July 22 Saturday Brisket


 
Erik Tracy

Erik Tracy

TVWBB Pro
For better or worse, I'm documenting my 3rd only brisket cook.

Hopefully it turns out, but if it doesn't I'm hoping for some helpful tips from you all.

Cut: Brisket Flat
Grade: Choice
Source: Costco
Price: $6.49/lb
Weight: 5.8 lbs before trimming, about 5.5 lbs after. There wasn't much fat to trim

Rub
A mix of garlic salt, kosher salt, and copious amounts of cracked black pepper


Setup
18.5" WSM
Weber Briquettes
Minion Load
No water in pan
Post Oak for wood
20 lit briquettes from chimney

Here's a shot of the brisket - skinny side first. You can see the tapering of thickness on this side
7-22-17-Brisket-skinnyside.jpg


Now the thick side of the brisket - just rotated 180degrees
7-22-17-Brisket-thickside.jpg


Chimney lit at 7:30am

Coals poured and WSM reassembled at 7:50am
7-22-17-Coals-Poured.jpg


Meat on at 8:00am, dome temp was 205F
7-22-17-Brisket-On.jpg


Vents were 50,50,50, top 100

It's now 8:25am, I tapped down the vents to be about 30,30,30, top 100 with the dome temp at 215F

Now, it's time to just watch the temp and time. Maybe make some breakfast.

More later....
 
That's looking fantastic so far! I'm cooking one with Weber briqs too. Mine is in the cooler right now, serving at 2. So far I'm pretty impressed with the weber charcoal for long cooks.
 
Time - 9:26am
I'm dialed in at 226F and holding steady with TBS.

Vents got tapped down to 15/15/15/, top 100.

I'm liking these Weber briquettes - hoping they will go the distance.
 
4 hrs in, 12 noon (meat on at 8am)
7-22-17-Brisket-4-hrs.jpg


Looking good, but bark hasn't set yet.

I made up a mop from Paul Kirk's book - Beefy Mop Sauce, but didn't apply as the bark hasn't set/formed.

No hurry - got plenty of time budgeted.

WSM holding rock steady at 225F at the dome, TBS.

Lovin' these Weber briquettes so far - hoping to get a full ride and not have to go to the oven or feed thru the door.

I'll test the internal temp at hour 5 with my Thermapen.

More later....
 
1pm/hour #5

WSM at 235F, still cranking out good smoke, another buried chunk has started to smolder.

Internal temp at thickest part was 156F

Color is much darker, but still some 'sweating' at the top, so gonna hold off on the mop and the wrap.

Maybe I won't wrap at all and just mop - going to wait til hour 6 to see how the temp and bark are coming along.
 
2pm/hour #6

WSM at 240F (letting it creep up on purpose to firm the bark), TBS is just flowing smoothly

Internal temp up to 163F.

Decided to give the top a good mopping.

7-22-17-Brisket-6-hrs.jpg
 
3pm/ hour #7

WSM still holding steady at 230F, TBS still rolling.

Internal temp though is stalled at 163F. I did another mop. But the bark is not getting to that meteoric black.

Now, I'm wringing my hands over whether to pull it, wrap it and push the temp to get thru the stall. Dinner was promised NLT than 6pm and I want to let the brisket rest for at least an hour before serving.
 
3:30pm / hour #7.5

Getting nervous, so pulled the brisket to triple wrap in heavy duty foil after a good mopping.

Internal temp was still only 163F.

Put into oven at 260F in broiling pan - brisket resting on top of a cake rack to be suspended over the hot bottom of the pan.

Will test temp at 4:30pm.

I've had good results of pushing thru the stall with pork butts after wrapping in the oven and getting close to final target temp.

I'm going to use the Harry Soo method of testing for 'butter tenderness' with the thermapen, thumb at less than brisket depth to avoid puncturing the foil pack.

Still going to watch the temp on the WSM to see how long a full load of Weber briquettes will hold 225F.
 
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4:30pm/ hour #8.5

Brisket was triple wrapped in HD foil at 3:30pm and into the oven at 260F

Internal temp now at 188, but not 'butter soft' as I push the Thermapen probe into the thick end.

I'm targeting 5pm for being 'done' for a full hour of rest before slicing & serving.
Fingers crossed.

Oh, and the WSM is at 220F, vents 25/25/25/ and top 100.

It'll be interesting to see how long the Weber briquettes will hold temp.
 
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5:00pm/ hour #9

Internal temp is now 199F, probe tender

Moving to upper oven (off) to hold for 1 hour wrapped before slicing.

Final pics later.

Gonna start prepping the grilled corn and fries for 6pm serve time.

Oh - and the WSM is now at 225F, and billowing smoke (another buried piece of oak must have started).
 
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Looks and sounds great so far!!! Cant wait to hear the final verdict. Nice work. And thanks for sharing the photos
 
Glad to provide an afternoon's diversion and interest.

This has been fun/good experience.

I'm hopeful the final product will taste as good as it smells about now.

We'll see - no pulling punches.

I always ask my family to be brutal for their 1-10 judging scores.
 
Well, dinner is over - the dishes washed and put away.

Here is the brisket at slicing which was right at 6pm for a total time of 10 hours. That included a full hour of resting in the foil before slicing
7-22-17-Brisket-done.jpg


Appearance darkened nicely, aroma was intoxicating...but it tightened up at slicing.

Taste was vg: good flavor profile, good smoke flavor - not too much. Beef flavor was prominent.

But - overall it was dry.

I sliced and bathed the pieces before serving, but that did not save the overall experience.

The inner slices at the thick end were actually pretty darn good. Family rated at 8.0.

But given a full slice (cross grained cut, of course), the overall score went from 7.0 (me) to 8.0.

I'm thinking it was undercooked?? It wasn't crumbly, so certainly not 'overcooked'.

I saved the juices and left over mop sauce and bathing the cut slices for tomorrow. We'll see.

But if this was for a competition....fail.

Oh - and the WSM is till at 220F after 11 hours with the Weber briquettes - longer than I've gotten with equivalent load with KBB.
 
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The sides were killer - fresh grilled white corn on the cob, a mix of curly fries and tater tots, and deli packed bow pasta w/ sun dried tomatoes & parmesan cheese.
 
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