Brisket flat on a cold day


 
MattP

MattP

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Picked up a five pound brisket flat from a butcher that opened earlier this fall in a new downtown market about a mile from my office. Was pretty impressed with the amount of fat they left on it-- the last two I've gotten (one from Meijer, one from Costco) were trimmed very lean.

Getting the WSM fired up. Oh joy, snow is starting to stick. Yay. (You can see my "enthusiasm", right?)
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Brisket is seasoned with a coffee rub that I picked up in Tennessee a couple weeks ago. This is my first time ever using a coffee rub, so I'm quite eager to see how it is. Smells fantastic.
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Today is the first time I'm trying a foiled-over, empty water bowl. Getting sick of cleaning the thing out after I use it with water, so the prospect of just needing to put new foil on for each job is very appealing.
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WSM got up to temp, and on went the brisket.
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I am about 45 minutes into the cook right now. Have been very impressed with the empty water bowl-- Maverick pit temp have been giving stable readings of 240-245 the whole time. When getting the WSM fired up I had all vents open 100% for maybe ten minutes, but then I dialed them back to the point they were all nearly closed. Once the cook started I did close one of them completely, but left the other two open just a hair. Seems like this worked great to catch the temp right at the spot I was shooting for, keeping it locked in.
 
So far so good!! I cannot wait for the final product!! I dig the foiled pan now myself..took me a long time to attempt it but I have not used water since!!
 
Let us know how you like the rub. We have the same pice shop here and that's wher I've been buying my rubs.

Looks like your brisket is off to a good start.
 
Checking in, I'm at the 2.5 hour mark. Temps using the foiled-over empty water bowl have risen a little (260's), but they're still under control. I'm able to bring them down back to the 250's easily enough by fiddling with the vents.

I'll post some update pics around the 3 hour mark.
 
Looking good Matt, what a shame though. If you did this last weekend when I was in your town we could have tipped a few. JK, only stayed one night in GR, then up to Luddington with family for a week or so.

Listen, doing the foil works well but you should probably use the terracotta plates under the foil like many do or as I do, place about 2/3 of volume of the bowl with sand. Works great and help moderate your temps a little.
Good luck, never used the coffee based rubs and am curious
 
Bill Schultz said:
Looking good Matt, what a shame though. If you did this last weekend when I was in your town we could have tipped a few. JK, only stayed one night in GR, then up to Luddington with family for a week or so.

Listen, doing the foil works well but you should probably use the terracotta plates under the foil like many do or as I do, place about 2/3 of volume of the bowl with sand. Works great and help moderate your temps a little.
Good luck, never used the coffee based rubs and am curious
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GR is a great city, Bill. If you're ever in town again and are looking for recommendations on what to see/do/eat, let me know.

WRT the empty, foiled-over water bowl, I never really felt like I had any issues keeping the temps under control. Sure, I had only one bottom vent open just a sliver, but it stayed right in the 240-260 range most of the time. The few times it did start to climb into the high 270's I would just close up the top vent about halfway, and things started to fall.
 
I have pulled the brisket from the cooker after seven hours and fifteen minutes. It was quite tender when probed and temp readings were all around 190-195'ish. Currently it resting, wrapped very lightly in foil.

Shot of the brisket prior to getting wrapped for its rest...

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Those pics are killin me. I won't get my WSM till Tuesday. I am starving and very jealous, but will be very interested in how it tastes.
 
This flat saved flats for me. I've done two others prior to today and both times wasn't that pleased with the results. Today's attempt was actually sort of a make-it-or-break-it moment in my mind-- if I didn't feel like I improved on the finished product, I was probably going to avoid flats for a long while.

The results of this one were great-- it was super moist, super tender, and just plain super good. No crumbles and areas that were slightly dry, and no toughness either.

Although there was really no smoke ring to speak of, there was the right amount of smoke flavor. Oddly enough I've never really gotten much of a smoke ring when I've done flats. Went straight from fridge to cooker, and had a decent amount of oak and hickory in the pit-- oh well, I can taste it, and that's what matters.

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I know a few of you were interested in my thoughts on the coffee rub. Really enjoyed it-- was different from anything I have ever had before. I can't say that I really thought to myself, "This tastes like coffee," but there was a slight bitter taste. Trust me, it was a good bitter, if that makes sense. This rub has pepper in it and that was a distinct taste I noticed. Feel like the flavors from this rub paired quite well with the smoke.
 
MattP said:
This flat saved flats for me. I've done two others prior to today and both times wasn't that pleased with the results. Today's attempt was actually sort of a make-it-or-break-it moment in my mind-- if I didn't feel like I improved on the finished product, I was probably going to avoid flats for a long while.

The results of this one were great-- it was super moist, super tender, and just plain super good. No crumbles and areas that were slightly dry, and no toughness either.

Although there was really no smoke ring to speak of, there was the right amount of smoke flavor. Oddly enough I've never really gotten much of a smoke ring when I've done flats. Went straight from fridge to cooker, and had a decent amount of oak and hickory in the pit-- oh well, I can taste it, and that's what matters.

11020184676_1b87d8d536_o.jpg


I know a few of you were interested in my thoughts on the coffee rub. Really enjoyed it-- was different from anything I have ever had before. I can't say that I really thought to myself, "This tastes like coffee," but there was a slight bitter taste. Trust me, it was a good bitter, if that makes sense. This rub has pepper in it and that was a distinct taste I noticed. Feel like the flavors from this rub paired quite well with the smoke.
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This photos says it all Matt. Really really well done! Congratulations on a great cook.
 
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