The Brisket Chronicles - Part IV

[Bigmista]

After watching Myron Mixon on TLC's BBQ Pitmasters, I decided to try a little experiment (no, I didn't try to pee lighter fluid while cursing out anyone that came near). I wanted to see how quickly I could cook a brisket and still have it be edible.

To do this, I broke out the XL Ugly Drum Smoker and loaded it Royal Oak Lump because it burns hotter.

I cranked the heat up as high as I could...

Then I let it settle back down to 375 while I went to work on the brisket.

I got a nice sized brisket...

...trimmed it and seasoned it with Seasoning salt and pepper only because ultimately, it was going in a pot of brisket chili.

I put the brisket in the Drum at 5pm with it running smoothly at 375 degrees. By 8:30pm the temp was over 200 in most part of the brisket so I pulled it out, wrapped it in foil and tossed it in a cambro hot box.

Here it is going in the foil.

I let it rest for 2.5 hours. Here is the result:

The brisket was juicy and very tasty but it didn't have the texture I have come to expect in my briskets. It was a bit chewier that I prefer, more like a steak than a roast. However Mrs. Mista liked and asked for more. She got one more taste and then it went into the chili.

So we know now that you can cook a brisket at 375 for 3.5 hours and still come out with a tasty product. I think I will stick with longer cooks but it is good to know I can do this if I need to.

Let me know what you think!

Bigmista

 

[BBQ Bandit]

Thank you for another chapter!

 

[big brother smoke]

Welp, it looks tasty.

 

[chambersuac]

Thanks, Bigmista. Like you, I think I'll stay with low & slow, or a low & slow/hot & fast combo, but it's good to know it can be done quickly...

 

[Phubar]

Thanks voor the info!
Is that a drum Norco build?
If so I saw it when it was bright yellow,nice work on getting her dirty!

 

[Bigmista]

Yes that is a Norco Drum. I guess at some point I will get around to painting it.

 

[Big Butt BBQ]

thanks for posting the info, when it warms up a bit I want to try a high heat brisket in the FEC.

 

[farklf]

I think that drum is ulglier than mine!:icon_bigsmil

 

[Smokey Al Gold]

Nice job Bigmista! That was super fast at 3.5 hrs. Looks tasty to me! It's good to know I can ramp up the heat more than I do already to get one done faster. Do you think coolering longer would have made for a more tender product? Did you foil at 160 or just cook it unfoiled to 200?

 

[Bigmista]

Nice job Bigmista! That was super fast at 3.5 hrs. Looks tasty to me! It's good to know I can ramp up the heat more than I do already to get one done faster. Do you think coolering longer would have made for a more tender product? Did you foil at 160 or just cook it unfoiled to 200?

I cooked it unfoiled the whole way. Maybe I will try foiling it at 160 in another edition of The Brisket Chronicles.

 

[Smokey Al Gold]

Looking forward to the next chronicle!

 

[Phesant]

Thanx for the info Neil.... I realy like these info post you put out....

 

[Crüe-B-Cüe]

Myron's cookers have water in them so your also steaming. That will effect the texture too.

 

[Boat-n-BBQ]

Good post, thanks for the info!

 

[IronStomach]

Thanks for the post! Wonder if the texture difference would at all be noticeable in the chili?

 

[bigabyte]

Great post! I too have found that higher heat briskets are not quite as tender as lower heat cooks, and is why I went back to lower heat cooks after spending a couple years on the higher heat methods. It can still be tender at high heat, but not AS tender.

I think a great example was given on last night's Top Chef when the top 4 were competing. Kevin did a fast brisket and could not get it quite as tender as the judges had wished. The judges felt it was a bit more stringy than they would like. Kevin even stated it was done to his satisfaction. Had it cooked longer (meaning lower temps to keep from burning), it would have given up more collagen and been tender like the judges had expected.

 

[BobBrisket]

Wow!! That's is fast. Looks fastastic, but I know the texture you are talking about. Quite a bit different from one that goes slower and lower. I'm guessing that since Myron used a Wagyu brisket that his was probably more in the preferred texture range because of all the marbling in it.

Being the nice guy that I am...........I'm willing to try Myron's method with the water pan and all if someone is willing to send me a Wagyu brisket. The things I'll do for all of you!:twisted:

Let's look at this even closer.........let's say youare going to make chili like Neil is. It would make sense to go hot and fast since the meat is going to cook (simmer) again in the chili. The "tighter" texture would be great for this because it won't end up breaking up in the chili. This may even be a good idea for freezing a brisket that will later gets reheated. I've had some briskets that were hard to slice because all it wanted to do was break apart as the knife sliced through it. Probably a result of overcooking or overcoolering or both.

I'm interested in what you all think.

So where's the chili pron, Mista??

 

[IronStomach]

Bob, you sure are a nice guy, how many wagyu briskets should I send you? Think it'll be ok if I scrimp on postage and use 3rd day rather than overnight?

I bet we're going to see a post from BigMista tonight about brisket chili! :-D

 

[bigabyte]

Wagyu does make a huge difference. you cn cook one hot and fast and have it tender like a low and slow Choice brisket. The secret is not in the expensive cooker, it is in the meat quality. Actually, hot and fast works better on a Wagyu than low and slow (in my opinion) because there is less collagen to break down. Thus, there is less benefit of low and slow on a Wagyu.

 

[BobBrisket]

Bob, you sure are a nice guy, how many wagyu briskets should I send you? Think it'll be ok if I scrimp on postage and use 3rd day rather than overnight?

I bet we're going to see a post from BigMista tonight about brisket chili! :-D

3rd day overnight is fine.........just be sure to send it in a reefer truck. Don't want that wagyu going bad now do we? :-D

Chris, then it makes sense to go hot and fast on wagyu so that it helps firm it up a bit too. It looked like Myron was trying to wrestle an octopus into the pit. I'll let you all know when I win the lotto and can afford any kind of wagyu.:-D