True mastery of barbecue comes from knowing what's happening, why it’s happening, what factors go into achieving specific results, and how we can affect and control those things...and that’s where this section of the site comes in.
Below we look at things from what the BBQ stall is and how we can charge through it, to what the smoke ring is and how to get one. We look at why and how we inject meat, to the reasons for spritzing and mopping foods on the barbecue.
You should head on over here for smoker reviews and buying guides, but for everything else ‘low n slow,’ please browse below.
Wood comes in logs, chunks, chips, and dust. Each serves a different purpose and needs to be used differently. In this guide, we focus on chips and how to use them properly to smoke on a charcoal or gas grill, to add smoky flavor to your food.
The charcoal snake method of fire management is one you need to learn if you want to do low n slow smoking on your standard kettle-style grill. It’s an easy-to-use, reliable, and highly effective way to smoke food controllably for many hours. So, brisket and ribs, here we come!
The Texas crutch is used to help keep meat moist during very long cooks, and also to speed up cooking time by pushing through the stall instead of waiting. You lose some crunch in the bark, but the extra tender meat more than makes up for it.
The minion method is a way to configure, light, and burn charcoal in your smoker to get many hours of controlled, low-temperature cooking and smoking.
You can’t just buy a brisket, rub it up and throw it on the smoker. For the best results, you need to trim it first. And though it’s a big, intimidating piece of meat, trimming a brisket properly is easy if you follow the advice below.
Reheated food often suffers a loss of quality, and particularly moisture. But it doesn’t have to if you follow the tips in this guide to reheating pulled pork. If you store it properly, then reheat it carefully, it can be as good as if you just cooked it. Here’s how.
Curing — or seasoning — A new smoker, is a must-do process before cooking your first food that burns off all the oils and contaminants picked up or leftover after manufacturing. The seasoning also helps protect your smoker from corrosion, so it lasts longer. Here’s how to do it correctly.
After hours of nursing a brisket through a low n slow smoke until perfect doneness, you don’t want to miss any trick when it comes to serving. You need to slice a brisket against the grain to get the most tender mouthfeel. Here’s how to cut a brisket correctly for the best results.
Different types of pork ribs take different times to cook. And how hot your smoker is makes a big difference too. And so does how you like them, and the way you cook them! So there’s no simple, fits all answer. However, we have all the answers below.
To make the best brisket, create the most delicious bark, to bring out, accentuate and highlight that big beefy flavor, you need to add a rub. But not just any rub. You need one that perfectly marries up with the stated goals. Here are our favorites.
The worst fear of any outdoor cook when tackling brisket is it drying out. Injecting adds moisture, as well as ramps up the flavor profile. See 3 of the best beef brisket injection recipes below, as well as a guide and tips on how to inject the right way.
Here’s how to BBQ brisket, as described by Aaron Franklin, widely regarded as one of the top brisket cooks and experts to ever fire up a smoker. With a complete description of his process and videos to follow, you can perfectly recreate his epic brisket for yourself!
3-2-1 ribs is a popular, almost foolproof way to get deliciously moist, probe tender ribs, still with a bit of bite. This is how you do it.
Smoke is known as a preservative. So, after you’ve hot smoked some meat, how long can you keep it in the fridge before it spoils? How about in the freezer? Surely if smoke is a preservative, it will last for a long time before spoiling? We answer all your questions below.
