhouse (on the right) side by side.  Both of the steaks weighed in at just over one pound.

The ribeye comes from the center of the steer in the rib section.

The porterhouse comes from a little further back on the steer in the short loin section.

You can see in the diagram that the Short Loin section also has a portion of the Tenderloin and that is where the porterhouse comes from.

The porterhouse is actually two different cuts of steak, a Strip Loin and a Tenderloin, separated by a bone.  USDA requirements state that in order for a steak to be called a porterhouse the tenderloin section must be at least 1.25 inches wide.  If the tenderloin is between 0.5 and 1.24 inches wide then the steak is called the T Bone steak.

Which Steak is Better?

I will try to take my personal preferences out of the equation and just share a few facts first.

• The tenderloin is the most tender cut of beef in the steer.  The tenderness is a double edged sword as the same factors that made it tender also left it one of the mildest tasting.  Tender and bland is the best description of the tenderloin.
• The ribeye is not as tender as a tenderloin but is more tender than the strip loin.

What this means is that one side of the porterhouse is incredibly tender but a little bland while the other side is more flavorful but tougher.

Compare this to a ribeye where the entire steak is tender and delicious and I will take the ribeye over the porterhouse!

The Porterhouse is Harder to Cook

The fact that the porterhouse is composed of two extremely different steaks makes it tricky to get this thing perfectly cooked.  Basically you will have to overcook the tenderloin or undercook the strip loin as the super tender tenderloin cooks quicker than the tougher strip loin.  This isn’t going to be a huge deal but is frustrating for perfectionists 🙂

Another aspect that makes cooking the perfect porterhouse challenging are the bones in the middle of the steak.  Here is how I usually grill a Porterhouse on a charcoal grill. 

Sometimes I like to do a reverse sear where I slowly bring the steak up to a target temperature and then sear them in a cast iron pan or on a set of GrillGrate panels.

When I do this with a porterhouse the meat draws back and exposes the bone a little.  The raised bone makes it harder for the meat to come into direct contact with the cast iron skillet and it doesn’t sear as well.  The picture below shows the sear each of the two steaks took on after one minute in a smoking hot cast iron skillet.

 

Be Careful Buying a Porterhouse: You Might Get T-Bones!

If you decide to buy some porterhouse steaks to cook at home then you need to pay attention so you don’t get ripped off.

I have bought “Family Packs” of porterhouse steaks at two different grocery stores and fell for a stupid trick on both occasions. 

The top steak in the pack was a beautiful porterhouse while every single steak underneath was a freaking T bone.  I don’t know if the folks at the meat department were intentionally ripping me off or if they simply don’t know the difference between a T bone and a porterhouse.

The Porterhouse Has The Size Advantage

You can get either of these steaks at any weight you want but where the porterhouse steals the show is in the width of the steak.  A one pound porterhouse is a much wider steak than a one pound ribeye.

While the width of a steak doesn’t sound important the reality is that we first eat with our eyes and your brain will always register a porterhouse as a bigger steak than a ribeye.

I owed a buddy a steak dinner for helping me with a project.  I fixed a big spread with baked potatoes and a few extra sides.  I handed him a standard dinner plate with a porterhouse steak on it and had fun watching him struggle to fit anything else on the plate.  All he kept saying was, “This steak is huge!”

Bring in the Tomahawk

Of course, there is a particular cut of ribeye steak that shuts this comparison down completely.

The Tomahawk.

A Tomahawk ribeye is a completely over the top monster of a ribeye that is designed to be a stunning visual display.

The Tomahawk is almost always overpriced but I don’t care…I love them!

If you want to absolutely stun your guests then forget the porterhouse and buy some Tomahawk ribeyes.

Here is more information on How to Grill a Tomahawk Steak.

 

 

If you have the Baby Backs then I have a Memphis Style dry rub recipe that you are going to love!  

What is even better is that you are not going to have to read some stupid story about my Uncle Jack. Nope…all we have here is pure rib rub nirvana!

Let’s get started!

Don’t even think about breaking out the barbecue sauce when you are making Memphis style dry ribs.  Between the smoke, pork and rub these ribs are freaking awesome!

