Jiggly brisket on no reservations

[indianagriller]

I dont post very often, but after reading this thread first it makes me want to cook a few basic briskets as most of the briskets i cook are for competitions and i really dont care for it all that much. Dont get me wrong I love brisket, but i love me some old school salt and pepper brisket cooked on my UDS. Second, what is with all the Aaron Franklin worshipping? Sure he has a resturant that sells out everyday, we have one here in town as well (that is not very good by the way) I havent had his brisket so it may be that good i dont know, but all this stuff about him cooking only with Salt and pepper etc... has been preached numerous times by our own Pitmaster T. Some of you may not like him but there is a wealth of knowledge there. I know he has helped me out quite a bit with his posts and even what little bit I have talked to him through PMs and Facebook. I guess it takes someone being "famous" for people to listen...

[Rich Parker]

Originally Posted by indianagriller

I dont post very often, but after reading this thread first it makes me want to cook a few basic briskets as most of the briskets i cook are for competitions and i really dont care for it all that much. Dont get me wrong I love brisket, but i love me some old school salt and pepper brisket cooked on my UDS. Second, what is with all the Aaron Franklin worshipping? Sure he has a resturant that sells out everyday, we have one here in town as well (that is not very good by the way) I havent had his brisket so it may be that good i dont know, but all this stuff about him cooking only with Salt and pepper etc... has been preached numerous times by our own Pitmaster T. Some of you may not like him but there is a wealth of knowledge there. I know he has helped me out quite a bit with his posts and even what little bit I have talked to him through PMs and Facebook. I guess it takes someone being "famous" for people to listen...

Hard to figure out when Donnie is on his meds....

But the crazy farker did teach me to use a pick to tell when its done instead of looking at a probe. I have had briskets done between 190 - 215 internal.

[CarolinaQue]

Originally Posted by indianagriller

I dont post very often, but after reading this thread first it makes me want to cook a few basic briskets as most of the briskets i cook are for competitions and i really dont care for it all that much. Dont get me wrong I love brisket, but i love me some old school salt and pepper brisket cooked on my UDS. Second, what is with all the Aaron Franklin worshipping? Sure he has a resturant that sells out everyday, we have one here in town as well (that is not very good by the way) I havent had his brisket so it may be that good i dont know, but all this stuff about him cooking only with Salt and pepper etc... has been preached numerous times by our own Pitmaster T. Some of you may not like him but there is a wealth of knowledge there. I know he has helped me out quite a bit with his posts and even what little bit I have talked to him through PMs and Facebook. I guess it takes someone being "famous" for people to listen...

No...it doesn't take some one famous for any one to listen. However, when you see the results live on T.V., it tends to get more peoples attention and gravitate people to that person or style.

It could also be that you need an Enigma machine to decode what PitmasterT is saying some times. He is also hard to read some times if you don't know his personality and that's hard to do on an internet forum, and that can result in people searching for info else where.

But in the end, does it really matter who lit the spark in people to get them cooking great BBQ?

[willbird]

I have only cooked three Briskets so far, number one was of course the first, used the basic brisket format, decent, but maybe a tad underdone.

Number two got a boatload of Montreal steak seasoning and injected with some of the "low sodium" (really...hmm) broth from a carton...but then the sky opened up and I had to stash it in the fridge with all that salt..err seasoning on it, turned out salty, and maybe not done enough.

Number three....oh man :-)....now number 3 was great :-)...I used the Harry Soo format,foiled about 6 hours into the cook, it ended up overdone by to so called "competition" standards probably, I separated the point and gave it another couple hours while the flat rested in a cooler.

Next evolution I think will be Harry Soo but wrapped in butcher paper and cooked until it is utterly done.

I have no aspirations to compete...or make "competition" stuff :-)....I just want to cook food that makes your mouth water for more :-).

Bill

[alane]

Originally Posted by rolfejr

Over the last weekend, after many brisket disasters, including one that may have cost me a trip to the Sam's regionals, I decided to cook a brisket until it was done.

By nature I am a specific person. It must have a deadline, finish line, or end point to make me happy. So the brisket rule "it's done when it's done" was killing me.

So I put the brisky on the WSM at midnight - 250 deg and went to bed. Got up at 6 and wrapped it. Good bark, did not check the temp. Around 10am I started checking with a toothpick for doneness.
At 12:15 pm I finally understood what I should have been looking for all along!
Now I get it. It was spectacular, it had the WOW factor that I was looking for.
No thermometers, no probes, no time limit, just a toothpick and a lot of faith.

I can't wait to cook my next one.

If I understand correctly you cooked it 6 hours wrapped?

[mallorjc]

"But in the end, does it really matter who lit the spark in people to get them cooking great BBQ"

I've only done a few briskets, fair to good only until I started on this thread. Guess I sorta jumped on the worship wagon because I was so happy with the success last weekend. Duplicated yesterday.

All I know is I'm still here reading / learning / improving.

Still using the temp probe for now, but getting the feel for "the feel."

Thanks again, everyone!

