11th Q: HnF Fermenting Pear Brisket on Pure Natural Lemon Tree Charcoal [pr0n inside]

[This is not your pork!]

Featured products:

• European Style Brisket with a weight of 11.42 lbs / Flat sliced / Point cubed for Burnt Ends
• Self made Rub
• Self made Sauce
• Injections and Spritzing with Fermenting Pear Juice
• Some Foil-Baked Potatoes (for the kids; not pictured)
• Self made Belgian Waffle with self made Vanilla Ice Cream and Strawberry Sauce
• Super Slim Fresh Blueberry Pie with self made Vanilla Ice Cream

Setup:

• WSM 22.5"
• Al Fakher Pure Natural Lemon Tree Lump Charcoal
• Charcoal Ring completely filled for Minion Method without depression and 20 Tarrington House Briquettes lit in Weber Rapidfire Chimney spread evenly on top
• Five fist-sized Apple Wood Chunks
• Cooking Scheme for Brisket: HnF on upper cooking grate till done, pulled at IT 195°F, rested in cooler for one hours
• Cooking Scheme for Burnt Ends: Point cubed, rubbed and sauced after separation from Flat, put in aluminum dish with holes in bottom on upper cooking grate, pulled after 4 hours
• Actual cooking temp zone 300-325°F
• Maverick ET-732
• Foiled 18" Clay Saucer in foiled Water Pan without Water

Brisket before unpacking

Brisket unpacked

Brisket after trimming side A

Brisket after trimming side B

Charcoal ring partly filled with apple wood chunks

Charcoal ring completely filled with Pure Natural Lemon Tree Lump Charcoal

Charcoal ring with 20 lit briquettes spread evenly on top for Minion Method

Rubbed & Injected Brisket put on upper cooking grate with both Maverick probes attached

Brisket after 4 hours before some spritzing with saucepan on lower cooking grate

Overview of cooking area with my latest addition, the second side-dish (IKEA)

Brisket after resting

Flat and Point separated

Bisket closeup

Sliced Flat closeup

Super thin slices of Flat

Super thin slices of Flat closeup

Point rubbed and sauced for Burnt Ends on upper cooking grate

Burnt Ends ready after 4 hours

Burnt Ends closeup

Self made Belgian Waffles with self made Vanilla Ice Cream and Strawberry Sauce (was in fact Sunday's breakfast, not dessert)

Superslim Fresh Blueberry Pie with self made Vanilla Ice Cream (the actual dessert)

Result:

In my opinion the flat was just well done, my wife thinks it was too dry. I'd say it was amazing, although not juicy but not really dry as in overcooked either. The smoke ring and flavor was definitely better than with my 1st brisket, and it really is best eaten pure without anything else, just sliced super thin. The Burnt Ends were heavenly, something best described as sweet & tangy beef candy, reminding me slightly on beef jerky. The cook was a full success, but definitely in need of improvement (thinking of Boshizzle's BlackHawk Brisket V2.0), because for perfection it has to be juicy as well. I think it's needless to comment the dessert. Oh boy, how much I love anything blueberry. :smile:

Remarks:

• What should have been a LnS overnight cook actually became a HnF 6 hours cook due to thunderstorms Saturday evening and broken pavilion to be temporarily fixed Sunday morning. That easy-up pavilion is completely kaput now, I already have a replacement with better steel rods construction, which I'll have to mount before my next cook.
• The featured brisket looked larger than my 1st brisket, but was in fact slightly lighter, with an unusual slim flat, which must have been the reason why the flat was rather dry, because I stuck the Maverick food probe into the thickest part of the brisket (still lacking the Thermapen, which finally should arrive till the end of this week).
• The fermenting pear juice injections and spritzing may have been completely unnecessary, but we did it anyway just for fun.
• I could not resist to buy a 2nd side-table from IKEA identical to the 1st one. If you look at the overview picture it's clearly visible, with Smokey in the middle there just have to be two symmetrically placed side-tables!
• I really need a pair of good insulated 'Q'ing gloves (any recommendation?), because I accidentally tried to grasp the hot saucepan barehanded, resulting in a nasty burning experience. I was worried about my left hand, I have never felt such a burning aftermath before, but luckily there wasn't any damage to be seen the day after.

Any comments / thoughts are highly appreciated. Thanks for looking.

 

[Thin Blue Smokery]

Looks good bud.

 

[Bbq Bubba]

Looks great, but imagine how good it woulda been if you left the fat on there.

 

[This is not your pork!]

Looks great, but imagine how good it woulda been if you left the fat on there.

Good question, in my opinion external fat better gets trimmed for the smoke to penetrate, otherwise no smoke ring can form where fat covers the meat. And if you leave the external fat on, you would have to remove it before eating, because you surely don't want to eat that excess of fat, do you?

My 1st brisket was not trimmed, and had a fat layer where the bark should have been, which had to be removed for eating, so it totally missed the point. Or is it about a trade-off between fat off with bark and fat on without bark but juicier meat?

Or is there more to the question of trimming before / after the cook?

BTW The same goes for pork shoulder / neck, which I preferred without fat cap till now.

 

[Phubar]

Very nice!

 

[thaifighter06]

Dude. That looks unbelievable. Keep up the great work.

 

[IamMadMan]

Great Looking Pics... Love the smoke ring as well..

How was the pear injection flavor in the end???

 

[devious]

Good question, in my opinion external fat better gets trimmed for the smoke to penetrate, otherwise no smoke ring can form where fat covers the meat. And if you leave the external fat on, you would have to remove it before eating, because you surely don't want to eat that excess of fat, do you?

My 1st brisket was not trimmed, and had a fat layer where the bark should have been, which had to be removed for eating, so it totally missed the point. Or is it about a trade-off between fat off with bark and fat on without bark but juicier meat?

Or is there more to the question of trimming before / after the cook?

BTW The same goes for pork shoulder / neck, which I preferred without fat cap till now.

Im no expert on Brisket thats for sure. Next time leave more of the fat "cap" on. Trim some of the excess fat that is on the top of the brisket if you want to. You'll have plenty of bark from the top portion of the brisket. I cook fat cap down to kinda act as a hat shield and alot of that fat renders off during the cook.

 

[This is not your pork!]

How was the pear injection flavor in the end?

As Johnny Trigg would say, injections are completely unnecessary, and he never injected anything in his whole competition career.

We do it just for fun, and not expect anything from it. I really can't taste any pear flavor if I take such a super slim slice in my mouth, but that's easy covered by the stronger flavor of the rub and smoke. The injections did not help with juiciness either.

 

[This is not your pork!]

One thing just crossed my mind:

Should I have stuck the Maverick food probe into the flat instead of the thickest part of the brisket?

As the flat of that brisket really was very slim, it was foreseeable that it will not be juicy any more, if waiting for IT in the thickest part to hit 190°F.

 

[BobM]

Nice cook! :hungry: