Episode 1504
We talk BBQ with Jeff Tracy from BBQ Nation and Grilling at the Green
Known as “The Cowboy Cook” and a capable griller in his own right, JT loves to interview great cooks like Aaron Franklin, Steven Raichlen, Tuffy Stone, Wayne Mueller, Amy Mills, Carolyn Wells, Meathead, and other notables from the BBQ world on his show BBQ Nation.
Earning his reputation over 20 years in the entertainment industry, JT has appeared in movies, was part of a reality series for Discovery Channel, appeared in many TV commercials, and appearances as The Cowboy Cook on ABC TV affiliates. In his spare time JT has written for several magazines with the stories focused on food and fun.
The title The Cowboy Cook is also related to his fame in the horse world where he won a number of National Championships and world titles starting at the age of 16.
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Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
[00:00:26] Jeff Tracy: because you have to pay more attention with charcoal. Yeah. It's very simple, easy mistakes that people make. You know, they put in too much briquettes or they lump whatever they're using gets too hot. They let it burn down a little bit and then they think, okay, it's good. It's still hotter than hell in there.
[:[00:01:02] Jeff Tracy: This is around the house. Welcome
[:[00:01:26] Eric Goranson: welcome back to Around the House my friend.
[:[00:01:38] Eric Goranson: Oh, we're starting out that way already today, my friend. This is how it's
[:[00:01:57] Eric Goranson: is a, it is a day that even the Catholics could have some [00:02:00] meat today I see.
[:[00:02:02] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. They, they, they finally got the cinder block after forehead from a couple weeks ago.
[:[00:02:23] Eric Goranson: For many people, they start going, Hey, let's, let's dust that grill off and, and, uh, start getting going on stuff. And I thought wasn't not a great time to bring you in and, and have a chat about. You know, good habits of barbecue and, and for all the amateurs out there and even the experience stuff, there's always something from these that, uh, oh, that people can take away with.
[:[00:03:02] Eric Goranson: What's the, what's the secret? Of barbecue there when you're talking about things like meat,
[:[00:03:29] Jeff Tracy: Uh, it's. , it's, uh, you want to check those labels, uh, check the marbling. Mm-hmm. , um, kind of, you know, you can, it's easier to check the mar marbling if you're actually buying it out of the case where the butcher has to reach in, grab it and show it to you. There we go. The stuff that's free packaged, you can't always see the marbling, and there's little tricks to that, that if it's getting a little age on it, they can trim it a little more and that, that, Grayish Brown goes away.
[:[00:04:20] Jeff Tracy: Make sure you look on the, uh, on the package if you're buying pre-packaged stuff and it, and it says choice or prime. Mm-hmm. , um, you know, you don't want select. Or you don't want, uh, utility grade, you don't want prison food. You know, you want Yeah. Not except for human consumption, you
[:[00:04:37] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. Yeah. The dog walks by and goes, nah, I'm good.
[:[00:04:43] Eric Goranson: only stamp, is that what you're talking about?
[:[00:05:03] Jeff Tracy: Yeah, just fire it up. Maybe you've got a few, uh, the fuzzies, you know, undetermined. Yeah. Undetermined biologics on there, . So you, you, uh, burn those off, clean it off really well, but make sure, like if it's a gas grill mm-hmm. , if it's got the same hotspots and cold spots as it did last year, if it's a charcoal grill, make sure the vents are cleaned and all that so you get a nice flow, you can shut it down if you're gonna do a, a, you know, a long-term cook, so to speak.
[:[00:06:01] Jeff Tracy: They may gum up your auger. Uh, you don't really want that, you know, but you can. It's funny,
[:[00:06:17] Eric Goranson: Why do they put so many dang flat places in there so you can collect those things up? Why can't they just like make it a basic. That's what all goes in
[:[00:06:32] Jeff Tracy: Because those
[:[00:06:48] Jeff Tracy: Yep, you got that. And, uh, the, the cookers that I know I'm not gonna use over the winter, I just burn 'em out. Yeah. Uh, of like the pellets. I just burn 'em out. The [00:07:00] charcoal, I, I burn that off, then let it cool. Maybe the next day clean it all out so it's ready to go. But I do this more than most normal people.
