Brisket to chew on


 
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Dean Torges

R.I.P. 11/4/2016
I think I'm headed for tough times on my maiden brisket attempt. I asked my butcher for two packer trimmed briskets in the 8-10 pound range. Told him I wanted them for barbecue. I figgered I was speaking his language, but it musta been his maiden attempt too, because it looks to me that what he did was take some humongous briskets and whack them off of both ends so they'd fit my specified weight slot. The cross section where he lopped off the point shows a cap of about 1 3/4 inches of fat (when he asked, I told him "packer trimmed" meant untrimmed--that's what I get for him listening to me). In addition, there's no discernible marbling where he cut down through the meat off the point.

We'll both do better next time, but in the meantime, what can I do going in knowing that these are probably two very tough briskets? When I trim down the fat cap, should I use some in a barding needle to lace the meaty portions?

The upside is that 9 lb. rectangular briskets fit in cryovac packaging very neatly.
 
Dean
It does sound like he cut off a portion of the point to hit your weight. The 1 3/4" of fat that you are speaking of is normal between the point and the flat and much of it can be trimmed.
The flat should have a fat cap of aprox 1/4" (ideal) but the flat will not be marbled.
Not all is lost, just follow the techniques Chris.s let's cook section or ask questions.
Jim
 
Thanks, Jim. Not having had a practical eyeball encounter with brisket before left me guessing about the marbling in the point. I'd read elsewhere about marbling in the brisket, but I see now the reference was to the flat. Redirecting me to Chris's "Beef Brisket--Midnight Cook" set my mind at ease about the meat, the fat, and the trim as well.

I wish I'd come earlier in life to the world of barbecuing. It fits up so well with my other interests, sharing the same elemental, primitive world whose virtues are patience, perserverance and simplicity. It seems I won't be able to do much with game for barbecuing because it is so lean and requires its external fat to be trimmed away (except, perhaps, for bear meat), but I can save that stuff for the smokehouse, the iron skillet and the Dutch oven and still have fun with domestic meat for barbecuing.

Briskets are trimmed and rubbed and ready to go on the WSM tonight. If all goes well, I can still get in a deer hunt and have family for brisket and football tomorrow.
 
Dean,

When cooking a brisket flat with little fat cap, some people put strips of bacon on top to provide a fat layer. Maybe you could use this technique for lean game meats.

Just an idea,
Chris
 
Started out well enough at 9 p.m. last night. Grill temp running steady at 222? by 12 pm bedtime, but I woke up to wind and rain and 49 degree temp 3 hrs. later, a grill temp around 190? and second guesses for not cooking under the overhang off the back deck. It was only supposed to sprinkle at daybreak.

Was a struggle thereafter. Hustled up a cardboard windbreak, two foot high. Found a small cardboard box that fit over the dome handle, cut it to 3 1/2" high with a scallop along one side so as not to interfere with vent, and rested a garbage can lid on it. These helped get the temp up without consuming large amounts of Kingsford, but I still suffered several temp fluctuations, complicated by rotating a few vents in the wrong direction in the dark. Sacriced my fingertips thereafter to guage vent apperture. Too damned sleepy to conceive of a smarter method.

Meat came off at 12 p.m. after 15 hrs. Internal of top brisket was 187, bottom 192. They were both gorgeous, of an aroma that was, well, you know. I wrapped them up in foil and put them in a large roaster oven set on low until an hour before 3:30 game time. But the proof was when my son-in-law and two other guests fell upon the flat before the Ohio State game and just about demolished it.

I will spare you the details and the measure of my satisfaction, but please let me thank Chris for this wonderful site and the rest of you for sharing the information that opened my path. Never coulda imagined it this good. May post some photos on my website.

Chris, I have an idea for cooking game in the WSMC that will keep its flavor pure. Am gonna put a Dutch oven in one, thinking to myself that the WSMC must create the perfect environment for covered cast-iron cooking (which is the best way to cook the tougher parts of game). Am sure someone has already tried this, yes? Spent some time in the bush in South Africa cooking on hardwood fires at bomas in the evenings, raking coals around the ovens and telling stories. Every gas station in the boonies, every business, every mom and pop operation in SA sells a range of Dutch ovens--as common there as candy bars in ours.
 
Here are urls to my first WSM briskets, one with a rub of my own creation based upon the principles outlined in Paul Kirk's "Championship Barbecue Sauces," and the other, the "All-South Barbecue Rub" copied from "The Thrill of the Grill." The latter was by far the better rub, even though the former was comprised in reasonable propotions of spices that I know I like. The proof is in the palate, I reckon.

Both briskets came off with a beautiful bark and sported nice smoke rings. Both moist and tender and still had texture. We flat loved them. I don't know anything about presentation, but I know how to sharpen a good carbon steel knife, and how to slice meat. Was not thinking of taking a photo in either instance, except that I was captured by their beauty, stopped mid-operation and sprang after the camera. Wanted to share, and to once again say thanks. I don't consider these my accomplishments, but rather the shared experiences of virtualwebberbullet.com. Helluva website, and I support it every way I can.

http://www.bowyersedge.com/Images/brisketfoil2.jpg
http://www.bowyersedge.com/Images/brisketsliced

Ribs this football weekend. Got lucky and have some fresh venison for the smokehouse, too. Will brine some shoulders. Then I'm gonna fire up the Weber kettle, drop a Dutch oven inside, brown some venison cubes, pitch in the ingredients of my favorite stew recipe, and cover it up. Maybe at the end do some buttermilk biscuits on the lid for gravy sopping. Curious to see how it would work, but seems like a sure-fire proposition to me being able to bank charcoal around the oven and control the heat to boot.
 
Dean,

Man, that looks good!!! I am planning on doing a brisket this weekend. I hope mine turns out like yours!

By the way, you need to edit your 'pictures' post and stick a '.jpg' on the end of the 'brisketsliced' link.

- Dave -
 
Ooops.

http://www.bowyersedge.com/Images/brisketsliced.jpg

David, in youth I did my share of "curiosities" on the end of a sharp stick. I'm still claiming they were good. Truth is, fires and spits require some sophistication--or a schoolboy's taste buds. The WSM required neither. Even when I wandered off the plans through a combination of circumstance and blunder, I still found my way home. As they say in OZ, "No worries, mate."
 
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