Your brisket bible - a writeup by legendary pitmaster Danny Gaulden


 

Keri C

TVWBB Wizard
Danny Gaulden is legendary. Danny G has a reputation in the barbecue world that is near godliness. He's been cooking barbecue for near 30 years, I think, at a "Dairy Queen" restaurant in Carlsbad, NM. His word is gold. Believe him. Don't question him. You will never get a writeup as educational on brisket as this. My greatest barbecue honor was to get a invitation to his restaurant - that he had an apron waiting for me, and I could cook with him. He isn't specifically addressing the WSM here, but the advice is solid and irreplaceable, nevertheless.

Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time



BRISKET by Danny Gaulden

Picking a Brisket
The first thing one needs to know is how to pick out a good brisket. For home smoking, one in the 8 to 10 pound range works well, and doesn't take as long to barbecue as an 11 to 12 ponder. Look for a brisket that has about 1/4 to 1/3" of fat across the top. This is generally called the "fat cap" by most barbecue folks. Don't buy a pre-trimmed piece, for it will not cook as tender, and will be dry. With the brisket lying down and the fat side up, try to pick one that is thick all the way across the flat. This can be hard to do sometimes, for most are thick on one side, and taper down to become fairly thin on the other side. Try to find one that has a more rounded point, rather than a pointed point. Briskets with rounded points tend to be more meaty in this area. Briskets come in two grades, "choice or select". Choice grading costs just a few cents per pound more than select, and generally has more marbling. Either will do well, but choice is usually a little better.

Preparation:
After you have chosen your brisket, generously apply a good rub on it, wrap it in clear wrap, and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. This will allow the seasoning to work its way into the meat a bit.

The next day, as you are building your fire, bring meat out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. You do not HAVE to apply a second fancy rub at this point. If you don't have one, just use a little salt, pepper, and powdered garlic. You don't have to use any kind of a rub if that is your desire, but I prefer to use one. After your fire has settled down to around 240-250°, put the brisket in the pit, fat side up and leave it like that the entire time if you're using a pit like my Big Bertha with a Ferris wheel rack system or a water smoker.

Now, if you're using an off-set firebox type pit, like a New Braunfels Black Diamond or a Klose, put the brisket on the rack fat side up and then turn it over and mop it every two hours so the bottom side doesn't get too much heat and dry out. While it's with the fat side up, the fat renders and penetrates in, over and around the cooking meat. When brisket becomes fork tender in the flat, take it off the pit, let it cool for about 30 minutes. Then slice and serve. Always check brisket for doneness in the FLAT, not the point. The point will generally become tender before the flat, and can deceive you. Continue to cook until the flat is tender. OK, a lot of folks on the BBQ Mailing List asked me what the internal temperature is when I take the brisket out of the pit after I figure they're done. So I measured a bunch of them with a meat thermometer and almost all of them were right at 188°.

How Long Does it Take?
How many hours does one smoke a brisket? This argument will go on 'till the end of time, and is hard to answer, for there are so many variables. Two people that think they smoked their briskets exactly the same will most likely come out with two totally different finishing times. I like to smoke mine for about 1 to 1-1/4 hours per pound. That would put me at about 10 to 12-1/2 hours for a 10 lb. brisket - no longer. I peg 240-250 as constantly as possible. Sure, one will have some temperature ups and downs, but I keep it at that temperature fairly well. I don't go off and forget about the fire and I don't open my pit every 10 minutes to "take a peek". I choose a good piece of meat. All these things make
a difference in how long the process will actually take.

Another thing to take into consideration is the quality of the meat. All briskets are tough, but some are tougher than others. This will have an effect on the overall smoking time also. I have made a few boo-boos in my many years of smoking briskets, but not many. Ninety nine times out of a hundred, they are tender, juicy, smoky, and a piece of meat I am proud to serve to friends and customers.

