With summer here, many of us love some good barbeque, whether it’s at home or at a good restaurant. With more of us enjoying everything from pork and brisket outside in the summer, we wanted to get an expert’s take on how they do it.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Syracuse has been perfecting beef brisket for 33 years. It may surprise you that the cooking process for the beef brisket you have at lunchtime at Dinosaur begins the night before.

“It’s like training a new guy,” said Syracuse Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Kitchen Manager Rob Corkran.

Corkran comes in before the sun comes up at 5:30 a.m. every morning. He re-fills the smoker with wood and then bastes the beef that has been cooking in the oven for the last nine to 10 hours.

“They’re all different sizes and shapes for the most part so like I said, it’s a game,” Corkran said.

From there, he pulls out the butcher paper and carefully wraps each piece of meat. It cooks a few more hours, and right around 9 a.m., it’s checked for texture and a temperature that should be around 200 degrees.

“This one is tempting the same as that last one. But this one is done, as you can see that bend; that jiggle. That’s what we want,” said Corkran.

The meat then goes into a resting stage, where it will stay warm in a hold oven for another hour or two.

“It’s patience. It’s letting the meat cool down. And, like I said, we put it in the sham to monitor it to make sure it stays above temp,” he said.

The process then starts over in the kitchen, as more brisket is prepped to go in the oven around mid-morning.

“We’re going to open this up because this is solid fat, so it’s going to help all the smoke penetrate into the meat," said Corkran.

It’s now just about 11 a.m. and back in the sham, the resting brisket is ready to be served for lunch. Today is a big day for catering and take-out orders. It’s a constant cycle that takes a team effort and never stops.

“You just saw the guy fabbing the beef so he’s going to be here for seven, eight hours today. I’m going to be here for 10 and the guy who loaded this was here for 10. So, you’re getting 28 hours’ worth of work in a sandwich,” Corkran said.

It's a process that many certainly appreciate. Corkran said the brisket is extra popular these days with many catered events returning.

Dinosaur has been busy with graduations, weddings and other parties on top of its regular customer base.