First Brisket is On!


 
If you think it is going to drop that far put it in your house oven at 140, wrapped up put some Au Jus on it, but save most of it. Did you let it sit on the counter before wrapping it up?
 
OK, here is the finished results!

Turned out great actually! Was a tad dry, but made gravy from the au jus and everyone was very happy. Learned a lot from this one and will hopefully do the next one better.

The beer of choice during the cook:

9706117332_b97b5c59ee_z.jpg


After resting for 3 hours in the cooler:

9706119630_e3d29fe15c_z.jpg


And a look at the end after cutting:

9706119468_f80f7940cf_z.jpg


And plated with the gravy and some extra rub:

9706121812_2fa9aed599_z.jpg


So, some comments:

A) Was a tad dry after cutting. Maybe it cooked a bit more during the cooler stage. But when I pulled it, I opened the foil for about 10 minutes to try and stop the cooking. Maybe it needed a bit more time.
B) Seemed very juicy and moist when I cut it. Was not a lot of juice on the board, so I thought it should be more moist in the meat.
C) I will definitely not do another brisket with lump. Temps were too high I think, and the control was not as good as with bricks.
D) Taste was fantastic!! Awesome smoke flavour and was super tender. Again, just a tad on the dry side. But very, VERY tasty!!

Will definitely do another one again. I can see why these are hard to cook though. Need to pay a lot of attention to briskets to get them right.

Thanks for all the help along the way during this thread guys. Much appreciated!!

Derek
 
You did good, my flats sometimes come out a little dry towards the tip, I found that I had to pull when the flat was tender down to the point where it starts thinning out and I had to sit in on the counter for at least ten minutes for it to stop cooking.
Also I do a foil tent under the brisket flat about five inches from the tip of the flat from the start of the smoke.
 
Derek,

Very nice job ! Good looking brisket. You did excellent.

If I may... You said it was a tad dry. Looking closely at the slices, I didn't see any edges crumbling. So my guess is the brisket was almost at the perfectly tender stage. Most certainly not overcooked. A little undercooked if anything. And probably by just a few minutes ;)

How did the pull test go ? A slice should pull apart with a little resistance and break cleanly without falling apart. One item that does affect a person's perception of tenderness is how a particular meat is sliced relative to its grain. Most briskets have the flat's grain running in a slight angle to the length of the flat. Trying to determine the grain direct after a cook can be, let's say.. 'fun' ;) Many pitmasters will slice off a little corner of the brisket that is perpendicular to the direction of the grain and use this as the starting point for their slicing afterwards.
 
Good looking flat!!! I have never cooked just a flat but read they are a lot harder to cook than a packer due to the fact there is hardly any fat cap left on them.
 
Thanks all.

Bob - I would agree with your comment about it not crumbling. Maybe it was "almost" there. The probe did feel like it went through very easily, thus why I pulled it and let it sit for 10 minutes before I closed it up and held it in the cooler. Actually did not do a pull test, but it did cut easily with a regular butter knife. I think I cut it properly for serving as well. At least I got it very close from what I could tell.

Again, it was very good. Just could have been a bit better IMO. Will be doing another one down the road for sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top