Hey folks. Greetings from lovely Brooklyn, New York. That's right ... New York City. NEW YORK CITY!!?!? (Remember that Pace Picante commercial?)
I'm originally from Opelousas, Louisiana, but live up here now. I came to barbecue -- or "real" barbecue -- sort of late in the game. I'll put my gumbo or rice and gravy or red beans and rice up against anyone else -- and their mama -- but when it comes to barbecue, I'm still stumbling along. I got into it on a whim when living in an apartment with a roof-top deck and, on a beautiful spring day, went down to the Home Depot and instead of getting a basic Weber or an easy to use gas grill, got a COS. Can't remember what it was, but it was thin, rickety -- and I loved it to death. I started with shoulders and Carolina style barbecue. Then I moved from that place, spent many years in the Brooklyn desert (i.e., with no outdoor space).
By the time I moved into a place with outdoor space -- a proper backyard this time -- I'd gotten hooked on Texas brisket. I also decided I was going to buy a big daddy smoker, but settled for a Brinkmann Limited Edition Trailmaster (it might actually be called something else since those guys seem to sell each other all the time). It's quarter-inch steel, so definitely a step up from the lesser models that Brinkmann sells, and it was the only respectable thing that the Home Depot in Brooklyn had on hand. Honestly, the only thing stopping me from shelling out big bucks for a custom model was this: I'm in the middle of the block and whatever I buy has to be able to get THROUGH a 750-square foot apartment. So there you have it. And it works! (I've got a charcoal basket, a heat deflector along the bottom and a "shield" at the passage between box and chamber).
I actually don't cue that often. One reason is that it's a fairly big production in terms of renting a car to get to a store to get that much meat and charcoal. Oh, and not being able to start too early for fear of having an entire Brooklyn block calling the fire department because of the smoke. I've now switched to the Black's two-day method (and one also seen here when Meathead allowed that at least one competition guy might be onto something). I am doing the annual barbecue for work this weekend and plan on doing a full brisket, one or two shoulders and a mess of chicken. Most of my coworkers don't know any better, but even the ones who've eaten brisket in and around Austin say mine's getting better.
Another reason I don't have to cue as often is that New York finally has some real barbecue places. And a couple of them -- Hill Country and Dinosaur (both of which were kind enough to open second locations in Brooklyn) -- seem to have legitimate staying power.
Other assorted foolishness in my Brooklyn backyard -- a cheapo gas grill loaded with Grill Grates, a cheapo electric smoker than I'm babysitting for a friend until he gets a backyard, and a propane burner for frying turkeys and boiling crabs and crawfish. I sometimes wonder what the neighbors think. I assume it's usually: "Why didn't that guy invite US over."
I'm originally from Opelousas, Louisiana, but live up here now. I came to barbecue -- or "real" barbecue -- sort of late in the game. I'll put my gumbo or rice and gravy or red beans and rice up against anyone else -- and their mama -- but when it comes to barbecue, I'm still stumbling along. I got into it on a whim when living in an apartment with a roof-top deck and, on a beautiful spring day, went down to the Home Depot and instead of getting a basic Weber or an easy to use gas grill, got a COS. Can't remember what it was, but it was thin, rickety -- and I loved it to death. I started with shoulders and Carolina style barbecue. Then I moved from that place, spent many years in the Brooklyn desert (i.e., with no outdoor space).
By the time I moved into a place with outdoor space -- a proper backyard this time -- I'd gotten hooked on Texas brisket. I also decided I was going to buy a big daddy smoker, but settled for a Brinkmann Limited Edition Trailmaster (it might actually be called something else since those guys seem to sell each other all the time). It's quarter-inch steel, so definitely a step up from the lesser models that Brinkmann sells, and it was the only respectable thing that the Home Depot in Brooklyn had on hand. Honestly, the only thing stopping me from shelling out big bucks for a custom model was this: I'm in the middle of the block and whatever I buy has to be able to get THROUGH a 750-square foot apartment. So there you have it. And it works! (I've got a charcoal basket, a heat deflector along the bottom and a "shield" at the passage between box and chamber).
I actually don't cue that often. One reason is that it's a fairly big production in terms of renting a car to get to a store to get that much meat and charcoal. Oh, and not being able to start too early for fear of having an entire Brooklyn block calling the fire department because of the smoke. I've now switched to the Black's two-day method (and one also seen here when Meathead allowed that at least one competition guy might be onto something). I am doing the annual barbecue for work this weekend and plan on doing a full brisket, one or two shoulders and a mess of chicken. Most of my coworkers don't know any better, but even the ones who've eaten brisket in and around Austin say mine's getting better.
Another reason I don't have to cue as often is that New York finally has some real barbecue places. And a couple of them -- Hill Country and Dinosaur (both of which were kind enough to open second locations in Brooklyn) -- seem to have legitimate staying power.
Other assorted foolishness in my Brooklyn backyard -- a cheapo gas grill loaded with Grill Grates, a cheapo electric smoker than I'm babysitting for a friend until he gets a backyard, and a propane burner for frying turkeys and boiling crabs and crawfish. I sometimes wonder what the neighbors think. I assume it's usually: "Why didn't that guy invite US over."
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