A trip to Bluesville.

[Kurt (Indiana)]

One of my favorite things to do this time of year is to attend the Madison, Indiana "Ribberfest". It's called that because it is a State Championship BBQ cook off as well as local winery tasting events and a series of hot air balloon races along with a two day blues festival featuring big name talent. Man, what a great combination of entertainment.

I spent all evening getting the tear ready for the long weekend. XM radio, DVD player, A/C (it will be 98F Thursday), waffle iron and DO. I still want a Kayak for touring on the river, but maybe next year.
The campground (Madison City Campground) is located right on the Ohio riverabout 3/4 mile from the festival. It's a nice walk or short bike ride to the festival.
http://www.madisonribberfest.com/

The nice part is that next month is the "Bean Blossum Blues festival" in , you guessed it ,Bean Blossum, Indiana.
http://beanblossomblues.com/

Two days off from work and headed down the road.

These are two of my favorite outings.

[Classic Finn]

Kurt

That sounds like a great time ahead. Any Music Fests.. Blues Jazz and RocknRoll Fests I enjoy as well..

There is one here every summer at City named Pori - Pori Jazz Festival is huge with bigtime names from the USA and such..

Steely Dan was there this summer..

Have fun and drive safely..remember the pics..

Classic Finn

[Kurt (Indiana)]

Some pictures of my trip to Bluesville.
The setting for this event is awesome. Along the Ohio River, the sights make the weekend come alive with nature and history.
The Beef brisket was a dry chunk of meat.

I'll try that again and keep the temperature down.

My neighbor gave me some "Kentucky Brisket" and it was better.

Not dry and tasted just like Italian Sausage"

The waffles, on the other hand were a big success. Boy that breakfast on the river never tasted better.



The hot air balloons were fun to watch.



All in all it was a great weekend (except for the 105F Thursday and the strong storm that blew through downing trees and uprooting the festival tents). Friday, Saturday and Sunday's weather was beautiful. The food and live music acts were great as usual. Can't wait 'till next year.

[Eunice]

It looks like a great time. love the pics
Eunice

[asianflava]

Brisket can be dry if you trim off the fat. You also should cut it against the grain.

[Kurt (Indiana)]

Brisket can be dry if you trim off the fat. You also should cut it against the grain.

My Brisket experiment was out of control. I had way too many coals in the smoker and I was distracted by visitors.

I tried a small Brisket (about 8" square) and I left the fat on. I wrapped in foil for the first hour (to help with the dryness) but the temperature was way too hot. I wanted to cook it at 165-180 but it didn't happen.

Now that I have the "waffle thing" down, I can go on to bigger and better things.
I'll practice on the temperature control and try the brisket again soon.

[Ira]

I stink at doing brisket, but I still haven't tried WarPony's method yet, which I believe he posted in Recipes and which he also PMd me.

But I'm pretty sure the two MAIN things are:

A LARGE piece of brisket, not a small cut that you find at your local supermarket.

And...

LOW, LOW, LOW temps, like in all Q'ing.

250 TOPS, and if you screw up and it goes to 350 for 20 minutes, it's garbage.

[Kurt (Indiana)]

Ira, I agree, the small piece cooks way too fast.

Mine was at 275 for about 20 minutes before I realized the temp. It was garbage soon after that. It did taste pretty good however. I used a yellow mustard and steak seasonng mixed with italian salad dressing. That I'll try again. It works well on Flank steak and other tough meats.

The BBQ section at the "Ribberfest" was broken down into amatures and professionals. Meats included the normal ribs, chicken, surloin, brisket as well as "game". Game included squirrel, alligator, deer and other wild animals.

There was a lot of smoke and tons of great food.

[WarPony]

Kurt, smoke it first for an hour of two with low heat and THEN wrap it in foil. You'll get the smoke flavor in the meat and the foil will keep in the moisture. I try and keep the temps around 200 degrees while it finishes in the foil. I figure if water boils at 212*, 185-200 should be about right so the water doesn't leave too soon. Keep the heat on the wrapped brisket for about 6 hours and you'll have a damn fine brisket. Sometimes after the smoking process, I'll cut it in slices and put it all in a glass dish and then cover the dish with foil and put it in the oven for 6-8 hours at 200*.......... cut it with a fork when it's done !!


Jeff

[Ira]

Kurt, smoke it first for an hour of two with low heat and THEN wrap it in foil. You'll get the smoke flavor in the meat and the foil will keep in the moisture. I try and keep the temps around 200 degrees while it finishes in the foil. I figure if water boils at 212*, 185-200 should be about right so the water doesn't leave too soon. Keep the heat on the wrapped brisket for about 6 hours and you'll have a damn fine brisket. Sometimes after the smoking process, I'll cut it in slices and put it all in a glass dish and then cover the dish with foil and put it in the oven for 6-8 hours at 200*.......... cut it with a fork when it's done !!


Jeff

This is the second time you screwed up the explanation in the initial post:

According to what you write, you're cooking it for 12 hours.

[WarPony]

Sorry...........


Two different ways to cook it. Either leave it as a whole slab or slice it up. The slices will be great in 6 hours.

The small brisket Kurt has would be nice in 6 hours but a big one will probably be more in the line of 10-12 hours. Man, I'm tired............ sorry for any misguidance on this.

Jeff