Beef Brisket ?

[Walleyehooker]

Going to do a beef brisket this weekend for the first time and wondering if any of you trim off some of the fat before smokeing. I have done some pork roasts and trimmed off some of the fat on those and left about 1/8-1/4 inch.What do you guys recomend ? Thanks

[McGurk]

I've done the same thing, but don't try take it all off. Keep it simple and let the heat work with the remainder of the fat.

[jeffreyd]

I actually made one on Sunday. I do not trim the fat but cook it fat side up. do a marinade or dry rub, i used a dry one for ribs that is great. I use to make them all the time and would let them sit in the fridge all day soaking in Newmans own original salad dressing. Indirect heat and temp about 200 for 12 hrs, wow i am having that for dinner, left overs. The other thing i do is dont buy the whole brisket as the fat or knob end has a ton of fat in it. More flavorful but kind of a hassle when done. I buy the flat end and it takes a bit less time to cook. Good luck

[Walleyehooker]

Wow 12 hours!!!! I better get up early or finish it off in the oven. I plan on putting a dry rub on a day before and maybe baste it with something along the way. I might have to fill my LP tank to.

[jeffreyd]

cooking a brisket is a long slow process if you want it to be tender. The flat end that i made on Sunday was on the grill for about 9 hrs. Low temp and slow cooking is the only way to do it. If you can season it the day prior and start it early am just let it go, no basting as you want the burn ends, and crust. I have used apple juice cut with water in a spray bottle which was good but you nearly have to choose between the rub or the juice. You can get too much of one quick. Good luck, check out some online recipes too.

[Walleyehooker]

Thanks for the tips. Ill try to post some pics of the final product. My pork roasts turned out great so Im hopeing this does to.One good thing about a smoker it doesnt take a lot of attention. Ill put it in early in the AM come Saturday.

[Hillbiehle]

What method do you guyse use to know when it's done? I'm considering doing one myself, but hesitant as I've not found the right cut of meat yet. Went to Sam's and the thing was the size of my Komoda and the others seemed too small and appeared that they would cook too quickly.

[archerystud]

I usually cook between a 5-8 lb brisket and I prefer it to be on for around 12 hours @ 225. I trim the fat down to about 1/8 inch and cook it fat side up. When the top starts getting a good "bark" on the top I wrap it in aluminum foil so it doesn't dry out. At that point I'm just cooking to get it more tender.

If you don't cook them long enough the meat will be done but VERY tough.

Watched a hunting show a couple of weeks ago and a guy tried to do 2 different deer briskets. As he was trying to cut them it looked like he was trying to cut leather with a butter knife. I'm sure those were very tough.

[jeffreyd]

i use a meat thermometer and stay away from the heavy fat end. when it hit 145-150 i pull it and let it rest. That could be a shorter time depending on type of fuel etc. the one thing to remember is that you will have "bark or heavy crust" on both sides. so if you dont like the burnt ends or bark then cook it half way then do the foil thing. I ususally chop mine up so it mixes the burnt crust right in with the meat. Good luck mouth is watering now.

[Walleyehooker]

I got a 13 pounder and I might have to cut it in half to fit better. Even when I do pork roasts I do big ones or even a couple of them as it either gets eaten or it freezes real well for later.

[Walleyehooker]

Smoked the brisket yesterday. Started it at 8 AM and at 2 PM I wraped it in foil and put it back in the smoker till 4 PM then turned the smoker on low till company showed up. Smoker was at 200-225 and it ended up a little more done than I wanted but was still very moist,tender and tasty.Next one should be even better.

[thirdeye]

Actually, that doesn't look bad. I know this might sound weird but you might not have cooked it long enough. Brisket does a plateau or stall around 160* internal, and sometimes it takes hours for it to break out. During the stall the collagen is converted to gelatin and this is what makes it moist and tender. You need to cook it tender which will be 195* to 205* internal, and you can't just trust your thermometer..... it has to feel tender when you poke it with an ice pick or something like that. Some folks claim the probe will slide in like butter, but I think they feel more like an almost done baked potato. At the smoker temps you were using you can plan on 1-1/2 to 2 hours per pound for your cook time.

