Tried something new with brisket.

Brian in Maine said:

Yesterday I smoked a 6# brisket flat fat side down at 250 * to an internal temp of 165*. I the put it in a tightly sealed foil pan with a cup of beef broth fat side up, and cooked at 350 until 190*. I took it out of the foil re-seasoned with rub, and put on the grate (still at 350*) fat side down, (Planning to take it to 195*) to firm up the bark.
This is where it gets strange. The internal temp started to drop. over 35 minutes it dropped 10*, to 180*. At this point I re-foiled the flat, and it finally topped off at 195*. The brisket cam out good tasting, but a little dry. Next time I think that I will take it all the way to 195, then re-season and put it back on to firm up the bark.

Click to expand...

Hmmm...that's a bit odd...next time start it off @ 350 (for the whole smoke)...foil @ 170 ish...then cooler @ 195 ish (or when your probe slides in like butter)...

I do not see one thing at all strange about that or where it is coming from.

You do what you suggest you are going to do and I guarantee you will have probably the best Brisket you can get in your area. But nevertheless dry as hell-- although less dry than last time.

Hey, its okay though - I made some ribs last night that i cannot figure out whether they are awful or so outside the box they may be the new trend.

now back to your brisket....

1. forget the IT. Some briskets are done to perfection at 168, more at 180, even more at 185 and a few, very few at 195 (meaning that the most are past their prime) and only good because you still have all that liquid in the foil.

2. at the very least, not considering the ring set techiniques) i am serious... starting off wicked hot makes since in the beginning on most meats instead of at the end.

3. your process is very close to the old traditional method of famous trailhands like Jetton who boiled or simmered first, then grilled the meats on pits the rest of the way. Many on this forum who are old enough to remember large BBQs being done this way remember the great Q. However... Jetton never cooked the meat passed its done point ever for any reason... which is what you did. Probably at 180 I bet the brisket was prime for a nice hold as it converts into something of a wonderous nature. the meat will often lower or slow in its climb during the stall as the tenderizing process goies through its strokes.

My Brisket has probably (from what I am told repeatedly) the best bark around. This is due to NO shortcuts. I do hot and fast but at the lower ends like 270-300 average. if I did 350 I am afraid I would have to cover it with foil then ruin the bark then start again like you are intending to do. So I modify. If you want 350 most of the way... then I suggest foiling. Its just 270-300 with no foil seems to be the chit if you are doing so many that foil is not practical... which is what I do.

I can say one thing that is weird though... as many know I do wrap in plastic to hold my briskets for convenience. This locks in the moisture but also destroys the bark I work so had for. No problem, I think it has to do with my rub... but once I lay those puppies out on the counter to cool (so I can handle them) the bark snaps back.

Brian, when the Brisket was in the foil pan at 350, it was probably cooking at closer to 375 or so. So when you took it out of the pan and onto the fire it was actually going to a cooler place...

Brian in Maine said:

I see that you are cooking packers. have you cooked flats with your method?

Click to expand...

Why would someone use a flat only...other than not being able to get one.

I have done flats because one time someone supplied them for me... that was the last time I ever let anyone dictate to me what to get. Flat area special breed all there own. I can only imagine how dried out the meat was now knowing you did all this with a flat.

Now when I did flats it was at a lower temp that day. I have done them super high speed, like at 300 before and I find they are a little better.

In the same way Jetton would once look at guys using packers for BBQ (which he shifted to just before he died) many of us see using flats as futile. Plus, the onces I see barely have any fat to determine which side goes down in any case.

Jetton shifted to packers because he thought they were "self basting."

Flats have very little room for that so unless you are going to keep them in a bath of their own or added juices, or inject the chit out of them, then lickety split and rest is a good way to go.

barbefunkoramaque said:

My Brisket has probably (from what I am told repeatedly) the best bark around. This is due to NO shortcuts. I do hot and fast but at the lower ends like 270-300 average. if I did 350 I am afraid I would have to cover it with foil then ruin the bark then start again like you are intending to do. So I modify. If you want 350 most of the way... then I suggest foiling. Its just 270-300 with no foil seems to be the chit if you are doing so many that foil is not practical... which is what I do.