How to Tell When It's Done
After 24 years in the business, I take tough cuts of meat (brisket, butts, etc.) off by the fork tender method, not time or temperature. BBQing is an art, not a science as baking. I think some folks have the idea that Q'ing is like baking...follow the recipe to exact measurements, time, and temperature, and all will turn out good. That just won't happen in Q'ing. It is an art. I know that "great" baking requires a talent and art to produce the best, even with the measurements, but Q'ing demands more. It is one of the hardest art forms to learn. However, as you go down the road to achieving the best BBQ you can, it doesn't hurt to have a little science behind you. The science does help a lot, to a point, and I feel it is necessary, for it helps you understand what the hell is going on. If you can understand it, you can always do better. But only a lot of cooking practice and improving your skills and techniques will get you there. Many a time I have told folks that BBQing sounds easy...all you have to do is make the right fire and know when to take off the meat. Only a fellow Q'er that has tried this a few times knows how difficult this can be. It's the easiest thing to explain, and the hardest thing to do, that I have ever experienced in my life.

Under normal smoking conditions, with the heat being equal on the point and the flat, the point will become tender before the flat. The reason is simple...the point has more marbling, or fat in it, vs. the flat. This makes it cook faster. I have heard some say that the point took longer to cook than the flat. Something's not right there, for under equal heat, the point will become tender first. No need to panic, just let it cook all together until the flat is tender.

How can you tell when a brisket is done?
When you cook as many as I do everyday, you learn fast not to judge when a brisket is done by its size. If you play that game, you're gonna mess up a bunch of meat. You treat each one as a totally separate little critter, and never judge it by it's size. Have had 14 pounders come off the pit sooner than 10 pounders. Number one, you don't want "falling apart" brisket...maybe from the oven, but not for real pit BBQ. Tender, yes. You should be able to slice the meat. When holding a slice in you hand, with a slight tug, it should pull apart. That's real pit brisket. It should have a wonderful, flavorful crust that is very tasty and robust in flavor, not too dry, and a real thrill to eat sliced with and mixed into the sliced meat, or mixed into chopped beef.


Some cooks like to finish off a brisket by wrapping it in foil and continuing to cook for a few hours. Finishing off one's brisket in FOIL will not achieve this degree of finesse, but I have seen many a pit where I have felt that it was necessary to do that to produce a decent product...such a shame. It will not achieve the same level of perfection as a piece of meat smoked in a smoker that didn't require that process (foiling).

Your internal temperature should reach 190 to 197 degrees in the FLAT, if you are cooking at 235 to 250 degrees. I didn't say hit and miss at these temperatures, I said COOKING at these temperatures. You must keep your temperature up, and average these temps. to have the above directions work for you. If you're cooking at lower temperatures, the flat will read at a lower temperature when done.

How to check for a perfectly done brisket is not easy.
Here are some hints: The above temperature readings in the flat; fork tender; or placing a
broiler fork straight into the flat and lifting straight up. If the meat lifts up with the fork, it's not done...if it doesn't, good chance it's there.

Cooking Temperature
Some BBQ cooks like to hold the temperature of a brisket at 170 degrees until done. This "holding at 170 degrees internally" for hours on end is bull to me. I have never found that productive, nor produced a good brisket following that procedure. The fat will hardly render, and lots of not good things will happen to the meat. You would have to have a very low and hard to manage fire to keep the meat at such a temp. The theory behind all that is that the meat will start to lose it's moisture above that temp. Fine and dandy. That's all science book theory. As we all know, sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn't. In the real world, I find that a bunch of crap. Meat held at that temp takes many more hours to "become tender", and a slower dryness occurs, vs. cooking at a slightly higher temp. for less time, and less dryness. It's that simple.

Don't get carried away with the "I can cook as hot as I want" syndrome. Only up to about 250 to 260 degrees maximum for the internal Pit Temp. will work for a really good brisket. I have found that once one gets over about 250 or so with a wood fired pit, you stand a much greater chance of creosote and soot. Reason being: the higher the heat, the bigger the fire. The bigger the fire, the more chance for a hard to control fire. A hard to control fire produces bad stuff.

Brisket Yield
A correctly cooked brisket will lose 40% of its weight in the cooking process, and the average person will trim off about 20% in fat, after cooked, if cooking a packer. With my briskets, I never expect to have over 4 lbs. out of a 10 lb. average brisket. Sometimes we get a little
more, sometimes, a little less.

