Brisket a la Franklin BBQ

[Chris Allingham]

This is my third attempt at USDA Prime brisket, and my second at trying to approximate Franklin BBQ brisket.

The first prime I cooked, I trimmed and injected and seasoned like a competition brisket, but it coughed up little balls of something on the surface which I did not appreciate. The second prime, I seasoned with 50/50 kosher salt/pepper; the flat came out good but the fat was not properly rendered in the point.

So here's my third shot at it. A 14-16 pound brisket from Creekstone Farms. USDA Prime, the same brisket used by Franklin BBQ. My scale says it weighed 13.7 lbs, so they cheated me a little. Bad dog!

Trimmed as best I could based on Franklin's book and various videos. Seasoned with kosher salt & pepper. Smoked fat side down with oak chunks at 275°F for three hours, then started spritzing with apple cider vinegar every 30 minutes. Wrapped in pink butcher paper at 170°F and returned to the cooker until 205°F. Let cool on the counter for 30 minutes, then moved the package into a dry cooler for another 3.5 hours. Brisket came out still at a minimum of 140°F.

It's not Franklin BBQ, but it's pretty good. I'm being hard on myself, I only see the flaws. My wife says it's the best brisket I've ever made. She's too kind.

 

[JimK]

Looks great Chris. Practice makes perfect, and that's half the fun.

 

[BFletcher]

Looks like a beauty. Can I assume you do other grades of brisket--Choice or otherwise--and how is your experience with those when compared to this Prime? I have never, ever bought a Prime grade of any cut; we just aren't that particular and my wife prefers IT's greater than 170 from a steak, chop, chicken, etc.

 

[James N]

Looks like it came out mighty tasty Chris.

 

[Chris Allingham]

Looks like a beauty. Can I assume you do other grades of brisket--Choice or otherwise--and how is your experience with those when compared to this Prime? I have never, ever bought a Prime grade of any cut; we just aren't that particular and my wife prefers IT's greater than 170 from a steak, chop, chicken, etc.

I've cooked Select, Choice, and Prime, but mostly Choice. You can make very good backyard brisket using Choice.

At times, the Prime briskets at Costco are cheaper than some of the Choice briskets I've bought in years past, so they can be affordable. Brisket is different than steaks, chops, etc. because regardless of grade, you're going to cook it w-a-y past 170*F until the meat is tender, up in the 190-205*F range. Choosing prime is about more fat in the meat to help keep it moist when cooked to those high internal temps.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

Excellent brisket Chris! I was looking forward to this post after seeing some of the pics on facebook. My experience is that the higher temps seem to render the fat better (although I've heard the exact opposite). It seems like choice would do better cooked a little lower in temp as I think the fat is too rendered at 275. I noticed on a recent article and in an exchange with one of the cooks from Franklin that you can up the temp to 300 once the brisket is wrapped as the paper protects the brisket from the heat. I may try that on my next cook.

 

[Zac_Callier]

Sure looks great here, thank you for sharing (and for the website too!)

 

[RichPB (richlife)]

Looks luscious and moist to me!

Chris, I'm sure you posted it (or articled it) before (and I probably read it), but would you say again why you choose "fat side down"? Perhaps the only reason needed is that it allows the spritzing to be effective. Did you keep it fat side down after wrapping.

I've now Franklin-wrapped two briskets myself and will do so with my first Prime from Costco soon. I've been Googling for recent tips since finding the Prime brisket and see various (not new) suggestions like scoring the fat cap and "no trim" fat caps. Any thoughts on these questions?

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

I agree with your wife Chris! That looks fantastic, but I understand what you're saying. I'm my own worst critic too. The bark is outstanding and although I can't taste it, those slice shots look plenty moist to me. You've encouraged me to try a prime Creekstone Farms Brisket.

 

[Chris Allingham]

Chris, I'm sure you posted it (or articled it) before (and I probably read it), but would you say again why you choose "fat side down"? Perhaps the only reason needed is that it allows the spritzing to be effective. Did you keep it fat side down after wrapping.

I've now Franklin-wrapped two briskets myself and will do so with my first Prime from Costco soon. I've been Googling for recent tips since finding the Prime brisket and see various (not new) suggestions like scoring the fat cap and "no trim" fat caps. Any thoughts on these questions?

