Euro-Brisket!


 
C

Craig Duncan

New member
I know there have been a lot of excellent posts about brisket on this forum, as I read most of them before I went for the Euro-Brisket adventure last weekend. Thanks to all the contributors!

The difference here is that I live in France, where there is no packer grade, or anything else. Just a really curious French butcher who said "Are you sure you want the whole thing? Do you know how big they are?" I confidently said "Bring it on, and ordered it"

Friday morning it arrived, and yes, it was a 24 lb. bone-in Charolais brisket. A Monster!

The butcher boned it for me, and gave me an 18 lb. slab, which I trimmed to 15.5 lbs.

I used the Bragging Rights Brisket recipe from Smoke and Spice, with a few personal touches, and put it on at 4AM.

Foiled it 11 hours later at 170 with a cup of broth, and in 1.5 hours it reached 188. (is this normal to rise so fast after foiling?)

Let it rest for 3.5 hours (was still at 140) , and served it at 9PM.

Spectacular is the word, and a local BBQ legend was born.

Thanks again to all those on this forum. The foiling, the fork tender, and the minion method rule.

Prevessin, France - Sept 05
 
craig - sounds awesome. You are probably the only person within 100 miles who has a smoker, let alone a WSM.

You'll have to send some pictures. Morgan on this board from the UK, recently showed pictures from his bone-in beast he got there. Would love to see what the french butcher's cut looked like.
 
You should take some of the finished product to the butcher. You may make a friend for life...one who can get you good cuts of meat
icon_biggrin.gif
 
I have to say, that I have meant to do this, as he is always curious. The brisket would have done the trick, but we ate it all!.

Should have seen the butcher's face when I told him I was going to Fry the turkey last Christmas!

BBQ is popular in the German part of Switzerland, and in Germany, but around here (Geneva area) it is totally unheard of. People definitely think I have a strange hobby... until they taste it of course.
 
Craig, I know what you mean about the French not knowing what a fried turkey is. When my unit was over ther for a Thanksgiving, we fried four of them. The French at the hotel didn't have the fogiest idea of what was going on. But, when they tasted it, the smile was all worth it. They learned to like what we did on the grill. ALthough, if it wasn't for what tools and equipment we took w/ us, we would have been hurting. But as always, we did the best we could w/ what we had!!!!
 
Craig,

When I was stationed in Germany years ago, we had a wonderful dish called Speissbraten. I pasted the recipe below. Try it.

Ray



August Goerg's Grilled Steak Spiessbraten August Goerg
Ingredients
(6 servings)
1 Shallot or small onion cut into small pieces
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pn Mace
1 lg Steak (just over 1 lb), at least 1 1/4 inches
Instructions
((Note: Per Horst Scharfenberg, this recipe originated in the town of Idar-Oberstein in the 19 th century, when gemstone prospectors returning from South America created their own version of gaucho-grilled steaks. The dish was then further refined by Scharfenberg's mentor August Goerg. K.B.))
Per person: thick, trimmed
Mix together the shallot or onion with the pepper and mace. Insert a few shallot pieces into the steak using the point of a small knife. Coat the steak with the shallot mixture, pressing it in so it will adhere.
Remove the loose shallot pieces and grill the steak (over a fire of oak logs, says August Goerg, from which the bark has been removed).* Take the steaks off the grill while they are still pink inside. Sprinkle them with salt.
*Note: A special grill is used, suspended with 3 chains from an iron tripod and constantly swinging through the flames.
 
Great post and story Craig. I look forward to hearing about more of these adventures of yours over there. Pics please next time!!!

Todd
 
Welcome to the forum Craig. Let's see some pics next time. Sounds like it was a good finished product. I have Smoke and Spice, but haven't cooked anything out of it.

I'm sitting here lamenting the lack of BBQ education that I'm finding at many local BBQ restaurants. I just sat down to eat a brisket and ribs combo from Big Nate's BBQ. This was my first time there.The cook cut the brisket, trimmed off ALL sides, then proceeded to chop it into large chunks along the grain.

Their sauce is honestly repulsive. A bunch of prune juice, nutmeg,pepper and ketchup, that results in a horribly bitter one dimensional product that only belongs in the trash.

The odd thing was their ribs were incredible. I almost didn't order them cause I was in the mood for brisket. But they were great. Amazing flavor and texture, not overcooked or over seasoned. Nothing needed sauce(thank God). I'm willing to bet if they were to learn how to slice brisket, and leave the bark on, they will be more successful.
Hope I'm not hijacking your thread. Look forward to seeing your results.
 
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