Not a brisket! HELP?!

[PeterD]

HI guys,
I have a rather urgent problem that I don't know how to handle. I was sold what was purported to be a full brisket by a local butcher (European Meats in Toronto). The only one they had with any kind of a fat cap at all weighed in at 17# in cryo (big for the 18.5 WSM but not too big). But when I opened it up, I discovered that what they sold me was most definitely NOT a brisket, at least in terms of what I've cooked in the past in the U.S.

Can anybody advise what cut this is and how I should cook it? I did an injection with a couple of cups of beef broth and worcestichire sauce and spices and put on my usual brisket rub and tossed it on the top grate. I'd hoped to do a hot-and-fast cook at 325 but I can't get the pit temps above 300, which is even more frightening.

Here's what I have on the pit now:

Any idea what I'm dealing with here? Can this even be cooked on a smoker with any sort of acceptable results?
I've got guests coming in 4 hours and a projected dining time of 6 hours hence.

Thanks in advance. I'm absolutely in a blind, white panic at this point.

 

[Alan F]

1. Relax.

2. Put in wood (preferably hickory) and get an hour of wood smoke on it. After one hour put it in a 350 (if there is no sugar in the rub) oven until the middle of the meat is 198. Let it rest for as long as possible. It kinda looks like a brisket.

 

[Bob Sample]

Looks like it has lots of fat so cooking it like a brisket will probably work. I'm not a expert on cuts but is it possible it's a very large flat?

 

[Bob Sample]

Prop your door open or offset the lid a touch and you can probably get your temps up higher.

 

[timothy]

I've never cooked one, but could that be a beef shoulder clod?

Tim

 

[PeterD]

Yeah, beats me what it is. The bottom most definitely looks like a briskey but that triangular/pointy part on top, lack of deckle or point really threw me. I've got the pit fired to about 340 grate temp and she's holding OK, with plenty of hickory (no oak readily available unfortunately). So temps aren't a concern at the moment (and yes, the door is propped open--the smoker's owner didn't want to do the stainless steel screw mod as I've done to my own, so it's more a jury-rig than anything else. After 2 hours I'm up to about 145 internal and I plan to foil once it hits about 160-165.

Since this is relatively huge, and all solid muscle inside, what should I use as a rough time guideline for checking for doneness? This was 17.some-odd pounds pre-cook. I'm also very curious as to how I should cut it since the grain on the top seems to go in many different directions from the top apex of the MeatPyramid.

In summary, temps are no longer a problem; now it's an issue of how to get all that thick muscle texture to tenderize--if it can, in fact, be tenderized at all.

What I found very curious is that they sell two brisket cuts. This one and what they called "brisket point." Which was not, in fact, the point, but rather a full FLAT, trimmed with almost no fat cap on the bottom at all and no deckle or what we know as the point.

I spoke to their head butcher and asked for a North American Meat Packers 120 cut. He didn't know what it was, didn't care and was more of the thought of "here's what we sell, buy it or don't." I'm thinking I should have just done a bunch of racks of baby backs instead.

 

[Frank H]

You think maybe it's a whole beef clod ? Shoulder clod or something like that...seems to me I've seen those....man , that is a hunka meat !

edit: sorry , Tim...I didn't read your answer....well , I vote clod too !

 

[PeterD]

Hmmm. So what do y'all think I should be doing to cook this right? Still gets me how they can sell this as brisket, though!

 

[timothy]

I would treat it similar to a HH brisket, just like you're doing. Cook three hrs till160ish and foil, start probing for tenderness about two hrs later.
I wonder if you cut it in half before foiling, if that will help tenderize it quicker to make your suppertime.

Tim

 

[Len Dennis]

http://www.food.com/recipe/bbq-beef-shoulder-clod-463309

Came across elsewhere that "clod is the most economical cuts you can buy" (I read that as cheapest cuts). Hope they didn't charge brisket prices. Having said that, it does look like clod. Check out the link. As said above, foil at 160 then link says pull at 195.

They also said that clod will put brisket to shame
(moist, flavour!!!!!).

Sounds like its going to work out perfectly for you

Be sure to let us know.

 

[PeterD]

At 350 grate temp the thick part is still only about 140 almost 3.5 hours in, but elsewhere the ET-73 is showing 175. Very weird. Going to foil and keep the temps at 350 and see what happens. As I type this it's 5:10pm, folks will be over around 6:30 and food should be on the table around 8:00 if past parties are any suggestion. I'm not at all convinced this will be done anywhere near that. That thick MeatPyramid is positively massive and still very very tough.

 

[Len Dennis]

As long as you can maintain those temps in this cold ( and don't mind working in the dark), keep it in the wsm.

You can always transfer it to your oven (still foiled) to keep cooking.

The smoke part is done, now it's just the cooking part.

 

[Al Silverman]

Well...How dod it turn out??? Is it a clod or a brisket??