BobBill
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2013
- Location
- Winona, MN
Brisket notes (I have been cooking stuff for 50 years and usually keep notes for next time...
I once thought brisket required special temp watch etc. But, most is BS,
Believe this: "Simple is usually best in beginning and almost always in end."
Meat was 5.3 # flat choice Costco (low-? price was 30 $scoots?) brisket, How a brisket could be prime is beyond me.
Anyway…a tale of a lucky smoke, just passing it on, for what it is worth.
I used on-line references noted below for basics. I must also note I have cooked brisket often in oven and understand most the talk around it is BS. Brisket, basically, you baste until meat "gives up" to tender.
In oven, it might take 4-5 hours seasoned a bit, browned, sitting on slew of sliced onion, with baste half way up meat. (That baste is different than below also.) Big deal around this Welsh/Irish house.
Night before:
No browning, just S & Peppered meat - like wet sand - covered and put in fridge, fat side down - way it went on smoker, fat side down. I flipped to fat side up, which it went into AL pan in cover mode..
Smoker thingy…
All 4 vents wide open and chimney vent.
Used debarked 3 pcs 1-inch diameter pieces of foot-long hickory…put into basket vertical, and charcoals mixed with the charred wood stuff from last smoke in center around wook, plus couple chopped pieces of same hickory plus say pound of regular charcoal and a bit more of the charred wood stuff…which I got going in chimney...and poured in basket before lowering into smoker.
After a few minutes, guessing on temp, see below…I added meat and squished it together tight to retard spreading out and drying as it shrank.
Time was 7AM it set meat on grille and squinched meat together and covered with the vented top for the smoke.
Thing was, I misplaced the temp thingy, and had to go on guts ‘til I found it.
When I added it to cover, temp was near 360…had to live with that…What the hay!
I basically shut down smoker: closed only three lower vents and the adjustable vent to lower, which it did not really respond to well/fast, but it did hit 300 after hour or so.
After hour or so, I opened one vent and the adj to stablize temp at 250 or 300.
Then, around 3 hours later, the temp dropped below 200, so I pulled all and found the coals near gone???? Have not clue what was going on, save the heat in beginning must have been the hot coals and it burned down, duh!
Since it was near noon now, so thing had been smoking for 3 hours by then, (I read the meat only takes so much smoke) so I just added plain charcoal over what was there and let it set for a bit to get going, brisket in breeze…
Then I covered and when got it to 250 I went for an hour walk. Time now 2:30 PM
And time to flip to fat side up, cover and baste according to what I read (do Texas and KC places really cover and baste? I don’t think so, cause I have tried doing like they do, low and slow no cover…and the meat seems to dry out…course I do not chop up and add sauces etc, maybe they do???
Am sure, if “burnt ends” are the goal, one hold off the baste and then heats up smoker and replaces those parts to crisp…who knows?
Baste: Made this early: 1C apple juice; .25t or so of instant espresso or made strong coffee, say a shot or so; .5T of balsamic vinegar;.5T brown sugar, not much; .25t ground or pinch cloves; (I add pinch of cloves and the coffee to every beef dish, even burgers no longer recall why) plus half shot of Amaretto.
Mix well and let sit at room temp until needed.
I was going to follow link recipe below and put AL-wrapped brisket into oven, it was warm day and
Figured … why not let meat just set in smoker at 250 instead of oven…unless winter cold?…so I put brisket into a saved AL pan we used for a pork roast and cleaned, covered tight with foil and poured baste over it---and
Replaced on smoker…230 PM…
At around 4:30, instead of taking off and letting it set for hour, when I came back from walk, why do that, I thought, when I could just shut smoker down, and let it sit until dinner at 5-5:30 pm/
I like hands-off, forgetaboutit smoking…that’s sort of part of it to me.
Meantime I made batch of BBQ sauce per recipe link below…
I must have dozen BBQ sauce recipes, and simple is best. The below is no-brainer:
.5 C frozen (if no have chopped, which I forgot) or fresh chopped onions in 1-2T Olive oil sautéed, with .5T Chile powder; .5t black p + s, some minced garlic, tad of horseradish…1T Lea Perrins Worcester Sauce; 1T balsamic vinegar; 1C ketch; .25C cider vin; 2-3C yellow mustard; 1/8C A1 Sauce; .25t-.5t Tabasco; 1/8Cdark molasses, some brown sugar, being to boil and let simmer…all to taste of course.
I like brisket plain, so sauce was separate and Ginger made her nifty slaw, which is good on the meat in sandwich and even with BBQ sauce…so…we were surprised, the meat was perfect, fit for the BBQ queen, seriously. Fell apart, all the screw ups etc.
Might want to read this link: http://amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/texas_brisket.html
Here is link for added bbq sauce adj as above…in place of unavail lemon I used a bit more cider vin and could have added a hair more.
http://amazingribs.com/recipes/BBQ_sauces/kansas_city_classic_BBQ_sauce.html
Link for basic smoked brisket recipe… go down to Brian’s… http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118665
I began to fire up smoker at 6 AM, we sat down to dinner at 5:15 PM, to give perspective.
I began missing some things, and subbed, like the lemon juice in the sauce etc and worked logically, not using oven, etc.
Thing is, the brisket, instead of disaster, which I expected, was as good as it could be…remember it was a flat one…
I know I should have taken pics, but I was hungry and decided screw the pics, next time might be disaster, so here you go.
I once thought brisket required special temp watch etc. But, most is BS,
Believe this: "Simple is usually best in beginning and almost always in end."
Meat was 5.3 # flat choice Costco (low-? price was 30 $scoots?) brisket, How a brisket could be prime is beyond me.
Anyway…a tale of a lucky smoke, just passing it on, for what it is worth.
I used on-line references noted below for basics. I must also note I have cooked brisket often in oven and understand most the talk around it is BS. Brisket, basically, you baste until meat "gives up" to tender.
In oven, it might take 4-5 hours seasoned a bit, browned, sitting on slew of sliced onion, with baste half way up meat. (That baste is different than below also.) Big deal around this Welsh/Irish house.
Night before:
No browning, just S & Peppered meat - like wet sand - covered and put in fridge, fat side down - way it went on smoker, fat side down. I flipped to fat side up, which it went into AL pan in cover mode..
Smoker thingy…
All 4 vents wide open and chimney vent.
Used debarked 3 pcs 1-inch diameter pieces of foot-long hickory…put into basket vertical, and charcoals mixed with the charred wood stuff from last smoke in center around wook, plus couple chopped pieces of same hickory plus say pound of regular charcoal and a bit more of the charred wood stuff…which I got going in chimney...and poured in basket before lowering into smoker.
After a few minutes, guessing on temp, see below…I added meat and squished it together tight to retard spreading out and drying as it shrank.
Time was 7AM it set meat on grille and squinched meat together and covered with the vented top for the smoke.
Thing was, I misplaced the temp thingy, and had to go on guts ‘til I found it.
When I added it to cover, temp was near 360…had to live with that…What the hay!
I basically shut down smoker: closed only three lower vents and the adjustable vent to lower, which it did not really respond to well/fast, but it did hit 300 after hour or so.
After hour or so, I opened one vent and the adj to stablize temp at 250 or 300.
Then, around 3 hours later, the temp dropped below 200, so I pulled all and found the coals near gone???? Have not clue what was going on, save the heat in beginning must have been the hot coals and it burned down, duh!
Since it was near noon now, so thing had been smoking for 3 hours by then, (I read the meat only takes so much smoke) so I just added plain charcoal over what was there and let it set for a bit to get going, brisket in breeze…
Then I covered and when got it to 250 I went for an hour walk. Time now 2:30 PM
And time to flip to fat side up, cover and baste according to what I read (do Texas and KC places really cover and baste? I don’t think so, cause I have tried doing like they do, low and slow no cover…and the meat seems to dry out…course I do not chop up and add sauces etc, maybe they do???
Am sure, if “burnt ends” are the goal, one hold off the baste and then heats up smoker and replaces those parts to crisp…who knows?
Baste: Made this early: 1C apple juice; .25t or so of instant espresso or made strong coffee, say a shot or so; .5T of balsamic vinegar;.5T brown sugar, not much; .25t ground or pinch cloves; (I add pinch of cloves and the coffee to every beef dish, even burgers no longer recall why) plus half shot of Amaretto.
Mix well and let sit at room temp until needed.
I was going to follow link recipe below and put AL-wrapped brisket into oven, it was warm day and
Figured … why not let meat just set in smoker at 250 instead of oven…unless winter cold?…so I put brisket into a saved AL pan we used for a pork roast and cleaned, covered tight with foil and poured baste over it---and
Replaced on smoker…230 PM…
At around 4:30, instead of taking off and letting it set for hour, when I came back from walk, why do that, I thought, when I could just shut smoker down, and let it sit until dinner at 5-5:30 pm/
I like hands-off, forgetaboutit smoking…that’s sort of part of it to me.
Meantime I made batch of BBQ sauce per recipe link below…
I must have dozen BBQ sauce recipes, and simple is best. The below is no-brainer:
.5 C frozen (if no have chopped, which I forgot) or fresh chopped onions in 1-2T Olive oil sautéed, with .5T Chile powder; .5t black p + s, some minced garlic, tad of horseradish…1T Lea Perrins Worcester Sauce; 1T balsamic vinegar; 1C ketch; .25C cider vin; 2-3C yellow mustard; 1/8C A1 Sauce; .25t-.5t Tabasco; 1/8Cdark molasses, some brown sugar, being to boil and let simmer…all to taste of course.
I like brisket plain, so sauce was separate and Ginger made her nifty slaw, which is good on the meat in sandwich and even with BBQ sauce…so…we were surprised, the meat was perfect, fit for the BBQ queen, seriously. Fell apart, all the screw ups etc.
Might want to read this link: http://amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/texas_brisket.html
Here is link for added bbq sauce adj as above…in place of unavail lemon I used a bit more cider vin and could have added a hair more.
http://amazingribs.com/recipes/BBQ_sauces/kansas_city_classic_BBQ_sauce.html
Link for basic smoked brisket recipe… go down to Brian’s… http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118665
I began to fire up smoker at 6 AM, we sat down to dinner at 5:15 PM, to give perspective.
I began missing some things, and subbed, like the lemon juice in the sauce etc and worked logically, not using oven, etc.
Thing is, the brisket, instead of disaster, which I expected, was as good as it could be…remember it was a flat one…
I know I should have taken pics, but I was hungry and decided screw the pics, next time might be disaster, so here you go.
