First shot at brisket


 
Frank Mahovlich

Frank Mahovlich

TVWBB Member
First off, thanks to so many of you who post so much useful info and helpful hints. Many thanks...

Here I will attempt to recap my first overnight brisket smoke. Here we go...

Picked up a 15.72 lb brisket (USDA Choice) from Wally World. Flat seemed to be pretty uniform in thickness, decent fat cap & marbling from what I could tell. Rubbed it with Plowboy's Bovine Bold and injected with a beef broth / worcestershire mix.



Read a bunch of info prior to this smoke, and made a couple of discoveries. Seemed for every piece I read that swore on one technique, I could easily find another refuting that technique and prescribing another. Therefore I gleaned that this smoke would be the first of many BBQ situations that I undertake. In most cases there is not necessarily a right or wrong technique, just what's right for me. Think I have gathered that every smoke will be unique and a fun learning experience.

I decided I would smoke at 250 until IT reached 160 or so. Would then foil it up (Texas Crutch) in an attempt to power right through the stall. After 6 hrs (fat cap on top),it pretty much hit the wall at 154 degrees:


At this point I put 'er in an aluminum foil pan. Added a bit more rub, covered, and put it back on the fahr. Three and a half hours later, IT reached 200. Pushed the probe into the thickest part of the flat, and then into the thickest part of the point. Couldn't imagine how the probes were going to go through this thing so easily as many have pointed out they do when the brisket has been done correctly. BOOM! Buttah! I pulled it off the smoker, wrapped it in a heavy bath towel, and put it in a cooler to rest. Here's what it looked like an hour and a half later...


Proceeded to slice 'er up. Aaron Franklin's video (I believe it's called "The Payoff", or something like that) was extremely helpful in detailing a great method for slicing. Very helpful, and it worked like a charm. Sliced the flat first, then turned it 90 degrees when I reached the point. Sliced the point in half, and Holy Hannah, that is where I found the honeypot. Far & away the best part of the piece I smoked. Juicy, marbeling, flavorful, tender. Absolutely mouth watering.


I then cut up some slices of the point and cubed them for burnt ends. Put them in a pan, poured some of the aus jus from the foil pan, sprinkled on more Bovine Bold, and put them back on the smoker at 250. They stayed on the smoker for about 3 more hours, I added more aus jus, rub, & stirred them every 20 minutes or so. Jeezus Palomino, words can't describe how amazingly tasty the burnt ends turned out. Crazy good...

Coupla thoughts after my first overnight brisket smoke. This piece turned out great, super tender, flavorful, and moist. The burnt ends were far & away the star of this show. "Best Supporting Actor" was awarded to the aus jus, in a runaway! Had no idea how fantastic this stuff would turn out to be. Beef broth, worcestershire, and the drippings from the meat mixed together after 9 hours or so on the smoker had a flavor that was other-worldly. Just thinking about it makes me wanna buy rubbers right now.

The "Texas Crutch" method worked great to power through the stall, but it did not come without a price. That price is the crunchy flavorful goodness that is bark. This brisket turned out great, but going forward I will not be foiling. The expense of that bark is not a price I am willing to pay any more.

Thanks for reading this, y'all. I learned a ton from this smoke and would enjoy any feedback or comments any of you may have. Gots to make me a sammich for lunch now. Got a feeling I'm gonna be eating this brisket for the next coupla days...

Thanks,
FM
 
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Looks great . Only thing I would suggest is before wrapping it for the rest you let it sit uncovered on the counter for 20-30 minutes to stop the cooking process. Otherwise the brisket can keep on cooking away in the cooler and end up overdone. I just threw on some burnt ends from a saved point, hope they turnout as good as your.
 
Let me tell you, for your first rodeo, you nailed it I think! You are so much further ahead than I was it's incredible. Secondly, you write very well, which makes this a top-notch post that a lot of people hopefully will see. You ain't going to believe your 2nd one Frank! Excellent job man!
 
Frank,

Excellent cook !!! And an Excellent post !!! :wsm:

Read what you said about not foiling in the future. If you decide to try it again, a slight modification to your procedures might help the bark.
Once you reach the stall, the goal should be checking for the condition of the bark. You should NOT be able to scratch it off with your fingernail.
Then and only then should you foil. You will not end up with crunchy bark. Neither will you end up with mushy bark.
 
Good post. Very informative. Brisket is difficult , but when it comes out good , the eating doesn't get much better.
 
Thanks for the kind words, gents. And thanks for the constructive feedback. Can't wait to put some of these tips into the next cook!

As a total rookie smoker, I did a bit of research on the internet for cooking methods / recipes. There are all kinds of methods out there. When researching how to slice, I came across a YouTube vid that was very curious. Dude came across as credible as he had a pretty good looking presentation from a production standpoint. Then he laid his brisket out on newspaperprior to slicing. Can't imagine that would be very sanitary. Then he proceeded to take a machete-looking knife and literally scrape all the bark off the surface of the meat and discard it. Then he got to slicing it.

Like I said, there's a ton of info available out there. Enough to totally confuse you if you take it all in (paralysis by analysis). I came to a point when I made a decision on my method and just stuck to it, or I'da gone nutso with information overload.

Thanks again, fellas...
 