[:[00:07:32] Jeff Tracy: Uh, and then you can buy a good piece of meat from Painter Hill's Natural Beef, I might add. But let's talk about, you
[:[00:07:49] Jeff Tracy: meat that, that's good meat
[:[00:07:50] Eric Goranson: That's decent meat and it's one place across the country. You can go in and get something decent there, right? As far as the chain goes, but, When you got me turned on to Painted Hills' Natural Beef, [00:08:00] and they're not paying me to say this, and actually right now, I don't even have any beef in the freezer, so I'm not even getting beef outta this.
[:[00:08:06] Jeff Tracy: to. I, I, I got the hint. No, no, , I got the hint, .
[:[00:08:26] Eric Goranson: Yeah. My favorite kind of meat that I like throwing on. There's a lot of the things, I would much rather cook a tri-tip than do a brisket cuz of, to me it just tastes better and that's my opinion. Yeah.
[:[00:08:45] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. You know that it's been trim, trimmed to brisket. You're gonna be a bit longer than that. Yeah. By, you know, the sundials gonna go the other direction by the end of the day when you're done with a, with a brisket. But, uh, yeah, the. [00:09:00] I think the tri-tip is very good. And how about this, um, they've never done this before, by the way.
[:[00:09:26] Jeff Tracy: Yeah, it looks good. All right. And you can. T-Bones and ribeyes and New Yorks and burgers, brisket and all that stuff. Yep. You can get a brisket there. Uh, but you type in B BQ Nation, just the letters B BQ Nation, and it'll take, uh, 15% off at the checkout. It's just a per pretty big
[:[00:09:51] Eric Goranson: You know what I mean? You're buying from the, you're buying from the place where the cows came from. You're not, you know, you're not, you're not dealing with the 22 people that went between point A [00:10:00] and point B.
[:[00:10:05] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. But no, that's a. We've been around tonight, buddy . Uh, it's, it's really a cool thing though that they did that. So I would invite people to go online to, and I know you're gonna post some links and stuff. Oh yeah. Uh, to, uh, for Painted Hills to their online store. Pick something. , you know, apply the discount code.
[:[00:10:49] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. And not just because I represent Painted Hills, it's, I like their product a lot. No question. Uh, a lot. I know some people are [00:11:00] like on the Wagyu bandwagon. If you like that, that's fine. I, I don't have a problem with it. It's not for me because the times I've eaten it, it just seems a little too fatty.
[:[00:11:31] Jeff Tracy: Uh, three top tier choices to pick
[:[00:11:49] Jeff Tracy: of those?
[:[00:12:13] Jeff Tracy: And like I said, that's in prime and choice. Grassfed is not finished out in a feed lot. They are in a lot, but they only get like a hay based feed. Yeah. Every day like that. So they don't have the same degree of marbling. Mm-hmm. , they still, uh, and so they won't grade out at Prime. Yeah. It's, it's kind of hard to.
[:[00:13:00] Jeff Tracy: Yep. And that, that there's actually steers that weigh too much. Absolutely. , we had that during the Covid thing. Mm-hmm. because they couldn't process as many as they needed. So those steers kept going to the back of the line. Mm-hmm. and going through the process again. Finally, you know, they, some of 'em were two or three months past when they're projected harvesting.
[:[00:13:44] Jeff Tracy: Mm-hmm. , as we call it, prime rib. All right? Yep. And they'll get four of bows bone in and five of those without bones. Mm-hmm. in a box. All right. But if you get some steer that weighs [00:14:00] 1400, 1500 pounds Yeah. Versus one that's down around 11 50, 12, 13. That extra weight then, There's not enough room in the box.
[:[00:14:10] Eric Goranson: Yeah. It presents a whole bunch of
[:[00:14:33] Jeff Tracy: Just a fine line, you know? Yeah. Um,
[:[00:14:50] Jeff Tracy: True, true, true. The, the vanishing herd. Exactly. ,
[:[00:15:02] Jeff Tracy: there's ghost cattle. They got really good at that in Wyoming and Montana about a hundred years ago. So, you know, they, 120 years ago, they were, they knew how to make that work.
[:[00:15:16] Jeff Tracy: Oh yeah. Now you just have to move them in the semi and not on a cattle drive. Yeah. You know, ? No, they're
[:[00:15:23] Jeff Tracy: They're still moving. Rolling, rolling, rolling. . Um,
[:[00:15:37] Eric Goranson: Something that was grain finished.
