It’s been two weeks since my wife and I returned from our 4-day trip to New Orleans and I still haven’t managed to submit a post about the adventure. I think I’m still reeling from the experience and, even though the trip is still fresh in my mind, I’m finding it difficult to write about. We had a wonderful time in New Orleans. It’s a fantastic city with so much to offer. I’m sure I will find time to share the details…someday!
Today was devoted to the joy of barbecue and smoking a brisket. I try to make smoked brisket at least once a year and it’s always worth the effort.
Smoking a brisket is no easy feat, at least for me. It takes between 12 to 16 hours to cook, which makes for a very long day. I started this morning at 3:30 with a cup of chicory coffee, warmed up from yesterday’s cold pot. Outdoor temperature was about 80° but the humidity was near 100°! It was so humid that the newspaper I used for the charcoal chimney starter was limp and soggy by the time I was putting a match to it. It took 3 attempts and about 30 minutes just to light the coals!
I bought a new offset smoker yesterday and I decided to break it in with a brisket. I didn’t know if I was being foolish or confident. Fortunately, the brisket came out just fine.
By 4:00 p.m. I was pulling off the cooked brisket and life was good.
We served the brisket with homemade Texas-style barbecue sauce, potato salad and a refreshing cucumber salad. And for desert, homemade cheesecake, compliments of my wife.
This was the sort of Sunday meal that will keep me inspired throughout the upcoming work week!
Toothpick Tales 
LOL! Smoking a brisket is something I will never do, don’t have the patience you do. I might and it’s a big might get up that early to go fishing. Brisket I have used to make corned beef and pastrami but that’s it. Like the whole idea of the meal and like smoked brisket when I don’t make it. Cheese cake is my favourite desert and your wife’s looked good. Tell your wife that I thought it looked great but would never eat it, I hate blueberries. The very very best cheese cake I have ever had was in your home state, in San Antonio.
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This brisket looks SO good! 🙂
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Thanks, it was. I think it might have been even better if I went to 14 hours, instead of 12. Oh well…maybe next time.
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There’s always next time! 🙂
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Oh, so true!
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Wow that looks truely amazing. I am so glad I had dinner before reading your post
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Thanks, Mas.
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looks awesome! also, I feel so old every time I shop for a brisket. It used to be the cheap cut that you could buy for 49 cents/lb on sale at July 4th or labor day or something (yeah, I know, that was more than just a couple of years ago). It’s not really much cheaper than ribeyes now days (out here at least, where pork bbq still reigns supreme).
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