RichPB (richlife)
TVWBB Wizard
This thread started with a quote from another: http://tvwbb.com/eve/forums/a/...80069052/m/939101817
I'm back to report on my two smoked brisket packers (the full brisket) yesterday -- no longer quite as much a novice...
(see 4th post in the linked thread). I also did my first one about six weeks ago. I hope my experience will help others who are relatively new to brisket. And after this session, I would say you pretty much have to work at it to ruin a brisket (despite all the "great or shoe leather" posts).
So these were the 2nd and 3rd packers I've done. Someone on the Bullet said every brisket is different -- I'll certainly second that! All three of these came out tender and really good. The first I did as well as one of these most recent were just plain succulent -- the other was a little dryer than desirable, but still excellent. (I had guests from Houston along with my brisket loving in-laws over as judges, so I feel good about the assessment.)
That first brisket I did was right at 10 lbs, I took off about 1.5 lbs. of fat (left it thicker than I realized because it was my first brisket) -- that's a clue. The other two briskets yesterday were 10 and 10.4 lbs. respectively, but after trimming to about 1/4" fat cap, the 10 lb. was down to 8 lb. weight and the 10.4 lb. was down to 9 lbs. (I have a scale) -- the smaller had much more fat in proportion -- that's a clue.
As I said my first (heavy fat) brisket was succulent. The 10 lb. brisket yesterday (heavy fat) was succulent. The 10.4 lb. (less fat) was drier (though still wonderful). All of these yielded about 5 lbs. of meat after cooking (right at the 40 -60% yield noted in Chris' excellent item on preparing brisket ( http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brisketselect.html ). So, as Chris and others have suggested, I'll stick to the 1/4" OR MORE of fat cap in the future. And by the way, when I say "moist", I don't mean "fatty", just... moist.
Now with two briskets (20+ pounds total pre-trim weight, I allowed for about 10 hours cooking (1 - 1 1/2 hours of POST-TRIM weight) plus some extra "what if" time. Well the small one was ready in 8 hours and the larger in 9 -- panic now, it's WAY too early for my guests. But whoa! implement backup warming plans 1, 2 and even 3. Three hours after final removal from the smoker, the resting temp was still at 152* (well over the 140* minimum). Plan 1, I had the cooler ready with lots of towels to put over the hot off-the-smoker briskets. Plan 2, I had hot bricks (heated at 250* on my grill) to help maintain the temp in the cooler. Plan 3, when the cooler probe got to 165*, I already had the grill pre-heated again for another fast brick warm-up -- only lost about 5* during the switch. (Put the bricks next to the brisket pan(s) between the layers of towel.)
After all that, when it came time to carve and serve the brisket, all went well ("WHEW! it seems fine"), BUT just doing the carving cooled the meat so much I felt like I needed to stick it in the microwave for a minute to warm again. It makes me wonder why I didn't just cook the day before, refrigerate (after a good "rest" period) and warm in the microwave after carving and before serving. I did do that for that first brisket (because I just had too much trouble with timing) and it went just fine also. Something to consider when trying to smoke brisket for guests -- it's a LOT less EXCITING that way.
Alternatively, the long "rest" period did allow me lots of time to focus on the wings and the veggies.
I guess my last observation is to be sure to allow adequate food for your guests. With 19 people (including 4 kids), I allowed for 1/2 pound of final brisket yield per person. But I also started with 3 cut chicken wing pieces per person and had LOTS and LOTS of grilled veggies (15 sliced 3-inch potatoes, a cauliflower head broken up with a teriyaki marinate (raves!), 8 quartered Roma tomatoes, 5 quartered zuchini, 5 medium onions cut in six, and 4 huge chunked sweet peppers. Plus chip and dips and Kaiser rolls for those who wanted. There was only about one large serving of everything left over. People smelling smoked/grilled food can REALLY eat!
During all the above, I had some difficulty maintaining heat after 4 - 5 hours (but I did manage to maintain 220 to 225* throughout). I'll do a separate post on that, but if you modify the charcoal grate to keep coals from falling through, note that you may have problems with ash collecting in your coals if you use briquettes (more ash).
Rich