[:[00:15:59] Jeff Tracy: It has some [00:16:00] marbling in it. Yeah. It's not like eating a buffalo. All right. Exactly. It's just, it's, but it's limited compared to the other two. Uh. Classifications. Okay. Yeah. Well, if
[:[00:16:15] Jeff Tracy: thing? Yeah, pretty much. Okay. I mean, it does, it is a piece of Angus Sure.
[:[00:16:48] Jeff Tracy: Certified Prime Certified select, I mean, they used to do one big chain used to have. Their name, insert the word select behind it, and nobody knew what that [00:17:00] meant 20 years ago. Except people in the ag world. Yeah. You know, now they figured it out. Mm-hmm. and, and a lot of the stores don't sell it anymore.
[:[00:17:15] Eric Goranson: that shows up in the sale hamburger on, uh, on Friday afternoon, right?
[:[00:17:27] Jeff Tracy: Yeah.
[:[00:17:49] Jeff Tracy: you're still, you get what you pay for.
[:[00:18:16] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. And, um, I love the ribeye. A lot of pro Yeah. A lot of professional chefs now have gotten on this kick. Like, we don't like filets. They're, they're kind of spongy and tasteless, so I think they're still a great piece of meat. Yeah. But I do like ribeyes and I also like New York. Yeah. You know? Yeah. So you, you know, buy a t-bone.
[:[00:18:38] Eric Goranson: I mean, that's, that's the thing. And so let's back up here and, and talk to the rookie that's probably in another month, gonna walk into their home center and want to throw down a few hundred bucks on a barbecue because maybe they've got that old one out there that, that $199 charbroil that lasted the, the 48 months and it's [00:19:00] ready to go off to the landfill.
[:[00:19:11] Eric Goranson: bottom and they just, that's that's home, right?
[:[00:19:20] Jeff Tracy: So Yeah, it's all good. Gotta
[:[00:19:36] Eric Goranson: This is not a smart thing, spending 200 bucks every 18 months to and throwing away a
[:[00:20:03] Jeff Tracy: Yeah, they do that. They don't get paid for it. It's kinda like, uh, consumer reports for barbecues. Nice. . The other thing is you have to look at it, and I know money's tight right now cuz of everything else that's going on. Sure. But if you're gonna go to a big box store and you're gonna lay down 1 99 99 for, uh, A stainless steel that's not put together very well.
[:[00:20:51] Jeff Tracy: It's not that it's not gonna work, it's just gonna be messed up. It's gonna take you longer, or you're gonna burn something up faster.
[:[00:21:13] Jeff Tracy: your, killing your cooking.
[:[00:21:39] Jeff Tracy: Um, it's gonna last you not just one or two years. It can last you 10 years. Yeah. Very easily. If you take care of, yeah. Uh, the, the sheet metal is thicker, holds the heat better. There's no gaps in it. The, um, the elements. For example, if it's gas, uh, you know, look at the [00:22:00] elements. There's various. Uh, sizes and shapes of the gas elements that come up the, where you see the flames.
[:[00:22:30] Jeff Tracy: Yep. That way you can have a, a hot side and a, or as we call it, a direct heat. An indirect heat. Yep. , it's easier to cook chicken and ribs and big pieces of beef that way, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah. All right. So those are some things you look for. Uh, make sure the regulators are good and solid. Mm-hmm. , you know, not something that was.
[:[00:23:14] Jeff Tracy: And I think that's really important. Yeah. To look at that. Well, great example.
[:[00:23:36] Eric Goranson: To make space for something else before it wears out. It will live another life for somebody else. Because again, it wasn't expensive, but man, if you're throwing burgers and dogs and a, a steak or two on there, that thing
[:[00:23:54] Jeff Tracy: Mm-hmm. , they have been forever. Yep. Um, if you [00:24:00] start by using a Weber kettle, you're probably going to. You know, adapt your skills faster or learn your skills faster than you are on a 1 99 gas grill. Mm-hmm. , because you have to pay more attention with charcoal. Yeah. You, you know, you just do, um, very simple, easy mistakes that people make.
