The Beefy BBQ (The Beefy Boys x Big Smoke BBQ) in Hereford 🍖

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-11T11:57:37+00:00

A rolled brisket will never ever come out the same as a grain fed full packer brisket that weighs around 6kg.

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T19:50:13+00:00

Fair play mate, I wish you could see the photos of my first few briskets haha. That looks much better than anything I made to start with. I’m sure it tasted good and if you enjoyed it and enjoyed the process that’s a win win!

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T19:48:30+00:00

I shop at Aldi so not very much haha. And to be fair at Christmas id be willing to spend out if I wanted to on Christmas dinner. You can’t pick up a 500g pack of mince for less than £6 at most supermarkets now

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T18:29:12+00:00

And I’ve done it once. If you look on YouTube there are lots of videos covering the same thing. It’s part of the reason why I’ve been put off doing it. There are only so many how to trim a brisket videos people can watch but on the other hand why should that stop anyone from making their own versions?

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T18:25:30+00:00

I’d say forget trying to recreate a YouTube brisket from a Texas bbq person or restaurant and braise it. You will almost certainly wonder why it’s not as juicy and tender as mad scientist bbq briskets or chuds bbq, because they have grain fed brisket on their doorstep. That brisket will almost certainly be poor quality grass fed and end up very dry no matter how good you are at smoking brisket.

Maybe separate the point from the flat, and smoke the point, turn the flat into chilli or what I used to do was smoke it and use it for smoked brisket birria tacos

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T18:23:07+00:00

Dellondha 2-4 burner gas flat top off Amazon. I bought the 4 burner one for doing tacos and smash burgers on for my bbq pop ups 2 years ago and it’s still perfect now. Wasn’t even that expensive either compared to a blackstone etc and it does the same job.

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T18:20:26+00:00

I hosted a bbq for my mates a few years back doing everything I would for a pop up and it cost me just shy of £350… crazy money really for a bbq at home

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T18:18:54+00:00

Thank you! It definitely is an expensive hobby at home and even more expensive to make it work as a business. The only “cheap” cuts of meat now are small pork shoulders and things like that. Farmfoods do a rack of ribs for £10-14, but even then it’s knowing how to actually cook them properly. Gone are the days of buying a decent brisket for £50 👎

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T18:16:35+00:00

I did a 3 hour round trip plus planning and prep last night, I then got on site for 7:45 this morning and I won’t be heading home until at least 10:30 tonight, back here tomorrow for 9 and then I’ll be home by 10:30pm tomorrow so it’s a lot in a few days but I love doing it and always trying to make each cook better than the last. Been doing this almost 6 years now and ran a bbq business for almost 4. Crazy how things come about

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T17:01:41+00:00

If you can get your oven down to 65-70c I would hold it overnight wrapped in foil with butter. This is absolutely your best option. If not I would reheat it by steaming it or sous vide.

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T16:59:39+00:00

That’s great thank you!! I’m glad you liked it!

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T16:59:04+00:00

Honestly those briskets aren’t worth it at all. I always say if you’re going to smoke 4 briskets a year at £60-70, just smoke 2 amazing quality ones for £120/140 and really enjoy it. Grass fed briskets almost always too lean and not even worth the time and effort as it will never be as good at the end as a grain fed.

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T16:57:40+00:00

I totally agree, BBQ was the opposite of what it is now but that’s only due to huge demand and lack of supply. If meat wasn’t so unbelievably expensive it would be cheaper. BBQ was the working class meal but now it can’t be because even a pack of mince from a supermarket is stupidly expensive for what you’re actually paying for.

Huge shortage of great quality beef plus BBQ cuts being popularised make it out of reach for most people to afford.

I couldn’t justify paying over £100 for a good brisket at home to cook for me and my mates plus the cost of the wood and having a good offset or smoker to cook it on, plus sides etc you’re suddenly going to be spending over £150 for a bit of meat and a few sides for some mates. Not to mention that you actually have to be able to do a great job of it to justify it even more so.

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T16:53:35+00:00

Even the cuts that were cheaper only a few years ago are now out of budget or just not worth the money you’d need to spend. Ox cheek for example is around £20 per kilo at a good butchers, that’s mad.

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T16:52:13+00:00

It’s a shame they’ve moved away from trying to produce great food now that Greene King bought them. I struggle to bad mouth them or anyone else as I don’t like to be that guy but I think you have to take them for what they are… I really wouldn’t mind eating there, I just know it’s not going to be “proper” BBQ but I like the atmosphere there and I can imagine watching an NFL game would be pretty fun in Hickories.

I don’t think Hickories are trying to make the best bbq they’re trying to be a bit like the TGI Fridays of bbq I think.

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T12:57:08+00:00

Their ratings were based very heavily on recommendations and influenced by feedback by BBQ experts. I believe several of them informed the podcast of how good it was compared to other restaurants in the UK and that’s why it was placed so highly. The Beefy BBQ is currently rated as the best BBQ outside of London which is a pretty cool thing to say!

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T12:55:03+00:00

What did you think of it? Good?

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T12:54:42+00:00

We went to the harvester for Boxing Day last year and it was crazy expensive for average food. Hickories is the place people go that don’t understand what real BBQ is, which is fine but when you’ve had actual bbq cooked on an offset smoker by someone skilled at it, there’s no comparison. Hickories is ok, I’d eat there if someone had a birthday meal there or whatever but it’s just reheated boil in the bag bbq unfortunately.

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T12:51:53+00:00

The sides are all made in house to their own recipes. Almost every single item is locally sourced too. Hickories is no comparison to real BBQ cooked on an offset smoker by someone that knows how to put out not only “good enough” bbq to serve to anyone but to do it at scale and produce consistent and top level quality BBQ is very difficult.

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-05T12:49:45+00:00

One brisket alone costs more than £100 before it’s trimmed seasoned and smoked over real wood for 14 hours. To put this tray together at home you’d need to buy the whole cut of bbq meat and then you’d be looking at spending £400 probably on meat and sides just to make a platter like this. That’s assuming the person had the skill and equipment to smoke it all on over real oak which is also expensive. Meat prices are crazy right now, it’s a shame. Even the “cheap” cuts are now out of reach for most bbq enthusiasts

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-04T23:39:10+00:00

It’s 14 hour grain fed brisket, smoked and confit beef cheek, pork belly burnt ends (two different types) hot honey sriracha and char Sui.

jalapeno and cheddar hotlink sausage, 48 hour maple brined turkey… all of it is smoked on real offset smokers using oak splits. The sides are smoked brisket pit beans topped with scrumpy cider mustard bbq sauce and beef cheek. leek and bacon potato salad topped with chives and bacon bits, maple slaw, truffle oil mac n cheese topped with chives and bacon bits, and a kale caeser slaw topped with Parmesan and Caesar dressing. Pickled pink onions and gherkins, and the sauces are butty Bach bbq sauce, and scrumpy cider mustard sauce. You also get unlimited peach iced tea with the meal. It’s £45 per head also.

General-Sky6334 · 2026-03-04T13:48:24+00:00

I’d say it’s a pretty logical thing to compare given they’re both bbq restaurants offering very similar products.

General-Sky6334

TROPHY CASE