Serving
If you're not ready to eat it as soon as it done, double wrap in foil, and set it in a non-drafty place or a small ice chest (no ice) until you are ready to serve it. Don't leave it for too many hours, or you can risk food poisoning. As long as the internal temperature of the meat stays between 140 to 160, it is safe.

Before serving brisket, divide it into three pieces. Here's how you do it. Make sure you have a SHARP knife. Now, with lean side of brisket up, cut off the point (deckle end). The reason you want to do this with the lean side up is that it is much easier to see where the point and flat join. Now turn the brisket over with the fat side up and cut off the skirt, flap, whatever you want to call it. The reason for this is that the grain runs in a different direction than the flat and should be separated from it. With the skirt removed, trim the fat off of it, top and bottom and where it is connected to the flat. Don't be surprised if there is a lot of fat--another reason to separate these pieces. Now turn the skirt so that you are cutting against the grain, and make the slices at about a 30 to 45 degree angle. Cut slices off of the point also, going against the grain, and do the same to the flat. Mix the different cuts together, and serve.

Storing Leftovers
After cooked, freeze in whole form...fat and all. Thaw out the morning of the day you want to serve them. Trim off all fat except for about 1/8 inch or less, and re-heat in pit with medium smoke and indirect heat. This will keep the briskets from drying out while heating, and allow smoke penetration to rekindle original flavor.

What Are Burnt Ends?
The burnt ends of a brisket come about two ways. As stated above, they can be made on purpose by returning the point to the smoker for another 4-6 hours and they can result from the thinner parts of the brisket's flat getting overcooked during the smoking process. The burnt ends are usually rather dry and very smoky tasting. These can be served thinly sliced with lots of barbecue sauce or chopped up and used in dishes like chili, stews and soups.

Some Experiments
I recently did a long, extensive test on the "newer, leaner" briskets it seems we are getting the past year or so. Even the choice cuts I have been getting have very little fat cap. The results will be a little shocking, but beneficial to all. The brisket I will report on was 11 lbs., nice form, 1/16 to 1/8" fat cap the first 4" of the flat (hate that), and not a lot more the rest of the way. Went out and bought a few new oven thermometers, checked them for accuracy (they were correct) to make sure my pit temperature gauge was accurate. It was off about 15 degrees. The oven thermometers were a K-Mart brand named "Bakers Secret", and I really like them. About $5.99 each. They're big, easy to read, and good. Checked my meat thermometers with ice water and they were right on the money (32 degrees). Started the test. I stuck one of the meat thermometers into the flat of the chosen test brisket, right out of the walk-in. It was on 38 degrees. By the time I got the fire going, loaded the meat on the pit, (a pretty fair load of 17 briskets, 15 slabs of ribs, 2 butts, several cuts of boneless, skinless turkey, some sausage and ham), 15 to 20 minutes had passed. The pit temperature was at about 70 degrees. Locked the doors down and started the test.

This is a very interesting test that I don't think has ever been run for the BBQ mailing list, nor myself. It is interesting to see how the temperature rises, drops, and rises again in Q'ing. This rise and drop in temperature is not a mistake on my reporting. It actually happened. It also happened on the other brisket I tested. You will also notice that once the temperature got into the "evaporation zone" (160 to 180 degrees), the rise slowed down considerably. Not sure why, unless it was due to some chemistry taking place during the evaporation process, or the fact that the closer the meat gets to the inside pit temperature, the slower it goes. The window gets smaller, just like a cars acceleration. The closer you get to its top speed, the longer it takes to get there vs. the off the line 0 to 60 burst. However, you will notice that the temperature started to rise again after about 3 or 4 hours in the 160 degree or so zone. The pit that this meat was cooked on cost a lot of money, is very accurate, easy to control, and maintains a natural high humidity level. Your home pit may not cook the same, therefore you must make you own adjustments.

Here's the report:
Pit temperature at closing of doors: 70 degrees (due to time of loading with
doors open for several minutes.)

