Night Train Brisket-FAIL..UTTER FAIL

[GEORGIA BULLHAWGS]

Amazon.com: Taylor 1470 Digital Cooking Thermometer/Timer: Kitchen & Dining@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41DppVFaqzL.@@AMEPARAM@@41DppVFaqzL

This is the thermometer that I use. I have 2 of them, they work very well.

The probe and the lead that plugs into the machine can withstand 392* without damage, which you should never encounter when smoking.

You stick the probe in to the part of the meat that you are wanting to make sure is done before pulling, and when it gets close to the temp you know is done, that is when you check things out and go by feel of everything.

I put the probe into the point in the brisket, and when it gets to 190* I start probing it to see where the meat is at. If it is still resisting the probe, I cook longer, like mentioned above 5* increments is a good standard. When it clides in and out without any resistance, pull it, and let it rest.

There is nothing wrong with using a thermometer, and in fact in my opinion a crap shoot when you are not using one.

 

[BigDaddyJT]

You need to give it another go... Just start probing for doness 1 hour before your targeted completion time. Practice makes perfect. Not to mention you get to eat more as well!! Good luck on your next cook.

BTW - You need to cook briskets on your Stumps or BWS w/ bit of hickory :thumb:. just my $0.2


JT

 

[Pitmaster T]

why was I not made aware of this? Someone should have called. You overestimated your cooking time. You should have checked at five hours or 5.5 hours I would bet.

I set only a few parameters... brisket weight, seasons used, materials used (foil and oven temp and time. In an experiment used to establish consistency you cannot dabble with the variables and expect the same results or wing it.

I would have cut the brisket in half and cooked tow halves, maybe pulling one out at 5 and the other at another time.

The texture may be too cooked for some if you follow it BUT... the experiment's purpose was to address all those guys who never had a tender brisket (either at a restaurant or when they cook) to show them what brisket can be... then aim for that on the pit, or dial it back if needed. Sound like you already got to tender and need to dial it back.

 

[Pitmaster T]

El Ropo, I sort of read that Night Train OP...hard read so I just scanned over it.

The OP of this thread way overcooked a brisket. Keeping an eye on the actual temperature would have helped him...along with checking tenderness.

Always consider how well a person admits they read over something before listening to what they have to say. This poster totally misses the point, admits he scanned it but failed to comprehend the purpose of the thread... hopefully because he didn't read it.

In addition, overcooked is a regional preference... some "contests" have half inch slices....

as mentioned, the problem is too many err on the "underdone side" and not the overdone side. In addition, of the many consultations I have done for restaurants I have always maintained NEVER try and please the contest standards guy. Your customers will rarely fault you for your BBQ falling apart. The ones that do are the minority.

Had this poster read the (admittedly and purposely hard to decipher) thread closely, he would have noted all these points. That the experiment was to show the zenith of tenderness a brisket can achieve.

 

[caliking]

OK... since nobody has said this yet... keep doing what you are doing and send me the results for me to taste and be the judge :becky:

Honestly though, the others have given you great tips. Don't beat yourself up over this bro - if at first you don't succeed, try again! Your other que is great, soon you'll add a fantastic brisket to your repertoire.

 

[RevZiLLa]

You had the balls to try it, the honesty to tell us how you did it, and the curiosity to find out how to get it right.

100% success!

 

[Zin]

Bamabuzzard, try cooking your next brisket to a temp of 160, that is the last time you will check temps no need to check brisket temp anymore, now just finish cooking the brisket to tender simple, when you can insert a probe into the brisket and it feels like butta no resistance at all its perfect. Let rest for about 30 mins and start eating.

 

[SmokeUSum]

You do know that thermometers generally have a pointy end...and foil isn't bulletproff :-D

Lol, too farking cute... But I didn't see a question regarding where this outlaw, uncompromising cow was purchased. Sorry if it's a dumb question, I'm just learning how to slay the dumb beast, but I have found blade-tenderized moo-moo's do not play well with those that know how to spank it outside a crockpot, which to me is the lowest form of cooking known to (wo)man.

Blade-tenderized brisket is hugely common with national chains and wholesale clubs. It retards the meat, is hugely unsanitary, and will distort how the meat acts. So where'd you get your brisket that sounds like it was tenderized Under The Dome?

 

[Dadeo719]

The timing is no linear in a braise. In the Nightrain experiment, you are braising and the amount of time it takes to get done will not track in a strict mathematical ratio due to the vagaries of how mass takes and transfers heat as well as the moisture content and shape of said mass. Oddly, the amount of time cooking the 8lb brisket roast would have been very close to the time for the 5lb roast. As you heat the moist environment in the foil, you are actually raising the temperature of the liquids inside of the roast at the same time. Given that the larger flatter shape is going to heat from all sides at the same time, and given the flat shape, the interior moisture is heating at about the same rate despite the weight difference. This means that the actual rendering of the connective tissue will begin to occur at about the same time, and the stall as connective tissue renders will be about the same. The primary difference being the total amount of connective tissue rendering.

In a smoker, this actually also applies. Hence, the mystery of how a 10lb packer and a 14lb packer can both take 12 hours to cook. Part of the problem with using time, versus feel, is that the individual composition of meat varies widely (hence the 22 hour pork butt). Heat penetration is influenced by mass and shape of meat. Oddly, mass of a given roast is determined by both density of tissue and amount of internal moisture.

The major difference in timing is actually in the composition of the meat, not the weight alone. You're more likely to have succeeded with a 5.5 hour cook time over an 7 hour cook time. I would give it another shot. This time with the shorter cook time. And a smaller cut of brisket to save a little money.

Dude you just stoked my inner math, science, and BBQ nerdness. If you don't use this as your dissertation for a Doctorate in BBQ I'm stealing it. :clap2:

 

[swamprb]

the Funk was not with you!

 

[deguerre]

 

[Pitmaster T]

No two women Funk the same. And even the same women may funk you one way when you meet her, then years later won't dream of funking you that way again.

Women = brisket Funk = heat/time

 

[Fwismoker]

Too much brasing and never go by time...only probe tender

 

[Pitmaster T]

[ame]http://youtu.be/FvUVyANtXXQ[/ame]