Doug Seward

I can confirm a special surprise this year with a slightly differnt menu. Hope you guys will enjoy it. -Doug

Charles, That is a Jaccard Meat tenderizer. It has 48 narrow chisel ground blades to perforate the meat which allows marinade to penetrate. :-)

Obligatory pic of brisket prep. https://www.flickr.com/gp/smokehappens/71S636 This is the point end of a 19 pound brisket, definitely the thickest I have ever seen. More to come. -Doug

Very much looking forward to attending again. Thanks so much for hosting my favorite event. See you all in 4 weeks. -Doug

The bread pudding just went into the oven. Unfortunately, I misplaced the recipe so it will be a bit of a "historical recreation". Does anyone remember what I put into it last time? My only clear memory was of a big fireball and singed eyebrows... :-) Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow. -Doug

So I never did circle back with the pics of Burnt Ends scraps I dumped on my neighbors last Sunday. Briskets are wrapped and frozen, securely stored at an undisclosed location until the grand event. 13 days and counting down. Very much looking to seeing everyone. Hoping it warms up a bit. Cheers. -Doug

Took longer than expected, but the meat is finally nestled snugly in the pit under a warm blanket of sweet cherry and pecan smoke. Had to improvise emergency repairs on the pit as the mount point for the fan rusted away. Some 2" Kaowool, a piece of stainless pipe and duct tape got me operational. Not pretty, but it should get me through the cook. On the pit and ready to sleep through this bitingly cold night (it's 20F now and still dropping). Charcoal reload between 12:30 and 1, then I should be able to get 5 hours or so of sleep.

You guys know what this means :-) 50 pounds of brisked trimmed down to 37 pounds ready for prep. Sorry, no post prep pics. Briskets are injected and have been marinading for past 12 hours. They will be ready to go on the pit in about 9 more hours. Anyone my area tomorrow is welcome to a taste before I cool, wrap and freeze. More pics to come. -Doug

@Kerry - Nah. It was magnetic You can't fool the magnet. ;-)

With Bells On.

Can't make beans without a little bacon for flavor.... 13 pounds pre-reduction weight. 3.3 pounds post-reduction. I am factoring in estimated shrinkage of 10 percent. Alan, Sorry to hear that. We will be thinking of you. -Doug

Briskets came off the fire at around 3PM. The smoke ring is a bit pale, to my disappointment. I was tempted to feed them to the neighbor's Mastiff 'Gus', but changing the menu to burgers might get me in trouble. They went straight into the oven for a sub-critical anneal to 140F. 3.5 hours at 15F per hour cooling rate did the trick. After that, a forced air quench to ambient and then into the cold locker. Hope Gus is not roaming around in the back yard. :-)

The went into the pit last night around 8PM. All rubbed and ready to go.

So it begins...