Hello from Canada

[dilly]

Hey everybody, I have been lurking for a couple days and just joined.  I just bought a 4 rack digital 2 days ago and am doing St Louis cut ribs (as I type) for my fist kick at the can!  Learned  a lot already from reading this forum, so thanks to all you folks who contribute.  I look forward to pitchin in with some of my experiences too soon.
Couple of questions though...What does FTC actually stand for?  And what is a Texas Crutch?

Thanks, Steve

[Gizmo]

FTC, actually stands for Foil, Towel, Cooler.  Double wrap your finished product in foil.  Wrap it in an old towl.  Place into a pre-warmed cooler.  Length of time depends on your desired effect or when dinner time is.  It allows some carry over cooking and keeping butts and briskets hot for hours.
Texas Crutch is wrapping in foil with some liquid, keeping it in the heat to create steam from the liquid.  This will tenderize the meat.  Going too long in the foil will cause the meat to fall off the bone and can make the meat mushy. 

[DaBeef2112]

Welcome dilly! Where is Canada are you? I'm in Toronto.

I hope your ribs turn out better than my first batch did!

[dilly]

I am just West of Waterloo so not far from you DB.
Thanks for the info guys re the translations...My ribs were very good! ;D  I cooked them in foil with a splash of apple juice after the smoke cycle then I did FTC for an hour.  They were too fragile to really sauce up on the grill the way I like them but they had fantastic flavour from the rub and smoke.  They were also very moist and fell off the bone...pretty happy with my first shot at ribs.

[Mr Walleye]

Hi Dilly and wecome to the forum from a fellow Canuck!

Congrats on your first smoke!  ;)

The first of many more....

Mike

[Caneyscud]

Welcome Dilly.  Hard to go wrong with ribs, especially on the Bradley.  Congrats.  And for more information you probably don't need on the Crutch.

Texas Crutch - a somewhat derogatory term, if not invented by Paul Kirk, but certainly used a lot by him in the ongoing feud between Texas and Kansas City as to who has the best barbecue.  Not sure where the idea came from about the use of foil in Texas, but back in the old days tweren't used in my part of the country, nor is it used in the big name joints as far as I can tell by sneaking peaks at their smoking areas.  Now with that said, I haven't lived in Texas for three decades, (visit the family frequently though - and still don't see foil being used), but I guess in those three decades some yankee, hippie or communist or something from the West Coast could have moved into some weird place like Austin and used foil AND Paul Kirk coulda seen it - I don't know!! ;D ;D

As already stated the Texas Crutch is a method of finishing up smoked foods by wrapping with foil usually with some addition of liquid, and finishing up the cooking by essentially steaming or braising - the end result usually being more moist, and more tender meat - but at the expense of the bark, the great dark, chewy, exploding goodness found on the outside of slow smoked meats.   

[dilly]

Very cool...thx for the info 8)

[lumpy]

Welcome Dilly,
Now you can make your own "Dilly smoked salami" instead of buying from Martins

Anyone in Welsley should know the Martins

Lumpy

[dilly]

VERY familiar!!  They used to do my venison actually. I hope I can replicate it! 8)

[canada]

Welcome from SK.
Smoke it up!!!

[robo]

Alberta also says hi. I am as green as they get when it comes to the smoking. Hope the ribs rocked.

[seemore]

Welcome Dilly!

[Arnold]

Welcome from Red Deer!!

[La Quinta]

Welcome Dilly from California....looking forward to seeing what your gonna "dilly"!!!  ;D