12 Jan, 2025
It’s 3:30 AM, and while most of London sleeps, a light glows in the back of Gringos Mexican Smokehouse. Alejandro “Alex” Méndez, our pitmaster, arrives to begin his day—a day that started planning and prepping yesterday and won’t end until tonight’s dinner service concludes. This is the unseen ritual behind every plate of smoked perfection that reaches your table.
“People taste a perfectly smoked brisket and appreciate the flavor, but they don’t see the journey to get there,” Alex explains as he unlocks the restaurant in darkness. “That’s okay—the magic should be in the eating. But there’s a beautiful story behind every slice.”
We spent a full day shadowing Alex to understand the dedication, precision, and passion that goes into our smokehouse offerings. Here’s what we discovered.
Alex’s first task is checking the temperature logs from overnight. Our “Fast Eddie” smoker, a 800kg steel behemoth imported from Texas, has been maintaining a low temperature with the remains of yesterday’s fire. While it never completely goes out between services, the morning requires building it back to working temperature.
“Every morning is different,” Alex explains, assessing the firebox. “Humidity, outside temperature, wind conditions—they all affect how the smoker behaves.”
He adds carefully selected oak logs—the primary wood for our brisket—and adjusts the vents with the precision of a scientist. There’s no digital temperature control here; it’s all manual adjustments and hard-earned intuition.
“The temperature needs to be between 225-250°F (107-121°C), but it’s more about how it feels,” he says, holding his hand near the cooking chamber to gauge the heat. “Too hot and you cook the meat instead of smoking it; too cool and you’ll never develop that perfect bark.”
With the temperature stabilized, it’s time for the day’s main event: the brisket. Alex retrieves the meat from the walk-in, where it’s been dry-brining for 24 hours after being trimmed and seasoned with just salt and freshly ground black pepper—the traditional Texas way.
“A good brisket doesn’t need complicated rubs,” Alex insists. “Salt, pepper, smoke, and time—those are the only ingredients that matter.”
Each brisket—sourced from a local farm that raises grass-fed, grain-finished beef—weighs around 5-6 kg before trimming. Alex places them fat-side up in the smoker, positioning them based on his intimate knowledge of the chamber’s hot spots.
“This part will take about 8 hours,” he explains. “But you can’t just set it and forget it. The fire needs constant attention.”
With the brisket underway, Alex spends the next hour managing the fire, keeping it clean with a good “blue smoke” rather than the thick white smoke that can make meat bitter.
He also prepares for the day’s other smoked items, including:
Everything is recorded in his pitmaster’s log—temperatures, times, weather conditions, and observations that inform future cooks.
As dawn breaks, more items enter the smoker. Pork ribs, arranged meticulously on the racks. Whole chickens that have been brined overnight. Beef cheeks for the special barbacoa tacos.
“Each meat has its own personality,” Alex explains. “Ribs are more forgiving than brisket but require more attention toward the end. Chicken needs higher heat and less time.”
This careful choreography ensures everything will be ready at the right time despite different cooking requirements.
One of the most critical moments in smoking brisket is determining when to wrap it. After about 5 hours, Alex checks each brisket, looking for the right color and bark formation.
“See this?” he points to a deep mahogany crust forming on the exterior. “We want the bark set before wrapping. Wrap too early, you get pot roast. Too late, it might dry out.”
He wraps each brisket in butcher paper—never foil, which he says would steam the meat and soften the bark. This “Texas crutch” helps the meat through the “stall,” when evaporative cooling causes the temperature to plateau despite continued cooking.
As the main kitchen staff arrives to begin prep for lunch service, there’s a palpable change in energy. Alex shifts from the solitary focus of early morning to collaboration mode.
“This is where the magic of Gringos happens,” he says. “We’re bringing together two traditions—Mexican cuisine and Texas barbecue—that evolved separately but have soul connections.”
He consults with our head chef Miguel about the day’s specials and how the smoked meats will be incorporated into Mexican preparations—brisket for tacos, pulled pork for tostadas, smoked chicken for enchiladas.
As lunch service begins, the first completed items emerge from the smoker. Chicken comes off at an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C), rests briefly, then heads to the kitchen.
The ribs are ready next, tested not by temperature but by feel. Alex demonstrates the “bend test,” lifting a rack from one end to see how it cracks slightly in the middle—the sign of perfect tenderness.
“People think fall-off-the-bone is the goal for ribs, but that’s actually overcooked,” he explains. “You want a little bite, a little chew, but tender enough that it pulls cleanly from the bone.”
After nearly 10 hours of smoking, the brisket has reached an internal temperature of 203°F (95°C) in the thickest part of the flat. But temperature is only one indicator.
“The real test is the probe test,” Alex says, sliding a thin temperature probe into the meat. “It should go in with almost no resistance, like sliding into warm butter.”
Satisfied, he carefully transfers the wrapped briskets to a holding cabinet where they’ll rest for at least two hours before being served. This resting period is non-negotiable.
“The rest is as important as the cook,” he insists. “The juices redistribute, the proteins relax, and the temperature evens out through the meat. Skip this step, and you waste all the work that came before.”
As lunch service winds down, Alex prepares for dinner. He adds fresh wood to the smoker, cleans the grates, and begins preparing the evening’s burn.
“This job is never static—it’s always a cycle of preparation, execution, and reset,” he explains. “You’re always thinking ahead to the next service while executing the current one.”
He also takes this time to train a junior cook who’s showing interest in the smoking process, patiently explaining the subtle signs of proper fire management.
The first dinner orders come in, and Alex moves to the slicing station. Here, his artistry is on full display as he carves the perfectly rested brisket against the grain in precise pencil-thickness slices.
“Every brisket is different,” he notes. “The grain changes direction throughout the cut, so you have to pay attention and adjust your slicing accordingly.”
For each order, he slices only what’s needed, keeping the rest intact to maintain moisture. Nothing is pre-sliced at Gringos—another detail that ensures quality.
As dinner service reaches its peak, Alex monitors the remaining meats, slices to order, and already begins preparation for tomorrow. New briskets are seasoned, ribs are trimmed, and chickens are brined.
“The cycle never really stops,” he says. “Today’s dinner is built on yesterday’s preparation, and tomorrow’s depends on what we do tonight.”
With the last orders served, Alex begins shutting down for the night. The smoker is adjusted to its overnight setting, maintaining just enough heat to keep the temperature stable until his return in a few hours.
Before leaving, he meticulously logs the day’s cook in his notebook—temperatures, times, conditions, and results—building the knowledge base that informs future improvements.
“Every day teaches you something,” he reflects. “After three years of smoking almost daily, I’m still learning new subtleties about how fire, meat, and time interact.”
Watching Alex work for 16+ hours reveals something important: while there’s science and precision involved, barbecue remains fundamentally an art form. It requires intuition that can only be developed through experience and a genuine connection to the process.
“The smoker talks to you if you listen,” he says as he finally prepares to leave around 11 PM. “The sound of the fire, the smell of the smoke, the feel of the meat—these things can’t be fully captured in temperature readings or timers.”
This dedication to craft is what separates good barbecue from great barbecue, and it’s why we invested not just in equipment but in finding a pitmaster whose passion matches our commitment to quality.
The next time you enjoy our smoked specialties, remember the hands that tended the fire in the predawn hours, the eyes that watched for the perfect color, and the experience that guided every decision from preparation to plate. That human element—impossible to automate or shortcut—is the true secret ingredient in everything we serve.
