Climbing Mt. Everest


 
Charles Howse

Charles Howse

TVWBB Wizard
<Chairman Kaga> If memory serves me correctly, the beef brisket is often called the "Mt. Everest" of barbecue. Meaning that if the chef can produce a moist AND tender meal from this tough cut of meat, then he or she has ascended to the pinnacle of success in the culinary world of smoking.
</Chairman Kaga>

Well, ya'll, I put my hiking boots on yesterday and threw on my first brisket about 8:00 pm.

It's now just after 7:00 am and it's "plateauing".

Here's the details:
10.24# packer from WallyWorld
Just trimmed the big globs of fat off it.
Rubbed with "Wild Willy's Number One-derful Rub" from "Smoke & Spice".
Overnight in fridge
Remove from fridge about 30 mins before lighting fire, apply another coat of rub.
Fill ring to overflowing w/ Kingsford
Oklahoma apple and Kroger hickory for flavor
Meat hits heat fat side down at exactly 7:39 pm last night
I was *very* conscious to control the temps on the way up, so once she got to 200, I closed 2 vents completely, and had 1 open 50%
Checking about every hour or so, the temp continued to climb slowly, which resulted in my finally having just one vent open only 5%.
That's where we are now:
6:30 am - 250* at the lid, 167* in the flat.
Plans are to pull at 188*, pour 1/2 cup of beef stock over it, wrap in foil for at least 2 hours, and serve with Interstate Bar-B-Que Slaw and Keri's Hog-Apple Baked Beans.
I made both of the sides yesterday, to enjoy with some burgers, and the slaw is really good, but MAJOR PROPS to Keri on the beans. It's killer! Only one warning...I made exactly as written...a little on the hot side. Could be from the cayenne in the rub, and the cayenne in the recipe...d'ya think?

<Announcer>
The time for talk has passed! The judges are assembled! Who'll take the brisket battle? Who's cuisine reigns supreme!?!
</Announcer>

Well, hell...I will you dummy. There ain't nobody else in shoutin' distance cooking a brisket today that I know of. Gimme that trophy!
 
Ya'll, I apologize for being so 'Redneck' in the post above, but I'm in a good mood this morning, and also, I am really pumped full of 'Redneck' from watchin' 3 hours of Jeff Foxworthy on TV last night.
Gotta share with ya'll...

New definitions:
AORTA - "Aorta cut that grass over yonder. It's gettin' snakey."
INITIATE - "My wife ate 2 big hamburgers last night. Initiate a whole bag of chips."

They might be old jokes, but I laughed my a** off listening to him and his buddys.

And by gum...don't none of ya'll post nothin' 'bout "If you wear camo overalls in commando mode, You might be a redneck!" You Hear?!?
 
Charles, glad ya'll liked the beans. I did modify the recipe to indicate that it was rather spicy, and that the chipotle powder/cayenne were optional.

And now, Charles, what makes you think anyone here would say a THING in the world about your overalls???
icon_wink.gif


I'm waiting patiently for my brisket test-taste...

Keri C
 
Can't wait to hear how it turned out. I never saw one that big at Wally World. Costcos doesn't sell anything that I would want to do brisket wise. (Although I just put their spares on a few minutes ago)
 
Hey Charles,

Sounds like you got it going dude! Great!

Maybe you should invite Jeff Foxworthy and the other "Blue Collar Comedy" crowd over for some of your "Q". They would love it!

Ray
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bob T.:
I never saw one that big at Wally World. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

They had packers from 8 - 13 lbs.
Not that it matters, but IIRC, 10 - 12 lbs is the "reccomended" size.

Update on my cook:
At 8:30 the temp had fallen to 210*. I opened the one vent to 50% and stirred the coals.
At 9:30 it had not risen any, so I opened the other 2 vents to 50% and stirred again.
Currnet temp is 230* at the lid. :-)
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bob T.:
I never saw one that big at Wally World. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I stopped at WallyWorld in Columbia on the way home Friday, since it was right on the interstate, and picked up two between 10.5 and 11 lbs. Interestingly enough, the second one, which I put in the freezer after slicing, only yielded 4.5 lbs of meat. Boy was it fat and the flat was unusually thin.
 
Vernon,
The only thing that I can think of is that Bob's WallyWorld is in Pennsylvania and maybe they don't do that size briskets up there...?

I'm getting just a tad concerned about my brisket. The meat is cooking...currently 176* with a lid temp of 240*. Nothing wrong with that, but I did take a very quick peek at it an hour or so ago, and it hasn't shrunk too much...maybe about 25%.
I was expecting it to really shrink, especially since I had to shoehorn it a little to fit it on the grate.
What do you think about the shrink factor?
Just a function of the amount of fat and the particular animal?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Just a function of the amount of fat and the particular animal? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, along with its original moisture content.
 
25% -- Sounds OK to me. The more it shrinks the less there is to eat!. 25% probably a good estimate for the briskets that I did.
 
Yeaaaaa!!! Finally broke through the plateau!!
181* and 240* at the lid.

1:30 pm was 18 hours! Props to Weber!!
18 hours!! I can't believe it!!
I haven't added any fuel, and only stirred twice.
WOW!
 
Charles
Congrats it takes guts on the first one to not panic and go to foil or something. This will give you a great reference to draw on for future brisket cooks.
Jim
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jim Minion:
Charles
Congrats it takes guts on the first one to not panic and go to foil or something. This will give you a great reference to draw on for future brisket cooks.
Jim </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks, Jim, that means a lot coming from a 'Super Star'.
I'm just amazed that the WSM can hold temp for this amount of time.
I just checked and temp has started to drop a little - 225*.
Opened all vents to 100%, stirred coals very good - Bang! Back to 250* at the lid, 186* in the meat.
I think the smart thing I did this time was to drop my expanded metal charcoal grate mod onto the lawn, and cook without it. No choking from the ashes going on this time. :-)

It won't be long now!
 
The thing's pretty cool, no? Remember--do a fork test when you hit your target temp. Enjoy your dinner.
 
"Houston, we have Wabba-Wabba"!!
3:15 PM, 19 hours and 45 minutes after the meat hit the heat!
That thermometer read 190*, that meat fork slid in like it was sliding into warm butter, and a little twist exposed a pretty, pink smoke ring.
I wrapped it in HD foil, poured 1/2 cup of beef boullion over it, turned it fat side up, and put it back on the pit for an hour or so (SIL needs to eat before he goes to work), with all the vents closed completely.

Not braggin'...but this is gonna be goooooooood!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
Terrific. Sounds great already. Btw, the new job working out? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thanks!
The new job is going to be alright..as soon as I get my new steel-toes and feet broken in. :-)
The only thing I'm concerned about is the abundance of overtime. I was told by another employee (no reason he would know, just guessing) to kiss my summer good-by. That doesn't leave a lot of "sittin' on the deck, drinkin' a beer in my overalls, watching the smoke curl" time.
 
Whew! That was really good. Wish I had a digital camera. Took some regular pix and will post them when developed.

Real nice smoke ring...'bout 1/4 - 3/8".
Very nice and tender. I saw the top secret tender test...slice a really thin slice, hold between thumb and forefinger of each hand. Should not fall apart, but when pulled, should seperate with ease. Passed!
Just a little dry, might could have used more boullion while resting...?
It looked like a meteorite, had shrunk 30% or more, wabba-wabba'ed when poked, fork test - easy pass.
Just can't find too much wrong with it except that I can't for the life of me identify the point from the flat. Hehehe, don't see that it matters much...?
 
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