[:[00:24:42] Jeff Tracy: A lot of times you end up with one side that's pretty much crispy. Yeah. And the other side that's still clucking. Yeah. All right. So that doesn't work out well. Well, so using that, adjusting and controlling your airflow through the vents and stuff all. With the Weber Kettle is great [00:25:00] education. No question.
[:[00:25:02] Eric Goranson: no question. It made me a much better barbecue with learning with that thing because you know, oh yeah, I've had gas grills and stuff for years and years and years and using that and figuring out that, oh, I need to crack this a little more close this up, or vice versa. That's really where you understand how the whole heat thing works and.
[:[00:25:27] Jeff Tracy: Yeah, yeah. No, it's great. I think that, I think that pretty much all great. Uh, Uh, hands, if you will, in the barbecue world. Mm-hmm. started with a Weber kettle or a cheap, um, stick burner smoker.
[:[00:26:06] Eric Goranson: a $600 grill
[:[00:26:08] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. Right. And I still have that old booger sitting out behind the shop and I, you know, wheeler up to the deck once or twice a year now. I pretty much cook like or smoked salmon filets or stuff like that. Yeah. And that's great. But they're great. Yeah. Yeah.
[:[00:26:33] Eric Goranson: And to me it always tastes like you used fluid to light your briquettes. What's your thought on that with, between that and the, and the, and the, the quick stirred flame or, you know what I mean? There, there's a, there's a briquette for everything out there it seems, but. These days, but seems to me, what's
[:[00:26:50] Jeff Tracy: The, the, for under $30, you can buy a chimney. Yep. Which is you pre light and [00:27:00] ignite your charcoal lump or, uh, briquette. Uh, you can get it started. Once it's really cooking, you just pour it down on the rack where your charcoal goes. I am not in favor of, any quick start stuff. Mm-hmm. , because you've got that residue and I don't care what you do, that residue is gonna be there.
[:[00:27:31] Eric Goranson: That's for agriculture work. That's not for, yeah, that's not for cooking.
[:[00:27:35] Eric Goranson: Yeah. Yeah. That's the one thing I like with my Weber kettle is mine came with that little propane can start Uhhuh , which, that's the easy button.
[:[00:27:50] Jeff Tracy: to go. I'll tell you, I got something that, uh, , um, you would like, I don't know if I've ever shown it to you, but it's called [00:28:00] Grill blazer.
[:[00:28:23] Jeff Tracy: And they worked great. Yeah. Also burns weeds really well. There you go. But, but uh, you know, there's all kinds of things you can use. I remember when I was a kid, we had an electric starter. Oh yeah. Did. It was kind of that coil U-shaped, the U-shaped coil.
[:[00:28:39] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. . Yeah. You stacked stuff on it and you plugged it in and, you know, if you didn't blow a breaker in the backyard, then you were like, yeah, we're going. You know, and then like two hours later everything was kind of cooking. Yeah.
[:[00:28:56] Eric Goranson: Yeah. It was, you know, probably a 12 inch wide, 12 inch long [00:29:00] coil. Yep. And a, and a black handle. A cord came off and yeah, you could plug that thing in the outside element and, and, uh, how the lights inside the house dim a little bit and. Yeah. Flicker.
[:[00:29:14] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. Uh, truthfully, but nowadays with those chimneys, you just put 'em in there. You put a little newspaper in the bottom of 'em if you want. Put the charcoal in there, like the newspaper. Uh, I just keep it up on half the rack. Yeah. You know, cuz we got racks that flip over and stuff. I just keep it up there when it's starting and then when it's ready I just put it down in there and get going.
[:[00:29:37] Eric Goranson: It works out really. Yeah. I have another question for you, brother, so much another question like, you know, here in Portland, uh, you know, where you and I both live in this metro area, but thank God not in the middle of the metro area. We, I love going down to Ringside Grill and having a dry aged steak every once in a while.
[:[00:30:01] Jeff Tracy: people don't. Yeah. Uh, I think aging for beef is a good thing. I think aging for me, not so much . Uh, and I, and I have been dry for 20 years, , but, uh, you know, stay liquid my friend.
[:[00:30:40] Jeff Tracy: And you put it in the freezer. You go freezer
[:[00:30:43] Jeff Tracy: it is. Yeah. What it is, you know, all that stuff. Find some clams in there from 1960 fours. Man, that's not gonna work. . But if you go to some butcher shops, and there's still some that do this, they've still got a [00:31:00] carcass in back, in the back.