The general consensus on brisket seems to be that you place the fat side toward the fire in order to protect the flat portion and to better render the fat. In an offset cooker, the heat flows across the top side of the brisket, so they generally cook fat side up and place the thicker, fattier point end toward the firebox. In the WSM, the heat flows up from the bottom, so we tend to cook fat side down. That's what I do and why I do it.

After wrapping in butcher paper, I placed it fat side up in the cooker. The fat gets sticky as it renders, and I was worried the weight of the brisket pressing that fat into the paper would cause it to stick and tear off when unwrapped. I really don't know if that would have been a problem; as it was, the paper just barely stuck in a few spots with fat side up.

I don't have experience with scoring the fat cap so I can't comment on it, but I've seen it done by BBQ restaurateurs on TV. As for no trim, there's a long history of people barbecuing brisket that way. I feel like there are common sense reasons for trimming fat: Why cook a bunch of fat you don't intend to eat, that just contributes to longer cooking times, more fuel consumed, smoke and rub won't penetrate it, and it doesn't all render nicely? The amount of fat on some of these prime briskets is ridonculous...can't imagine just throwing them into a pit without trimming.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I cook fat side down and then switch to fat side up after the wrap for the reasons Chris stated. I have had my fat stick to the paper when I left it down and it ripped off a chunk when I unwrapped it. I trim the same way. I usually save some of the hard brisket fat to add to my sausage.

 

[Rich Dahl]

I also think I'm my own worst critic. Although I don't do a lot of briskets I know what I like when I have them and have to agree with Cliff those pictures sure look moist to me. I think you did great.

 

[Matt Gard]

I have been away from the site for a long time and looks like I came back at the right time. I am planning to do a brisket myself soon and was coming to find some wisdom on brisket. Its like it was meant to be. That brisket looks delicious Chris.

 

[Barb D]

That looks fantastic Chris. I'd take a plate any time you have extra.

 

[Chad M.]

That looks amazing, Chris. Beautiful piece of meat.

 

[Sparky Rowe]

You cooked they on your 18?. Looks like it fit fine. Excellent cook.

 

[Chris Allingham]

You cooked they on your 18?. Looks like it fit fine. Excellent cook.

I had to lay it over a foil covered chunk of smoke wood, and even then one corner rubbed against the inside of the lid. Oh well!

 

[Chris in Louisiana]

I've cooked Select, Choice, and Prime, but mostly Choice. You can make very good backyard brisket using Choice.

Do you think eaters can tell the difference between a prime and choice brisket if they were smoked the same way?

I'm curious as to whether you think the extra expense of prime makes a meaningful difference.

 

[Robert McGee]

Chris;
That looks to be an excellent Brisket Cook. Looks to be a "Home Run" to me!

Keep n smokin',
Dale53

 

[Chris Allingham]

Do you think eaters can tell the difference between a prime and choice brisket if they were smoked the same way?

I'm curious as to whether you think the extra expense of prime makes a meaningful difference.

I think an experienced eater would be able to tell the difference. The average person, I don't know. Read this piece by Daniel Vaughn from Camp Brisket 2014 where students cooked and compared different grades of Choice, Prime, and Wagyu brisket. It states that in their experiment, the differences could be discerned but were minuscule: https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/what-i-learned-at-brisket-camp/

"Select and low Choice were pretty easy to spot. The grain of the meat was tighter and the slices were drier. One would expect the Wagyu, which runs for double the price of even Prime grade per pound, to outshine all of the competition. When it came to the blind tasting it was hard to distinguish. CAB, Prime, and Wagyu were all very similar. I actually selected the Prime as being the pricey Wagyu. While there was slight variation between the three (they were three different animals, after all), they were all good eating briskets. The point is that it’s tough to advocate paying the high price for Wagyu for a cut like brisket that’s already so well marbled. The gap in flavor and moisture between Prime and CAB was also minuscule, something to consider when you’re looking at that price difference of about 25 cents per pound."​

I was recently talking to a VIP judge at a BBQ contest that owns a high-end butcher shop selling meat from Creekstone Farms, Niman Ranch, and some really obscure specialty producers. He says that on occasion, he's had Select briskets that ate better than your typical Prime brisket. Now, that doesn't mean that as a general rule Select is better than Prime (it's not), just that there are exceptions to the rule. Brisket is a natural product, each animal is individual, and there can be a lot of variability between individual pieces of meat.