beef brisket advice

[wmn luv me walleye fearme]

I made some brisket over the weekend. Saw the previous posts about brisket and used a lot of that information. It came out pretty good but I was never able to get the bark on it and wasnt quite as tender as what I was hoping. Just looking to hear what i could do different. I do not have a smoker used my gas grill with some wood chips in foil. marinated the brisket in coke on friday, put the rub on saturday which had a fair amount of brown sugar which I was hoping would give me a little bit more crust. had it on for about 8 hrs total, first 4 hours it wasnt wrapped in foil. I had a mop sauce I was using about every half hour. Had it on the top grill rack with a drip pan below it with beer/mop sauce, put it in foil with a bunch of the mop sauce for 3 hours, then took out added some bbq sauce for the last half hr or so. Temp was usually between 200 and 225, any thoughts?

[mittni]

This is just what I do for my competitions that I am in. I use a smoker and keep it at 210 with no more then 5 degree's each way. Make sure you cut your brisket apart. (so you have the point and the flat) rub it with your rub and be pretty heavy on the rub and sit at room temp for 1hour. Place in smoker unfoiled. I do not like to foil my brisket. For a brisket with a raw weight of 14 pounds you need 14 hours. For every hour over that add TWO hours. So a 18 pound would need 14 + 8= 22 hours in the smoker. That is why at contest brisket is always the last one to get marked. I do not put any sauce on until that last hour. Your rub should get a crust on it so the sauce is just for the flavor. I hope this helps. This is what I do. Good luck. [YouNeedAuthorization]

[wmn luv me walleye fearme]

Thanks for the info [YouNeedAuthorization], I was only cooking a 5 lb'er, what do you mean by cut off the point and the flat? The problem I had with my rub was that once I started using the mop sauce i lost a lot of the rub that was on the meat. (one thing i forgot to do was let it get to room temp, went sraight from fridge to grill) any ideas, thanks again

[jigguy1]

I happened to make one as well on Sunday, I felt mine turned out quite well. I let it soak in Dr. Pepper for 24 hours and then I smoked it on my grill for 2.5 hours, I have a rear burner on mine so I had the wood chips on the top rack and added more soaked wood chips when needed, I tried to cook the thing on the grill for the remaining time but could not keep it at a constant temp. so I wrapped it in foil and put it in the oven at 200 degrees for 8 more hours. After that I put it on the grill again to get a crust on it, let it set for 1 hour more to set up. It was the most tender one I have made yet. I felt it was quite good, about a 7 pounder and the family ate it all by Monday nite. Next time I will smoke it a little more.

[mittni]

When I get a bresket I want the whole bresket. You might have only got the point. I try to buy one at least 14lbs. From that you will see that there are two different cuts of meat. One is the point and the other is the flat. Split them apart and trim the meat but make sure you put the trim back on the top of the meat so the fat will keep your meat moist. I guess try to go and attend a smoker class or maybe a butcher will so you how to cut your brisket into the point and the flat. you will find that there are two completly different tasting meat. the point has more marble in it, so it is much more moist but the flat is more meaty and holds your rub and sauce that much more. I like to use some of each when I turn in meat for contest. I know their is a smoker contest out in Watertown MN July 20th - the 21st. You could get some pointers if you are walking around on the afternoon or night of the 20th. Good luck. [YouNeedAuthorization]

[wmn luv me walleye fearme]

Thanks for the advice, just starting to kind of get into it a little. I tried using a charcoal smoker last year a couple times but I couldnt get the temperature hot enough for some reason and it involved constant screwing around with it so I've been just trying to use my gas grill for now. (put the left burner on low and it gets it to about 220, and i can put the chips in foil directly on the burner) Will be trying another one in a couple weeks. the wife's not a big fan of it in general but my 3 yr old and myself like it so will keep trying

[Whoaru99]

Some briskets are just too lean (very little marbling) to be real tender and juicy. It's the breakdown of the fats and connective tissues that make them tender and juicy.

[Borch]

The point or flankcut will dry outr more. Wrap it in bacon as it just doesn;t have enough if it's own fat to work with. I may need to make some soon as all this talk is getting that craving going again.

[thirdeye]

Borch,

I have to respectfully disagree. The point or nose is the fatty muscle of a brisket, which is why it is so moist. The flat is the leaner muscle. In this picture the point is on the left.

One of the classic ways for using the point are treats called burnt ends (or sometimes "brownies" in the KC area) Once the brisket is done and rested for awhile, the point is separated and returned to the pit for a couple of hours to render more of the fat out. It is heavily seasoned and cubed, sauce added and then the sauce is reduced until sticky. They just melt in your mouth.

[Finns]

Right on Thirdeye !!

Finns.

[bbqhead]

hey [YouNeedAuthorization], what comps you do? KCBS?

missed the minnesota in may in austin

this year due to family probs. but be there

next year!

randy aka bbqhead

[Borch]

Oops!

Your right thirdeye. I got the two mixed up. Most of what is carried around here is the flat. A bit too lean without the bacon wrapping.

[jegerjack]

I will give my 2 cents... I always seem to find myself at a campground or an old cabin with out much to work with so don’t think you need a fancy smoker rig to make delicious brisket, or any other cut for that matter... The one rule of thumb, above everything else, that seems to work for me is, the longer the better and make sure you protect that meat in the beginning… I double wrap in foil or what works for me is using a good pan underneath the meat to capture the droppings and juices that can be mixed in with the mop sauce... I find myself around hour 4 worrying that either I do not have enough heat or too much, but it is always for naught... Also avoid cutting too much fat off, it helps with the flavor way too much to just cut it off...

[grpd]

jegerjack, just curious about your brisket cooking, i would guess you would season to taste, then double wrap with aluminum foil, then here is what i am not sure of, do you just cook on high heat, say your doing it on a charcoal weber grill, would you use alot of heat for an hour or so to sear the juices in and then unwrap and let it cook for 4 or five hours at say just medium heat with a drip pan under it or do you keep the foil on the meat the whole time it is cooking,do you do indirect heat by putting the charcoal around the edges or just the regular way and charcoal in the middle, also i would guess after a couple of hours or so you would have to add charcoal to the weber, sorry if sounds like dumb questions but i love brisket and cooking one myself would be great

[jegerjack]

I kind of mixed up my answer a little… I do not wrap the brisket, I do that for slow cooking ribs… For brisket, I put the mop sauce a little butter, garlic and a flat beer in a drip pan below the cut… I have not done brisket on charcoal grill, I have done it on wood and gas… When cooking over wood I am able to raise and lower the whole cooking shelf, so I did not have to worry about the flames or heat as much… Now I am not all that hardcore so I never know the temp of the grill, I would guess around 250 some times higher some times less, I think it pretty easy to find what temp range will work for you… On the gas grill I have 3 burners which are in 3 zones left to right, so I either have the 2 on the outside on or just one of the outside burners on (depending on the temp and wind outside)… I do also marinate 24 hrs before cooking…