[:[00:31:26] Jeff Tracy: Mm-hmm. . Okay. You don't want to get it up into the forties that will get the bacteria stuff going. Yep. And pretty soon you're gonna lose, lose all or part of it, but it keeps it right down there so the bacteria doesn't grow and it's very dry. There's no moisture in the room. . That's why you get that. , almost black.
[:[00:32:05] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. But like, but also, like you said, Eric, it's not for everybody. Mm-hmm. , it's got a very distinctive flavor. The, the. The stuff you're buying at the grocery store, whether it's in the, the case where, you know, you pick out three steaks or what have you, or the pre-packaged stuff, that stuff has not been. In the box, you might say very long.
[:[00:32:42] Eric Goranson: That stuff's almost days, right. Versus weeks to months,
[:[00:32:48] Jeff Tracy: I mean, um, will, uh, from Pinard Hills and I have talked about this a lot. They go in, they go through the processing plant, they hang [00:33:00] 'em, um, they do it to, to drain any excess fluids. Mm-hmm. , by the way, folks, when you cut into a steak, that kind of pink, juicy stuff, that's not blood . Right? That's hemoglobin, you know, it adds to the flavor, the flavor machine.
[:[00:33:19] Eric Goranson: nothing wrong with that. Without great flavor there. Yeah. Little bread to soak it up.
[:[00:33:39] Jeff Tracy: Yeah, two weeks like that. And once they're vacuum packed in those big pieces, they're not really aging like dry aging. No. Cuz all
[:[00:33:57] Eric Goranson: But at the same time right, that the [00:34:00] enzymes that are there are breaking down. Right. But when you put it that cold and, and seal it up, it's, it's kind of just in park.
[:[00:34:18] Jeff Tracy: Nope. That's a bad joke. . But it's, uh, yeah, the, the enzyme process like that, the breakdown process. Um, and you know, in the old days, yeah. When I say the old days, I'm talking in the 18 hundreds to the 1920s. Okay. Maybe in this country, because we didn't have mass refrige. No, we didn't have a lot of that, but ice.
[:[00:35:07] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. So they had a dry room that was cold, that was, had big blocks of ice in it. Mm-hmm. and sawdust on the floor. Yep. You know, and, and the sh the chef or whoever would go back there. You know, cut out a primal mm-hmm. , um, and do that. And that's what they would be serving that night. Or they would make, uh, stew out of, you know, the round steak or what, whatever they were doing, they had.
[:[00:35:40] Eric Goranson: special was what? It's not that way. Special is what they had a lot of. Right. You know what I mean?
[:[00:35:54] Jeff Tracy: Mm-hmm. , a lot of these guys had. A cold room, a cellar, if you [00:36:00] will. Yeah. They had a veg cellar. Some of 'em had meat cellars. Mm-hmm. . And again, they would get ice if it was the wintertime in Wyoming. Hell, you didn't need ice. No. Know, you're trying to keep it warm. It was just cold . Yeah. So, you know, uh, they'd just go back and, and take what they wanted.
[:[00:36:39] Jeff Tracy: But the point is you saw. You know, a quarter of a carcass or half a carcass laying there and somebody was cutting off a piece of meat. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. That's way it works. Yeah, that
[:[00:36:59] Eric Goranson: You know what, [00:37:00] if someone's gonna go out and go barbecue shopping, you know, you get the, you get the gas grill, you get the pellet grill, uh, you know, there's a, there's a. Local company here that started out local and now they're not local and they've got a pellet grill that goes around everywhere that you can buy in every, just about every home improvement store out there that you can see, that's a big name.
[:[00:37:27] Jeff Tracy: barbecue? I would say it depends on, on, again, what you want to do. If you just want something. To be able to cook your food. Mm-hmm. , get a bit of that barbecue taste, but do it quickly. I would say go with a gas grill.
[:[00:38:01] Jeff Tracy: You have to be real cautious about the pellet grills because they'll say, well, we can get this pellet grill up to 700 degrees. Basically inferring that they could sear something. And some of them even have little Sears stations. Mm-hmm. on them. Mm-hmm. , I, I've cooked steaks on pellet grills. Mm-hmm. , you know, I, um, but it's never had quite the sizzle as it did either for gas or charcoal.