Memphis Style Dry Rub for Ribs

• 1/3 cup turbinado sugar
• 1/3 cup Seasoned Salt (Lawry’s)
• 1/3 cup paprika
• 1 Tbls granulated garlic
• 1 Tbls granulated onion
• 1 Tbls black pepper
• 1 Tbls mustard seeds
• 1 Tbls dried oregano

 

 

How to Cook Memphis Style Baby Back Ribs

I have seen two very different techniques for smoking Memphis style baby back ribs.  The first approach, the one that I used in this cook, is to season the ribs with the dry rub and start mopping after a couple of hours into the smoke. 

The second approach is to put the ribs onto the smoker with no dry rub so they can absorb a lot of smoke.  After 45 minutes start mopping the ribs every 20 minutes to build up the flavor levels. I have tried this approach and it works okay but I like the first style better.

I hit the ribs with a heavy coating of the dry rub and smoked them on my Weber kettle for a little over four hours.  I was running the kettle around 275F but was letting the ribs guide the cook. (See How Long to Smoke Baby Back Ribs for more details.)

After the ribs had cooked for two hours and the rub had set I started mopping (1 cup of cider vinegar mixed with 1/3 cup of the Memphis rib rub). 

The ribs got mopped about every 20 minutes until the ribs were just about falling off the bone.  What can I say?  These were finger licking fantastic and a real nice change from competition style 2-2-1 Baby Back Ribs.

 

 

The products listed below are the award winning brisket rub recipes that some of the best pitmasters in barbecue have bottled up and made available to the public. These rubs have helped HUNDREDS of people take walks on the championship stage at KCBS events. 

The rubs are listed alphabetically….they are all amazing.

The Best Award Winning Brisket Rubs

• Kosmos: Cow Cover
• Oakridge: Signature Black Ops
• Pellet Envy: The Most Powerful Stuff
• Plowboys: Bovine Bold
• Slap Yo Daddy: Beef Moola

Let’s look at each of these blends and see what makes them great.

Kosmos Cow Cover

Kosmos is a standard on the competition circuit and their products helped win the 2015 World Steak Championships and the 2015 World BBQ Championship.

Kosmos Cow Cover rub flavor profile is salty, savory, smokey with a little kick of heat.

Kosmos was pretty clever with the savory portion of this blend.  The product itself does not contain MSG but does contains disodium inosinate & disodium guanylate.  When you blend these two ingredients together they taste just like MSG.

Disodium inosinate & disodium guanylate are NOT cheap ingredients.  Don’t let the chemical names of these ingredients put you off.  Both products are naturally derived from vegetables.

Care and planning went into nailing the savory aspect of this product.

Cow Cover also contains natural hickory smoke flavors.  This is becoming more and more common on the competition circuit as cooks opt for the precision controlled advantage of pellet grills.

Pellet grills are awesome but they can be a little light on the smoke flavor.  Kosmos takes care of this by adding a little extra smoke of their own.

The extra kiss of smoke from Kosmos’ Cow Cover makes this product a great choice for folks cooking briskets using an electric smoker.

Kosmos Cow Cover Ingredients

• Salt
• Chili pepper
• Other spices
• Sugar
• Dehydrated garlic
• Dehydrated onion
• Paprika
• Disodium inosinate
• Disodium guanylate
• Natural hickory smoke flavor
• Citric acid

Click Here to Purchase Kosmos Cow Cover

 

Oakridge Signature Edition Black Ops

The Signature Edition Black Ops Brisket Rub is freaky good.

The flavor profile has heat form dried chipotles, savory from garlic pepper and onions, and extreme depth from coffee and shiitake mushrooms.

This product was invented was to be the Godzilla of brisket rubs.

Oakridge converted from being a successful competition team to a provider of rubs and brines just a few years ago.  In that short time the teams that use their products have racked up over 5000 top ten awards.

Oakridge Signature Edition Black Ops Ingredients

• Sea salt
• Chilies (including paprika and chipotle)
• Garlic
• Black pepper
• White pepper
• Onion
• Raw cane sugar
• Coriander
• Bolivian coffee
• Shiitake mushrooms
• Other spices

Click Here to Purchase Oakridge Signature Edition Black OPS Brisket Rub

Pellet Envy: The Most Powerful Stuff

The Most Powerful Stuff is a signature rub developed by one of the most successful barbecue cooks in the country, Rod Gray of the Pellet Envy competition team.

