smoking Aaron Franklin...James Beard Award...Butcher paper

[midwestchilehead]

1. - he lets the meat do the talking. So many cover their meats with all kinds of herbs and spices the beef flavor sometimes gets covered up. Plain old salt & pepper enhance the great, beefy flavor.
 
2. - he's a master at fire control. Low & slow for 14-16 hours is the way to go. Many cook hot & fast, but I don't think you get the same taste/texture.
 
3. Texas Post Oak for the smoking wood has a nice, mild smoky flavor that pairs well with brisket.
 
4.  Buy good beef to start with. Franklin spends more on his brisket than most, and the quality shines through. He isn't buying Waygu, but prime beef and he cooks it better than anyone.
 
 

Hi John. So, what do you think Aaron is doing differently from other pitmasters, if anything?

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Haven't had it but yeah I agree, I've linked to the Texas post oak before if anyone is interested in a supplier http://www.fruitawoodchunks.com/postoak.html
 
Mesquite is strong and gives it more of a familiar BBQ profile but the oak is where it's at for beef imo, always been an oak champion. Mesquite is still a popular wood in TX but many have moved to oak.
 
Letting the meat shine, no sugar or coffee rubs. And HELL no injections, that's just my opinion, no idea if he does it.
 
But the dude is a master at his craft, so it's not that simple. His recipe = experience and artistry. Passion for the brisket. Take his tips and master your own style.
 
And yeah JHP is right, he won't give out his true secrets. He may even send you in another direction. Something that makes a hella good brisket but not even close to what he is doing. A lot of chefs do that. They'll give you a recipe for a "good" whatever but it is not their recipe. (duh )

 

[Roguejim]

Well, I guess I'll be settling for a lot less then.  Not willing to fiddle for 12+ hours with an offset, nor can I afford Prime.

 

[romy6]

 Wish I could get brisket as small as Franklin  My local butchers seem to only get the big-gens  
 
I think you could cut his meat with a butter knife 

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Well, I guess I'll be settling for a lot less then.  Not willing to fiddle for 12+ hours with an offset, nor can I afford Prime.

 
You're a glass half empty kinda guy huh? Don't "settle for less" instead "get the most of out what you have to work with."

 

[grantmichaels]

Neither of the "nicer" brisket I cooked (1 prime, 1 wagyu) were as good as the one I cooked the best. The lowest and slowest one was stellar, which was cooked w/ a water pan over the heat source, and the proper config (The Smokenator) which emulates an offset ...
 
The stall was long, the fire ran became anemic, and it took forever (13 hrs for a small, small hunk of meat) ... but for all of that, I had the best brisket I ever made the first time making one outside ...
 
... using a small 2.75 lb flat from Publix.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

BBQ was built on cheap cuts... it's not settling, it's your skill level in getting the best out of the meat. It's one of the reasons the whole low and slow method was employed. Like stew meat. Slow cook for best results.
 
Going in with cheap cuts thinking you are settling for less will yield poor results, because you won't try as hard, or you may not care abut the results as much. The whole process is expensive and time consuming, always try to get the most out of it and to perfect your craft, imo. Ribs were 99 cents a pound? That's a good reason to cook some ribs but not abandon your expectations. 

 

[Booma]

I don't think offsets need all that fiddling, my best brisket to date was a great piece of beef, no wagyu but a better quality beef than normal.

18hrs, total wood cook and I only had to tend the fire every few hours to load up more wood.

From reading franklins book, he just keeps it simple. Lives and breathes BBQ, trying to keep all his wood supply the same size etc

Salt and pepper for all his meat rubs.

As mentioned above, let the meat itself do the talking, don't hide its true flavour

Same again, Fire control is number 1. It's the thing that I preach to anyone who listens when I talk hahahah, master the fire and you're half way there

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Yeah well a cheap offset smoker is not doing you any favors, they are hard to maintain. You have a nice 1/4" steel Mercedes there, custom built, better than some Langs.