Brisket internal temperature at loading time---40 degrees.
Cook Time Pit Temp Meat Temp
30 min 150 degrees 56 degrees
1 hour 210 degrees 84 degrees
2 hours 235 degrees 128 degrees
3 hours 250 degrees 146 degrees
4 hours 250 degrees 156 degrees
5 hours 255 degrees 150 degrees
6 hours 260 degrees 160 degrees
7 hours 265 degrees 160 degrees
8 hours 270 degrees 165 degrees
9 hours 260 degrees 170 degrees
10 hours 275 degrees 175 degrees
11 hours 275 degrees 182 degrees
11 hours 15 min 270 degrees 182 degrees

I start the burn on my pit slowly. Lots of smoke and low heat for a coupleof hours. Then I start to kick it up a bit. One can get their pit up to ahigher cooking temperature sooner, if they desire. You may notice that thetemperature in the pit rose a bit as the time went on. This was not due tome making a larger fire. As a matter of fact, I kept making a smaller fire,to a point. If I had maintained the burn much lower, I would have had tostart a new fire every time I added a new log, considering the fact thatthis pit demands a greener wood to cook correctly and is extremelyefficient. One must also consider that a smaller burn would be needed astime goes by, due to the fact that the meat is at a much hotter temperaturethan when the pit was first fired with all of the product at 40°.Plus all the ribs, turkey, etc. were off the pit by this time. Less meat ona pit to soak up the heat, less heat needed. This may not apply to someonecooking just a couple of briskets, ribs, butts, etc. on a home rig.

So what have we learned from all of this?
First of all, one needs to know the structure of the meat he is dealing with in order to get anapproximate, and approximate only, on how to figure out the time and temperature game. You'reworking with two different meat cuts here...one fat, one lean, and you need to know how tosuccessfully Q each of them. It's kind of like playing checkers. The meat throws a move on you,and you adjust. You've got to learn how to beat it.

To prove to myself that I wasn't going crazy, for I have long thought that abrisket should reach anywhere from 190 to 197 degrees internal temperature in the flat to bedone, I tested the few (about 5 out of the bunch cooked today) briskets that had a good fatcap. They came off the pit anywhere from 190 to 195 degrees, in the flat. This was the kind ofbrisket I was getting a year or so ago, but not so much now. So we need to know how to dealwith what we are given. A totally different feel with the fork is in play here. They feel tender, but not the same as a brisket with a good fat cap. Are they good? You damn right, but not, in my opinion, as tender and moist as the heavier fat capped ones. When doing a temperature test, you must know where to put the thermometer, or it ain't gonna work. It will make the difference between a great brisket and one that only your dog would eat. The thermometer MUST go into the flat, not the point, or anywhere in between. Have the flat facing towards you, and in the thicker part of it, place your thermometer. Make sure the thermometer goes in about 2 1/2 to 3 inches. Don't place it in the thinner part of the flat, nor within two inches of the outside of it. To give you an example of temperature variation,
the fatter, point of the brisket can read 10 to 20 degrees hotter than the flat. This is more common than uncommon. This could really screw up your day if you don't know where to put the thermometer.

Think. Will the point overcook because it is at a higher temperature. No. The fat and marbling around it keep it nice and moist. Don't worry about it. Worry about the flat.

For the record, this 11 lb. test brisket came off the pit at 6.7 lbs. A39.1% shrinkage. Cooking time: about 61 minutes per pound. If the fat caphad been thicker, it would have had a tad more shrinkage, but not a lot.Why? Because a fatter brisket will get done faster than a leaner one.However, the fatter one will have more trim-off and less yield. It's definitely a trade off. Fortunately, when you can go to the market and "pick through" the bunch, you may be able to get the cut of meat you are looking for. But for professional pitmasters, and large caterers, that isn't possible. We have to buy meat by the case.

Some of you may feel that the cooking temperatures I achieved towards the latter part of the cooking process were a tad too high. Not so. I make the kind of burn I feel I need to cook with. Quite frankly, I judge the cooking process more with the kind of fire I have, than with the temperature.

There's good fire and then there's bad fire. It was a small fire, and themeat was cooking just like it should be - not too hot nor boiling the fat.Just a good steady cooking process going on. Too hot a fire will boil thefat, and you can hear and see it when you open your pit doors. At thatpoint, you need to back off.