If you are interested in Rod’s barbecue credentials then here is where you can check out his list of 62 Grand Championships.

The Most Powerful Stuff is the only product in this list that uses MSG as an ingredient.  Personally I am a huge MSG fan but some people have a sensitivity.

The Most Powerful Stuff Ingredients

• Salt
• Sugar
• Spices including chili peppers
• Brown sugar
• Monosodium glutamate
• Paprika
• Dehydrated garlic
• Dehydrated onion
• Garlic powder

Click Here to Purchase Pellet Envy The Most Powerful Stuff

Plowboy’s Bovine Bold

Plowboys Bovine Bold might be the most widely used brisket rub on the KCBS circuit.

Because this rub is so widely used many teams try to set themselves apart by using this as a base rub and adding a layer of Montreal Steak Seasoning later in the cook.

Plowboy’s uses the same trick as Kosmos and adds disodium inosinate & disodium guanylate to their product to get that deep MSG flavor profile without actually adding any MSG.

The flavor profile is bold, beautiful and complex.  In addition to the standard actors of salt, chilies, garlic and onion they also hit you with tumeric and Worcestershire powder.

I am not a competition guy but after years of experimenting this is the product I keep in my pantry.

Plowboy’s Bovine Bold Ingredients

• Salt
• Brown sugar
• Spices including chili peppers
• Paprika
• Dehydrated garlic
• Dehydrated onion
• Worcestershire sauce
• Celery powder
• Sugar
• Disodium inosinate
• Disodium guanylate
• Tumeric

Click Here to Purchase Plowboy’s Bovine Bold

Slap Yo Daddy Beef Moola

This rub is the “Moola” because it has been bringing home the money for briskets on the competition circuit.

The Slap Yo Daddy barbecue team led, by Pitmaster Harry Soo, developed this rub and they know what they are doing.

Harry has a few awards under his belt.

•  California Team of the Year 2010
• Arizona Team of the Year 2010
• 2010 Grand Champion in Langley, Canada
•  California Team of the Year 2011
• Arizona Team of the Year 2011
• Hawaii State Champion 2012
•  1st KCBS Ranchers Reserve National Brisket Cup 2010
• 1st KCBS Ranchers Reserve National Beef Cup 2011
• Winner of 27 Grand Championships

So, yeah…he knows how to make products that win.  Harry uses maple sugar as a primary ingredient in this rub which gives it a complex and unique flavor profile.

Slap Yo Daddy Beef Moola is “savory with a kick”.  There is a nice level of heat with this brisket rub.

Slap Yo Daddy Beef Moola Ingredients

• Sea salt
• Maple sugar
• Granulated garlic
• Cane sugar
• Chili pepper
• Paprika
• Worcestershire sauce
• Black pepper
• Shitake powder
• Citric acid
• Celery seed
• Cornstarch
• Soy lecithin
• Spices
• Natural flavors

Click Here to Purchase Slap Yo Daddy Rubs Moola Beef Rub

Like I said earlier, when it comes to barbecue there is always a LOT of debate as to what is really the best.

To be honest it often comes down to who you are cooking for and what are their expectations.

I am sure I have left a few great products off of this list. One up and coming product that is getting some serious attention is the Holy Cow rub from Meatchurch.  This product from Matt Pittman has been getting blown up on Instagram and Twitter.

 

So what about it folks….what are some other GREAT brisket rubs that belong on this list?  Drop me a line in the comments and let other folks know which products you love.

When it comes to deciding the best wood pellets for smoking meat there isn’t a One Size Fits All answer. 

Some people want the pellets that will give them the strongest smoke flavor, others want the best value but don’t want to void the warranty on their pellet grill.  Other folks are more interested in getting the best smoke flavor for whatever is on their pit.

Let me walk you through the difference in these pellets so you can choose the best one for your cooking style.

100% Hardwood Pellets: It Does Not Mean What You Think!

