Brisket Help

[Robert T.]

Am looking to do the Smok-La-Homa brisket today from BBQ USA. This recipe uses a mop that includes some BBQ sauce. Question though, is I am going to do a high heat brisket due to the fact I am only cooking the flat and am a little limited on time. Do you see there being any problems with that recipe done high-heat? I was a little worried due to the mop sauce having barbecue sauce in it and the fact that it could burn with the high heat. Other option is to just forego the mop sauce.

Thoughts?

Buckeye Bob

 

[K Kruger]

Whether or not you'd experience burning depends on the contents of the mop and the cooktemps. (I am not familiar with the recipe.)

Sugar burns >350. Surface temps are lower than ambient cooktemps because of evaporation. Still, if the mop is thick or sufficient time passes between one application of the mop and then next, you could experience significant caramelization of the sugars in the mop that might tend toward bitter flavor notes were this to continue too long.

Not being familiar with the mop, you could either forgo it or you could simply thin it with water or stock, enough so that you don't have to worry about evaporation, or you could just mop a bit more frequently so that one mop application doesn't have time enough to over-evaporate/concentrate before the next is applied.

 

[Gary Michael]

Im not a big fan of the mop....dont see much benefit in it. The more you mop..the more the lid is open...the less your cooking. I just let it do its thing..fat cap down and let her rip..always comes out juicy. I have injected a beef broth mixture and had good results, but I like to keep it simple

 

[Robert T.]

Thanks Kevin and Gary. I came to the same conclusion and decided to forego the mop. Just foiled and they look and smell awesome.

What is fun about this cook is it's my wife's birthday and I asked her what I can cook for her today. She said brisket. This from the lady that used to not like smoked food. Gotta love it.

Bob

 

[Robert T.]

As I mentioned, I ended up foregoing the mop and just using the paste and the rub. I cooked high heat, foiled when it hit 165 with some beef broth and removed when the probe slid in and out easily. Here are a few pictures:

The stuff on top was just some extra fat I put on there from the butcher to keep it from drying out.

As you can see, very little if any smoke ring but that isn't unusual, in my experience, with high heat briskets.

It all turned out great. Thanks again for all your help.

Bob

 

[Robert T.]

And any ideas on how to make my pictures not appear so big?

Bob