I can say one thing that is weird though... as many know I do wrap in plastic to hold my briskets for convenience. This locks in the moisture but also destroys the bark I work so had for. No problem, I think it has to do with my rub... but once I lay those puppies out on the counter to cool (so I can handle them) the bark snaps back.

Click to expand...

Interesting reading!:thumb:
firecrackerjack

Brian in Maine said:

I asked a butcher if he could get packers for me, and he said that he could, and it would cost about $3.00 per pound, so it looks as though flats it is.

Click to expand...

how much are you paying for the flat ?

Flats at Sam's are usually in the $2.80-$3/lb range here in KC. Can't imagine them being cheaper in Maine.

Brian in Maine said:

I paid $3.46/# for the one I cooked yesterday.

Click to expand...

Then why wouldn't you consider paying $3/lb for the whole packer from your butcher ?

are you concerned about not using what you don't eat after it's cooked ?

Look... you yankees forget time after time what brisket is.

A brisket is a piece of crap cut that is pretty fatty. the lower the grade the more fatty... and somewhat more concentrated marveling (instead of distributed).

Now at competition level in the RIGHT hands the quality is very important. Myron says some **** about "why am I gonna risk winning 1000s with a cut if meat thats 30 bucks cheaper" Well aint none of us are myron damn mixon. LOL And if we are... well it took Myron a lot of god damn years to be myron fuc in mixon so aint that some happy chit?

I once got choice HEB briskets for like 88 cents and due to that avert I also bought walmart brand (its the only damn stuff they make thats not "injected") for the same price. The average price for meat then was maybe 1.70 a pound so you see the value. It happened because our church facilities director was damn good at pitching one store against another.

Anyway I had about 500 pounds of HEB briskets and maybe 400 of wally mart select crap.

The choice stuff is in that dalamatian video and if you loom you see its VERY flimsy. The Select is in my Epiphany video and if you watch me load or rub each one you will see the difference.

In the end they were both identical because I treated them the same... the select took more effort. But the skills I have on select are transferable to choice and above to a point... the premium **** then becomes even more temperamental than a 18 pound right handed select cut off a 200 year old field steer.

HERE is the point.... at a tournament meat quality matters. Otherwise, if you adjust the way you trim and the way you smoke the cuts... they can be very comparative.

If you chose a select cut and are very good at cooking it... I'd be willing to bet you can clean up the floor with some of the competitors up there. If you buy an expensive cut and screw it up.... same thing... you can lose.

At your level... buy those so called crappy cuts at walmart PACKERS. I had to talk my local walmart to literally have them shipped.

Another thing, don't be a meat snob when your training. As well, don't be a schmuck!

I knew this one guy in Connecticut and I bought some walmart brand packers for myself, maybe two cases. We lived near each other so I write him because he was doing piss poor on brisket at some new england competitions and I suggested he not spend so much and PRACTICE on cheap packers. If you can make packers a delicacy then upgrading will only be easier... and his basic problems were --- basic... and not due to the quality of his meat. His problems was... well, he had Pitmaster's disease. That means you are the best qer all your friends know of and you win a couple of trophies from tournaments that are meaninless because they have crappy cooks in the state or area... or its a place a somewhat decent cook can go when they can't place to get to the Jack so they can make that claim... and then look like a moron at the actual Jack because they are round REAL pitmasters. Where was I???? Anyway, Pitmaster's disease happens round about 4 years into the art (some never get out) and you start believing your own bull**** about your abilities. Meanwhile your **** still stinks. But hey, your friends believe ya, right?

His response was something like "I will let you use that walmart crap" and something like 'you can come by a polish my "harpoon" trophy any time. That's right, the harpoon contest.

Okay... so... in much the same way you can learn a lot by popping a flat in the oven wrapped in foil to test a procedure or cook chicken in the oven to get the skin right before you test it in a real smoker (which saves money) don't be a snob or a schmuck. Not sayin you are... I am just saying don't be one.

The guy that was too snobby to use a few 99 cent a pound walmart packers still is having quite the crap streak lately and I wonder just how many high priced cuts of meat he has ruined to get those scores.

bark is overrated

swamprb said:

bark is overrated

Click to expand...

And yet yo' Mama is NOT. :clap2::-D