Bison brisket

[Jay Turner]

I have a very small (2.5 lbs) and lean (almost no visible fat) bison brisket that I want to smoke. I did a search of the forums and saw a little past discussion with Jim Minion advising to treat the brisket differently than beef and to take it to a temp more around 160, and rely also on the feel. Anyone else have any other/different advice? What kind of smoke wood, rub, etc?

Any input is appreciated.


Thanks.

 

[Dan Allen]

No answer here but rather then starting a new thread I've got a similar question.

First, bison brisket, mmmmmmm, sounds good.

Now for my question, my wife picked up a veal brisket at the butcher because between the two of us we make a heck of a beef brisket in the oven (sacrilege I know

). Since I smoked my first butt this weekend I'll probably be attempting the brisket in a couple of weeks. Is there anything different between smoking a veal brisket and a regular beef brisket?

Thanks.

 

[K Kruger]

Jay--

On the bison front: A lower cook temp and lower finish is indeed warranted. Start checking for doneness in the upper 140s--seriously, the 140s!--but it could be the 150s, 160s at finish. Feel is critical.

Though briskets from the same producer can finish similarly to each other, briskets can vary from producer to producer due to differences in animal size feed and finish.

I developed this rub for bison rib-eyes but it worked well on bison chuck. Another I like very much is quatre-épices. For this, combine 1 T freshly ground white pepper with 2 t ground clove, 1 1/2 t ground nutmeg, and 1 1/2 t ground ginger. Salt the brisket separately first, allow it to sit several minutes for the salt to draw moisture to the surface, then apply the rub over the salt.

I like 2 parts fruit wood to 1 part pecan.

Dan--

Veal brisket is much leaner than beef and often quite thin. Smoke as for bison (the quatre-épices would work well here too) and finish by feel. You can also start the cook as a smoke, finish it as a braise. Fruit wood only, imo, and not a lot of it.