A Summertime Story. BBQ and Tailgating. A match made in Heaven. They go together like…Peanut Butter & Jelly, Cookies & Milk, Salt & Pepper, Rock & Roll, and Drunk & Disorderly. Tailgates are comprised of FOOD, FUN, and both Longtime and Yet-To-Be-Made FRIENDS. Whether you are attending a sporting event or a music festival, BBQ and Tailgating are an indispensable and integral part of your experience. My Tale of The Traveling Tailgate Wagyu Brisket all began with my fiancé and I checking off an item on Our Bucket List this year: Attending the First Show: The Kick-Off Kenny Chesney Concert @kennychesney at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa @rjstadium Florida on April 20th, 2024 and Attending the Last Show of the Kenny Chesney Concert Tour at Gillette Stadium @gillettestadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts on August 25th, 2024. The Musical Line Up was absolutely remarkable, beside Headliner Kenny Chesney, also performing were: Uncle Kracker, @unclekracker & Megan Moroney @megmoroney & Zac Brown Band @zacbrownband. New England is the birthplace of “NO SHOES NATION,” which is described as “a country without borders, where everyone is welcome.” No Shoes Nation @noshoesnation is a culture of “A Lifestyle. Relaxation and Calm. An attitude of enjoying the moment.” And, obviously, a shared exuberance and zeal for MUSIC. When you see a No Shoes Nation Flag flying- a black flag with a white skull and crossbones, or vice-versa, and hear No Shoes Radio playing @officialnsr you know that you have found like-minded folk; insomuch as BBQ People ARE Tailgate People, sharing the values of COMMUNITY, PASSION, and UNIITY.
Of course, delicious BBQ is a vital component for any Tailgate gathering. My IT Data Storage and Migration Technician By Day/After-Hours-Chef Fiance, Rick Enos, is adept and adroit in the BBQ Arts.
Rick procured our Wagyu Brisket from St. Pete Meat & Provisions, “A family owned butcher shop providing the Tampa Bay area with meticulously hand-cut meat and curated provisions,” whose mission is to “share our love story with food.” www.stpetemeat.com
James Beard and Food Network recognized Chef David Benstock, who owns the modern Italian eatery IL Ritorno in downtown St. Pete, Florida, collaborated to open St. Pete Meat & Provisions with “A purpose: to offer food that’s good for the planet, its people, and its animals.” Our Chef Rick purchased an 11.10 pound Wagyu brisket and Our Tale of the aforementioned brisket began.
Here is the step-by-step process and procedure of a multi-day operation of how our Wagyu Brisket began its journey from a butcher shop in St. Pete, Florida and ended at an utterly scrumptious Tailgate in the parking lot of Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts at the final show of “The Sun Goes Down” Tour featuring the forenamed musicians.
-Our Chef Rick did the following:
On Wednesday:
-Rick left Tierra Verde and took a jaunt to St. Pete Meat & Provisions to purchase the 11.10 pound Wagyu Brisket on “WAGYU WEDNESDAY!” where you receive an additional 10% off of your Wagyu purchase! Regularly priced at: $12.99 per pound, on Wagyu Wednesday he saved about $15.00 on his purchase, like The True Scotsman he is! The Wagyu Wednesday price was $131.53. He returned to his Townhouse and put the entire pre-packaged brisket into the fridge as is for the night.
On Thursday:
-Rick trimmed the excess fat from the fat cap
-Reserved those trimmings
-Flipped over brisket, found direction of grain, and cut a corner to indicate slicing direction across the grain because grain is harder to see after brisket has been smoked with a bark on it
-Wrapped the brisket in plastic wrap, returned it to the fridge for another night
On Friday:
-Took brisket out of fridge to bring it up to room temperature
-Tested Smoker; Model= Masterbuilt 30 inch digital electric vertical smoker with side wood chip loader, chrome racks and 710 cooking square inches, in black.
-Pre-Heated the smoker and set it at 250 degrees using slightly wetted-down pecan wood chips
-Made brisket rub:
1 and ½ Cups Coarse Kosher salt1 and ½ Cups Butcher Grind Coarse Black Pepper-(equal parts salt and pepper)
¼ Cup Smoked Paprika
¼ Cup Garlic Powder
-Shake all together in a Ziplock Baggie
(Obviously, depending on the size of your brisket, you would adjust the amount of Rub Mix that you need to utilize.)
-Covered both sides of the brisket with a coating of sunflower oil, enabling the Rub Mixture to adhere to the meat
-Liberally and Generously applied the Rub Mixture to both sides of the brisket; Pat-Pat-Patting the Rub into each side of the meat
-Inserted wireless grilling thermometer probe into the thickest part of the brisket which is called The Point portion, in order to receive accurate temperature readings throughout the smoke and cooking process and to be sure that your brisket is fully cooked. Rick used an “Expert Grill” Bluetooth model
-Placed brisket in smoker, fat side dow
-After 4 hours of smoking, the brisket had reached a temperature of 126 degrees
-At 126 degrees, Chef Rick switched wood chips from pecan to cherry wood- also slightly wetted down the cherry wood chips before adding them to the wood chip loader
-At 6 hours of smoking, the brisket had reached a temperature of 151 degrees
-After 7 hours of smoking, the brisket had reached a temperature of 153 degrees, which means that the brisket had now reached “The Stall,” defined as the time period when the temperature of the brisket does not increase at the same rate per hour as it had earlier during the smoking process
-At this point, Chef Rick melted the reserved fat trimmings, rendering them to tallow
-He removed the brisket from the smoker, and applied the tallow ONLY to the top side of the brisket
-He then wrapped the brisket in butcher paper; he did this to provide additional FLAVOR and moisture while the brisket was continuing to cook to reach the DESIRED “FINISH TEMPERATURE” of 198 degrees
-He returned the brisket into the smoker but added NO additional wood chip fuel, the temperature of the smoker remained at 250 degrees
-After 3 more hours, the brisket reached The Chef’s desired Finish Temperature of 198 degrees
-He removed the brisket from the smoker and placed it in a buffet pan to allow the meat to cool to room temperature
-The total Smoke and Cook Time was approximately 10 hours
-Once cooled, the butcher paper was removed and then the brisket was wrapped tightly in plastic wrap
-The brisket was then refrigerated overnight to be transported the next day!
