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View Full Version : not my first brisket, but this cook had many firsts- my brisket experiement


Kyle Serlington
08-29-2016, 09:53 PM
So the last time I cooked a brisket was almost 2 months ago, and it was my best one yet. I cooked it on my tried and true WSM. I've had a GMG Daniel Boone since May and my results haven't been satisfactory, yet I decided to keep experimenting.

This was my first brisket cooked on my pellet grill
This was my first Choice Angus packer
This was the smallest packer I've ever cooked
This was my first low and slow packer
This was my first brisket without wrapping in foil or butcher paper
This was my first brisket where I was drinking during prep

Here's what I started with:
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14184320_10153754985496373_4574454491283600471_n.j pg?oh=46c4a23d79db94bb0e0d094d97230793&oe=583D3EC9

yes, the date is July 31st. I actually bought this on July 2nd and immediately put it in my freezer. a couple weeks ago I pulled it out of the freezer and it fully thawed, but after it thawed I saw that the weather wasn't going to let me cook it within a week, so I did some research and determined that it would be safe to refreeze and rethaw, it just might take away from the quality of the meat. I pulled it out of the freezer again sometime last week, knowing that I would start it sunday morning and eat it sunday afternoon. I had 2 weddings to go to on saturday, so I came home sunday morning around 12am or so and I was a lil tipsy. I got the brisket out, trimmed it, seasoned it, and put it in the freezer while I got the GMG going. I put it in the freezer because I read that the meat takes on more smoke when it's cold, and with a pellet grill I'll take all the help I can get. I got the grill started up and it settled in at about 205 to 210 degrees, I wanted to do it super low because it was my first overnight brisket and I didn't wanna risk it being falling apart when I woke up. I put a water pan in the smoker on the right side right by my Don Godke downdraft because that's the hottest part of the grill. the right side usually runs at least 25 degrees hotter than the left side. So i put the brisket on the left side with the thickest part facing the right side, and I had my Smoke tube filled with a mix of 100% hickory Lumberjack pellets with some hickory chips mixed in. I had a drip pan under the meat to catch the juices
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14203303_10153754985466373_831440331315686041_n.jp g?oh=30be54e9aedb8147638e898aa44bede6&oe=5852F0EC

I filled the hopper with the same lumberjack pellets, and I checked it twice during the night while I got up to pee and it was using less fuel than I thought it would. I forgot what the meat temp was when I woke up, I think it was in the 150's, maybe less, so I got another smoke tube goin to add more flavor, knowing that I get about 4 hours per tube. I think this pic was taken at 12 hours into the cook (1:30PM)
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14100521_10153754985636373_4662942924928286978_n.j pg?oh=888bc0a33fe9ecfd638fb88a7ffdbf16&oe=58858469

One thing I forgot to mention is that when I started the cook the tip of the probe actually came off the cord, and during this whole cook the probe read higher than the actual temp I got with my other meat thermometer. at 12 hours into the cook I decided to bump the temp up a bit so it settled in at about 225. with the temp that low and with no wrap the stall was very long. after a couple hours I bumped the temp up to 250. and a while after that I got impatient and bumped the temp up higher and moved the meat to the hot end of the grill, where the temp was between 300 and 325, but that was only for the last hour. I kept probing it and while parts of the flat still didn't feel like butter, I decided to take the meat off at 17.5 hours into the cook when the meat was at 208. If it was a saturday night I would have gone a little longer, but at 6:30pm on a sunday night I needed to get this thing done since I had to be up at 6am monday morning. I pulled it and set it in foil and but I didn't wrap the top. I poured a little of the juice over it to soak in during the rest
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14095853_10153754988776373_2092208241807683812_n.j pg?oh=3d084ab487338ad8681859f71e5e3ba0&oe=583CD13D

I let it rest for about 40 minutes and the temp only dropped down to the 180s. I know I should have let it go longer but damnit I was hungry and it was getting late!
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14192545_10153754988711373_7448635501524075706_n.j pg?oh=a880065f91e8e78f781a4384d80a71cc&oe=58556159

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14095873_10153754988716373_680296900137912557_n.jp g?oh=c6990ea3329b3f349c95d71ad08c5647&oe=583DCF7A

obviously, the flat is D-R-Y. the point thought was great, it was tender, moist, and fatty as it should be. The smoke ring was just ok. I've gotten better rings on shorter cooks with ribs and pork bellies. I didn't mop the brisket at all, and I'm wondering if that had something to do with it because I hear that moisture is supposed to help with the ring. I did the tenderness test and failed pretty bad with the slice that I chose.
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14089109_10153754988871373_3097036170781126489_n.j pg?oh=20ba4f6daacc8f147f7ec75a34db6e62&oe=5851A14D

This was one of the first slices I made though, it got more tender as I got more into the point, those slices definitely would have passed the test. Along with the brisket I had an ear of corn and some homemade baked beans. For the beans I did a mix of navy beans, kidney beans, and pinto beans with a mix of bbq sauce, ketchup, hot sauce, root beer, brown sugar, green bell pepper, chopped onions, and some chunks of smoked pork belly thrown in.

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14192568_10153754988926373_4366875458722792455_n.j pg?oh=6f8d80035cb8b2d2886aa89a6460fe63&oe=5843ADD0

so what I got from this cook is that super low and slow is so not worth it. I can get a better flavor and texture on my WSM cooking at 275 to 300 for 7 hours or so. I will say, I did like the bark on this, it was very flavorful and it had a nice crunch, but in some spots it was a little too dry.

another conclusion is that choice may not be that much better than select, BUT I can't 100% confirm that, I may have screwed up that comparison because of my freezing, thawing, refreezing, and then thawing again method for this cook. also, maybe the size had something to do with it.

as for the flavor, it actually tasted better than some of the briskets I've done on my weber. On the weber I've had a brisket or two where I got that pot roast flavor because I wrapped in foil. this brisket was totally naked and there was no pot roast flavor, but it also didn't have a super strong smoke flavor, it was subtle and it let the rub shine through a little.

After this cook I'm not sure that I want to keep my GMG. I'm going to experiment a little more. next time I wanna start a brisket on my weber for 2 or 3 hours and then move it to the pellet grill to cook over night. I forgot to mention that after the first hopper of Lumberjack Hickory pellets ran out I put some Lumberjack 100% apple pellets in, and then I went with the GMG brand texas blend pellets. I gotta say, the GMG pellets are freakin weak. The smoke that gets put out from them barely has any scent to it. I got the bag free with the grill and even then I don't think they're worth using haha.

bbqwizard
08-29-2016, 10:34 PM
Brother, I would destroy a plate of all of that:D Good lookin grub! I can appreciate your commentary too. Well done!