A noob introduction

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reptileis

Guest
Hi all,

well....since I joined I might as well post my first (and latest) success. During the Memorial day weekend I did what you all did and stayed awake all night to make food for folks. It was my second attempt at a Brisket and I wanted to make sure it turned out- So I added in a component that is new to me called Fab B Lite. I did 2 12lb slabs one wid and one wid out the Fab. Here is what I did and the results in a write up I sent to the mfg of Fab to post: Enjoy.



Mike's Memorial Day Brisket experiment and recipe for success:

Preamble: Mike Blain Bellingham, WA. mike@prostbev.com 360 223-2920
It is tough for novice BBQ'ers to find workable flavor combinations and techniques to produce a superior BBQ brisket- after a couple days of misc. research I got lucky and paired tips and recipes from various forums and advice from great friends which actually culminated into a finished product that worked amazingly well. Here is everything that was done:
1)Purchase a full brisket (10 and 12 lb)- Look for high marbling within the meat. I Allowed the meat to age an additional week on the bottom area of the fridge (warmer than the top area).
2) At 24 hrs prior to cooking- wash and dry the brisket well, trim fat to 1/4 inch thickness, and began injecting "Fab B lite" into the meat with the fat side down. I also cut the tip to visually indicate the lay of the grain for cutting when done.
FAb product was mixed 4.5 oz (by weight) of powder to 3 cups of 50% homemade beef stock, 50% gala apple juice and 1 TB rub with 1/4 cup of bacon grease. Mix well with stick blender until it has the consistency of a fluid gravy. Inject 2oz per pound of meat.
3) let set up in fridge for 2 hours- to avoid losing the injected fluids prior to applying the rub.
4) coat the brisket with bacon grease- starting with the fat side up, and liberally apply the rub- I massaged it into all of the crevices and then re sprinkled with rub lightly to cover any exposed areas. Flip the brisket onto whatever pan or tray you will use to convey it to the grill and repeat the grease and rub for the next side- this side will be face up when cooking. (the less handling of the meat the better the crust will remain on the finished product).
Rub---- "Big Bad Beef Rub" Yields 1/2 cup:
3 T. coarsely ground pepper blend.
2 T. Kosher salt
2 teaspoon. "Texas Fort Worth light" chili powder blend (penderys)
1 T. Onion powder
1 teaspoon. homemade Chipotle powder
2 teaspoons. Mustard powder
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
4) Cover the brisket well with saran wrap and stow in bottom of fridge for 24 hours.
5) Heat your Chargriller side fire box up as you enjoy a beer.
At 6:30 PM prior to the day you want to serve your brisket, place (using your hands to pick it up so that you don't "Poke the **** out of it with holes") the meat (still fat side down) on the opposite side of the grill. You should have the cap (thicker side) beneath the exhaust vent (where the heat flows across more). Place a pyrex tray half full of water in the smoker, close the lid and begin having another beer.
Your temp at meat level should be 190-210 degrees and maintain this temp, checking about every 2 hours, all night. I used lump mesquite charcoal and added no additional woods or smoke making stuff (it's a brisket not a pork butt). The next morning (starting about 5 am or so) increase the heat to as much as 250 ish- open the fire box lid to relieve additional heat when necessary. We kept the temp fluctuating between 225 and 255 as best we could. It took 4 different temp probes and cross checking to ensure we were getting accurate temp readings. drink lots of beers now.
Your temp will eventually plateau around 170 degrees internally- keep cooking it! The temp will begin to rise again and reach your internal target of 187-190 degrees.
When temp is reached, carefully lift the brisket off the grill, onto its chopping board. Cover it with towels (thickly to keep heat in) and allow to rest for 30 minutes before you begin breaking it down (cutting it up). Have more beer during this rest interval.
This recipe was done side by side with another brisket prepared the exact same except w/out the injection.
The results between the two were profoundly different:
Terrence, which we named the injected brisket, was super moist inside- and stunned everyone with exceptional flavor, fall apart tenderness and attractive appearance as slices.
Phillip, which we named the non injected brisket, had exceptional tenderness was less moist and had a drier appearance side by side with Terrence. It also had a 1/2 inch thick smoke ring (sat higher in the chargriller than Terrence for 2/3 the cooking duration) This brisket was exceptional by any standard of brisket mastery but Terrence was the crowds choice hands down, no contest!
With 24 lbs of meat cooked- no leftovers remained by our modest sized group of BBQ attendees and Brisket aficionados. The meat was carved by a gal who formerly worked at a Texas BBQ house (in Texas) as their brisket carver- Her opinion of the briskets was that they both were an extremely high quality, well cooked and flavorful product- but the injected one was the champ over all. This was the second brisket I have ever attempted, my first attempt left me reluctant to attempt this cut of meat again...I'm glad I did though!

Additional note: The side fire box was modded to hold an elevated metal coal basket- this significantly helped to create a manageable and uniform smoker temp.





Well Thats my write up. I hope it relays my success with trying a new product. Ive read that it has seen some good results in competition...which provided good enough risk security for me to try it.

Chow!
 
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