On Saturday:
-Immediately prior to departing Tierra Verde for the Tampa, FL airport to fly back to Rhode Island, Rick took the brisket from the refrigerator and double wrapped it in 2 thick large plastic retail bags, then placed that into a Whole Foods Market canvas cooler bag, added a few ice packs, then placed the entire secured brisket package into a hard sided suitcase!
-The brisket traveled beautifully and the suitcase was successfully retrieved from the luggage carousel!
-As I picked up My Chef and his luggage from TF Green Airport in RI, and we traversed homeward, my entire car became full of the aroma of MOUTH-WATERING BBQ
-The fully wrapped brisket was placed in the fridge in RI for the remainder of Saturday night
On Sunday:
-On the morning of The Tailgate, Chef Rick preheated the oven to 250 degrees, unwrapped the brisket, placed it in a large buffet pan, and heated the brisket for 90 minutes
-Then the brisket and the pan were covered in aluminum foil and put back into my car to transport it to The Tailgate Festivities
-Rick had previously ordered creamed corn and baked beans from RUDY’s Real Texas BBQ, who ship Nationwide www.rudysbbq.com and those side dished were heated in our oven and wrapped To-Go
-Rick had also prepared his famous Bechamel Sauce Mac-N-Cheese earlier that morning- covered and ready To-Go
-At Gillette Stadium, WE MEET OUR BESTIES AND SET UP OUR TAILGATE AREA- Together, we arrange: our tent, tables, chairs, accoutrements, serving spoons, brisket tongs, garbage bags, paper towels, Wet Wipes, Salt & Pepper & Condiments, Packed Beverage/Beer/Ice Coolers, Mojito and Margarita ingredients, bottle opener, Chef’s Knife, extra sauces, paper goods, cutlery, chips, veggie trays, fruit platters, brownies, cookies, breads and buns, mini grill, Bluetooth Speaker to tune into No Shoes Radio, and A MARGARITAVILLE FROZEN CONCOCTION COCKTAIL MAKER– it is finally time for The Last Step Of The Tale Of The Traveling Tailgate Wagyu Brisket…
-The brisket is uncovered and placed on a large wooden cutting board, on the LITERAL TAILGATE of a 2024 Toyota Tundra and CEREMONIOUSLY sliced with a Syokami 11.8 inch Classic Series Multi-Functional Brisket Knife.
-THE BRISKET IS DELECTABLE. FLAVORSOME. SAVORY. SUCCULENT.
The Brisket received RAVE REVIEWS. It was exquisitely, delightfully, deliciously, magnificently, finger-licking, lip-smacking SENSATIONAL. Our Tailgate neighbors exclaimed, “OMG! WHAT are you slicing over there? It SMELLS AMAZING! What IS THAT? How did you MAKE IT?” Naturally, we shared our outstanding fare with them! They SO enjoyed Our Chef Rick’s food that they in turn, shared their lobster boil with our tent! We shared pitchers of frozen Mojitos and Margaritas, we shared LAUGHTER, we shared JOY. The piquancy and whiff of BBQ Smoked Brisket drew many “Taste-Testers” to our tent. Questions from random passers-by such as, “WHAT did you put on this BBQ TO MAKE IT TASTE SO YUMMY?” to, “Where are you getting the power to MAKE THOSE FROZEN COCKTAILS?” to, “We forgot our knife and lost our bottle opener, can we borrow yours?” are some such examples of BBQ and Tailgating bringing people from all different walks of life together. Our Group consisted of A US Navy Veteran/Pilot/Captain, A Flight Attendant, A Liquor Company Rep, My earlier mentioned IT/Data/Computer Systems/Chef Fiance, and Me- a Former Kindergarten Teacher/Now RIBBQNews Contributing Writer; and along with our new found friends, we shared CAMARADERIE AND FELLOWSHIP, and FOOD and MUSIC. Our “Lobster Tent Neighbors” jumped up to take a photo of Our “Tailgate Brisket Tent,” and apparently they reveled in our conviviality so much that they “selfied” right into our photos! The exceptional concert was The-Cherry-On-The-Top ending to an extraordinarily marvelous day, concluding the adventure of “The Tale Of The Traveling Tailgate Wagyu Brisket.” As Labor Day dawns this weekend, officially bringing Summer to a close, in the quaint and wistful lyrics of Kenny Chesney, we remember, “A perfect song on the radio, Sing along ‘cuz it’s 1 we know, It’s a smile, It’s a kiss, It’s a sip of wine, It’s Summertime, Sweet Summertime.”
