BBQ Tomorrow

I've fired up the BBQ pit at 2100, over the next 6 or 7 hours I'll tend to it making a good bed of coals and stabilizing the cooking area at 210F. Once I'm happy with the temp and can keep it stable with just a couple of hunks of Oak burning I will put the brisket on followed much later with some sausage and chicken. This is an 18 lb. brisket, I expect it will take 7 hours to cook. There is a big pot of beans cooking and I will make some slaw as well. Add some sweet onion slices and a bowl of jalapeños on the side and there will be a Texas meal to die for. BTW photos to follow.

All of this is for a friends B-Day and I expect MsOK will add some things that are not traditional, what can I say....She's not from Texas and heresy of heresies she stated not everyone likes BBQ brisket. Wash her mouth. One other MsOK heresy, the BBQ will be served on plates instead of butcher paper.

I made the pit I'd guess twenty or so years ago out of scrap pipe, I had enough to make three pits, two were built. One for me and one for the neighbor that helped with the build. The third was never built. While it is not as good as a traditional brick pit with a fire box and a metal lid it has worked very well. It will hold a temp with minimum attention and wood use is low for a metal pit.

If I could reproduce the City Market in Luling's sausage I could save the 2000 mile round trip BBQ run when I get a hankering for BBQ.  

Here is how a Texas BBQ plate should look: