Wife asked what we should have for dinner this past week. Saw that Kroger had pork butts on sale, so I suggested pulled pork tacos as an excuse to try out the slow’n sear that I got for Christmas (Never mind that I still have some frozen pulled pork from my last cook, Shh!). Didn’t get a chance to go to the store until roughly 8 pm on New Year’s Eve. Well by the time on got there, they were sold out of pork butts. Considered just getting a chuck roast, but they weren’t on sale and I hate paying full price for chuck. Needed something I could turn into tacos and didn’t want to just get ground beef, as I wanted an excuse to smoke something... Off to find Briskets, hoping for a small one in the 10-12 lb range that would fit easily in the Kettle. Of course, the only one they had left was a 17+ lb choice. After standing there for what seemed like 5 minutes trying to size it up, I decided I could “make” it fit and put it in the cart.
The next day I trimmed it up, seasoned it up, and injected the flat with half a can of beef broth.
Long story short, I was pleasantly surprised that it fit without having to separate the point and flat or cut it weirdly. I did, however, have to prop up the middle with a few wood chunks to shorten the overall length and just barely got it to fit. Note: the flames in the below pick is just from the wood chunks catching fire due to the lid being open while I finagled the brisket.
Cooked it overnight low and slow and was able to remove the wood chunks in the morning after it had shrunk some.
Funny side story when I went to wrap it: Pulled a long sheet of foil, wrapped up the brisket, got it mostly sealed, and then dumped in the remaining half can of beef broth, only to have it leak out all over the patio at my feet due to a huge tear I somehow put in the bottom of the foil and didn’t see. SMH!
Ended up looking so good that I couldn’t bring myself to eat it as tacos that first night, so we just had sliced brisket with pico de gallo and tortilla chips on the side.
Reheated the leftovers in the oven the next day and then had tacos.
Long story short, you don’t need a fancy huge offset to cook a delicious full packer brisket, even a larger one. Of course, the stick burner is definitely more fun and you can’t beat the better flavor you get of a real wood fire. ...just don’t ever tell my wife...
The next day I trimmed it up, seasoned it up, and injected the flat with half a can of beef broth.
Long story short, I was pleasantly surprised that it fit without having to separate the point and flat or cut it weirdly. I did, however, have to prop up the middle with a few wood chunks to shorten the overall length and just barely got it to fit. Note: the flames in the below pick is just from the wood chunks catching fire due to the lid being open while I finagled the brisket.
Cooked it overnight low and slow and was able to remove the wood chunks in the morning after it had shrunk some.
Funny side story when I went to wrap it: Pulled a long sheet of foil, wrapped up the brisket, got it mostly sealed, and then dumped in the remaining half can of beef broth, only to have it leak out all over the patio at my feet due to a huge tear I somehow put in the bottom of the foil and didn’t see. SMH!
Ended up looking so good that I couldn’t bring myself to eat it as tacos that first night, so we just had sliced brisket with pico de gallo and tortilla chips on the side.
Reheated the leftovers in the oven the next day and then had tacos.
Long story short, you don’t need a fancy huge offset to cook a delicious full packer brisket, even a larger one. Of course, the stick burner is definitely more fun and you can’t beat the better flavor you get of a real wood fire. ...just don’t ever tell my wife...