Help me plan a big cook

[Scottie Johnson]

People are willing to pay it Dale, so I take it and give it back to my foundation. I also sell a lot of it for $10 a pound too. Just not competition meat.

Slicing brisket is easy. Tending to the fryer for wings, et al. is the hard part and then you have to drop everything to slice brisket? I like to reheat in the vacuum bags and it tastes like it did right when I turned in at the comp.

 

[Dale Perry]

Scottie, I bet its worth it too. Next comp i see ya we will take a LB of it.

I reheated slices in foodsaver bags in hot water. Not boiling water just a simmer. Worked fine but it killed the smoke ring.

 

[Bryan S]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tom Chips:
Do you get a lot of the gelatin? For some reason, I have a hard time imagining there being enough to redistribute. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Tom, On my last 2 brisket cooks I saved the drippings to use the jello in the vac bag for the guys at work. On the 8lb. flat I cooked at 235º top grate temp till it reached 165 and foiled it and cranked the heat to 325º to finish (storms coming). That one had a 1/8" fat cap left on most of it, wasn't too over trimmed. The drippings from it measured out at 3/4 cup. The fat round on top usually is in the 1/8-3/16" range. It was more than enough for a little over half of brisket I vac sealed and took to work. My last one was a small packer that came in at 8.01lbs., so not sure what the flat weighed after removing the point before cooking it. Cooked that one high heat 325º and foiled it also at 165º. That one gave me a 1/2 cup of drippings. You can add some beef stock to the jello to make it go farther, like if you were slicing the whole brisket for reheating. The jello is pretty strong stuff, so no worries if having to add some stock to it to stretch it out. HTH

 

[Bryan S]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by j biesinger:
I understand that as meat cools it reabsorbs moisture, so I was planning on letting it sit in its juice until just before it hits the fridge. and I've had good luck with pork jello, I was hoping for a similar effect with the beef.

I assume you reheat it in the vac bag in hot water? I'm going to be boiling corn on a cajun cooker (and possibly deep frying wings)so I'll have the ability to heat up a 5 gal stock pot. should I reheat it this way? how long do you expect it to take if I keep my h2o temp just below boil? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
j, One hr rest in foil on the counter is long enough to redistribute the drippings. If you wait too long, alot of the drippings will stay on the foil. I like to get them while they are nice and hot, and run freely from the foil.
For reheating, yes the pot and water method works very well. I like to clip a probe from one of my NU- Temps on the side of the pot, clothespin works well in securing the wire and holding the probe in place, and monitor the water temp. I take the vac packs out of the fridge about an hr before reheating. Heat the water (about 2 gals) to 180º and place the packs of vac sealed brisket in, cover and turn off the burner. After 10 min check and see where the water temp is at. You shouldn't have to turn the burner back on. I like to serve reheated brisket in the 120º-130º range. After 20 min as long as the temp is above 120º you are good to go. I serve right out of the bag, using tongs. You can dump the first few bags in to a serving dish if you want, it'll go fast in the begining. When the amount being served slows, then just serev out of the bag so it doesn't dry on you. I use a big wide potato chip bag clip to seal the bag between servings. Just roll down the bag removing as much air as possible and clip the vac bag. You can then place the bag back in the water to keep warm, being carefull it doesn't take on water.

Or if you have a rectangle rubbermaid container, or the like, that is long enough, you can use that to put the slices with juice back in the pot and let it float to keep the slices warm. I've been lucky so far, never had a bag sink yet, but... HTH

 

[j biesinger]

bryan, cant thank you enough. it all sounds right, its good to know you tried it and it works.

the tip about not letting the juice cool in the foil makes great sense. I read that and had a vision of me hitting cold foil with congealed juice stuck to it with a bernzomatic (cuase that what I would have been doing to recover that preciouse juice).

 

[Bryan S]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by j biesinger:
bryan, cant thank you enough. it all sounds right, its good to know you tried it and it works. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
j, No problem. It does work very well. Good luck to you.