You need to take a careful look at a bag of pellets to understand what you are really buying.  It is extremely common to see a label that reads something like, “100% Hardwood: Cherry” and think that it is a bag of wood pellets made from cherry.

The reality is that most companies are selling a blend that is 80-90% oak with 10-20% cherry.  Technically the label is still correct because the pellets are 100% hardwood and there is some cherry in the bag.   When you examine the label a little closer it will use phrases like “Cherry Flavor” or “Cherry Blend”.

These companies are using a cheaper wood like oak for the heating value and the more expensive wood like cherry as a “Flavoring Wood”.  There is nothing wrong with the blended pellets (I use them often) but it is a MAJOR factor if you are trying to find the BEST cherry pellets or the BEST hickory pellets.

One company that sells 100% Flavor Wood Pellets is Lumberjack.

Are Traeger Wood Pellets Pure Flavor Wood or Blends?

There is no indication on the Traeger labels for their “Cherry” or “Hickory” , etc pellets that indicate if they are pure Flavor woods or a blend so I called the Traeger help desk and asked!

The Traeger rep told me that the pellets are made from almost 100% of the flavor wood indicated on the label.  He said the reason they don’t label the pellets as “100% Cherry” is because there is a small residual amount of different woods in the processing equipment when they switch product batches.

The video that Traeger published in 2012 makes it very clear that the pellets they were making a few years ago are BLENDS.

Whether they are a blend or not, Traeger pellets are pretty dang good and I have my smoker filled with them at the moment.  One of the things I like about Traeger pellets is that they have a great distribution system in place.  You can buy Traeger pellets at Home Depot, Amazon, Costco, etc.  This comes in handy if you want to be consistent in your cooks and use the same product every time.

Best Value Wood Pellets

Pit Boss has really brought down the price of wood pellets for smoking.  The Pit Boss pellets are blends but they come at a price point that makes you not care!  Seriously, there is nothing wrong with wood blends.  In this post, Best Wood For Smoking Brisket, you can see how world champion pitmasters blend oak and hickory to suit their cooking styles.

If you would rather spend your money on meat to smoke instead of the pellets to smoke it with then buy the Pit Boss pellets.  They are the best bang for your barbecue buck!

FAQ For Choosing the Best Wood Pellets

There are several considerations that go into picking pellets and I hope these FAQs help you make a decision.

Do I Have to Use Traeger Pellets in My Traeger Grill?

Some folks have the impression that they must use Traeger pellets in their Traeger pellet grill or else the warranty is voided.  This is NOT correct.  Traeger strongly recommends using their pellets but using their pellets is not required by the warranty.

The same is true for ANY pellet grill.  You can use Pit Boss pellets in a Camp Chef grill, Camp Chef pellets in a Traeger grill, etc.  It is actually against the law for a manufacturer to force you to buy more products from them to continue the warranty.

How Long Do Wood Pellets Last?

It is tempting to order several hundred pounds of pellets at once to have a steady supply for the whole grilling season. Wood pellets will last for a very long time (years) if they are stored properly.

What is the Best Way to Store Pellets?

The two things that will destroy your pellets is water and pressure.

Do not store the bags on the ground and do not stack the bags on top of each other.  Ideally you would store your excess pellets inside where you didn’t have to worry about rain or humidity.  If you must store the bags in your garage or shed then it would be a good idea to invest in a waterproof container.

What Are Food Grade Pellets?

Food grade pellets is a term that was made up by the pellet grill industry to keep people from using the same wood pellets used for home heating in their pellet grills.

I have been unable to find a single government or industry standard that defines and regulates a product called “Food Grade Wood Pellets”.

In concept, Food Grade wood pellets are 100% hardwood and would not have any chemical additives for use as binders.  In practice, a Food Grade Pellet is whatever the manufacturer wants it to be.

Which Pellets Have the Strongest Smoke Flavor?

One of the problems with using a pellet smoker is that the fire burns so clean and the smoke flavor doesn’t come through as strong as some people like.

If this sounds like you then I suggest going with a 100% pure flavor wood that has a strong smoke profile.  Hickory would be my primary choice.

Which Pellets Burn the Hottest?

The difference in the heating value between different hardwoods in not meaningful.  Hickory, oak, cherry, etc all burn with just about the same heat output.

