Author Topic: Nailed it!  (Read 2082 times)

cjdavia@gmail.com

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 52
Nailed it!
« on: December 21, 2020, 03:57:21 PM »
We've smoked about a dozen briskets so far and I was starting to get disappointed with our quest for the perfect brisket, but we finally made a good one... a really good one!  This post is mostly my notes for next time, but I thought I'd share with the group.

1. Brisket selection: Full Packer.  We don't live near a Costco so we were spending a fortune buying choice briskets from the somewhat-local butcher.  For this smoke we were able to grab a prime brisket from Costco for LESS THAN HALF the cost of the choice.  Lesson learned.
2. Trimming the fat: We removed only the hard yellowish fat and silver skin.  We left a little less than half-an-inch of soft fat everywhere.  We used to remove a lot more, we used to even remove the fat that separates the point from the flat, but this time we left it intact.
3. Trimming the brisket: Inspired by Aaron Franklin, we rounded off the edges to make the brisket as aerodynamic as possible and removed the thinnest part of the flat.
4. Rub:  We love this coffee rub (below), but in the past we put it on too thickly which dried out some of the meat.  This time we just dusted it, we didn't cover the meat completely.  We used worcestershire sauce as a binder.  We let it sit overnight in the fridge in a pan while being covered with aluminum foil and taped air tight.
5. Injection:  We never injected before, but after using DivotMaster's recipe (also below), we're never going naked again.  The meat was so moist and tasty, and the injection did not overpower the flavor, we barely noticed it was there.  We injected right before putting it into the smoker and added a little more rub to the places that the injection cleaned off.
6. Probes:  In the past I used to probe the meat in at least 5 different places.  Information overload!  Now we just put two in there, a primary and backup, into the thickest part of the meat (not fat) near where the flat and point converge
7. Final stuff:  Water pan with water and beer, fat cap down, tin foil boats on wood to prevent premature combustion.  We used 5 ounces of (mostly) hickory and oak.  Put in the smoker around 11PM at 225.
8. Temperature:  Don't even peek at the temperature until noon the next day.  Looking early sometimes freaks us out because it looks close-to-done or maybe even overdone in the morning and we all know it is not!  For some reason our stalls are always high, like in the 180-190 range...  After the stall we used to probe it every half hour until it the flat and point both probed like butter, but by the time the flat and point both felt loosey goosey, the temp was usually > 203 degrees and the brisket would taste dry like sandpaper.  This time, we watched carefully for the stall to end and then we took it out of the smoker as it began to climb out of the stall.  The point probed easily.  There was a little resistance at the flat but only as the probe entered.  Once it got in there, there was no resistance so we decided to pull it.  This one was done around 194 degrees.
9. Rest:  We let this rest in foil and towels in the cooler for about 3 hours.

That's it.  This was the best brisket we've ever had and we can't wait to make it again!

Coffee Rub:
From Tallbarb at smokingmeat forums:
Note:  We don’t use black pepper because of allergies.  Rub into brisket the day before

1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup finely ground dark roasted coffee (NOT brewed coffee)
1/4 cup paprika (smoked paprika is even better)
2 tbs. salt (sea salt is even better)
1 tbs. chipotle chili powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp allspice

Injection:
Thanks DivotMaker!
1/2 cup beef broth
1/4 cup Worcestershire
2 tbsp crystal hot sauce
2 tbsp demerara / brown sugar
1 tbsp salt
1/3 cup full flavor beer - we used a nice stout

« Last Edit: December 21, 2020, 04:15:27 PM by cjdavia »
Chris
Madison, CT
Newbie

old sarge

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4046
Re: Nailed it!
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2020, 08:15:47 PM »
Looks real tasty and tender. Costco is worth the trip to get prime.   
David from Arizona
US Army 70 - 95
SI 3D & Big Red Controller
CS 066
Lodge Sportsman Grill
Weber Kettle
Ducane Meridian 42 inch Grill
LEM MaxVac 1088A
LEM Big Bite #8 Grinder
Chef's Choice 665 and Rival Slicers
Old Hickory Knives
InstantPot Duo80 Plus

barelfly

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 943
Re: Nailed it!
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2020, 09:50:21 PM »
Excellent! Love hearing about the success! And thank you for sharing your steps and rub recipe!

And, yes - the Costco Prime brisket is all I will buy for brisket :) I’m lucky to have a Costco about 10 miles away.

Keep on smokin!
Jeremy in NM
3D for lazy q
Bullet 4 burner gasser by Bull Grills
Weber Kettle with a Slow n Sear

cjdavia@gmail.com

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 52
Re: Nailed it!
« Reply #3 on: December 22, 2020, 08:46:04 AM »
Thanks all, I do love that coffee rub!

