Project Birthday Brisket: The real deal.


 
J

Jonas-Switzerland

TVWBB Member
Here it comes. Day by day. Gonna cook my Dad his first Brisket.

Saturday 17:30 zulu time is when the cooked brisket gets served.

Probably gonna cook it overnight from Friday to Saturday. I thought about cooking saturday only, but the thought of having only like 10 hours cook time is stressing me. Also, last week I did my first "wrapped" meat, some pork shoulder. Even though I wrapped it in butcher paper, it was swimming in water and weakened the bark.

Maybe it was just the cook. The cook was weird and threw me off at every turn. But I am not comfortable wrapping my expensive brisket. The first one I did I also cooked overnight without a wrap. So that's what I am probably going to do.

Brisket has arrived today.

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Now that looks more like a brisket. Well, ot better be. I imported it from the US of A :D

Its in the fridge now, slowly thawing. Gonna trim it Thursday or Friday evening, depending on my time and the briskets temps.

See you guys soon.
 
Aaand friday trim. Brisket looks mighty fine from the fridge. Finally I can orient myself :D

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Long days at work, and an extra child-nightshift in my bones. Knive started slipping. Began accidentally poking my fingers.

I learned this from riding motorcycles. When you find yourself doing weird little mistakes: Stop. A big one is coming.

I left most of the silver skin on. It was not worth my fingers. I did the best I could. I was sure I took pictures of the trimmed meat. But my tired mind played tricks on me.

I took the lessons from my last brisket seriously:

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Let the cooker do the hard work. Its on the WSM. Temperature is again 225. I did not fill the waterpan, amd started regulating early.

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See y'all in the morning.
 
Cheers!
Smart on the overnight, I always do them that way! Brisket will not be hurt by a four hour rest, my preferred rest time for anything anymore. That gives time to do other party prep.
My buddy is bringing over a bit Kurabota pork shoulder from Snake River Farms (19 pounds) for the big “end of summer birthday bash” should see 15 guests.
Starting tonight. Will post a party post when I have things set up and/or running.
 
Jonas-Switzerland said:
WSM was running on fumes. I was wrapping it in tallow and butcher paper, as I decided to check for tenderness again. And it did it. The WSM did 100% of the work. Almost 15 hours. It is resting now.
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Nice! A nice long rest in a cooler with some towels your patience will be rewarded! Sliced pix if you can keep from eating them as fast as you can slice!
Nice work.
Just posted the project for this weekends birthday bash.
 
You’re in for a special meal there. Nicely done and congratulations. Make me realize I shims be more grateful for the wide selections I have when I just walk into Costco. You made a special order for that. And you’ll be rewarded for your stellar work. HBD to your pops!
 
People liked it. Dad liked it. Nobody had anything like it. It was a nice evening

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I of course had some notes. Mac'n cheese was not creamy enough. The brisket rub was under salted. I had leftover rub from my first brisket, and forgot I reduced the salt content because I also injected the first one.

And again, the flat came out dry. On a USDA Prime brisket:rolleyes:. So far, I have never wrapped it. Maybe wrapping helps with keeping the flat moist.

Top is a piece from the flat, bottom is a piece from the flat.

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But hey, if I could cook Brisket perfectly after one try, it wouldn't be fun, would it?
 
I prefer Choice over Prime. Barely trim the flat. Wrap at 171-172°F and add rendered beef tallow. That’s the only way I’ve been able to keep a flat moist.

The flat and point are fighting each other during a cook. They’re total opposites. Too much heat too fast and long will kill a flat.

Also cook the brisket fat side down to the heat source. That’ll help protect the flat that you’ve left the fat cap on. In a WSM there’s not enough space between the heat source and the protein, thus the protein takes heat too quickly and dries out. Prime especially dries out as all the intramuscular fat is cooked out of the brisket.

Prime steaks are worth eating as you’re cooking to 125°-127°F. All that fat stays in a Prime steak. Brisket is going to 202°F. Ain’t no way the fat is staying inside that brisket.

You’re off to a great start. You’re just about near perfect with your notes.
 
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Maybe someone can explain to me why people (myself included) don't separate the flat from the point and cook them individually? They are quite different and cook differently. They even sell them separately at the store if you don't buy a packer.
 
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