What will make the biggest difference in heat output is the moisture content of the pellet, not the choice of hardwood.  The wood used for pellets is typically kiln dried to a moisture content of 5%.  If anything happens that exposes the pellets to moisture (stored in a humid warehouse for a long time) then the moisture content will creep up and the heating value will go down.

There is no simple way of telling by brand or product what the current moisture content of the pellet is.

 

 

Smoking bratwurst is a quick and easy cook on your barbecue pit that can make some seriously great eats if you pay attention to the little details.  Keep scrolling and let me show you how to smoke brats and make them turn out great!

How to Smoke Brats

The steps below apply to any kind of smoker. 

I am using a Z Grills pellet grill for this cook but you can also cook brats in an electric smoker by the same technique. 

If you are using an electric smoker do not soak your wood chips in water before adding them to the smoker box.  The brats do not take long to cook so you want your wood chips to put off as much smoke as possible in a short period of time.

The Steps for Smoking Brats Are:

• Set the smoker temperature to 225F
• Prepare a bath of beer and chopped onions in a foil pan
• Place the brats on the grate of the smoker
• Place the beer bath in the smoker to let it warm.  Do not place the brats in the bath yet.
• Smoke the brats for about 30 minutes until an internal temperature of 140F is reached.
• Transfer the smoked brats into the beer bath and let them simmer for 15 minutes until an internal temperature of 165F is reached.
• Remove the brats from the beer bath and serve with mustard.

Why Smoke at 225F and How Long Does it Take?

I smoke bratwurst at low temperatures to give it plenty of time to take on flavor from the smoke.  It typically takes about 45 minutes at 225F for the brats to finish cooking. 

You could easily smoke these guys at 300F if you wanted but they would only be in the smoker for about 30 minutes.  Smoking at a lower temperature such as 200F would increase the smoke profile but I have a hard time controlling the temperature of my pit at such a low setting.

It is important that you monitor the internal temperature of the brats.  The brats are done at 165F.  Every degree past 165F takes you a step closer to breaking the meat/fat emulsion inside the sausage. 

If I grind my own meat and make the sausage myself then I will cook the sausage to 150F.  If I don’t know exactly what is in the sausage then I err on the side of caution and go to 165F.  By the way here is my homemade bratwurst recipe.

If you break the emulsion by overheating the brats will form big pockets of grease under the casing that will spew juice everywhere when you bite into it.  You end up with the confusing situation of juice running down your arms while gnawing on a dry sausage in your mouth.

I transfer the brats to the beer bath when they hit 140F and let them soak up another layer of flavor for about fifteen minutes until they hit 165F.  

Smoked vs Grilled Bratwurst

It can be a tough call when you are deciding between cooking brats “Low and Slow” on a smoker or “Hot and Fast” on a grill.  Here are some of the pros and cons of each method.

High Heat Grilling

You can grill a brat faster than you can smoke them so if you are in a hurry the grill is the way to go.  That being said, when I smoke brats I have time to drink two beers and I only get to drink one when I grill!

The skin on a grilled brat is crisper and has more snap on it than a smoked brat.  You can also put down some nice grill marks when grilling.

The biggest benefit of grilling is also the greatest problem.  You get an amazing aroma when the grease drips out of the brat and hits the flame.  Some of that aroma makes its way back onto the sausage and adds an amazing flavor.

BUT…

The fact that the grease is dripping out means that you are breaking the sausage emulsion and your brat is drying out.  It is also easy for the dripping grease to cause a flareup and burn the brats.

Low and Slow Smoking

Smoking the brat gives the skin a reddish color and toughens it up a little.  Some folks don’t like the tougher skin on a smoked bratwurst.  It doesn’t really bother me…it is just a little tougher than the skin on a grilled brat and is still easy to bite through.

You can put down a nice little smoke ring on brats which is always fun to see.

The biggest advantage I see in smoking brats is that because the cooking process is slower and gentler than grilling you are less likely to overcook them.  If you get distracted and let the brats cook an extra five minutes in a smoker then it is no big deal.  If you let them cook an extra five minutes on a hot grill then you could have a problem on your hands.

