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
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
I’m lucky to have a Costco about 10 miles away.
