aks801
is Blowin Smoke!
Had a fun cook yesterday. Walk through it with me, if you like.
I fired up the WSM at about 7:15 AM. Weather was muggy, in the mid-70's. Used Royal Oak charcoal (more on that later), with a few chunks of oak and hickory mixed in.
Let's start with the star of the show: a 14# Prime packer I picked up Thursday night from HEB. $3.29/lb: not bad. I did what I consider to be a moderate trim on it, leaving some on top, getting most of the hard stuff, and leaving 1/4" on the fat side. All in all took about 2 pounds out. Seasoned it with what is now my go-to rub: Kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, turbinado sugar, Cayenne pepper. Here it is ready for the smoke:
Put it in the WSM, and it read about 265 in the dome. Never could really get it up to my customary 280-285 range. One reason may be the temperature drop: a front blew through around 9:30 and the mid 70's became the mid to upper 40's! I had also made a couple of fatties: Jimmy Dean Maple wrapped in bacon and dusted with some Blues Hog rib rub, thusly:
No pics of the finished result, but they were tasty on buttermilk biscuits.
Save for taking out the fatties at 10:15, my first peek at the brisket was at about 1:00 PM. Looking good!
At about 3:00 I wrapped it in butcher paper. From there on out I had to tend to the charcoal more than I typically do. I know it was cooler outside than is the norm for my cooks, but that Royal Oak just didn't seem to perform. Ashed over a lot, and burned down what I consider to be too fast. So I would toss in small batches of KBB to keep the fire going. At 5:15 the brisket passed the probe test nicely, and internal temps read about 207. I pulled it and rested it on the counter for about 30 minutes before foiling and holding in a cooler. Here is what it looked like just after I brought it in:
Right after I pulled the brisket I put some MOINKS into the WSM. First time to make those in a while. About 6:30 put in two rings of sausage: one HEB brand Longhorn Cheddar, the other Chappell Hill Pork & Venison. No pics of either!
At 7:00 PM it was time to slice the brisket, as everything else was ready. It had a nice bark, but not as hard and dark as I am used to. Sliced real nicely, no crumbling. Here's the money shot:
Here's a bend test:
After separating the flat and the point, I sliced about half of the flat and saved the rest as-is. Was VERY happy with the point. Even the crispiest bark was still very edible. Super moist, great flavor profile. Here's the platter I served up for dinner:
And lastly, here is my plate. Sliced and chunked brisket, two kinds of sausage, a few MOINKs, yummy onion pieces, and an avocado. It did not leave me hungry:
I'll post an entry in the current Brisket Throwdown, so let's see how everyone does. Overall I was happy with the cook, I think I have my method down. Can't say I'm a fan of Royal Oak: both regular old KBB and Weber charcoals work much better for me, but hey. Now we have some delicious left-overs for the week!
I fired up the WSM at about 7:15 AM. Weather was muggy, in the mid-70's. Used Royal Oak charcoal (more on that later), with a few chunks of oak and hickory mixed in.
Let's start with the star of the show: a 14# Prime packer I picked up Thursday night from HEB. $3.29/lb: not bad. I did what I consider to be a moderate trim on it, leaving some on top, getting most of the hard stuff, and leaving 1/4" on the fat side. All in all took about 2 pounds out. Seasoned it with what is now my go-to rub: Kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, turbinado sugar, Cayenne pepper. Here it is ready for the smoke:
Put it in the WSM, and it read about 265 in the dome. Never could really get it up to my customary 280-285 range. One reason may be the temperature drop: a front blew through around 9:30 and the mid 70's became the mid to upper 40's! I had also made a couple of fatties: Jimmy Dean Maple wrapped in bacon and dusted with some Blues Hog rib rub, thusly:
No pics of the finished result, but they were tasty on buttermilk biscuits.
Save for taking out the fatties at 10:15, my first peek at the brisket was at about 1:00 PM. Looking good!
At about 3:00 I wrapped it in butcher paper. From there on out I had to tend to the charcoal more than I typically do. I know it was cooler outside than is the norm for my cooks, but that Royal Oak just didn't seem to perform. Ashed over a lot, and burned down what I consider to be too fast. So I would toss in small batches of KBB to keep the fire going. At 5:15 the brisket passed the probe test nicely, and internal temps read about 207. I pulled it and rested it on the counter for about 30 minutes before foiling and holding in a cooler. Here is what it looked like just after I brought it in:
Right after I pulled the brisket I put some MOINKS into the WSM. First time to make those in a while. About 6:30 put in two rings of sausage: one HEB brand Longhorn Cheddar, the other Chappell Hill Pork & Venison. No pics of either!
At 7:00 PM it was time to slice the brisket, as everything else was ready. It had a nice bark, but not as hard and dark as I am used to. Sliced real nicely, no crumbling. Here's the money shot:
Here's a bend test:
After separating the flat and the point, I sliced about half of the flat and saved the rest as-is. Was VERY happy with the point. Even the crispiest bark was still very edible. Super moist, great flavor profile. Here's the platter I served up for dinner:
And lastly, here is my plate. Sliced and chunked brisket, two kinds of sausage, a few MOINKs, yummy onion pieces, and an avocado. It did not leave me hungry:
I'll post an entry in the current Brisket Throwdown, so let's see how everyone does. Overall I was happy with the cook, I think I have my method down. Can't say I'm a fan of Royal Oak: both regular old KBB and Weber charcoals work much better for me, but hey. Now we have some delicious left-overs for the week!
Good job!!!!
