Newbie with first packer


 
K

Kevin_M

New member
Last weekend I came across a 9.5 lb packer brisket and snapped it up. I've tried to cook flats a couple of times, once in the kettle and once in the wsm, but they were disappointing to say the least. I plan on starting it either late tonight or early tomorrow. I know the HH method is popular, but for this first real brisket I'd like to try the low and slow approach.

My thoughts so far are, 225 at the grill or as close to it as I can get. Light smoke for the first couple of hours. Foil at 165. Check tenderness at 190. Pack in cooler with towel on top for 2 hours. Eat.

I'm considering injecting with beef broth, then applying a rub and letting rest for 8-10 hours before putting on the wsm. Not sure about the injection part.

I'd rather not have this one turn into shoe leather like the last two, so I am open to suggestions as to ingredients and method. I've found this recipe which looks interesting: http://goo.gl/d8SBk

Thoughts?
 
for the first few i would keep things as simple as possible. this also gives you a base to later compare to when trying differant things. i went back to just s&p with some garlic powder at times. my wife likes the crust a musterd slather gives so she gets to do that. at first i foiled but after the third one i quit doing that. also probe till it is soft then let it rest but i think 2 hours is really overdoing it. now i let it rest for an hour at most. if you are gonna do low and slow then be prepared for a long cook especially a long plateau.
 
It might be a good idea to get a baseline for yourself. Cook the brisket without injections. Rub it up heavy. and keep your smoker around 235 deg. Do not foil this one. Keep a small amount of smoke wisping out the top vent through the entire cook. Cook it fat side down and spray or mop it. I like to spray with apple juice and alternate that with a mop of oil or clarified butter. After it's done, you will have something to compare your future cooks to.
Next you can start playing with foil, injections, high heat, etc. I pernonally don't like to foil a brisket until it reaches 180 or so. I find that if you cook a brisket in foil the whole time, it will taste like pot roast. If you don't use any foil, it will taste like barbequed brisket. Depending on when you wrap it, the flavor will lean towards one or the other. Wrap too soon and it will be a bit more pot roasty ( if that's a word). Wrap it late in the cook and it will taste more like a classic bbq'd brisket. It might be a good idea to, at least once, see what an old style brisket tastes like...then play.
Just a thought.
 
You guys make a lot of sense. Too bad I've already injected the brisket. I have Ray Lampe's BBQ book, so I used his beef injection. I think I'm ok. It's pretty mild and I didn't drown it. I also used his Big Time BBQ rub.

I trimmed the brisket a bit. I cut off the raggedy bits and most of the really hard white fat, and got rid of some of the silverskin. That's about it. It's hanging out in the fridge right now.

I like the idea of not foiling until 180. With that in mind, say I'm at 9 lbs trimmed and I cook at 225-235. What sort of time am I looking at? 12-13 hrs? I'd like to be eating by 6 pm or so, so I'm trying to decide between starting late tonight or early tomorrow.

I know this is an inexact science...
 
At 225*, I think 9# @ ~ 1.5 hrs per # you should expect about 12-13 hours. Of course, every piece of meat is different...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dwain Pannell:
At 225*, I think 9# @ ~ 1.5 hrs per # you should expect about 12-13 hours. Of course, every piece of meat is different... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yeah, I was thinking that as well. I decided to stay up and get it going tonight rather than getting up early.

I'm using the ceramic plate method. Temps have been 235-ish for the past hour or so with the bottom vents barely cracked and the top wide open.

I put the brisket in the bottom rack so I can add abt's and a fatty when I get up without a lot of horsing around. I did notice that the grill temp probe on that rack is within a couple of degrees of the lid gauge. That's good to know--the top rack is a good 15-20 degrees cooler.

Night all.
 
Not sure what the point of foiling at 180 is. Your not getting to get much more juice at that point and its going to soften up the bark.Only thing it will do is speed up the cook a bit.

I checked out the Big Time BBQ rub and teh only thing I don't like is the sugar in it. I hate sugar on beef but that's just my personal taste.
 
Good point Bob. I never foil at home. Foiling at 180 is just bad habit left over from 25 years of competition cooks. It does soften the bark which is important in the looks of the slices in a turn-in box. A hard bark will tear up a slice and that doesn't look good. We also want a soft bark for the judges because they rate you on tenderness. A chewy bark is not tender so you will score higher if you give the judges mush (pot roast). Wrapping towards the end of the cook also helps keep a little moisture from evaporating I don't want to turn in dry brisket. For Kevin's brisket, I should have not mentioned foiling so he can experience how it turns out without the dreaded "Texas Crutch".
 
I ended up not foiling anyway. Currently the wsm is at 232 and the brisket is 183. Shouldn't be too long now. 13 hrs and counting...

Good thing I started this thing last night.

The abt's and the fatty were both big hits.
 
My standard for good brisket is what I've tried at local comps like the Lakeland Pigfest. This is my best effort so far, but I have a lot to learn. The flavor was good, but the brisket itself was too dry.

I did notice that a lot of juice fell onto my foiled flower-pot base. I defatted that and found it had magical restorative powers on the brisket. I will definitely be making sure I grab all the juice next time as well.

There was a surprising amount of liquid, probably 2-3 cups total. I thought I would help it along by simmering it for a while to reduce and concentrate it. Mistake. Too salty.

Ah well. Live and learn. I wish each brisket experiment didn't cost $36.
 
Well if it was dry and firm then you needed to cook it a little longer. Dry and crumbly it was to long. Lampe's rub does have a lot of salt in it. Try leaving out the salt next time and just salt the meat itself 20-30 minutes before adding your rub. Just use the normal amount off salt you would use if you were salting at the dinner table.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bob Sample:
Well if it was dry and firm then you needed to cook it a little longer. Dry and crumbly it was to long. Lampe's rub does have a lot of salt in it. Try leaving out the salt next time and just salt the meat itself 20-30 minutes before adding your rub. Just use the normal amount off salt you would use if you were salting at the dinner table. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yeah, that's a good idea. You can always add more salt if there isn't enough, but you can't get it out once it's in.

I injected with low sodium beef broth and then used used kosher salt in the rub which is about a third less dense. I possibly would have been ok if I hadn't reduced the jus by half.

I had some more of it today in chopped brisket sandwiches and it was pretty good. No jus this time, just homemade bbq sauce.

Thanks for the good advice.
 
I don't find injecting makes much of a difference. If you foil save the drippings and give the slices a basting with that just before serving. I don't foil but if I have a large enough foil pan on hand I will set the brisket in it for a few hours to catch drippings that way.
 
Great call on saving the juices and using them on the brisket. That's one of the good things about HH method using a foil pan is you get drippings.

If you slice it up after resting and it is a little firm don't be too proud to throw it in the oven in foil at 350 for 30 minutes or so and recheck. Like you said you're into it $35.
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