Little Dick's holiday party brisket (with pr0n!)

Greetings,

We hosted a Christmas party at the family estate for 20 folks. My wife cooked up a spiral ham and I wanted to add the "cherry on top:" a schmoked brisket.

I have not had good luck location a source for meat and settled on this 7.46 pound "mini packer."



I poked it full of Kosmo's "Hot Beef Injection"





I hit it with some grain mustard



and finally a liberal dusting of Simply Marvelous Sweet Seduction




I was up before the sun to get the schmoke going



I did a Minion style cook in the 22.5 Weber OTG ("Fred") with some chunks of apple wood. I decided to sleep in a little and go "hot and fast" (275-300F). Here we are at three hours in.



Four hours in and I was up to 161F internal



I took it off the schmoke, foiled, and put it in a 350F oven indoors. I could have put it back on the grill and let more air on the fire, but remember the family is on the way? I had other party prep to take care of.

I rested/transported the brisket in the super cooler. Since dinner was on the way to the table, I was not able to rest it as long as I wanted.



Here we are after an hour rest



I cut it up (and could use some help finding the grain) and put a little sauce on it (http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1882089). While it received rave reviews from the family, to me it could have been juicier and the color seemed washed out (see the picture below). I look to four possible explanations:

1. poor cut of meat (not enough marbling)
2. too long in the oven (for a smallish brisket)
3, too short resting
4. my poor knife skills



As always, thanks for looking and I welcome Brethren critique.

Sincerely,
Little Dick

Yep, I agree, I screwed up. Upon seeing the "error of my ways," I did cut some against the grain and it was noticeably better.

tortaboy said:

Hey LD,

Want juicy brisket? Just add some liquid (I use beef broth) when you wrap. Makes all the difference in the world as the brisket sucks up the juice like a sponge.

The more often I see this, the comfortable I feel that the additional liquid is the difference between good brisket and great brisket. I haven't ever injected yet, and frankly, don't know if my briskets could get any juicier and still be sliceable. No skill on my part...just happens when I add the broth.

Click to expand...

tortaboy,

Thanks for the suggestion. I added liquid to the foil when I wrapped. I made a rookie mistake: better go back to knife skills class!

Little Dick

slice a corner off prior to cooking so you know which way to cut after....and always drizzle that sucker with the pan juices after slicing, then serve right away...soaks it up like a sponge!

I always find something I could have done better, I think its half the fun.

Sigh.... Don'tcha hate it when you put a boatload of time and effort and energy into a cook and muff it up in one step? I blew the slicing! Geez! I feel like I've rounded third, headed for home, crossed home plate, but forgot to step on it....except that I batted the day before and spend 18 hours working my way around the bases.

Ughhh!
Little Dick

Po'k said:

slice a corner off prior to cooking so you know which way to cut after....

Click to expand...

Thanks,

Do I cut a corner against the grain so I can use that as a guide?

Thanks,
Little Dick