Barbecue Brines, Injections, Rubs and Sauces

Barbecue is very regional when it comes to styles and methods. It can be presented in a bunch of different ways in a single area of the country. Every barbecue pit has a master and they can do it their way. As it should be! But I’ve discovered that, just like every other discipline, there are strong opinions and always someone to tell you that you are not doing it right. Get some ideas and experiment on your own. I don’t do competition BBQ because it’s extremely time consuming and my style of Barbecue is not competitive in Florida. They want to see square, sweet Mahogany ribs. Our Barbecue has a big bark and lots of spice. We did get to let the good folks at Jeep Beach in Daytona this April to try our brisket and pulled pork and we gat a bunch of “best I ever tasted” comments. That always makes us happy! You don’t have to compete to make great Barbecue. You just have to figure it out!

We brine all of our Barbecue including meat. Some people only brine chicken or fish. We think it helps flavor the meat and hold in the juices. It does add an extra 8-12 hours to the process but we thiunk it is worth it. If you don’t have a cool place to brine, you can put the frozen meat or chicken into the brine in the evening and it’s ready to work with the next morning. Here’s our brine recipe.

Apple Juice. 1 Gallon

Water 1 Gallon

Coarse Salt. 1 Cup

Brown Sugar. 1 Cup

Ground Pepper. 1/2 Cup

Onion Powder. 1/4 Cup

This can be mixed in a large pot. We usually have our meat or chicken in a plastic trash can (that we don’t use for trash!) lined with a plastic bag. Pour the Brine in over top, cover and allow to soak overnight. Make more or less if you need it.

Injections

We inject our brisket, pork shoulders and turkey and chicken (not wings or drumettes). We feel this helps the meat cook more evenly and you can introduce layers of flavor inside the meat. You will need a large injection syringe from your local barbecue store. We usually puncture the meat every four inches, push all the way in and inject slowly while pulling back. On a average size piece of meat you should likely use about 1/3 of an injection syringe on each injection. A bit less is probably better than too much. Here’s what we use to inject.

Make herb butter with whole Bay leaves. Heat it until you can smell the spice. A single butt can be done with 1/4 to 1/2 pounds of butter. To each 1/4 pound of butter add 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, 3 tablespoons of maple syrup and if you are adventurous, 3 tablespoons of bourbon. Make more if you are doing a larger smoke. Anything extra can be frozen for another time so you don’t waste anything.

Rub

Once you have injected the meat or foul, rub it with honey mustard. It may be less expensive to have some good yellow mustard and honey and make your own binder. Then you can add the rub. If you like a nice bark on the meat lay it on heavy. If your doing birds, put it on lightly. Let it sit in a cooler overnight. It’s okay to let it be at room temperature in the morning, makes the smoking easier.

Smoke

Doesn’t matter if you have a stick burner, pellet grill or you like charcoal, you need to cook low and slow at 225 to 250 degrees. We usually keep the meat on smoke for 6 hours then wrap it so it doesn’t get any smokier. I like pecan wood because it is mild and you get a nice flavor, especially if you add some cherry or peach chips or pellets. Some folks like heavy smoke like Hickory or Mesquite. It’s all a matter of taste. Spray the meat with some apple juice about every 30 minutes but remember, if you’re lookin’, you ain’t cookin’! When your done the meat should be tender with a red ring just under the bark when you cut it. That’s the smoke ring and what you want to see. Get that and you did it right.

Sauces

We put our sauces on after the smoke just prior to eating but mopping the meat with a sauce you like us acceptable and delicious! Take a brush and cover the meat or chicken with the sauce and it cooks into the meat or chicken.

Now you know all of my secrets. Find out the millions of secrets of others who make great Barbecue or develop your own. Stay Spicy, and thanks for riding with us!