The other thing you might try is cooking the whole brisket. More mass, more fat means more flavor. Plus you need the point meat to make burnt ends. They are to die for. You were okay trimming the fat down to 1/8 or 1/4 inch, briskets are pretty fatty anyways. Use the fat as a heat shield. In my smokers the heat comes from the bottom, so my briskets spend more time fat down. If you have an offset smoker, cook them more with the fat up.

When you foil finish them, take them to 170* on the smoker, then put them meat down in the foil and add an ounce or two of jazzed up beef broth to the pouch before sealing them. Then just cook them tender. Not like pot roast, but tender. If your slices don't stay together, just slice a little thicker.

There is nothing wrong with low pit temps with brisket, and I cooked some fine ones for over 30 years this way. For the last 6 or 8 years I've followed the lead of the barbecue competitors and now go with higher pit temps. With either method (low or high) a long rest really helps your product. When they are done, I take the foil pouch and vent it for 15 minutes, then re-seal and put in a cooler with a bunch of wadded up newspaper for insulation. They stay in there for at least 2 hours, and 4 hours if I can get away with it. They will still be 160*+ when removed for slicing. Oh, and remember to slice against the grain.

[Walleyehooker]

My slices looked very similar to yours and sorta grey in color. I was thinking it should be a little pinkish in the center. I did get them up to the 190+ range and let them rest for about an hour. They did come out very tender and could have pulled it apart with a fork.I cut it in half as the whole thing wouldnt fit. I smoked it fat side up the whole time as it didnt look like it needed to be fliped.I have a gas stand up SS smoker from cabelas.

[thirdeye]

Gray is the standard color, when you have to cook to such a high internal temp you won't see any medium rare meat. My photo above is darker because I inject some beefy juice right before I foil them at that 170* internal temp. Here is a couple that were not injected followed by two that were.

This summer I was helping my buddy at a big cook, we were serving about 150. Every now and them someone would ask for some rare brisket, so instead of explaining we had been cooking it for 16 hours, all through the night, I would give them a couple of slices of the point meat. It's a little fattier and really moist. No complaints. Heheheee.

[jeffreyd]

great looking brisket. I went to the store today and nearly fell over when i saw the whole price in the bag was over 40 bucks. heck i remember when they would go on sale for $.89 and we thought that was expensive. Might have to watch for one and make a whole one next time.

[thirdeye]

If you have a club store like Sam's give them a try. They are not only cheaper, but they will roll out a case and let you root through to get the one you want. Plus my Sam's carries choice Angus beef, another plus.

I have one smoker with a 18" grate and two with 22" grates, I always take a pocket tape measure with me. If they are only a couple of inches long, you can drape themm over an empty can for the first 4 or 5 hours, by then they have shrunk enough they will fit without the can. Here are two pictures of the same brisket about 15 hours apart. I plan on losing about 45% to shrinkage and fat.

[jeffreyd]

great looking i do agree the clubs are going to be cheaper than the reg store. shame that you do loose nearly 1/2 to drippings and waste but know guys in texas that will that the think and chop it into sandwich meat with cause. burnt ends right in with the fat and flat side does not matter to them. some will hold the burnt end in some juice for special customers that request it i love cooking what my wife calls "big boy meat" but just get so much joy watching everyone else eat it.

[archerystud]

Actually, that doesn't look bad. I know this might sound weird but you might not have cooked it long enough. Brisket does a plateau or stall around 160* internal, and sometimes it takes hours for it to break out. During the stall the collagen is converted to gelatin and this is what makes it moist and tender.

I totally agree with thirdeye here.

[McGurk]

I totally agree with thirdeye here.

Me too. While your brisket looks great, WalleyeHooker, more time at that cooking temp only makes it better to get through that infamous stall and into meat nirvana. thirdeye is the zen master of smoke around here!

[Walleyehooker]

Thanks for all the info. Looks like I didnt do to bad for the first time. Everyone enjoyed it so that is the main thing.