[42BBQ]

No one should apologize for who inspires them. When I first started here I watched a ton of Donnie's YouTube videos and learned a crap load, especially after buying a small stickburner. Donnie knows his stuff and on multiple occasions has given me input on threads that was extremely helpful.

I've also been recently inspired by the work of Aaron Franklin and to a smaller degree stuff written ABOUT the Mueller family, Kreuz Market, Snows, Pappy's Smokehouse in St. Louis, etc etc. Every successful person or place can provide inspiration to us. Another huge inspiration to me is Neil AKA Bigmista.

Thank God for the Internet cause I wouldn't know snot about any of this without the brethren.

[rolfejr]

Originally Posted by alane

If I understand correctly you cooked it 6 hours wrapped?

Yes, I pulled the wrap back when I probed.
My commitment was to get a feel for the "soft butter" feel on the probe.
I assume you can achieve the same results without foil or butcher paper but since I had never reached that point before, I wrapped and waited for the feel and the "It's done when it's done" results.
Now I have a baseline.

[Pitmaster T]

I will just say this... let me be clear.... crystalline..... as soon as I got a Vat big enough to immerse APL in it and freeze him in liquid nitrogen, this Franklin BBQ guy who has no actual name and like APL casts no reflection in a camera, well....now I have to buy another vat, possibly one large enough for the two of them.

I hope you all understand now what I am saying. If you don't... read the writing on the back of your last score card.... if there is nothing there... well then.... you may never be able to see His writing if you can't now.

[Smokey Bones]

Question to BBQchef33 who cooked with Franklin.

When prepping all the briskets for the smoker how much trimming did he do of the fat?
No trim, just rub and cook, or was some of the hard and excess fat between the flat and point removed? if so how much, how deep?

Also it looks that he (and some others catering) don't separate the point and flat before serving, just cut them together into pieces and serve. Was that correct for your event also?

[Big Ron]

Great post.

Originally Posted by BBQchef33

guys..

hate to take all the fun out of here.. but..

Aaron Franklins briskets are cooked NO DIFFERENTLY than most of us..

his target temperature zones are wide, and he doesnt pay that much attention to them.. 250-270-- even 300+ degree spikes.. he doesnt care. He just cooks.... just like us, and his rubs are simple rubs. What he does that most of us dont... is he KNOWS briskets.

How do I know this?.. I got the lessons..i cooked with him for 2 days in NYC last week at Meatopia. Back in June, I got a call from a friend who needed someone to help his 'friend' who was coming here to cook and needed hands and equipment.. so I agreed and told him to pass on my number, and the next day i got a call from Aaron Franklin.

i went down to the venue with a double barrel lang 84.. we were given a load of oak and a little cherry.. Aaron had a box with his knives, some terrycloth rags and a roll of butcher paper. He mixed his rub right there.. very simple as he traveled light. We had to prep and cook 50 briskets for service 4PM Saturday. We started 8Pm Friday night.

he trimmed like we do...
he rubbed like we do...
he put the briskets in the pit just like we do..
and he loosly maintained temps... not too concerned about where.. 250-275...290...300... 260.... whatever..the only time he got concerned was when grease caught fire on the deflector plate and started toasting some of the briskets on the bottom shelf. Otherwise.. hes cooks anywhere within the range..

whats different?..... he looks at a brisket, listens to it.. picks it up, feels it, puts it down moves it to different spots...makes determinations..based on what he sees and feels... not once... not a single one... of the 50 briskets ever saw a thermaopen or a probe.. (he had a lime green one that sat in his knife case..never took it out..) he would glance at the pit temp and control airflow by cracking the door to the pit and never touched a damper.. he said his pits in austin dont have dampers on the doors, just the exhaust.. and he controls air with the doors and he controls smoke with how he builds his fires.. he wraps in butcher paper like everyone sees in the videos and he returns to the pit.. and its done when he picks it up, feels it with a squeeze and says.. this ones done, this one needs another 30 minutes, this one needs some higher heat(and moves it closer to the firebox)... he goes by feel.. that is IT.. no magic.... experience... many of us can pick up a rack of ribs, and know if its done by look and feel.. judging the firmness of the meat and the bend to the rack.. and thats how he is with briskets.. he feels it and just knows..

On saturday, after cookign 50 briskets, on a cooker he has never used before, and with nothing in the way of supplies except his knives and a cutting board... he was the one with the line that never ended..Even during a storm, folks never left the line.. and on top of it all..he walks away with the title of Meatopia Grand Champion, leading out over 49 other professional cooks, including APL and and an Iron Chef..

How'd he do it??.. he knows briskets.. period... there is nothing special.. no secrets, no magic ingredient.. chit, he won using completely different wood than he normally uses... he goes by feel, and consistency.. he cooks 1400 lbs a day.. think about it..... thats 90+ briskets A DAY! I dont do that in 2 years. We can analyze this until we are blue in the face..

Franklins briskets are the result of experience..thats it... its not temps, hold times, not the rubs and he does not sauce(he serves sauce on the side to dip).

its simply his experience... so if you want to duplicate his product.. start cookin.