Bob Bass said:
LOL. Mind if I steal that for later re-use ?

Curious about any individual discarding bark. Strange! By chance, do you have a link? Gotta see this... ;)
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It's all yours, Bob! If ya send me the same amount of dough I sent whoever I stole if from for royalties we can call 'er square!

Here is the aforementioned link. I guess he didn't scrape off all the bark, but seems he did discard a good bunch of barky awesomeness

http://youtu.be/hGAP1DG_Vs8
 
Frank.... check's in the mail ;)

Thanks for the link. He's just removing the excess fat.
Would bet he didn't fully trim before placing it in the pit.

'Pink ring means the deeper the smoke has penetrated and the more flavor you should have'
As Bill Cosby would say... "Right".
Surprising how much misinformation videos such as these contain.
 
JimmyE said:
Let me tell you, for your first rodeo, you nailed it I think! You are so much further ahead than I was it's incredible. Secondly, you write very well, which makes this a top-notch post that a lot of people hopefully will see. You ain't going to believe your 2nd one Frank! Excellent job man!
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Ditto from me, Frank. I'm still using my first brisket as an anvil. Great to have a cook turn out as well as yours did, but the awesome sauce is being able to share your techniques so others can learn. I think you should be nominated for Rookie of the Year. Well done, sir.
 
Well done Frank, this coming Wednesday I am doing my first Packer, 13.5lbs. going for an all night low and slow. Hope it turns out as well.
 
Dave Penn said:
Ditto from me, Frank. I'm still using my first brisket as an anvil. Great to have a cook turn out as well as yours did, but the awesome sauce is being able to share your techniques so others can learn. I think you should be nominated for Rookie of the Year. Well done, sir.
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Thanks for the kind words, Dave. I have read so much useful info on this forum that I almost felt compelled to at least attempt to give some back. Kinda crazy how many different methods & techniques are out there.

I think this was about my 4th smoke, but brisket was by far the biggest challenge. St. Louis pork ribs, coupla whole chickens, & stuffed jalapenos have all turned out great so far. I'm thinking a whole turkey will probably be on the docket next.

Dave- We're probably not too far from each other. I'm in Stillwater. Found a GREAT bbq supply store in the Hopkins / Tonka area. It's called Quetopia. I popped in there on Friday and they have a good bit of stuff that I would have thought would be tricky for us "up north" people to get our hands on without ordering via internet. Picked up the Bovine Bold and the exact thermometer setup that I thought for sure I'd have to order online. Great customer service, as well. Cat that helped me was super-friendly and seemed genuinely glad to chat BBQ.

I truly am a rookie at this. Was watching one of those competition shows on TV the Saturday morning of Memorial Day Weekend. I've always loved grilling, and getting a smoker was something I'd always wanted to do. I just couldn't justify spending per near 500 bones on a new WSM. But watching that show gave me the itch. Popped on Craigslist that afternoon just to see what the used market was looking like. Turns out I found someone in Fridley that was selling a smoker listed at $200. Thought to myself, hmmm, that might be a good deal. Now if it's anything like what I would want and in decent enough shape maybe I'd make a move on it. Coupla text messages later I find out it's a WSM 22. Brand new, still in the box. Seller agreed on $150. Figured I couldn't afford to pass that up, and I've had a blast with that thing so far. Can't wait for future smokes!
 
Bill Schultz said:
Well done Frank, this coming Wednesday I am doing my first Packer, 13.5lbs. going for an all night low and slow. Hope it turns out as well.
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Best of luck, Bill! Any idea what kinds of methods you're planning on using? Please let us know how it turns out. Single biggest thing I would recommend would be to find a way to collect the drippings / au jus from that bad boy. The stuff I collected was so tasty & flavorful it had me seriously consider ways I could mainline it into my bloodstream. I basted the burnt ends with it and used some to dip my sammiches in. Liquid gold, I tell ya. Maybe even more like liquid crack. I would also encourage checking out Aaron Franklin's videos via YouTube if you can. Pretty informative, and I find him kinda entertaining. Let me know if you'd like me to post any links to them, and I can try to later tonight.
 
GReat job! I did one last weekend, was worried when I read everyone horror stories but turned out great.
 
I've seen them Frank but thanks. I intend to dress out excess fat, wipe down with Worcestershire Sauce and then put my Texas Rub on Wednesday morning. Let it sit in the fridge until around 10pm. Getting my smoker started with the minion method, shooting for 225-250. Once stabilized hopefully by eleven in with the brisket. Touch of Knob Creek, then to bed. Setting alarm for 0530. Checking on fire and meat temp. Loosely foiling the tip of the flat at that time. Checking temp often around 180 and checking for probe tenderness. Once meat says I am ready tenderness wise pulling it. Letting it cool with loose foil cover to around 150 and then putting it in aluminum pan foiled in cooler until serving time which hopefully will be about an hour later. I love a great bark so no foil unless I am in trouble serving time wise.
So says he of great faith
 
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I'm new to the forums myself here and let me say you did a great job! I've learned a lot myself from this forum and the web as well. Aaron Franklin has some really good vids on youtube. Plus if you get the chance and are in Austin stop by and sample some of his cooking it's really great! Plus Aaron is usually walking around talking to the customers. Here's a brisket I did last weekend myself.

 
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