Lew Newby
R.I.P. 1/26/2024
This is long for the other new guys.
My third attempt at a Brisket Flat was in May and the results were again only fair. I finally screwed up the courage to try a fourth time. When you're young that's called persistence but when you're old it's called stubbornness.
Friday I went to Sams Club to get a full packer but all they had were untrimmed flats. Since my previous attempts were with trimmed meat I liked seeing all the fat and the price so I got a 5.5 pounder. Yesterday I injected it with low Sodium Beef Broth and rubbed it with Meathead's Big Bad Beef Rub. More on that later.
I cranked up the WSM this morning using Kingsford Blue, 4 Oak chunks, and water in the pan. At 6 AM I put on the meat with the WSM cruising just below 230. 225° was my target. By 8 AM the internal temp had reached 160° so I wrapped the Brisket in HD foil and stuck it back on. 10 minutes later I looked at the ET-73 remote and, oh darn
, the grate temp was 330° and the lid temp was over 300 and climbing. (This isn't the bad news.) Closing the lower vents and quickly dumping cold water into the pan would not halt that runaway beast. I pulled the meat off the cooker, sat it on my table in the sun, and closed everything down. It took one hour for the temp to subside to 235 when I put the meat back on. Maintaining temp after that was a chore.
I started probing for tenderness when the internal temp hit 180° and every 30 minutes after that. After 8 hours of work, and meat on the cooker only 7 hours the meat was probe tender. I had to hold the meat for 4 hours so it sat in the cooler for 2 and then into the 200° oven for the rest of the wait.
When I sliced the meat it was tender and moist and smelled heavenly. Pull apart tender. Hot darn, I finally got it right! Not so fast old man. Remember that rub. I loved it but it was way too hot for everyone else. After the tears stopped flowing they had to trim off the bark to inhale the meat. That's the bad news. So close - yet so far away. My wife did say to save some for sandwiches tomorrow - no bark. The rest I trim and freeze.
I learned how to cook Brisket on TVWBB and tried high heat twice. I prefer low and slow. Thanks folks. Now I can at least say for the first time - The Brisket was great.
My third attempt at a Brisket Flat was in May and the results were again only fair. I finally screwed up the courage to try a fourth time. When you're young that's called persistence but when you're old it's called stubbornness.
Friday I went to Sams Club to get a full packer but all they had were untrimmed flats. Since my previous attempts were with trimmed meat I liked seeing all the fat and the price so I got a 5.5 pounder. Yesterday I injected it with low Sodium Beef Broth and rubbed it with Meathead's Big Bad Beef Rub. More on that later.
I cranked up the WSM this morning using Kingsford Blue, 4 Oak chunks, and water in the pan. At 6 AM I put on the meat with the WSM cruising just below 230. 225° was my target. By 8 AM the internal temp had reached 160° so I wrapped the Brisket in HD foil and stuck it back on. 10 minutes later I looked at the ET-73 remote and, oh darn
I started probing for tenderness when the internal temp hit 180° and every 30 minutes after that. After 8 hours of work, and meat on the cooker only 7 hours the meat was probe tender. I had to hold the meat for 4 hours so it sat in the cooler for 2 and then into the 200° oven for the rest of the wait.
When I sliced the meat it was tender and moist and smelled heavenly. Pull apart tender. Hot darn, I finally got it right! Not so fast old man. Remember that rub. I loved it but it was way too hot for everyone else. After the tears stopped flowing they had to trim off the bark to inhale the meat. That's the bad news. So close - yet so far away. My wife did say to save some for sandwiches tomorrow - no bark. The rest I trim and freeze.
I learned how to cook Brisket on TVWBB and tried high heat twice. I prefer low and slow. Thanks folks. Now I can at least say for the first time - The Brisket was great.
