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The Great Brisket Smoke of 2012

Each year, El Hubbo plans and labors over The Great Brisket Smoke.  Originally, this involved a few briskets, some foil, basic spices (garlic, salt, pepper), an electric knife, some mesquite, and freezer bags.  It has evolved to now include 10 briskets, foil, foil pans, aluminum pans bought from a bakery going out of business, a full-size electric meat slicer (yes, like those you see at the meat/cheese counter in the grocery store), an almost industrial size vacuum sealer, some mesquite, a super-secret multi-spice recipe, and a full-twenty-four-hour smoke-out.

Here is El Hubbo starting the fire and getting ready at 5:00 p.m.


He was wondering what his crazy wife was doing with the camera.  This is him putting the briskets on the fire:


The look of a man still fresh, still energetic, still convinced he can pull an all-nighter with no negative effects:


I soon lost interest in taking pictures of El Hubbo as the aroma of smoking, sizzling meat started to overcome me:


As the witching hour closed in on us, El Hubbo had to seek alternative light sources.  He has a lovely, black headlamp that is perfect for such a job.  Unfortunately, all we could find was Emma's Tinkerbell head lamp.


(Hey, in the pursuit of superior brisket, one does what one must.  I managed to reassure him with a straight face that only a REAL man could wear a Tinkerbell headlamp.)

At some point, the briskets came off the fire to be wrapped in foil, and were then put back.  I was pretty tired and did not have the energy to pick up the camera.  So, use your imagination.  As I have very important functions to perform later in the brisket process, I went to bed.

Apparently at some point in the middle of the night the breeze switched directions - El Hubbo, a rather inventive dude, pulled out the leaf blower and fired it up to keep the smoke from completely filling the house to the point the fire alarm went off.  He knew there would be no recovery from the damage his wife would do to him should she be rudely awakened by the local fire department.  While I slept right through the leaf blower, I'm sure the neighbors with the two-month-old baby loved it.  Rumor has it a second round of leaf blower action took place when the fire threatened to go out and needed a rapid influx of oxygen.  All I can say in his defense is that much exposure to heat is bound to make one a little less than capable of compassionate decision making.  Fortunately, the neighbors did not form a mob and strap El Hubbo to his grill.  One saving grace is it is an electric and not a gas leaf blower or this could have turned out to be a blog about an ER trip.

At 5:30 a.m. I woke up and went out to make sure El Hubbo had not passed out from exhaustion or smoke inhallation.  The entire house and all it's inhabitants pretty much smelled like smoke.  The neighbors love the Great Brisket Smokeout as they get to all Febreeze their homes, too.  You are welcome, neighbors.

It wasn't long and the first round of briskets came off the grill to cool down.  That's where I come in.  Once they are cool, I get to slice and vacuum seal.  The purchase of a meat slicer last year and a big ol' vacuum sealer made this job not too bad.  El Hubbo, however, had four more briskets to smoke. 

Here is El Hubbo's assistant pit master:


He passed out sometime around 11 p.m., but was up and at 'em for the second round on Saturday.

I grew bored and took some random photos:

That there is a lot of meat.

This here is the secret spice mix.  Don't let the container fool you - he recycles.


He was starting to show his age at this point.  Much of the second-half of the Great Brisket Smoke was spent like this:


But, the judges were pleased with his work, as evidenced by the smiles:



At the end of the marathon, El Hubbo was one tired, hot, sweaty guy:


And not happy with his personal photographer, obviously.

Oh well, we are once again stocked up with some of the best brisket EVER.  Hip-Hip-Hooray!  For El Hubbo's a jolly good fellow!











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