brisket...marinade AND rub?

[Guest]

Hey everyone - if I use a marinade on a brisket (the Dr. Pepper marinade, for example, can/should I also use a rub? If so, any suggestions what would complement the sweetness of that particular marinade. Also do you have recommendations in general on this topic?

 

[Guest]

I can make some general comments on your question. The rule is that there are no rules! I have tried recipes that call for a marinade, followed by a dry rub, followed by coating with sauce the last 45 minutes of the cook. Sometimes when I'm in a hurry I only use salt and pepper on ribs or butt.

I don't know for sure if this would work with the Dr Pepper marinade, but here is a rub I like for ribs and butt:
All-South Barbecue Rub

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons brown Sugar
1 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons freshly cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
4 tablespoon paprika

Simply mix together.

You can adjust the chili powder and cayenne pepper to taste, as written it is more sweet then hot.

Good luck.

 

[Guest]

Yo Coach, I used to be the king of marinades. Fifteen years ago, I used to marinate everything including green (fresh/uncured) hams, pork shoulders and briskets. These big pieces of meat would marinate up to 48 hours. Most of my marinades were highly acidic and contained various fruit juices as well as Coke or some other cola based soda.

Now what I am about to say might ruffle some feathers and this is my own personal opinion, but it is based upon NUMEROUS trials and years of experience using marinades. Marinating large pieces of meat is a waste of time and marinade.

Marinating smaller pieces of meat is fine for flavoring and tenderizing, but it will not tenderize a large piece of meat. The deepest penetration I have ever seen using an acidic marinade is about 3/4" deep and this was after 36 hours soaking time.

By the time the marinade penetrates this deep into the piece of meat, the outer portion of the meat (about 1/4") has become mushy from being tenderized. The marinade does flavor the meat, but IMHO for tenderizing it is highly overrated.

So my "advice" to you is to forget the marinade on the brisket and use the rub only. If you want to experiment, you might try injecting the marinade you want to use in the brisket and then rub the brisket. I would not let the brisket sit more than six hours though after injecting it if the marinade is highly acidic.

Beers to you,

Juggy D Beerman

 

[Jim Minion]

Juggy
No ruffled feathers here I agree on large piece of meat marinade is not the way to go but injecting can be useful to introduce flavor. I use in pork and the results have been very good.
Jim

 

[Kevin Taylor]

Here, here!!!

Great point, Juggy!! Merle Ellis has always said...you cannot marinate a piece of meat to tenderness. So true.

Now, injecting is another story.