John Henderson
TVWBB Fan
Did I say my first cook was going to be an easy turkey breast roast? After talking to a BBQing co-worker Friday morning, and realizing that I got to leave early that evening, I went nuts and stopped on the way home at Sam's Club and picked up a brisket packer.
There aren't any prep photos, as I was rushed to get it going that evening, but I put my new 12" Cimeter to good use to trim the fat. I went pretty aggressively into the seam between point and flat.
The wife has planned steak the evening I started the brisket, so the grill was going, too. I think it was a plan to make sure the grill didn't feel like it was being replaced by the new addition.
Sometime the next morning.
Another angle, allowing you to see the interface between the flat and the supraspinatus - or whatever the point is called.
Now, after reading these forums for like the last 25 years, I knew not to count on temperature to determine doneness, but to use actual tenderness. I figured that judging the meat by poking a skewer into it might take a few tries to get right. My experience has been with spare ribs. Had I pulled a rack of ribs with the resistance I was still feeling when I pulled the brisket, it would have been too chewy. But I was afraid of overcooking, so I pulled it. I split the point and flat on the cooker, left the point on for a few more hours, and wrapped the flat in foil and a towel to rest until dinner.
At dinnertime, I sliced the flat. Urgh. It was immediately apparent as it fell apart that I had overcooked it. And as you'd expect, it was on the dry side. I thought the flavor was very good though, and my pregnant wife, who is dealing with "morning" sickness now, posted on her Facebook how glad she was that she felt like eating that night because the brisket her husband had made was "Yum-O!"
I took leftovers to work on Monday, and left them on the conference table. When I came back a few minutes later, there was none left. I received many compliments on the taste.
The rub was basically the Midnight Cook recipe with appropriate amounts of cayenne, chili powder, cumin and garlic powder, pulled together from many additional forum posts. I will begin minor adjustments in subsequent cooks, but I think I had a pretty good mix to start with.
I pulled the point after dinner and chopped it for sandwiches in the future.
There aren't any prep photos, as I was rushed to get it going that evening, but I put my new 12" Cimeter to good use to trim the fat. I went pretty aggressively into the seam between point and flat.
The wife has planned steak the evening I started the brisket, so the grill was going, too. I think it was a plan to make sure the grill didn't feel like it was being replaced by the new addition.
Sometime the next morning.
Another angle, allowing you to see the interface between the flat and the supraspinatus - or whatever the point is called.
Now, after reading these forums for like the last 25 years, I knew not to count on temperature to determine doneness, but to use actual tenderness. I figured that judging the meat by poking a skewer into it might take a few tries to get right. My experience has been with spare ribs. Had I pulled a rack of ribs with the resistance I was still feeling when I pulled the brisket, it would have been too chewy. But I was afraid of overcooking, so I pulled it. I split the point and flat on the cooker, left the point on for a few more hours, and wrapped the flat in foil and a towel to rest until dinner.
At dinnertime, I sliced the flat. Urgh. It was immediately apparent as it fell apart that I had overcooked it. And as you'd expect, it was on the dry side. I thought the flavor was very good though, and my pregnant wife, who is dealing with "morning" sickness now, posted on her Facebook how glad she was that she felt like eating that night because the brisket her husband had made was "Yum-O!"
I took leftovers to work on Monday, and left them on the conference table. When I came back a few minutes later, there was none left. I received many compliments on the taste.
The rub was basically the Midnight Cook recipe with appropriate amounts of cayenne, chili powder, cumin and garlic powder, pulled together from many additional forum posts. I will begin minor adjustments in subsequent cooks, but I think I had a pretty good mix to start with.
I pulled the point after dinner and chopped it for sandwiches in the future.
