Brisket and baby back ribs on the Traeger

[sudsandswine]

Beautiful weather this weekend after nearly a week of rain, so I wanted to get some meat on the smoker. The brisket is an 12 lb USDA prime from Costco that looked exceptionally well marbled compared to some of the others....cant believe these are priced at $2.99/lb. They also had cryovacs of Swift baby back ribs on Dale at $2.99/lb plus $4 off per package. It contained 3 slabs and I chose the meatiest one to do today. I don't buy baby backs very often but I found it interesting that the membranes were already removed. Usually, at least with their St Louis style spares, I still have to do that.

Anyhow, I separated the point from the flat and will cube it for burnt ends...the flat will obviously be sliced. I used EAT Barbecue "The Most Powerful Stuff" on the beef and "Zero to Hero" on the pork. I am using Lumberjack hickory pellets in the Traeger. This is the first time I've done a brisket on the pellet smoker...so far it's only been pork butts and chicken. Here's to hoping it comes out well.

[Free Mr. Tony]

That does look like some nice marbling. Love the smell of the traeger during the smoke cycle. Haven't had mine for several years now, but I get a little nostalgic every time I see one in action.

[gtsum]

Nice looking brisket. In for pics!


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[ssv3]

Most excellent! Tuned in. :becky:

[tonyjohnson619]

I like your meat!!! Can't wait to drool over the finished product

[sudsandswine]

Coming along nicely as best I can tell...theyre both around 158* right now and I'll wrap in butcher paper when they hit 165*.

[Jason TQ]

Coming along nicely as best I can tell...theyre both around 158* right now and I'll wrap in butcher paper when they hit 165*.

Looking awesome! What are the containers of liquid?

[sudsandswine]

Water....I've seen it recommended to help with the "dry outer shell" issue that seems to happen from the fanned airflow/convection effect. I haven't really noticed a difference, but oh well. Wrapping helps more than anything.

[PorkinButts82]

Are those glass bowls???

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[sudsandswine]

Pyrex, but yeah

[pjtexas1]

I'm digging the pic of the marbling in the edge of the flat. Can't wait to see it sliced.

[sudsandswine]

That is the exact reason I picked it up. I have a couple other prime packers I'm wet aging in the beer fridge but I still rifle through the brisket every time I'm there just in case I find a treasure. Today was one of those days.

[sudsandswine]

Ribs are done...I was trying out a more competition oriented recipe and the butcher paper wasn't cutting it. Foiled for about an hour and then hit it with 2 coats of Blues Hog about 20 minutes apart. Resting now, then time to eat.

[rwalters]

Nicely done!!!

[ssv3]

I was going to say Blues Hog. Awesome! It's always the same sheen with BH.

http://i.imgur.com/xQN3Dihl.png

[sudsandswine]

Well I am sad to report the brisket turned out well below my standards. While both the point and flat were pulled at 203 and seemed fairly tender to probe, when I went to slice them there was clearly a lot of unrendered connective tissue left. Not sure how that happened but I'm wondering if the iGrill2 that has been less than reliable in the past did me in. I probably should have just of just ignored the temp reading and left until probe was butter tender. I'm hesitant to take them much past 203*, as in the past I've had issues where the hold in a cooler continued the cook and the brisket became overcooked.

I think the point will still be really good to chop for baked beans, as I imagine the additional cook time will render the rest of it into the beans. I'll try the flat out today when it's not 2am and maybe I'll have another opinion but it failed the "pull test".

The baby backs were delicious, I ate half the slab last night. At least it wasn't a total failure. :-D

[tbrtt1]

Well I am sad to report the brisket turned out well below my standards. While both the point and flat were pulled at 203 and seemed fairly tender to probe, when I went to slice them there was clearly a lot of unrendered connective tissue left. Not sure how that happened but I'm wondering if the iGrill2 that has been less than reliable in the past did me in. I probably should have just of just ignored the temp reading and left until probe was butter tender. I'm hesitant to take them much past 203*, as in the past I've had issues where the hold in a cooler continued the cook and the brisket became overcooked.

I think the point will still be really good to chop for baked beans, as I imagine the additional cook time will render the rest of it into the beans. I'll try the flat out today when it's not 2am and maybe I'll have another opinion but it failed the "pull test".

The baby backs were delicious, I ate half the slab last night. At least it wasn't a total failure. :-D

Personally, I finally learned to use the ole toothpick or probe test and not rely solely on the IT. I used 203* as my pull temp for a while and often it wasn't cooked enough for my liking. I now take my to ~200* or so and poke it with a skinny probe. I have learned how much/little resistance I should feel to determine when its ready. For whatever reason, I always need to take my briskets to 205-207* IT in the flat before they are to my liking. I pull and let it vent for 5 mins or so then wrap up and rest in a cooler for an hour or longer. Then it slices well but pulls apart very easily and will flop over nicely.

I also find that the more marbling the brisket, the lower the IT needed to achieve good results. Leaner briskets need a higher IT to be done, IMHO.

[sudsandswine]

Yeah, I've found the same thing about the marking requiring lower temps, which is why this one threw me for a loop. It was pretty heavily marbled but still not done. In the past when I've overcooked them, they nearly fell apart when slicing and this one was nowhere near that. Probably gonna ditch the iGrill2 and chalk it up to learning curve on a new cooker.

[electron_si]

I would smoke the whole packer next time and cube after cooking. I take mine to about 203, probe test and make sure it jiggles and pull it off

I also butcher paper between 155-160

[gtsum]

^^agree


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[sudsandswine]

I don't think that was the issue in this case, I've cooked them separately many many times before. I like having more bark for burnt ends.