Avoiding Brisket fail?


 
C

ChadVKealey

TVWBB Pro
I cooked a brisket this past Saturday and, unfortunately, overcooked it a bit. It was on the bottom rack with two butts on top, so while I had a temp gauge in it, I wasn't able to poke & prod it to test doneness. I was going by temp, and apparently 196 was too high. The point end was still reasonably tender, but the thin end of the flat was flat-out dry. Thankfully, there was enough of the adequate (but not great, IMO) beef to feed our guests with leftovers, but about 1/3 of the flat is destined for a batch of baked beans.

FWIW, I cooked it at 250 for about 15 hours. For the last 2 hours, the temp only went up by 2 degrees. It was injected with whole garlic cloves and dusted with my usual rub ("Meadow Creek Brisket Rub").

At any rate, I'm going to do another in a couple weeks, and I'm contemplating how to redeem myself. Here are my thoughts:

Option 1:
1) Cook brisket on the top rack. I won't have butts on at the same time, but I will have ribs; planning to do them on the OTG.

Option 2:
1) Cook brisket in the kettle and use the WSM for the ribs. I've never done a really long cook on the OTG, so I'm a bit nervous about that part.

In either case:
2) Wrap it (I haven't wrapped one yet on my WSM). Based on Aaron Franklin's test, I'd prefer not to use foil. I have parchment, but no butcher paper; is there a significant difference in the results between them? I could probably get a few feet of butcher paper from the shop when I get the brisket if that would be better.
 
The brisket will take 12-15 hours, and the ribs will take 4-5, so you can stagger the cook. Cook the brisket on the top rack of the WSM. About 2 hours before you guess it will be done, start the ribs on the bottom rack. When the brisket probes done, wrap it in foil and put it in a cooler with a couple of large towels to hold the heat. Brisket can rest 3-4 hours (it should rest at least 2hours). Move the ribs to the top rack and finish them while the brisket rests. I have done this and it works fine.

You can even cook the ribs to "almost done" the day before and refrigerate them. Just finish them in the WSM or OTG when you're ready to eat.

Jeff
 
J Hasselberger said:
The brisket will take 12-15 hours, and the ribs will take 4-5, so you can stagger the cook. Cook the brisket on the top rack of the WSM. About 2 hours before you guess it will be done, start the ribs on the bottom rack. When the brisket probes done, wrap it in foil and put it in a cooler with a couple of large towels to hold the heat. Brisket can rest 3-4 hours (it should rest at least 2hours). Move the ribs to the top rack and finish them while the brisket rests. I have done this and it works fine.

You can even cook the ribs to "almost done" the day before and refrigerate them. Just finish them in the WSM or OTG when you're ready to eat.

Jeff
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Thanks for the input. I guess I could pull the brisket off, wrap it, put the ribs on the bottom, then put the brisket back on top. With it wrapped, no worries about anything dripping on the ribs.
 
It's more of a time-management issue than anything. Wrapping sounds like a good option. If you plan by working backwards from dinner time, you'll get close enough. The nice part is that a brisket can rest up to 5 hours in a cooler and still be hot. You can rest ribs for 30 minutes if you need to or just serve them straight off the cooker.
 
J Hasselberger said:
The brisket will take 12-15 hours, and the ribs will take 4-5, so you can stagger the cook. Cook the brisket on the top rack of the WSM. About 2 hours before you guess it will be done, start the ribs on the bottom rack. When the brisket probes done, wrap it in foil and put it in a cooler with a couple of large towels to hold the heat. Brisket can rest 3-4 hours (it should rest at least 2hours). Move the ribs to the top rack and finish them while the brisket rests. I have done this and it works fine.
Jeff
Click to expand...

That's how I would have done it. Great advice Jeff.
 
Let the brisket rest unwrapped out of the cooler till it's 160-170 degrees before wrapping it and holding warm in a cooler. Otherwise your brisket that was perfectly done when you take it off will keep cooking and be overdone when you go to eat it.

Just describing a piece of meat as dry and asking for help can get you the wrong advice. Dry and tough is underdone and dry and crumbling is overdone.
 
Bob Sample said:
Let the brisket rest unwrapped out of the cooler till it's 160-170 degrees before wrapping it and holding warm in a cooler. Otherwise your brisket that was perfectly done when you take it off will keep cooking and be overdone when you go to eat it.

Just describing a piece of meat as dry and asking for help can get you the wrong advice. Dry and tough is underdone and dry and crumbling is overdone.
Click to expand...

Hi Bob, just to let you know that we have whole brisket for $8.95 a kilogram until supplies last at Moncion's YIG on River Road. I work there and bought one to do today (never cooked one before). It will be a fun experiment.

BTW, I won't tell you what I paid for it (I'm a butcher) as you would rent a You Haul and clean us out.:)
 
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colin.p said:
Hi Bob, just to let you know that we have whole brisket for $8.95 a kilogram until supplies last at Moncion's YIG on River Road. I work there and bought one to do today (never cooked one before). It will be a fun experiment.

BTW, I won't tell you what I paid for it (I'm a butcher) as you would rent a You Haul and clean us out.:)
Click to expand...

Wow never seen brisket at YIG before. I usually get mine at Lavergne Western Beef on Navan road.
 
Hey Chad...yeah, Jeff led you in the right direction. I used to never wrap a brisket on my old stick burner, but started wrapping in butcher paper on my WSM. Seems to work great. The first brisket I did on the WSM had the flat a tad dry, but it was perfect when I pulled it off. But, I do remember wrapping it in foil in putting it directly in the cooler...so it kept on cooking and overcooked itself just a little. The next two I did were great. And, I'm going to do a 20 pound Choice CAB brisket this weekend. Really looking forward to that.

Here's the best deal on butcher paper that I've found. http://www.webstaurantstore.com/24-...3324PEA.html?gclid=CLvnwoOemc0CFQkyaQodLFcG1w Even though shipping costs as much as the paper itself. Everything around here only keeps 18" butcher paper in stock, and I like the 24" for briskets, plus my paper cutter is 24" wide, so this is what I get. It's the good stuff, and works great!

Good luck!
 
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