Check me on this brisket please


 
F

FJ Abraham

TVWBB Fan
OK, I need to do a packer for tomorrow night, say 6pm or so. I the thing weighs about 12 lbs.. My plan:

- put the packer on about midnight, fat down
- apple juice every so many hours
- foil at 165, fat up
- pull at 185 or so (tender)

My real questions:
- does midnight sound like a good time for my dinner time at this weight?
- cold or room temp packer?
- doesn't foiling ruin the bark? I've never foiled anything.

I'm pretty much a rib and shoulder man and the only briskets I've done have been good but not great so I'm a bit apprehensive.
 
A few tips..

I'd start a bit later and foil once it hits 165, then bring it up to fork tender. For me, that means around 12 hours, but it truly does vary. 3 AM would be a good start time, but midnight isn't bad either. You'll just need to hold it in a cooler a bit longer. I've not had much of a problem with bark doing it this way. But then again, brisket doesn't quite make the same bark as a butt in my experience. The flavor and tenderness of the beef is what I'm really after. The one time I did a brisket without foil, I found it to be a bit dry.

I've never noticed much difference between cold and room temp meats. Most of mine are cooked cold since I basically pull them out of the fridge, rub, and throw them on the smoker.

Once you pull it off the smoker, separate the point, chop it into cubes, and throw it back on the smoker in an aluminum pan to make burnt ends. I don't use sauce on my burnt ends, but some do. These are just fantastic and are the main reason I cook brisket.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dan Wicker:
.... The one time I did a brisket without foil, I found it to be a bit dry.

...
Once you pull it off the smoker, separate the point, chop it into cubes, and throw it back on the smoker in an aluminum pan to make burnt ends. I don't use sauce on my burnt ends, but some do. These are just fantastic and are the main reason I cook brisket. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Exactly the reason I want to try foiling, mine have always been on the dry side.

Can you elaborate on the burnt ends? How big should the cubes be and how long to cook? Covered or just in a pan.
 
I think you'll like the foiled result. The sacrifice in chewy bark is worth gaining the tenderness and moisture in the flat. But that's where the burnt ends come into play - when done without sauce, I find them to be like little morsels of pure bark.
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I make mine about 1" square. I put them in an uncovered aluminum pan for about another 2 or 3 hours, maybe more. You'll know when they are done.
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Stir them around every once in awhile. Done dry, you'll basically end up with an super intense bark flavor with an almost jerky like texture (but juicier). The high fat content of the point renders out beautifully.

I can't say I've tried them with sauce, but a lot of people do it that way. I'm not huge on sauce anyways.
 
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