This brisket took 11 hours and 20 minutes to finish. To me, that's slow.Especially for a cut of meat that's not much more than 3 or 4" thick to start with. There's no doubt that there is a "bragging thing" about howlong ones cooks their Q. Especially brisket, butt, etc. Don't get caught upin this. Too slow can be bad...very bad. Don't get carried away with toohigh a temp., but don't cook so slow that you don't even render the fat, andare in reality making jerky.

I ran another test with one thermometer about one inch into the brisket, and the other about three" in. Note the fact that this brisket had a better, but still not great, fat cap, and weighed less than the other test brisket. Due to the "just a little better" fat cap is why it came off at a higher temperature, and cooked less time per pound. I am sure of it. The shrinkage was close to the test brisket done earlier.

Facts: 10.63 lb. brisket. Fat cap approximately 1/8-1/6 inch.
Internal temperature of brisket at start of test: 40 degrees.
Pit temperature at start up: 68 degrees

Pit temp.
Thermometer in 1 inch. Thermometer in 3 inches. Hours cooked Cooking Time
Pit Temperature Thermometer[NL]1 inch in Thermometer[NL]3inches in
30 minute 200 degrees 68 degrees 60 degrees
1 hour 225 degrees 100 degrees 88 degrees
2 hours 250 degrees 136 degrees 124 degrees
3 hours 250 degrees 149 degrees 140 degrees
4 hours 250 degrees 160 degrees 152 degrees
5 hours 260 degrees 165 degrees 158 degrees
6 hours 270 degrees 166 degrees 160 degrees
7 hours 270 degrees 176 degrees 167 degrees
8 hours 275 degrees 180 degrees 172 degrees
9 hours 275 degrees 194 degrees 180 degrees
9 hours, 50 min 275 degrees 200 degrees 190 degrees

Brisket weighed 6.63 lbs. straight off the pit. Shrinkage: 38%.
Cooking time per lb.: 55.5 minutes
 
Hi Keri,

I've been gone a while on a diet without much Q and was looking to brush up on brisket and did a search and this popped up. Great article. Thanks for posting it!!
 
Today is my first brisket. I bought a full packer over a week ago, and finally am going to do it. This article has been most informative. I used some rub I had on hand. Will let you know how it turns out.
 
I have couple of thoughts,maybe more questions realy.

At one point he states that (in his experimint) the briskets seemed to be done right at 188*. Elswear he states the internal temp should be 190-197* It seems a little of a contradiction. Im not sure what to make of that.

He also clearly advocates cooking in a water smoker fat side up.Many on this site are saying fat side down.

Just woundering if anyone has some ideas on this.

Jim
 
I did mine fat down per Kevin's suggestion. It also depends on the kind of smoker you have, but I had great luck with it done this way. I wouldn't turn it over if you paid me.
 
My last was an umtrimmed choice flat, and it was fat side-down the whole time. Cooked to 188° at 250° at the grate, and rested in foil, fat side-up, for an hour in the oven (not on, I use it like an ice chest, only turning the light on to warm the air). Came out so good, I hate to chop up the leftovers for chili.
 
Thanks Jane and Doug

The article was interesting but for me a little confussing at spots. Ive tried to cook a brisket a few times with mixed results. The last two I cooked were better but still not quite right ( I think now it was due to not having an even enough cut of meat -was more carefull when I bought one the other day)Im giving it another go tommorow and just needed an idea weather to follow the conventional wisdom on this site (and now I will).
Jim
 
Jim, go to http://www.dannysbbq.com and write Danny a note if you have any questions about his writeups. He has a forum on his website. He is more than happy to help anyone when it comes to BBQ. He's been doing it his whole life, and everyone who's ever eaten at his restaurant raves about it. I've sent a number of people there myself when there were going to be passing through Carlsbad.

He's a gem in the world of BBQ.

Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time
 
Thanks Keri

Neat site, I saved the link. Some good stuff there.
Just read his briskett bible (on his site) and I found the discripency . On the site it says:

"So I measured a bunch of them with a meat thermometer and almost all of them were around 188°to 195 degrees".

Much more in line with the other 190-197 sentance.

Jim
 
Jim
The brisket is the real deciding factor, the amount of internal fat will dictate when it is done. A brisket from a prime animal will done at lower finish temp than a choice and much earlier than select.
Jim
 

 

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