Texas Brisket Rub....what went wrong?

[jasonalan724]

So i have a copy of a trusty, well known, BBQ cook book. its not Eat, Love, and Pray, but its title is similar. It has a simple Texas Brisket rub recipe in it. Pretty much just salt, pepper, and paprika. Okay, thats all it calls for. I have, many times, done pork butts with just salt and pepper to an awesome result. I tried this simple recipe on brisket today and it came out horrible. The pepper was so strong and overwhelming i almost just pitched the whole flat. I am not from Texas, so please tell me that is not how they flavor thier beef in Texas and i did something wrong even tho i followed the recipe!

 

[stl-rich]

I usually just use Canadian/Montreal Steak Rub on brisket - but if you put on too much, its too much.

We learn from experience.

 

[jasonalan724]

yeah, i used as much a would normally use of say, Bovine Bold. Maybe it was to much. I threw it together last minute out of desperation. I am reluctant to even try to use it in less concentration tho.

 

[BobBrisket]

Just tossing out some ideas. First off the BP, I love the stuff and have done briskets with nothing more than a light coat of EVOO and a heavy coat of BP and love the flavor, just like the black pepper bacon. Even goes very nicely on a Prime Rib.
I might be going out on a limb here, but maybe the paprika could be the culprit. Maybe it was too much and cause the BP and Salt to cake up too much and witht the temp, burned up. I've used paprika on briskets, but really only just for some added color, nowhere near enough for it to add any flavor whatsoever.

Bob

 

[Crazy Harry]

What was horrible? taste, texture, dry, mushy, too hot, too salty? or maybe you just got a hunk of meat that was starting to go bad.

 

[Mister Bob]

Give us a little more information. Are we talking about black pepper here? What was the ratio of pepper to salt to paprika? I imagine if you put the rub on as heavily as Bovine Bold, which has a relatively small percentage of black pepper, and yours had a high percentage of black pepper, that would account for the overwhelming pepper taste.

This is Bovine Bold's ingredient list:
Salt, Brown Sugar, Spices, including Black Pepper, Chili Powder, Paprika, Dehydrated Garlic and Onion, Worcestershire powder, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Turmeric, Oregano, Extractives of Paprika and not more than 2% Calcium Stearate added to prevent caking.

 

[jasonalan724]

What was horrible? taste, texture, dry, mushy, too hot, too salty? or maybe you just got a hunk of meat that was starting to go bad.

The black pepper was just comletely overwhelming. The meat was good, the smoke ring was nice, i just had to shave all bark off the outside.

Give us a little more information. Are we talking about black pepper here? What was the ratio of pepper to salt to paprika? I imagine if you put the rub on as heavily as Bovine Bold, which has a relatively small percentage of black pepper, and yours had a high percentage of black pepper, that would account for the overwhelming pepper taste.

This is Bovine Bold's ingredient list:
Salt, Brown Sugar, Spices, including Black Pepper, Chili Powder, Paprika, Dehydrated Garlic and Onion, Worcestershire powder, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Turmeric, Oregano, Extractives of Paprika and not more than 2% Calcium Stearate added to prevent caking.

Yes black Pepper, Malabar Fine Ground. mix is 1/4 cup Black Pepper 1/4cup Salt 1/3 cup paprika

 

[Sean "Puffy" Coals]

Might just be a not so good rub recipe. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks and what not. And, I thought "real" texas brisket used coriander, but I might be wrong.

Another thing to take into consideration is how dilute the pepper was. For example a half cup of pepper alone is obviously overpowering if it's all your using, eventhough it doesn't seem like that much. It makes up 100% of the flavor profile. Take the same half cup of pepper and add it to another 2 cups of other spices and, obviously, the strength of the pepper-ness fades quite a bit because it's now only 20% of the flavor profile. Basically, the flavor/strength of any spice is directly related to the percentage of the rub that it makes up.

 

[jasonalan724]

Might just be a not so good rub recipe. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks and what not. And, I thought "real" texas brisket used coriander, but I might be wrong.

Another thing to take into consideration is how dilute the pepper was. For example a half cup of pepper alone is obviously overpowering if it's all your using, eventhough it doesn't seem like that much. It makes up 100% of the flavor profile. Take the same half cup of pepper and add it to another 2 cups of other spices and, obviously, the strength of the pepper-ness fades quite a bit because it's now only 20% of the flavor profile. Basically, the flavor/strength of any spice is directly related to the percentage of the rub that it makes up.

this is how dilute the pepper was "1/4 cup Black Pepper 1/4cup Salt 1/3 cup paprika" Roughly half the amount called for in the book. its been considered. i am wondering why anyone would use that much pepper. I used it because it was suggested by a fairly reputable BBQ book. Peace, Love, and BBQ.

 

[Johnny_Crunch]

how big was the brisket?

 

[jasonalan724]

how big was the brisket?

luckily it was just a 7lb flat. and i didnt even use all the rub

 

[Cliff H.]

That is a lot of pepper. I use two tbs at the most with any recipe.

 

[Saiko]

I think the culprit was that the pepper was fine ground. There is a huge difference in the total weight of a 1/4 cup of fine ground pepper vs coarse grind. Same as salt, which is why most people use kosher instead of fine ground salt.

 

[Johnny_Crunch]

I think your right ^^^^^^

 

[ZILLA]

I agree with Saiko about the fine grind pepper being the problem. Try to get some Cafe' medium grind pepper and also never use more than 1 part pepper to two parts salt . It's a live and learn thing.

 

[luke duke]

That recipe was probably for a 12-14 lb packer, not a 7 lb flat.

 

[Hub]

The fine ground pepper may be the culprit, as noted, but check what KIND of paprika you had -- there are many. On the box or can, the list of ingredients will state if "extenders" are used (fillers). Some of these "extenders" can be flavors you don't want.

Good luck on the next try!

Hub

 

[smokinvic]

I have used the Malabar Fine Ground pepper and have found it to be very strong for some reason. It is stronger that the red/black/white whole peppers that I use freshly ground. I have used the Malabar as I would normally use "regular" pepper and found it to be much stronger, so I just reduced the amount I used. Since I ran out of the Malabar, I have not bought it anymore. As has been said, different stroke for different folks.

 

[jasonalan724]

Thank you all for a the info. i will go with coarse ground next time. and consider the one part pepper two parts salt. like i said i was just throwing it together onthe spot, out of the book, in a pinch. The brethern rock. hope too see some of you at raystown lake this weekend

 

[jasonalan724]

That recipe was probably for a 12-14 lb packer, not a 7 lb flat.

Maybe thats why i cut the recipie in half and still didnt use half of it.