June | 2018 | Grant Creek Ranch

Happy June! We have another mouth-watering recipe for you to try.

I was talking to my boss about what recipe I should post and he suggested I look up Aaron Franklin’s Brisket. Oh. My. Gosh. What I saw was the most beautiful charred brisket I’ve ever seen in my life. I am a carnivore to the core and couldn’t wait to try this at home.

I stand behind these recipes. There’s no way I could in good conscience just post something random and let you fend for yourself. They are tested and eaten by yours truly. I will admit, the grill has not been my friend lately, and it’s something I am desperately trying to master, but I figured surely this time would be a success. Guess what…it was! I geared up and bought a coal chimney and everything.

Here is the Aaron Franklin video and description of the cooking method I used. I just used this as a guideline since I am still finding my way, but I’d say it worked.

Ingredients:

1 Large or 2 Small brisket
1/2 Cup salt
1/2 Cup pepper
Water/Apple Cider Vinegar (optional)

Make It!

I do have an electric smoker, which I was told would be easier, but I just had to do it the tried and true way. I went to the store and bought a charcoal chimney. I also stepped away from the Match Light easy light stuff and bought basic charcoal briquettes.

I heated up the charcoal in the chimney for about 15 – 20 minutes and then dumped them in the smoker box, setting a couple hickory wood chunks on top.
This process was repeated about 3 times throughout the smoking.

Honestly, I did not measure my salt and pepper. As a salt lover I just covered every inch of the brisket and then some. And since I’m only cooking for two I used a small brisket, but threw on a whole chicken as well so I wouldn’t waste the space.

Put the brisket in your smoker, fat side up, and leave it.
You can place a metal bowl filled with water next to the meat to help with moisture. Or spritz the meat with apple cider vinegar every now and then, which is what I chose to do.

If you’re anything like me, this is the hard part: Just let your meat cook and leave it alone. I put it on the grill around 10:15am and let it cook for about 6 hours.

I tend to stress about the temperature and how long it is taking, but I simply researched how to manage the temp — something you must experiment with to get just right — and put my faith in that metal box.

While I think I probably should’ve left it in even longer, and mine didn’t look quite as charred and delicious as Aaron Franklin’s, I was happy with how it turned out. Now get your favorite BBQ sauce and look forward to those fatty bites with some of the salty edge…Yum!

(Unfortunately I forgot about it a little too well and didn’t get any pictures of the process)

Comment below with any tips or let us know how you did!

Last Friday, we took a company outing to the Ranch in Cedar Vale, Kansas! What we thought was going to be a miserably hot day turned out to be quite nice and tons of fun.

To give you a bit more background, we actually are primarily a small oil & gas company out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, but we also own Riverview property Co., LLC, which has some rental houses in Midtown Tulsa and farms near Tonkawa, OK and another cow-calf operating in Carney, OK. As part of these ventures the owners’ dream of owning a ranch finally came true, bringing you Grant Creek Ranch: 1,420 acres of beautiful land in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

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Unfortunately, Ranch Day happened to fall on the hottest day we’ve had so far this year. Being in Oklahoma, the crazy weather never comes as much of a surprise. With a forecast of 95°, a heat index of 110°, and 70% humidity we honestly were expecting the worst. We packed up the cars with our lawn chairs, sunscreen, and bug spray and made the hour and a half long drive to Grant Creek.

What did come as a surprise was how nice the day actually ended up being. The huge tree in front of the ranch house provided the perfect amount of shade for our group accompanied by a nice cool breeze. We picked up BBQ from Buck’s BBQ in Sedan for a lunch of brisket, pulled pork, red potato salad, pies, and other goodness. This place is HIGHLY recommended if you’re ever in the area. Delicious food, cold beer, and great friends: what else could you ask for?

Next, we took a tour of the ranch to see the many pastures, shady creek, and of course…our cows. There are so many kinds of birds and flowers to admire, old structures left on the property made our imaginations soar, and the views are spectacular with nothing but land and sky for miles and miles.

Most of our employees are not directly involved with the ranch so it was great for them to be able to finally see what it’s all about and all the work that is put into it. I was particularly excited to see everything as I am involved in more of the background work, this blog included. To finally be able to physically experience it made my already amazing job that much better. Heck, I even learned how to drive the tractor! They’ll be putting me to real work in no time.