BBQ recipes, product reviews, & how-to's
This post is sponsored by the Certified Angus Beef ® brand in conjunction with a social media campaign through Sunday Supper LLC. All opinions are my own. Are you interested in making homemade brisket pastrami? Or looking for a new recipe? I’m guessing its either…
Note: This New York strip steak and shrimp post is sponsored by the Certified Angus Beef ® brand in conjunction with a social media campaign through Sunday Supper LLC. All opinions are my own. When a special occasion like Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day comes…
Ah, brisket trimming. The joyful moments that come cutting off fat and silver skin. While it may not be the most exciting part of prepping, knowing how to trim a brisket is very important. You trim a brisket for multiple reasons: to enhance the smoke penetrating the meat, creating some tasty bark, and removing some thick portions of fat that don’t render.
There is one side of the brisket that has a bunch of fat on it, this is called the fat cap. The other side will have a lot less fat on it, but likely a bunch of silver skin. This tutorial will show you how to trim a brisket to maximize the experience.
Before we go into the process of how to trim a brisket, I feel it is important for you to know the whole brisket, or packer cut, comes with two types of meat: the point and the flat. The point is the bigger chunk of meat that is covered under all of that thick fat. It is the softer, juicier portion of the cut and where burnt ends come from. The flat is the leaner portion that is long and thinner than the point. Here’s a visual to help:
Now that we have that out of the way, let us proceed!
With some other cuts of meat, you want a layer of fat so it will render into the meat and provide more flavor. With the fat cap on the brisket, a lot of that is hard fat that does not render. If left on, it will make the meat absorb less smoke flavor, not to mention the prime real estate for eating that bark that develops over the cook. Most folks won’t want to eat a mouth full of fat, so no need to keep so much of it on.
You have probably heard much advice on trimming a brisket, some involving cooking fat side up over fat side down. This is a topic up for much debate, but we will side step that one right now (but for the record, I like to cook mine fat side down). Some say trim the fat cap down to 1/2 inch. Others may trim it off completely. I prefer to trim it down to roughly 1/4 inch. That means there are some spots of the brisket that don’t get trimmed, and that’s okay. Just know that you will do more trimming near the point than anywhere else.
The other side of the brisket will be much leaner and contain the flat with meat surface mostly exposed, with the exception of some small spots of fat and a lot of silver skin. I find I spend about half of my trimming time on the silver skin. The best way to trim this is by taking the tip of your boning knife and poking just barely under the silver skin and above the meat. I like to go across the grain while doing this and then moving the blade down the grain in a sawing-like motion.
If you cut a little layer of meat under that silver skin, it’s nothing to freak out about. It still happens to the self-proclaimed experts. It’s a small price to pay to get that meat surface exposed for more smoke flavor and better tasting meat.
Speaking of the point, there’s a thick layer of fat that separates it from the flat. You may be tempted to carve deep into that. If you go too deep you may end up getting to a spot where you should just separate the two. Going too far in and putting your mix of rub in that cavity you created may cause your meat surface in that spot to get all goopy and gross. Fight off that urge to cut deep into it and only go a little bit in, about an inch or so.
I think everyone who has trimmed a brisket before can agree that you will want to trim down the fat on the sides. The excess fat does you no good and robs you of some awesome meat bark for your end result. Square off the sides as best as you can.
You will discover when you trim a brisket that it will excess flaps of meat hanging off, usually some little, skinny flaps on the flat and small chunks on the point. These are usually the result of how they are cut by the butcher before packaging. As much as you want to capitalize on all the meat that the brisket provides, these thin, smaller flaps of meat will burn to a crisp during cook and serve you no value. Do yourself a favor and trim these off.
There you have it! You’ve successfully learned how to trim a brisket! If it didn’t go the way you had hoped, don’t worry. The main goal here is the flavor of the brisket, not how pretty it looks pre-cook. Keep consistent with the trimming and I promise you’ll get better!
I have never understood the obsession some people have with prime rib. I’m guessing it’s because the only time I’d see it was when I was a kid and my parents would take our family to some buffet restaurant and prime rib would be the…
Ever since I got into smoking meat, I’ve been told that brisket burnt ends are the pinnacle of barbecue. To be honest, I never had much of an interest in making them. After waiting 12-14 hours of smoking a brisket, then letting it rest for…
In this post, we are all about ham! Even though most of us serve up ham during the holidays or Easter, it’s a friggin’ shame we don’t cook ’em up more often. If you do it right and add your own personal flare to it, then you’ll want to cook twice smoked ham up more often!
