On Sep 11, 8:48 pm, zxcvbob > wrote:
> Mitch@... wrote:
> > I've never even had BBQ brisket, but I've got a 7 pound flat cut that
> > I'm making this weekend. I was going to use the recipe from Cook's
> > Illustrated.
>
> > It's brined, then a simple rub of salt, pepper and sugar.
> > Then smokes in the grill for 3 hours, then finishes in the oven for 1
> > 1/2 hours.
>
> > There's no sauce, I just wanted to make sure that it's supposed to be
> > that way.
>
> I like a little sauce with it; mostly to dunk the bread in (squishy
> white bread.) No sauce on the meat unless you want to add some at the
> table.
>
> You're doing it OK, but it may not be tender yet after only 4 1/2 hours
> of cooking. Usually, whole untrimmed briskets are smoked for at least
> 12 hours. But I've finished them in an electric roaster occasionally.
>
> Bob

To me, it's not BBQ if there's no BBQ sauce on it. Remember, the term
BBQ or barbeque is used both for the sauce and the grilling process,
but only because most people associate barbequeing with the grill.
Cooking on a grill is properly called "grilling", not barbequeing. Of
course, none of this should be taken too seriously. But I have trouble
with calling something cooked with a rub "barbeque", no matter how
tasty it may be.

Years ago, I had some of the best barbeque in the world several times
at a restaurant in Karnes City, TX called "Smoliks" (sp?). People came
from miles away (I came several times from San Antonio, 70 miles away)
just to eat there. And it was only open for lunch! He was written up
in "Great Chefs of the Southwest" and they did a PBS special on him
and others. The place was basically a butcher shop in an old Quonset
hut (how many of you know that that is?) with a "restaurant" in the
back. The floor was concrete, the tables were old wooden picnic
tables, and they served your brisket or sausage (the only meats they
served) on a piece of butcher paper. You bought it by the pound. At
the back, where they served you, were bowls of sliced onions, jalpeno
peppers, next to the restaurant silverware holders where you grabbed
your silverware to take back to your picnic table. Oh yes, and all the
Wonder Bread you could eat! (The only time I enjoyed Wonder Bread
since I was a kid). And the barbeque was served "Texas Style", which
means on the side, in this case, in a cardboard container like a lot
of restaurants use to serve French Fries. If you'd called the brisket
"barbeque" at Smoliks, they'd have laughed you out the door. Barbeque
is the sauce served with the meat. Other places, of course, the
barbeque is already put on the meat, often mistakenly put on the meat
before cooking, which is almost a guarantee that it will be burned.

Sorry about the reiminiscing, I just can't think about barbeque
without thinking about Smoliks again, which makes my mouth water!

As for how you're cooking it, the terms are not all that important.
It's how it tastes that matters the most!