And the second swiss brisket

[Jonas-Switzerland]

I think when you so something three years in a row, it becomes a tradition. On this year's neighborhood get-together I again cooked a swiss brisket. i'll call it a tradition next year.

This was before the trim. Not sure if these fat layers are "correct" in the proper cut. The sort-of-point muscle is to the left:



Cooked on the WSM. Had a much better time holding temperatures. I had to be mindful of the heat-up period, and reducing airflow soon. Once it holds its temps, it holds its temps. It was out in some slightly breezy weather. But rock steady.



Before the wrap. You see part of my weird trim here. It looks like I gouged out some of the meat. But it was a whole layer of fat. If I left it on, I'd be worried about getting enough seasoning on the meat. If I removed it, then I'd remove 20% of the meat because the fat layer passes through the sort-of flat.

And serving, after a 24h hold.


Aaaand, flat was still dry. But a lot better. I cooked the flat slightly above 195. To like 199- 201. It was still tough to probe before the rest. That's why I overcooked my other brisket before. It felt tough, nowhere near room temperature butter. So I took it higher and dried it out. This time I stopped earlier and prayed to the BBQ gods for some 24h long hold magic. And compared to how tough it was before the hold, they truly did some magic.

Next time, I'll cook the brisket flat closer to 195 and pray for the long hold again.

 

[DanHoo]

Looks great.

I wasn't sure if Swiss Brisket had holes in it like Swiss Cheese

 

[Jim C in Denver]

How many hours in the smoke before wrapping?

What was the flat and point temp when you wrapped it?

24 hour hold was in the oven? At what temp?

Any water pan in the oven during the hold?

 

[Jonas-Switzerland]

A solid 8-8.5h on the smoker, I was somewhere between 172-180 in the flat. Point was 180. First a round of of wrapped cook was on the WSM at 250-275, before my coals started to dwindle. Then I moved to the oven at 280. I put a probe into the flat where I measured the coldest temp, until it measured 190. Flat was still tough. I checked it again at 195, and still pretty much tough. On some parts it was at 200. I was kind of lost there, so I don't exactly remember how much further I took it. I believe my plan was to give it maybe another 30-45mins, and then change to the hold. It was still tough before the hold.

Total time in the oven was about 4 hours. I was at about 12 for total cook time.

I took it out the oven, let it rest wrapped for about an hour. I figured the carry over heat would maybe soften it, so I did not unwrap it. I then moved it to an oven pan, and covered it as air-tight as possible with foil. I have a mode on my oven which keeps as much moisture in the chamber as possible, I set it to 140 and put it in the oven for 22-24 hours without a water pan. E: To clarify, the brisket was wrapped in butcher paper (which tore at one edge slightly, so not air tight anymore), inside an oven pan, and then closed with foil. I covered it as tight as possible to keep the smell inside. And then I prayed

hm... since its a fancy oven which could also steam, or keep the air at a set humidity... maybe I need to have a look at what humidity I should hold it...