[:[00:38:50] Jeff Tracy: Those are just kind of, you know, blatant Yeah. Statements, but they are true. Yeah. If you really want to get into it, then look at the charcoal Yeah. Stuff.
[:[00:39:07] Eric Goranson: But, um, My thing when getting one was I wanted to get something that had an ability to be able, if I wanted to throw a stake on it, to, to be able to get that temp. And there's only a few of them out there that legitimately can kind of do that. Right? And it's only because they've got some kind of mechanism that will allow the heat from that fire box to get up into there.
[:[00:39:38] Jeff Tracy: well, the process with App Pellet Grill, uh, and that, that bark you're talking about, it's called the mail Yard, uh, reaction.
[:[00:40:06] Jeff Tracy: It takes a long time. Our longer time on. Pellet grill to get that bark as you're calling it. Mm-hmm. And I agree. Um, and that's, but that's a, that's a period of time that's over a couple, three hours. Yeah. You know, to do a, a rack of ribs properly, it's two and a half, three and a half hours. Yeah. Because it's kind of a low and slow thing, but it will have a bark on it, right?
[:[00:40:55] Jeff Tracy: Mm-hmm. , I have to clean my pellet grills. I've got two of 'em. More [00:41:00] frequently than I ever do my gas grill or my charcoal grill, because you got drip pans, you get, you know, if you're, especially if you're cooking pork or chicken, there's a lot of grease on it. Mm-hmm. and there are pans you can buy that ha come with, with uh, screens in them.
[:[00:41:37] Jeff Tracy: It'll go out eventually. Yeah. With the pellet grill, you have to be careful because they have been known to go. Fire in the fire box. Grease fire in the pan and it goes up the auger and it smolders. Yep. Okay. It will smolder cuz your auger's about what, two and a half, three feet long? Yeah. Something like that.
[:[00:42:15] Jeff Tracy: Like I said, why? Why do you need that? Yeah, that's my question. Yeah. Why do you need that? Because you can, you can get that bark on something. Oh, you know, 5, 5 50. Yeah. And
[:[00:42:36] Eric Goranson: It's just wrong tool for the wrong job.
[:[00:42:59] Jeff Tracy: You can put it on a [00:43:00] broiling pan. You can set the broil on high. Mm-hmm. , which is again, you know, five 50 to 600 degrees depending on your unit. Yep. Put 'em on there. Season it, throw it in there. You know, six, eight minutes later you might wanna flip it over. Mm-hmm. , put a little more seasoning on and pop it back in the oven and about 12 minutes, you're done.
[:[00:43:40] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. And pull it out. And you've got a lovely state. Yeah. See, but you can't do that in a, in a. Pellet grill per se?
[:[00:43:58] Eric Goranson: I'll get the barbecue really hot out [00:44:00] there, get that grill going, I'll throw that tri-tip roast on there and just get some good sea marks on it and, and drop the temperature down and just let it catch some smoke. Mm-hmm. . And then I've got a cast iron pan that's sitting in the oven at. 4 25, I will take that, throw it, put it on, you know, put it on a, a plate, take it in there, drop it in that with a big pad of butter and I finish it off in the oven.
[:[00:44:48] Jeff Tracy: You know, we just had, uh, Harry Sue, uh, on Harry's a big time champion, uh, competitor. Mm-hmm. Barbecue competitor. Very [00:45:00] smart guy. Uh, he used to fly seven 40 sevens for Singapore Airlines. Cool. And he's got a really Renaissance man story. He finishes his, some of his competition briskets off in the oven. Okay.
[:[00:45:34] Jeff Tracy: He does this, he. Uh, put some butter in there. Wraps it up, throws it in the oven to finish it off. But here I'm gonna give you a, a pro tip. Mm-hmm. , buddy. Here's the deal. If you are ever, uh, cooking a brisket mm-hmm. . I learned this from Harry and you're doing the low and slow thing. Yep. Well, if you've ever seen that, it makes puddles.
[:[00:46:23] Jeff Tracy: Oh, he just makes a curve on it. Yeah. Yeah. And then you got the bark all the way across. Perfect.
[:[00:46:35] Jeff Tracy: yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, and I. I wouldn't like soak them in water for three weeks before you do that because, you know, people are like, uh, and steam.