The Details That Matter

There are a few details you should pay attention to that will make the difference between an “okay” and “amazing” brat.

Best Wood for Smoked Brats

The brats are not going to be in the smoker very long (compared to a brisket or a pork butt) so I prefer to go with a strong wood like hickory.  Bratwursts are traditionally a boldly flavored sausage and its natural flavor profile will not get washed out and overpowered by hickory.

If you don’t have hickory available then pecan is a great substitute. There is nothing wrong with using a milder wood like apple if you want a lighter smoke profile.

How to Serve

Please get some decent buns!  A brat is a heck of a sausage and you shouldn’t waste the experience with a cheap bag of hot dog buns.  Spend an extra two bucks and buy the sturdy buns with poppy seeds or get some made from potato rolls or pretzel dough.

Veggies! Cook up some onions and peppers or grab some crunchy kosher dill pickle spears.  Either way, the veggies bring more flavor and help balance out the heavy greasiness of the sausage.

Mustard! I put out a couple of different kinds of mustard for people to choose from. Plain yellow, spicy brown and Dijon mustards are staples at our house.   Whatever you do, do NOT let a bottle of ketchup ever get close to a bratwurst.  I don’t believe many true rules exist in the world of barbecue but no ketchup on brats is one of them.

When I started researching the best knife for slicing brisket I found people were were split between two options.

• Traditional meat slicing knives with a Granton edge.
• Electric meat slicing knives.

Let me walk you through the pros and cons of these knives.

Electric Meat Knife for Brisket

These knives have two blades that act like a saw as they power back and forth through a brisket.

One advantage of an electric knife is that they can help you cover up mistakes.  If your brisket is tough then an electric knife is very good at making thin slices.  If your brisket is overcooked then an electric knife is great at cutting thick slices that wont fall readily fall apart.

A second advantage of an electric knife is that they can help preserve the appearance of the bark.  When you use a traditional knife to slice a brisket you have to hold the brisket in place with one hand while you slice with the other.  The act of holding the brisket in place often results in the surface bark getting pushed around and smeared.  If you are a competition team then little details on appearance can make a big difference.

Granton Edge Meat Knife for Brisket

These are far and away my favorite brisket slicers.  The granton edge (the scallops on the side of the knife) lets you cut cleanly without the brisket sticking to the knife.

I use the slicer by placing the butt of the knife guard right up against the brisket and then drawing the blade back towards me in a smooth motion.  This lets me get a clean slice of brisket in a single stroke.

The Drawbacks to Both Types of Knife

There are some drawbacks to both knife styles.

Granton Edged Knife Drawbacks:

I use a 14 inch slicer to make sure that I will be able to get a clean cut for any size brisket that comes off my pit.  Finding a place to store a knife with a 14 inch blade and a 4 inch handle is challenging.  I ended up buying a blade guard and then shoe horning the knife into a utility drawer.  It is not an ideal situation.

The 12 inch version of this knife is massively popular and is easier to store.  The downside with the 12 inch knife is that sometimes you will have to use a two stroke sawing motion to get through a really large brisket.

Electric Knife Drawbacks:

The biggest problem with electric knives is that they leave a jagged edge on the face of the brisket slice.

Here is a head to head comparison of these two knives on the same brisket.

Here are some typical slices when the brisket is sliced with an electric knife:

 

Here are some typical slices when the brisket is sliced with a granton edge meat slicer.

 

And here are the slices side by side with the effects of different lighting, etc minimized.  The slice from the electric knife is on the right.

I have a strong preference for the smooth, clean cuts that you get with a traditional meat slicer with a granton edge.  I also think the knife itself looks cool as heck.

The choice of which granton edged slicer is the best gets a little more difficult.

I tend to go for cheap and practical so I bought the Mercer Culinary Millennia.  It’s a nice knife and gets the job done.

If you are in the market for a high end brisket knife then the Wusthof Gourmet Hollow Brisket Slicing knife is what you need.  Wusthof knives are among the best you can find.  You will pay a premium for this beauty but shelling out the cash for a classic will only hurt once.

The only downside to the 14 inch slicers is that they can be tricky to store.  If your knife drawer can’t handle a 14 inch knife then Victornox makes an excellent 12 inch version of this blade.