NOTE: I have another smoked ham recipe with a cinnamon apricot glaze. Check it out here!
When you buy a ham at the store, they usually come cured and smoked. If you wanted to, you could unwrap the thing and eat it as is. But you didn’t come here to do that, did you?
When you buy one of these precooked hams, they are already smoked. They usually come smoked with hickory flavor. Smoking it again allows you to add your own unique touch with such woods as apple, peach, or pecan. You may even want to smoke it with hickory wood to enhance that existing flavor. Besides, it sounds more flattering to your guests when you tell them you’re serving up “twice smoked ham”.
Get your grill heated to 225F. As you’re waiting for it to get up to temp, take the ham out of the packaging and toss some of your favorite rub on it. You know that little glaze packet that comes in the package? Throw it out and make the one I have in this recipe! I’ll get to that later. Anyway, put the ham on the grill at 225F for two hours and then add some flavor to it!
Truth is, you can smoke the ham on the grill as-is, but why not make it different than everyone else’s and add some flavor to it? After the ham has smoked for a couple of hours at 225F, put the ham in a foil pan (if you haven’t already) and then add a half cup of teriyaki sauce, a cup of orange juice, and half a can of Dr Pepper, pouring each over the ham as the liquids trickle down into a pool in the foil pan.
Wrap foil over the ham and the pan, crank up the heat to 275F for another couple of hours or until internal meat temps reach about 140F.
As your twice smoked ham is approaching the 140F mark, start working on the glaze! At first, I was intimidated to make a glaze because it sounds like something creative culinary minds do. Then I decided to do that whole self-confidence thing and give it a try. I gotta admit this was fun to make! For this one, I decided to mix brown sugar, orange juice, teriyaki sauce, Worcestershire sauce, honey, chili powder, spicy brown mustard, ground cloves, and cinnamon together in a sauce pan. Apply medium heat, take off once it starts boiling, and let it sit a few minutes to thicken.
If you read that whole sentence of ingredients and felt a little overwhelmed, I don’t blame you. When I see a lot of ingredients, I usually pass on the recipe and move on. A lot of this stuff you may already have in your kitchen, so you’re mostly there!
Now that your glaze is ready, go back to the twice smoked ham and carefully pour the juices in the foil pan into another container for basting purposes later. Now that the ham sits all alone in the pan, make it rain glaze all over it until the sauce pan is empty. You’re gonna want that glaze to cook onto the ham, so I recommend putting it in the broiler for a few minutes to get that caramelized effect.
NOTE: if you happen to have a food torch then you can do that instead. It’s more fun to do.
Let the twice smoked ham sit for a few minutes and then start slicing! Most hams are already spiral cut, but you can be a rule breaker and slice from the top-down.
NOTE: If you know this movie quote I used for the title of this section, then we can be friends.
Looking for some delectable side dishes to have with this ham? Here are some that are destined to jive with your taste buds:
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Parmesan
Take that store-bought ham and smoke it again with wood flavor of your choice! Also, make a glaze that will taste much better than that packet you got in the package.
Another year, another BBQ essentials list! Not to say that the items I shared last time are completely obsolete, but I want to add to the previous list. Consider it an addendum to the previous BBQ Essentials list. Check out more products that I love…
What is a reverse sear? In case you need a refresher, a traditional sear is when you start out cooking food at a high heat, which usually begins around at 500F. Once the meat has been seared on both sides, then it is cooked in…
If you haven’t noticed from most of the recipes on my website, I like simple. That means I try to maximize flavor with the fewest ingredients possible (mostly. Every once in a while I like to expand my horizons). Lucky for you, this is another one of those recipes. Pork tenderloin may sound fancy and expensive, but its quite affordable. And this smoked BBQ pork tenderloin will provide you quite the bang for your buck!
NOTE: if you want to try another smoked pork tenderloin recipe, check out my smoked teriyaki pork tenderloin.
