4th of July Angus Brisket

[gregbooras]

I purchased a 11 lb. Angus brisket from RD last week and I just put it in the brine. I will pull later tonight, inject and then put in the smoker before going to bed.

Smoked Brined & Injected Brisket 

Brisket
11 lb. flat Angus brisket - RD

Brine ingredients:
1 ½  gallon of water
285 g fine sea salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1.5 t (#1 cure)
1.5 T garlic powder
1.5 onion powder

Injection marinade:
4 cups water (bring to a boil and then add the rest of the ingredients, simmer for 15 minutes)
2 T Minors beef stock
1 T Minors Au Jus
1 t. Cholula Chipotle Hot Sauce

Rub:
I use my rub (any low salt rub you like with work)



Greg

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[Grampy]

Greg, looks like a solid plan. Should make for some good eats!

[gregbooras]

Greg, looks like a solid plan. Should make for some good eats!

Thanks Jimmy,

I took Tony's advice and added some garlic and onion powder to my brine!

Greg

[DivotMaker]

I took Tony's advice and added some garlic and onion powder to my brine!

Way go go, Greg!  Looks like you have a great plan in place!  The butt I brined last weekend even got a shot of Tony Checherie's Cajun seasoning!  I never stop trying different ingredients!

[gregbooras]

I took Tony's advice and added some garlic and onion powder to my brine!

Way go go, Greg!  Looks like you have a great plan in place!  The butt I brined last weekend even got a shot of Tony Checherie's Cajun seasoning!  I never stop trying different ingredients!

Thanks Tony,

Its really nice to what others are doing and give some of them a try

Greg

[gregbooras]

Brisket went into the Brine at 6:00 this morning, I just pulled it (12 hours total), injected and then applied the rub.

Back into the refrigerator until 10:00 pm or when I hit the sheets.




Greg

[gregbooras]

Brisket went in the smoker at 10:00 pm. last night.

When I got up this morning I was really surprised to see that the brisket (11 lbs.) was already sitting at 189 degrees (8.5 hours).

I will wait till it its 195 and then double check temp with my Thermapen.

Greg

[Booray]

Same thing happened to me Greg. I lowered the temp to 215 when mine got to 176 after 7.5 hours. Still got to 195 at 11 hours (1hr per pound). Can't wait to see pictures of yours.

[gregbooras]

Well the brisket hit 194 degrees in 10 hours, which just seemed to fast to me. I opened the door and took a few reading with my Thermapen and the readings we closer to 189 degrees. 

I then looked at my probe and realized when I put it in last night it was really close to the smoker hole (see photo when I placed the brisket in last night below). Moved probe and the reading dropped to 189 degrees. Sprayed the brisket with a bit of water and closed it up until it hits 195 degrees.



Greg

[DivotMaker]

How'd it come out, Greg?

[gregbooras]

Well the smoke is over and overall I was a bit disappointed with the end result. My friend and neighbor went to RD and purchased two briskets, I went with the Angus, Paul went with the less expensive cut. Yesterday Paul smoked his and brought me a sample and the taste and moisture was excellent.

With this in mind I was really excited about the Angus cut I bought. But this morning when I got up the brisket was already showing 189 degrees after only 9 hours. Total time for the brisket was 13 hours for a 11lb. brisket, held in the smoker for an additional six hours.

Results.....

Excellent bark, really nice smoke ring and the taste was really good. But overall the meat was dry and it was over cooked. When I sliced it, I was surprised at the amount of fat that I did not see while trimming.

The meal was still good and I have lots of leftovers from BBQ pizza and maybe sandwiches, but not my best. My other concern is that I also purchased a second  Angus brisket in the freezer. So when I decided to smoke that later in the month, I am have to really consider how to make sure it does not turn out dry.

Photos below!







Greg

[DivotMaker]

Greg, sorry about your results!  The pic looks good, though!  I would suspect that your 6 hour hold, before serving, was the reason for the dryness, more than the type of meat.  That's a long hold, and if it was done unwrapped in the smoker, you were probably still cooking.  I typically average around 1 hour/lb on briskets, so your time seems fine to me.  Was it wrapped during the hold?  And, if in the smoker, did you allow the box to cool to 140 before leaving it in there?

[gregbooras]

Greg, sorry about your results!  The pic looks good, though!  I would suspect that your 6 hour hold, before serving, was the reason for the dryness, more than the type of meat.  That's a long hold, and if it was done unwrapped in the smoker, you were probably still cooking.  I typically average around 1 hour/lb on briskets, so your time seems fine to me.  Was it wrapped during the hold?  And, if in the smoker, did you allow the box to cool to 140 before leaving it in there?

Hey Tony,

Yep I added some Au Jus and tripled wrapped. Allowed the box to drop in temp and set for 140 degrees. I agree the six hours seems long, but I did the same thing on my last Brisket and it was juicy.

Oh well, next time I am going to look at the brisket at 190 degrees and do the test Pork Belly suggested.

Greg

[DivotMaker]

OK, Greg...I guess it was the meat!

[gregbooras]

OK, Greg...I guess it was the meat!

Hey Tony,

I am not blaming the meat, but something in my process did not work this time. When I bake and cook/smoke I work on a recipe until it works, then I repeat it. In this case what I did in the past did not transfer to this cook.

So next time, I will see if I missed some variable and maybe try a few new tricks....

Dinner was still good and it will make nice left overs, I tend to be my biggest critic, but it keeps me on my toes!

Greg