A close friend lives 5 mins from this restaurant in Ridgefield, CT so when I learned they had classes, we just had to give it a try.
It was accessible to beginners, but also pretty good for an enthusiastic longtime member of this forum and watcher of many bbq videos.. There is something about hands-on that video just can't match.
Summary: each pair of participants got to prep/trim/rub a rack of spare ribs, a pork butt, and a brisket. After each meat prep, we went out to their smoker and got to see what it looks and feels like at different stages of cooking (wrap, pull, serve) using what they had put on the night before. All the stuff we prepped ultimately got cooked and served, so they were watching us pretty closely to make sure we didn't mess up!
Highlights for me:
* Getting to trim a packer with a true professional hovering and telling me how to adjust/correct.
* Feeling (through butcher paper) what a wrapped brisket feels like when it's ready to pull.
* Tons of interactive q&a on little details with some pros who are truly passionate about their bbq.
* Learning to trim full spares without turning them all the way into St Louis.
Some interesting notes:
* They don't dry brine...and when I asked about putting on rub in advance, they referred me to AmazingRibs.com! They put on rub (incl salt) 30-60 mins before cooking, they said they've experimented with this, and their preference is so strong that they wouldn't let us put rub on our class briskets bc they weren't going on the smoker until that evening.
* They cook full spares, and actively prefer to St Louis.
* They use a binder (oil) only on brisket.
* They rest their meats for a very long time (at least compared to me!) after pulling, and thought that was important.
* They target 250 on their (massive) smokers since they have all meats on at once and in different stages.
Would recommend to folks who are nearby...and happy to connect with anyone considering it who has questions. There wasn't anything that felt like a super secret technique you'd never heard of, but it is an honest window into how a quality restaurant prepares their bbq, with plenty of opportunity to ask any question you want.
I didn't take many pics...but here is one of brisket trimmed by the guy leading the demonstration, and one trimmed by me.
It was accessible to beginners, but also pretty good for an enthusiastic longtime member of this forum and watcher of many bbq videos.. There is something about hands-on that video just can't match.
Summary: each pair of participants got to prep/trim/rub a rack of spare ribs, a pork butt, and a brisket. After each meat prep, we went out to their smoker and got to see what it looks and feels like at different stages of cooking (wrap, pull, serve) using what they had put on the night before. All the stuff we prepped ultimately got cooked and served, so they were watching us pretty closely to make sure we didn't mess up!
Highlights for me:
* Getting to trim a packer with a true professional hovering and telling me how to adjust/correct.
* Feeling (through butcher paper) what a wrapped brisket feels like when it's ready to pull.
* Tons of interactive q&a on little details with some pros who are truly passionate about their bbq.
* Learning to trim full spares without turning them all the way into St Louis.
Some interesting notes:
* They don't dry brine...and when I asked about putting on rub in advance, they referred me to AmazingRibs.com! They put on rub (incl salt) 30-60 mins before cooking, they said they've experimented with this, and their preference is so strong that they wouldn't let us put rub on our class briskets bc they weren't going on the smoker until that evening.
* They cook full spares, and actively prefer to St Louis.
* They use a binder (oil) only on brisket.
* They rest their meats for a very long time (at least compared to me!) after pulling, and thought that was important.
* They target 250 on their (massive) smokers since they have all meats on at once and in different stages.
Would recommend to folks who are nearby...and happy to connect with anyone considering it who has questions. There wasn't anything that felt like a super secret technique you'd never heard of, but it is an honest window into how a quality restaurant prepares their bbq, with plenty of opportunity to ask any question you want.
I didn't take many pics...but here is one of brisket trimmed by the guy leading the demonstration, and one trimmed by me.
Attached Files
Very interesting to hear that they don't dry brine but they hold for a long time. Did their rub have salt in it? Do you remember how long they say they hold their briskets?
Comment