[:[00:47:03] Eric Goranson: if, if I'm char cooking with, with charcoal, I'll take a handful of like cherry or pecan or whatever I want to do, and I'll throw it in some water for five or 10 minutes and then.
[:[00:47:26] Jeff Tracy: Yeah, actually the best way to do it is if you put the wood down first. Okay. And then you put the charcoal on top. Top. Ah, yeah.
[:[00:47:54] Jeff Tracy: Coming out of there. That's not smoke. That's steam. That's steam. Yeah. Yeah. And so that's gonna affect the [00:48:00] moisture and different things in your actual protein. So I think it's better to put it underneath. Yeah. You don't want a White Castle burger,
[:[00:48:09] Jeff Tracy: No, no, no, no, no, no. We're all good on that
[:[00:48:38] Jeff Tracy: Mm-hmm. and all that. You know, the pro guys will trim that off that big muscle and cook it separately. Uh, you can buy, uh, brisket flats, which right now I'm sure are going out the door because it's St. Patrick's State, but they're just squares. Yeah. You know, basically like that. If you've never cooked a brisket before, I would suggest you start with one of those.
[:[00:49:15] Jeff Tracy: And we can another show, we can talk about the stall and all kinds of stuff if you're gonna do the low and slow thing. Yeah. But I really think if you. if you put the, the wood chips or whatever in, um, the burn box first and put your charcoal over top of it. Yeah. And that's designed for an offset. But if you're doing it in a Webber or whatever, you can do that.
[:[00:49:41] Eric Goranson: Yeah. All right, dude. Do you, one last question before we go out of here. I wanna talk about Barbecue Nation for a minute. What are some of your favorite guests you've had on this last year? Uh uh. You've had some heavy hitters. I know, but who are some of the ones that you walked away going, wow,
[:[00:49:55] Jeff Tracy: I think, uh, I think Harry was a lot of fun. Harry Sue. Mm-hmm. , of course. We always [00:50:00] have meathead on there. Oh. Um, mason groups.com. Oh yeah. Chris Lilly, who's, uh, from Big Bob Gibson's down in Alabama. Okay. They have that famous white barbecue sauce there. Yep. I think he was good. We had a toughy stone on there.
[:[00:50:26] Eric Goranson: you went a list there. That was, yeah, that's a
[:[00:50:33] Eric Goranson: anything like that. Excellent. That makes for good podcasting. At least maybe not so good radio, but podcast podcasting's good.
[:[00:50:38] Jeff Tracy: it made David work a little harder on the radio site, but the podcast to make it work. Yeah. Yeah. So this next week we've got, uh, uh, chef Steph from LA Nice. Is coming up. Um, trying to think who else we've got. Uh, we've got some pretty big ones. I, I have been working on Emerald for a while. There we go.
[:[00:51:19] Jeff Tracy: Yep. And so
[:[00:51:28] win
[:[00:51:37] Eric Goranson: No question.
[:[00:51:40] Eric Goranson: Oh yeah, . So if somebody wants to check out your show, where do they go, my
[:[00:51:59] Jeff Tracy: Yeah, all around. I, we [00:52:00]
[:[00:52:01] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. We do share a lot of, if you want to just listen to it online at your convenience, I would just go to wherever your favorite podcasts are. Like Apple or mm-hmm. , or one of those, you know, and we have, we're on Spotify and all that kind of stuff.
[:[00:52:42] Jeff Tracy: Nice. We have a lot of film that we haven't processed yet, but we're getting to it. We're trying to do two or three episodes a week. That's great. So it's just Barbecue Nation there. And then don't forget about my lowly golf show out there. Oh, I was just gonna mention that we talk about the food there. Yep.
[:[00:53:07] Eric Goranson: Absolutely, man. Yeah. Well, thanks for coming on the show today, brother. I really appreciate it. And, uh, hopefully we got some people out there a little more education about, uh, starting to put some protein on the grill,
[:[00:53:18] Jeff Tracy: Yeah. Don't forget. Painted Hills discount.
[:[00:53:36] Jeff Tracy: freezer back up.
[:[00:53:47] Eric Goranson: is. I'm getting hungry. All right, thanks brother. I'm Eric G and you've been listening to Around the House.
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