 

The Masterbuilt Pro MDS 230 Dual Fuel smoker is an interesting beast.  You can have a lot of fun with one of these things but keep in mind that you will not be getting top of the line build quality.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of this smoker and see if it is something you want to spend your money on.

What Is A Dual Fuel Smoker?

Here is the promotional video from Masterbuilt for the MDS 230 that walks you through the basic features.

What makes this a Dual Fuel smoker is that the metal “Flame Disk” located over the propane burner can be filled with chunks of wood for use as a propane smoker or filled with charcoal for use as a charcoal smoker.  What is really nice is that the slits in the Flame Disk lets you use the propane burner to light the charcoal!

The propane burner is rated at 15,400 BTU/hr and can be dialed down to run at 225F or cranked up to easily get this smoker up to 400F.  The burner can be lit by the push button ignition system but also has an access slot inside the smoker for manual ignition if needed.

 

MDS 230 Features and Reviews

• Four 180 square inch plated steel cooking racks
• Two Cool Touch Handles
• Water pan included
• Top and bottom air dampers
• Weight 59 pounds
• Double walled and insulated front door.
• Single wall non insulated construction for the rest of the smoker

This smoker has been around long enough that it has a pretty solid history of reviews.  Here is a snapshot of the current reviews from Home Depot.

Out of 762 reviews 88% are either 5 or 4 stars while only 7% are 1 or 2 stars.  Most of the negative reviews mentioned build quality and cases of the bottom rusting out.

If you take a look inside the smoker you can see why some people are having issues with the bottom rusting out.  The grease drain hole is only a small opening in the base of a flat bottom.

The opening is small and the base does not slope towards it.  This means that it will be easy for ashes, water, marinades, grease, etc to accumulate in the base of the smoker unless you are very proactive in cleaning it out after every cook.  The accumulated grill gunk can create a very corrosive environment and will tear the metal up if left unattended.

Things I Like About This Smoker

This is superficial but I just think the MDS 230 is a good looking product.  I would be happy to see this guy sitting on my back porch.  It has attractive badging, a sturdy stand and I like the two cool touch handles.

I like that, unlike the Masterbuilt electric smokers, this guy can get up to 400F so you can crisp up your chicken wings or even do a little baking.

I like that you can start smoking with a load of charcoal and then, after you have laid down that base flavor profile, switch over to propane to finish the cook.

Basically I like that this is a great propane smoker that has some extra functionality available.

Things I Don’t Like About This Smoker

I don’t like the grease drainage system or the undersized grease tray.

I do not like the build quality and lightness of the smoker.  This is a double edged sword because it is also one of the factors that makes this thing affordable.

I do not like the cheap factory thermometer that is built into the door of the smoker.  You are going to need to replace it or just use a digital thermometer that you can slip into the smoker.

I wish the smoker was wider. The folks at Masterbuilt say that you can smoke a slab of ribs on each cooking rack but the only way that is possible is if you are working with 2-3 pound slabs of baby backs.  There is no way that you are going to fit a 5-7 pound slab of spare ribs onto one of those grates,

Overall Impressions

I think the Masterbuilt Dual Fuel Smoker is a fun little cooker that, once you figure out its quirks, will turn out some pretty good barbecue.

Expect to be dealing with some rust after a year or so and make sure you wipe the inside of the smoker clean after every use.  The build quality is “meh” and you will have issues eventually.  There is a reason that the warranty on this smoker is only 90 days.

 

This is going to be an article in progress for the next few months so be sure to check back for updates. 

I was doing research for an article about Masterbuilt’s 130P McLemore Signature smoker and how it was different from the other Masterbuilt electric smokers when I saw that Masterbuilt is getting ready to launch the MES 400 series.

The MES 400 Series electric smoker looks like it could be a total game changer in the world of electric smokers.  I am short on details but here is what I have seen so far.

MES 400 Series Features

I am assuming that the 400 series is going to be a 40 inch smoker based upon past naming conventions.

One huge update to the smoker is that, like the 130P, it will come with a top mounted broiler.  This will let you smoke hamburgers low and slow and then sear them off under the broiler.  It also has the potential to help crisp up rubbery chicken skin and get the sauce to set on your baby back ribs.  I like the broiler.