The pork tenderloin is a cut of meat that comes from close by the mid-to-lower spinal area of the animal. While most muscles are used for movement, the tenderloin is used for posture. The tenderloin is considered the most tender part of the pig because this muscle isn’t used as much as the others.
When at the meat department of your local grocery store, don’t be surprised to see pork tenderloins come in a two-pack. For this cut of meat, it’s quite common. These cuts of pork typically weigh between 3/4 lb. to 1 1/2 lb. each and are relatively cheap, so they put two in the package to make it worth selling.
When taking the tenderloins out of the package, you’ll notice a thin, shiny layer on some areas of the meat. This is what is known as silver skin, which was meant to hold the muscle together while in the pig. Since the pig doesn’t need it anymore, feel free to peel it off. You’ll want to because leaving it on can affect the bite of the tenderloin and the meat’s ability to absorb the seasoning you put on it.
To remove the silver skin, it would be best to use a boning knife. This blade has a little curve to it near the tip as it thins out, making it easier to poke just under the layer of silver skin and push through until it comes out the opposite side of the shiny, filmy stuff. Then you start pushing the sharp side of the blade forward in a gentle, back-and-forth sawing motion until the silver skin is removed. Repeat this with other sections of silver skin until removed. This should only take a few minutes.
Need a visual? Here’s a video of me trimming a pork tenderloin!
Now that you have made it past that part, it’s all downhill from here (not the “downhill” as in, it’s gonna suck. But the “downhill” as in, it gets easier. Maybe I should’ve just said “it gets easier” instead of typing all of this in parentheses. Oh well.)!
Next step is to season the tenderloin with your favorite blend of spices. I don’t like to coat it to heavily, but put on an adequate amount until you get the flavor you want out of the seasoning/rub. That’s it for this step!
Take the smoked pork tenderloin out to your grill that you have already got up to the 240-250F temperature on indirect heat and place it on there. This can be done on the pellet grill (such as a Traeger), or any type of grill that provides you an option to cook away from the direct heat source. As far as smoking wood goes, I like apple wood for this one.
With the pork tenderloin being relatively small, it cooks pretty quick. Usually about 45 minutes of cooking time is all it takes. After 30 minutes of cooking time on the grill, lift the lid and apply some of your favorite BBQ sauce and honey on the tenderloin with a basting brush.
Close the lid and come back in about 15 minutes.
Using a digital meat thermometer, such as the Thermapen Mk4 from Thermoworks, insert the probe in the middle of the thickest portion of the tenderloin to gauge when it’s done. The reason for this is to make sure it doesn’t undercook and you don’t get yourself sick. Look for a finishing temp of 145 degrees.
Why an internal temperature of 145 degrees? Isn’t that undercooked? Have you been taught that 165 degrees is when pork is done? If you’re like me, then you’ve been taught this same thing for most of your life. This rings true for ground pork, but for most other cuts, such as pork steaks, chops, roasts, and even tenderloins, the USDA recommends a minimum of 145 degrees, which is good for a medium finish. This keeps the meat juicy and from drying out at the 165 degree temps. Since the meat has a little carry over temp, feel free to pull off a couple of degrees lower if you wish.
Now that the smoked pork tenderloin is off the grill and on a cutting board, let it rest about 10 minutes before slicing. Doing so allows it to relax and let the juices start to build inside. After this short wait, start slicing into 1/2″ to 1″ slices. You’ll notice how tender and juicy it is, as well as the sign of a nice smoke ring inside. These are signs that you have done this thing right. Sample one or two (or five) to ensure they are good enough for your family or guests before sharing with them.
Leaner. Cheaper. And when cooked to the right temps, it makes for a tender, tasty meat you can feel less guilty about devouring! When brushing honey and BBQ sauce on pork tenderloin, it isn't necessary to lift the meat off the grill to get the bottom. Use a digital meat thermometer for a fast, accurate reading. When checking temps, put probe of thermometer into the center of the thickest portion of the meat to ensure the whole thing will cook through properly.
Smoked Pork Tenderloin
Prep Time:
5 minutes
Cook Time:
50 minutes
Total Time:
55 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4
Serving Size: 4 oz.
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 167Total Fat: 40gSaturated Fat: 1.6gTrans Fat: 0gCholesterol: 82.7mgSodium: 64mgCarbohydrates: 0gProtein: 29g
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