Brisket flat I need info please.


 
Don Reed

Don Reed

TVWBB Pro
Okay I've read through most of the posts here and other forums about brisket flats and I know they can dry out easier than a packer, why we went with the Angus flat from Harris Teeter instead of the packer from Wally world I have no idea because we definitely paid more for less, some days we just don't think so now I have to ask, for you that do flat cuts do you inject and do you inject through the side or down from the top, stupid sounding question but I've never done it before also does low sodium beef broth and Worcestershire mix make a good injection? The plan as it sits is possibly inject, that depends on if the majority rules it will help maintain moisture, basic rub of maybe just salt and pepper, cook temp about 250 until internal hits say 140 - 160 then into a foiled over pan and start checking for tenderness about 180. Do you or does it help to add some beef broth to the pan or will that give a soggy bottom? Once removed from the cooker I've read that it should rest a few minutes before wrapping to help stop the cooking process so I will try this. The flat weighs 6.38 lbs. and looks pretty well trimmed, I haven't taken it out of the cryopak (sp) yet. I have considered putting the pan I intend to use for the foiling part under the flat while it cooks to catch any drippings and spritzing with the same mix I would use for the injection every hr. or so. Well that's the low down did I miss anything I'm open for input. I have done flats in the past on my Chargriller offset but this is the first on my WSM, the others were quite tasty but a little dry but I think part of that was do to the foiling right off the cooker so they kept on cooking. The weather is suppose to be stormy tomorrow so I'm considering moving the smoker onto the screened in porch instead of under my pop up, now I have to convince my wife that the smoke won't come back into the house or stain the roof, this is starting to sound like a fun cook isn't it.
 
Sound like every day life to me Don. You will be fine. From what I understand it is best to inject in line with the grain of the meat not across the grain, and you don't have to come in from the sides just at an angle with the grain. That seems to work best with me too.
If you are going to foil, which I think is best with flats, especially if they are thin wait until you get up to 160-170 and the bark has set. You want that bark set before you foil. The main advantage to the foiling is decreasing cook time and going through what is called the stall very quickly which also helps keeping the meat moist.
What also helps for me is to mop with apple cider vinegar and apple juice at around two hours in and every hour after that untill you foil.
Remember when your internal gets to 180-185 pull that thermometer because it has done all it needs to do and go by tenderness alone.
Good luck and looking forward to the pics.
 
All right, first off sorry there isn't any pics, I could give you excuses but we all know what they say about them. The flat wasn't to bad, I did inject it and the cooking temp was in the mid 240's, the IT hit 165 in 3 hrs. so I tossed it in a pan covered with foil until it hit 180 then started checking it for tenderness which by the time tha was achived it had taked 7 hrs. total time. The starnge thing was, the bark never really set up much nor did I get much of a smoke ring could this be due to the injection juice coming out?
 
Foiling will screw up your bark. Did you remove from the foil and finish on the smoker for the last 1/2 hour?

Injecting wouldn't affect the smoke ring. Smoke ring is caused by the chemical reaction in the surface of the meat and the smoke. This reaction stops at 140f so the longer the surface of the meat stays below 140 the more likely you'll get a smoke ring.
 
No I left it in the pan which is more than likely why the bark was soft but there was no bark to mess up, I would have thought that at the temps I was at the amount of smoke that was visable and that the meat was still cold when it went on that after 3 hrs. I would have had considerably more ring and bark than I did. Meat can be a funny thing sometime but the bottom line is, it was still the best flat I have ever done because of some of the things I did that I have never done before even if it didn't have that smoke ring wow factor, I have got to try a whole packer now. Thanks for the input.
 
When I inject, I like to reserve a little of the injection, and put it in the foil with the brisket. No a lot, maybe half a cup or so.
 
I try not to wrap for four hours and always have a great smoke ring. I did a brisket yesterday for the family and didn't inject it. We always inject at comps, but I'm not real big into all the stuff in the injections if I intend to eat a lot of the meat. You have to inject for the "one bite" judging.

It came out great. Moist and tender. Only thing I did to it after rubbing was spritz once with 50/50 water & worcestershire, and 1/2 bottle of Stubbs when wrapping.
 
I'll give the extended time a shot. I've done about a half dozen flats total, never injected or wrapped at 160 just cooked straight through to about 200 then wrap and into a cooler to rest and never did the probe for tender test so they were usually just a tad dry with a fantastic smoke ring and an intense smoky flavor which every one liked but I wanted a little more tender and moist. The injection wasn't overbearing and honestly I don't think you could taste it so I'll probably try the injection again and the rest before wrap when done. The family liked it, even my picky granddaughter said it was good and the few guys at the shop that got to sample some said it was really good so I'll blend all this advice together and see how it goes, maybe I'll even try the horse radish and BBQ sauce blend I was thinking about doing. Thanks again for the input.
 
Don I don't think, at least for me the injection does a whole lot for flavor, well maybe some. I think the main thing is to put a flavored moisture into the meat. More moisture getting heated up means more juicy and tender meat. At least that is how I look at it.
 
Bill that was the reason I tried injecting was for moisture, I had diluted the mix to cut most of the strength of the worchestershire (sp) and I really feel it helped with the final product because as I said this flat definately wasn't dry and I think I only used maybe 1/2 cup possibly a little under.
 
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