The other update, and the one that I suspect will get the most attention, is that it looks like it comes with a rotisserie!!

The ability to smoke a chicken while getting a crispy rotisserie skin is a tantalizing opportunity!  It also begs the question of can you operate both the smoking heating element and the broiling heating element at the same time??

I believe there are also serious changes coming to the wood chip addition system.

Take a look at the bottom right side of this image of the smoker.

The regular MES smokers have a side tray that pulls out for the addition of more wood chips.  That slide tray is now absent and has been replaced with a door.  The change is access is accompanied by the text on Masterbuilt’s website that mentions a patent pending Custom Smoke feature with five different smoke level settings.

The new smoker chip addition configuration almost certainly means that the MES 400 Series will not be compatible with Masterbuilt’s Slow Smoker accessory that lets you smoke for hours.  It makes me wonder if the new system either has a larger capacity chip tray or if the Custom Smoke feature enables longer smoking times for a given load of chips.

The other feature that is shown for this smoker is the addition of a side table.  That is simple brilliance and is exactly what these smokers have always needed!

I am guessing about the rest of the features but I assume this guy will have a built in meat thermometer and will be Bluetooth enabled.

If you have any more information about the MES 400 series then PLEASE drop a comment below!

Thanks!

The 130P McLemore Signature Series is an interesting product that stands out in comparison to all other Masterbuilt electric smokers.  Let’s take a look at this beauty and see if it is the right smoker for you.

What is the McLemore Signature Series?

McLemore is the family name that started the Masterbuilt brand.  The McLemore Signature Series of smokers are marketed as products that are so good teh McLemore family puts their signature on them.  However, until the introduction of the 130P, the McLemore Signature Series was simply a marketing ploy designed to stop comparison shopping at the Big Box stores.

The only place you can buy a McLemore Signature Series is at Lowes.  Home Depot sells the exact same products but they are branded as the Pro Series. The Pro Series and McLemore Series were the exact same electric smokers but just had different branding.

The 130P is a unique smoker and I have not seen an equivalent model in the Pro Series at Home Depot.

What makes the 130P is that it has a top mounted broiler for crisping up the skin on smoked chicken or getting a crusty sear on a smoked meatloaf.

What Else Does This Smoker Have?

The 130P is the only electric smoker I have seen that has a broiler.  I haven’t been able to find any owners yet to ask them how the broiler functions but the design is simple enough and I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t work great.

The smoker is Bluetooth enabled so you can adjust the temperature from your phone.  The smoker also has a built in digital meat thermometer so you can track the progress of your cook via the app.

This means you could set up the cooker to slow smoke a ribeye roast at 225F until it hits an internal temperature of 125F.  You could then fire up the broiler and sear it until you have the perfect crust.  That would be awesome!

The smoker comes with four cooking racks and has the patented side loading wood chip tray that lets you add more smoking wood without opening the front door and letting all of the heat out.

Here is a short promotional video that lets you see the features of this smoker in action.

Is This the Right Smoker For You?

Overall the 130P is a great smoker.  The version of this smoker that does not have the broiler is a huge seller and people love them.  Adding the broiler only makes a great smoker even better.

But…..

There are two things to be aware of before you pull the trigger on the 130P.

(1) Like all 30 inch Masterbuilt electric smokers, the 130P is a little undersized.  The smoker has plenty of space for when you are cooking pork butts or whole chickens.  It is the prefect size for smoking summer sausage or making jerky.  The smoker is going to get really cramped as soon as you try smoking a slab of spare ribs.  The smoker is going to look tiny the second you try to smoke a 15 pound brisket.

(2) There is something much better coming from Masterbuilt in 2019.  Masterbuilt is getting ready to release an electric smoker that has the same broiler as the 130P, has much larger capacity and comes with some awesome features.  You might kick yourself if you buy the 130P now and learn about the new product later.  Here is a link to what I know about the new smoker.

Here are some Amazon links to some of the other Masterbuilt electric smokers so you can do a little comparison shopping.  These are all great smokers but do not come with a broiler.