Did some sirloin tips yesterday. Was hesitant to throw these cuts on the smoker as I was worried they'd dry out, but I'm thrilled with the results.
Grabbed a couple of roasts from Costco and rubbed them with some Butt Rub and some peppery Keg spices. Did them over charcoal with mesquite and hickory chunks in my offset.
Tried to keep the temp close to 200, though I think I could have went a little lower, and pulled them at 135. After resting for about 45 minutes I carved and plated the beef. Very flavourful and cooked just the way I liked it.

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Did some sweet and spicy almonds while I was at it. Mixed up brown sugar, butter, maple syrup, cayenne and paprika, simmered until it thickened, then tossed in the nuts and threw them on the smoker. Tasty!

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Lots left over for sandwiches

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The results are in and it was a good day for brisket smoking!

After 7-8hrs total cook time on the smoker and finishing in the oven the temp was right and the meat looks (and tastes) great! The rub has a nice spicy finish, but does not overpower.

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My pit assistant approves.
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And the carnage after slicing and sampling, sampling, and more sampling. I'm all about quality control.
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Jeff - do you have the proportions for the brown sugar, butter, syrup, cayenne and paprika. Even guesstimates will do. I've got to give those almonds a try.

Also, about how long were the almonds on at 200?
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Very nice!

This picture says it all :-):-):-)
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Peter, I just kinda winged it, which always drives my wife nuts and a she's a stickler for following the recipe.
Probably mixed 1/4-1/3 cup of butter, about the same of brown sugar, 1 tsp of paprika and about the same of cayenne. Added 1/4 cup of maple syrup towards the end and then stirred in 1.5 to 2 pound of almonds, give or take. I left them on the smoker for about 45 min, stirring occasionally.

A friend did something similar Sunday, but followed this recipe:

Jacked-up honey smoked almonds
Ingredients
3 lbs. (or 8 cups) uncooked, untreated natural almonds –
6 oz honey
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup melted butter
1 tsp salt
¾ - 1 tsp cayenne, depending on your taste preference
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup real maple syrup (Don’t use artificial. Spend the money for the real stuff—it’s the only thing that works)
1-cup Jack Daniels bourbon (use any bourbon, but it should have some kick to it. Wild Turkey is a good alternative)

Procedure
Mix all ingredients except the almonds well in a large mixing bowl. Mix with some muscle until you have a soupy mixture. Add in the almonds, and continue mixing and stirring until all almonds are fully coated. Refrigerate for 3-6 hours.
This refrigeration process is integral to your outcome for two reasons. First, almonds are not porous and need time to accept these flavourings. Second, the bourbon needs to dry in to the almonds. If you don’t give it time, your result could be a fire on the grill. This happened to me the first time!

Smoke for about 3-4 hours at 200-250 degrees. Holding a specific temperature is not critical—that’s the range. Halfway through the smoking, rotate the sheets if using a vertical smoker, Watch for black patches. This is the first state of caramelizing, and will start to appear when your almonds are done. If you’re ambitious, turning them over halfway through the process is always helpful.

Don’t dust with salt or sugar when finished. Let cool in a single layer on a non-stick surface such as waxed paper, or simply loosen them from the cooking surface with a spatula and let cool to room temperature. Serve slightly warm, or at room temp.
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Great looking BBQ everyone. Jeff - thanks for the almond recipe. Will have to give that one a shot:-)
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Thanks, Jeff.

I usually like to have some sort of basic recipe when I try something new. From there I have no problem tweaking it, modifying it, or just winging it.
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I made several batches of the following pork rub. I like it a lot. Thought I would share. It's fun to mess around with proportions for rubs. I like commercial brands, but I also like making my own.

Anyone else got one they like, post it for us to try. I'd like to try a good beef rub.

Pork rub

2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup garlic powder
3 T ground black pepper
3 T onion powder
1 T Chili powder
1/2 T ground cumin
1/2 T ground coriander
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Lovely - just lovely, Jeff!!
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I found this recipe on the net and have used it on pork butt. Since I had some left in my shaker I decided to use it on my brisket yesterday. It turned out very tasty. The brown sugar was sort kind of non-standard as I understand it, but the blend worked well.

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup paprika
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne
2 teaspoons dry mustard
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Gonna KILL IT this weekend....2 racks of beef ribs, 2 racks of baby backs, a small Boston Butt and likely
my arm hairs will all burn this weekend. Got to cook for the family that I will be seeing on Sunday.
Thought really hard about cooking Sunday at the crack of Dawn, but the bit(h dumped me. :-)

No but seriously, We won't be eating til 6:00pm Sunday evening, and I have to cook and drive to the Smokies,
a 6 hour ride. Usually I cook on Saturday, foil it and refrigerate it. But it is NEVER as good re-heated,
so I am seriously considering foil and towels and ice chest this year. That's probably 10-12 hours in
the ice chest. I have heard all of you towelers say that it is no biggie. We'll see.
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Enjoy the cook Brad... but I personally think that is too long in the cooler. I would feel uncomfortable with anything over six hours.
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That's what I wanted to hear...I don't get COMPLAINTS about the taste ever, but you and I know that
re-heated ribs get some kind of taste I never like, it seems to be a bone-related deal, it just tastes off
to me. I will get cracking on the cook for today I guess.
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This was basically all i was going to cook this morning, this and a butt....then Brent convinced me it would
be a good idea on a family vacation if I did not POISON my family. Still, it was smoked meat, I think I coulda
pulled it off. But why?

Here are the first victims.....A couple packs of Nathan's Hot dogs wrapped in the finest bacon. This bacon
kicked a55....it enabled me to wrap every freaking millimeter of these dogs without any showing through.
Hot dog skins don't like heat, and really get ugly if you don't cover em.

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OK, halfway through with the smoking....nother hour or so then I will sauce these items and get em carmelized and
be done with another Smoky Mountain Smokefest. Everyone will pretend to be hungry and will eat the food but
not be able to really hit it. A couple of em were just in Switzerland for a month, the rest are New Yorkers who
have been in the south for almost a month and are likely fed up with heat, and everyone will have just had a
4 or a 6 hour ride to get to the cabin. They will mean well but be just too hot and tired to eat. That will mean
dozens of rib sammiches for the rest of the week for me and my B.I.L. :-)

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X2
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Brent,

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showpo...postcount=3345
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As usual, I was so jazzed to get the food off the grill and into the house, ever more in this wretched heat,
that I failed to take the best final photo I have seen in a long time. I mean PERFECTLY carmelized.
Usually I take em off early and the sauce is blazing hot but not carmelized. It will still take your SKIN off
if you make the mistake of getting some of that hot sauce on you. But it's not PHOTO ready.
What I DID manage to do was take a few shots of the half-rack of beef ribs and the short ribs that
came off early as they were too done to leave on. The taste was incredible. Too bad they will all be
eaten re-heated :-) (I also took a rib from the top and used it to cover a blinding foil spot in the lower rt.)

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Wow! Give me some hot dog buns, mustard, and sauerkraut, and I'm good...


Those ribs look edible to me Brad:-)

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Killer pics Brad... I hope everyone enjoyed your efforts!!
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