Brisket is not something I do often. In fact, I think I’ve done three over the last few years I’ve been in the BBQ scene. Tonight, a prime grade brisket from Costco. 11lbs of brisket goodness.
Started thursday night - rinsed, trimmed up and dry brined with about 3.5Tbs of kosher. Let sit for 24 hours in the box. Friday night, I pulled and used a little yellow mustard as a binder for Oak Ridge Black Ops brisket rub. I coated liberally so that entire piece was covered and back into ice box.
4am Saturday into the Smokin-it Smoker, 225* with oak and sugar maple chunks. I set a program cook and when I checked just before 7am, it was in the holding temp of 140*. Not sure why it did this but only thing I can think of was with the probe temp jumping all over the place when I first started the cook. It settled in, but perhaps it went over the temp to move to holding temps. Makes me think to just go straight temp and time cook to avoid this in the future. So reprogrammed and off we went at 225 with a target of 193*before I started to probe. As the day went, I got a bit worried since I was behind in where 8 should have been. So at 2pm I bumped the temp up to 265* to help push through the stall, where I was sitting at 165* for a few hours. It worked, and by 4:30pm I was at target probing temp,194/195*point and flat - all spots probed like butter. So into the quad wrapped aluminum foil, towel and cooler. Bark was perfect, a nibble proved flavor was on point, and I couldn’t wait for the brisket!
i got the creamy Cole slaw prepared as well as what actually turned out to be more like grits than Mac and cheese, (used Kenji’s recipe - but I think it was the gluten free noodles sitting too long that made it seem like mush). Once sides were ready, sliced up this 11lb goodness of brisket and served away.
Our good friends were with us, both said may be the best brisket they have had. It was money. The Black Ops rub was perfect. The dry brine worked great - I was actually worried it would be overly salty but worked out perfectly. The flat was perfect, not dry and pulled away like it should. The point was just as good, perfectly cooked after the 2 hour faux cambro hold in the little COLEMAN cooler! The last full packer I smoked was a SRF Wagyu. It was great but this one was probably right there with it.
of course, in between there were homemade margaritas flowing for the ladies and Old Fashions for the guys. A fun night with our two favorite families to spend time with.