Hey I do have a question -- We've noticed that our briskets come out more greyish in color and less pink.  Others on this forum seem to get a nice pink color even though the temperature may be higher when they pull it from the smoker.

Do you think we're still overcooking them a bit?

Chris
Chris
Madison, CT
Newbie

barelfly

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 943
Re: Nailed it!
« Reply #4 on: December 22, 2020, 10:20:17 AM »
Your brisket looked like what I get from smoking in the 3D. If you are thinking of a thin pink line just behind the bark, that is a smoke ring that is achieved with live fire smoking/grilling. The actual ring doesn’t add flavor (although the live fire provides a bit different profile). You can achieve a faux smoke ring using some cure, but I haven’t done that before. I don’t remember which cure/powder it is, using the wrong one can be bad and get you sick. Someone may mention it here.

But if you liked your brisket - rub profile, tenderness and it wasn’t dry, I’d say you got it right!
Jeremy in NM
3D for lazy q
Bullet 4 burner gasser by Bull Grills
Weber Kettle with a Slow n Sear

cjdavia@gmail.com

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 52
Re: Nailed it!
« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2020, 03:49:51 PM »
Thanks so much!  Happy Smoking!
Chris
Madison, CT
Newbie

cjdavia@gmail.com

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 52
Re: Nailed it!
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2021, 07:50:31 AM »
OK - so some brisket wierdness goin' on this morning.  I wanted to replicate the last success, this time with a 15.5lb packer, trimmed down to 14lbs. 

Is it possible that it is done after 11 hours?  It probes like butter and temps around 203... I put it in a cooler to rest but this seems really early, doesn't it?

Chris
Chris
Madison, CT
Newbie

barelfly

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 943
Re: Nailed it!
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2021, 09:25:16 AM »
Some cuts just act different and cook way quicker than we expect. I’ve had a few briskets cook up quick like this and I had to hold longer than I expected. Especially when you are getting better quality meat like prime or higher. Just seems to cook quicker.

Enjoy that brisket!
Jeremy in NM
3D for lazy q
Bullet 4 burner gasser by Bull Grills
Weber Kettle with a Slow n Sear

cjdavia@gmail.com

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 52
Re: Nailed it!
« Reply #8 on: February 28, 2021, 09:57:00 AM »
Thanks for the encouragement!  I guess we will know better at lunch time!  This particular brisket did feel different when trimming... it felt more loose and jiggly than usual, if that makes any sense. 

We usually experience late-stalls, in the 190s, so I hope it went through the stall when I was sleeping.  Unfortunately I turned off the smoker so I can't get all the historical data, but here is a screenshot of the last 5 hours...

Chris
Chris
Madison, CT
Newbie

OldeSmoker

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 265
Re: Nailed it!
« Reply #9 on: February 28, 2021, 10:51:58 AM »
Your brisket looks great. I have used Fiesta curing salt (see photo below) in my pork butt brine and it does produce the pink faux smoke ring in the meat. I haven’t tried it in my brisket rub yet but I think I will give it a try on my next brisket smoke. Thanks for sharing your process and recipes.
Paul from Southwest Missouri
*Smokin-It 3D-WiFi
with Bella’s CSG and The Stephanie Cabinet
*Members Mark SS 6 Burner Gas Grill with Sear Burner, Side Burner & Rotisserie
*River Grills Wood Fired Grill and Fire Pit
W/ Rotisserie and Dutch Oven Hanger

cjdavia@gmail.com

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 52
Re: Nailed it!
« Reply #10 on: February 28, 2021, 03:16:30 PM »
Thanks so much for the advice, I'll give the Fiesta a try!

So even though today's brisket finished ten hours early and had a 203 temperature, it came out really great... Juicy and tasty!  I think I could have been more aggressive with the trimming, though.

We held it for 5.5 hours:
-Triple wrapped with foil, plastic wrap, towel.
-Put 2-3 inches of scalding hot water in bottom of cold cooler.
-Used an upside down pan as a platform to keep the brisket dry.
-Put the towel-wrapped brisket into another pan and placed it on top of the platform. 
-Toweled the open spaces. 

3.5 hours later we put the wrapped brisket into the oven at 175 degrees and let it sit for 2 hours.  I believe we could have held it for at least 2 more hours without issue.  Maybe much longer than that too!

We weren't sure if it was OK to leave the plastic wrap in the oven.  Would it melt?  I tested for about 30 minutes.  It seemed like the plastic wrap was holding up just fine at 175, but we removed it because we were going for a walk. 

Pictures below.  Thank you all for the advice and encouragement!

« Last Edit: February 28, 2021, 03:19:11 PM by cjdavia@gmail.com »
Chris
Madison, CT
Newbie